If you're planning on waiting until Black Friday 2019 or even Cyber Monday for that coveted Nintendo Switch deal, you may not have to.

The early Walmart Black Friday proceedings have now delivered an arguably stellar Nintendo Switch build-your-own bundle deal, with your choice of one of three games and one of three travel case options, for little more than the console's base price.

Those three game choices are some of the absolute best games on the Nintendo Switch – any of these three would be an excellent start on the console. We're personally particular to the latest Zelda game, as it's arguably one of the best video games ever released, but we hear that Splatoon 2 is Nintendo's fantastically quirky answer to Call of Duty multiplayer. Oh, and Super Mario Odyssey is the best entry in the series since Super Mario 64.

So, it's tough to go wrong with this bundle, spending half as much on one of Nintendo's top games of this generation and getting a case for free. How will anyone top this come Black Friday? Only Nintendo (and its countless retail partners) knows.

• These are the best Nintendo Switch deals elsewhere

During its 2019 Surface product announcement event, Microsoft made one of its far-out announcements ever both figuratively and literally: the late 2020-bound Surface Neo tablet and Surface Duo phone. But, what about its 2019 products?

After having reviewed two of them so far, I’m wondering the same thing.

Microsoft devices chief Panos Panay has positioned the Surface Neo and Duo as the beginning of the next phase in the company’s hardware evolution and practically its future in the space.

Judging by a lack of innovation or true advancement from either the Surface Pro 7 or 15-inch Surface Laptop 3, it’s becoming increasingly clear where Microsoft’s primary focus is. Now, this isn’t to say either device is categorically bad, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend someone to buy them over, say, their predecessors – especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals on the horizon.

• The flagship Microsoft Surface Pro X goes in a bold, new direction
• Microsoft's Surface Duo is the foldable Surface Phone we’ve been waiting for
• Microsoft's Surface Earbuds is its mighty impressive answer to AirPods

Don’t forget about your customers in the now

Microsoft may have elevated AMD to flagship mobile processor maker with its new, 15-inch Surface Laptop, but it left so many opportunities to capitalize on the larger frame size on the table. Likewise, the only thing to tangibly change about the Surface Pro 7 from the Surface Pro 6 is a USB-C port in replace of a DisplayPort.

Sure, both Pro 7 and Laptop 3 have brand new silicon inside, and the Laptop 3’s chip was specially crafted for that device, but otherwise they’re either unchanged or don’t do enough, respectively. For instance, the Pro 7 could have adopted an HDR display or even thinner bezels for more surface area, while the Laptop 3 could have taken on more ports – like, a lot more.

While we shouldn’t focus on what things aren’t rather than what they are, it’s getting increasingly difficult not to do that as we enter the next echelon of computing hardware - which these two devices simply aren’t hopping on board with.

This gives potentially new or upgrading Surface customers little to look forward to in 2019 beyond more advanced silicon and a new laptop display that's 1.5 inches larger. Granted, we’ve yet to spend considerable time with the Surface Pro X, but its pricing for what’s likely to amount to little more than flagship phone performance already gives cause for concern.

For your money in 2019, you’re likely better off grabbing Microsoft’s 2018 tablet and, if you’re OK with a 13.5-inch laptop screen, the company’s 2018 laptop – both of which we reviewed handsomely.

Microsoft’s exciting future is a long way’s out

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m practically considering dropping iPhone for Android because the Surface Duo is just that interesting and exciting. However, who knows how many dual-screen or folding-screen phones we’ll see between now and Holiday 2020?

We could say the same for the Surface Neo, and we know that Lenovo’s flashy new ThinkPad X1 tablet – which uses a folding display, not two separate screens – will beat the Neo to store shelves by a considerable margin.

So, that leaves Microsoft’s 2019 Surface line for an entire year to weather the figurative slings and arrows from endless competitors, all while the company’s most important new products in a long time remain in the oven for practically another 12 months.

Yes, I too am excited to see Microsoft’s dual-screen wonders, but not at the expense of what could have been easy innovation in 2019. All we needed was a port selection worthy of a 15-inch laptop (and maybe more power) and Microsoft’s seventh tablet to feel more like a victory lap than, well, a well-earned nap – certainly not at these prices.

• These are the best laptops we’ve tested this year

Google has announced the Pixelbook Go, successor to the Pixelbook, at its Pixel 4 launch event in New York City on October 15.

The laptop is designed to be presented at a more affordable price, to be more accessible to more customers. All the while, the Chromebook can last for up to 12 hours on a charge.

Pixelbook Go is 13mm thin and just 2 pounds light with a magnesium alloy body, complete with quite "Hush" keys. The chassis is also surrounded in a grippable, soft-touch plastic coating for easier and more secure handling.

Google is offering the Pixelbook Go with an Intel Core m3 processor (CPU) to start, but it will be available with up an Intel Core i7 CPU at the top end.

The laptop starts at $649 (about £520, AU$930) in the US, and will be available in "Just Black" and "Not Pink" colors, with pre-orders available right now – but the release date is still forthcoming.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Google's next-generation Chromebook
• When is it coming out? Release date unknown; pre-orders start now in US
• How much does it cost? $649 in US (about £520, AU$930)

Google Pixelbook Go release date

It's currently unknown when exactly the Pixelbook Go will release, but we have an idea. Google hasn't yet announced a landing date, but pre-orders are open for the laptop in the US and Canada.

However, pre-orders in the UK will not start until January 2020. This is unfortunate for you folks across the pond, but this does give a hint toward a North American release date.

If pre-orders are available now in the US, while those in the UK don't start until early 2020, it's safe to expect a US release date sometime in late 2019. By that logic, we should expect a UK release date to follow sometime in late January or early February.

Google Pixelbook Go price

In the US, the Pixelbook Go will launch starting at $649. That price will get you an Intel Core m3 CPU with 8GB of memory (RAM) and 64GB of flash storage behind a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display.

This is considerably less expensive than the current Pixelbook laptop, which starts at at a $999 list price. That's certainly more approachable to a wider amount of people, putting it in line with the likes of the new Surface Pro 7 tablet from Microsoft.

For $849, the laptop upgrades to an Intel Core i5 processor and doubles the available storage to 128GB. If you want double the RAM (16GB) and double the storage (128GB), that will cost you $999.

Finally, a model with 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage and a 4K Ultra HD (3,840 x 2,160) "Molecular" touch display will cost a cool $1,399 in the US.

Google Pixelbook Go features

To start, we know that the Pixelbook Go is designed to be thin and light, measuring 13mm thin and weighing just 2 pounds. The laptop comes in just two colors, Google's cheekily-named "Just Black" and "Not Pink."

This is a 13.3-inch laptop including a touchscreen starting at Full HD resolution that can go as sharp as 4K. Surrounding that screen is a magnesium alloy chassis painted in a matte plastic texture that's claimed to be more grippable than most laptops.

As for the keyboard, the keys are individually backlit and feature Google's new "Hush" design, which improves on the company's original Pixelbook keyboard design and brings it to a lower priced product.

The Pixelbook Go features a 1080p webcam that films in 60 frames per second as well as an ambient light sensor.

As for ports, the laptop includes two USB-C that both support charging and display output, as well as a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Google has included only 802.11ac Wi-Fi, or Wi-Fi 5, in this laptop, as well as Bluetooth 4.2. This is unfortunate for a late 2019/early 2020 product, as both Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 are practically here right now.

As for performance, Google is promising up to 12 hours of use time on a single charge, with a battery inside that can draw up to two hours of use from just 20 minutes of charging.

It should be noted that these are fan-less processors inside the Pixelbook Go, which will color performance to be a bit less robust than laptops with full-fate Intel Core chips inside. That said, Google has included its Titan C security chip inside, which is said the securely handle your personal information.

• Will Pixelbook Go soon join the best Chromebooks to date?

Famed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted some of the best potential news surrounding MacBooks in years: by mid 2020, all MacBook models will use traditional scissor switches within their keyboards.

Of course, it’s widely expected that the rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro will lead this charge by dropping the… challenged Butterfly keyboard design in favor of a more traditional scissor switch method.

Thanks to Kuo, and first reported by MacRumors, we can now expect the same improvement to come to the rest of Apple’s laptop lineup before the middle mark of 2020.

• These are the best laptops on the whole
• Here’s what we know of the 2019 Mac Pro
• And, macOS Catalina is finally here

Older design, better reliability

It’s widely assumed that Apple’s Butterfly keyboard switch design was conceived to allow for thinner and lighter laptops than were possible before. That much was true, as evidenced by the 12-inch MacBook first released in 2015.

However, it quickly came to light that these new switches are more prone to failure due to dust and other particulate exposure, leading to keys that got stuck or simply didn't register presses. As a result, this story has dragged Apple’s laptops over the proverbial hot coals for years now.

Apple currently runs a rather generous product replacement program for MacBooks with faulty Butterfly keyboards, but the writing has been on the wall for this design for some time.

So, we look forward not only to the apparently imminent 16-inch MacBook Pro launch, but all future MacBook releases, with bated breath.

• These are the best Macs to date

Via Tom’s Guide

Walking into the headquarters of Maingear, a boutique gaming PC builder based in New Jersey, the building looks like a few that surround it (albeit a bit cleaner): a custom auto body shop.

The front desk and lobby are adorned with countless awards and magazine clippings – with TechRadar’s friends Maximum PC featured among them – resting on shelves and hanging on stark red and white walls.

While showing off a set of sick-looking chassis painted custom by DC Comics artist Tommy Castillo, co-founder and CEO Wallace Santos recalls Maingear’s humble beginnings.

Newly certified as a networking systems professional, Santos became an independent consultant in 2002. Not long after, a custom gaming PC order gone wrong inspired Santos to try his hand at building computers, already a passion, professionally. 

A lucky break at a CES in Las Vegas and a plug from famed tech pundit Leo LaPorte launched the Maingear rocket, but not without some refinements to its process over the past 15-plus years.

You see, Santos is also pretty hot on automobiles, so as a means of spicing up Maingear’s systems, the founder incorporated auto-grade paint jobs to its suite of services – among the first to do so in the US. (Wait until you see how that’s done.)

So, to accommodate Santos’s love for both PC gaming and automobiles, the CEO created a working environment that looks a lot like the custom car shops seen on shows like Pimp My Ride, only with 100% less Xzibit. 

Beyond embodying Santos’s love for custom cars, the attention to detail and tailored service that scene is known for is what the founder and his team care about capturing.

What that looks like is a large garage stands behind Maingear’s office building.The shop buzzes with the sounds of whirring hand drills and snapping cable cutters. 

The first sight upon walking inside are PC builders putting elaborate desktop rigs together, but not at record speed. They’re moving quite quickly, but with precision. They know these chassis in and out, taking one gray bin of PC parts off the shelves at a time and fitting them perfectly inside a variety of chassis, some original designs. Those perfect-looking fits grow challenging when the customer orders hardline liquid cooling, much less choosing which pipe fittings to use.

(Seriously, sometimes the leadership team and system builders deliberate for hours on which pipe fittings to order – the attention to detail is fierce.)

When the PCs are finally built – which sometimes involves customizing components to work in specific scenarios, like the above Nvidia Quadro GPUs going into what will be a silent graphics rendering machine – they’re taken to these Matrix-looking monitor rigs for imaging.

It’s here that Maingear custom images each ordered machine, whether it be a laptop or desktop, according to his or her requests and only those requests. This means only the drivers that the customer needs or wants. And, yes, this includes the HP Omen and Razer R1 machines that Maingear builds and sells in tandem with those brands.

The images are delivered by an OPK server that can fully install a built PC’s BIOS and operating system – drivers and all – in just seven minutes. Now, that’s fast.

When you’re building PCs with this kind of care, time can’t be wasted on imaging systems.

When a PC is ready to ship, Maingear offers several different boxing options, from straight-up (albeit reinforced) cardboard to plastic crates and luggage-style, plastic shipping crates. But, no Maingear shipping container is closed without getting a spritzing of some new car smell.

It’s at this point that we’re taken out of the building and across the driveway to another garage, but this one is outfitted to be an automobile-grade painting operation. 

Looking just like the spray booths at auto body shops, Maingear has hired ex-auto painters to apply their skills to its line of PC chassis.

Save for what’s actually being painted, nothing about the process is different from that of painting an automobile, we’re told. The result being, of course, is a PC worthy of a photo studio, where all of Maingear’s opulent videos are shot.

Take this gorgeous gaming rig custom built for famed DJ and producer deadmau5, for instance.

So, when you order a gaming PC from Maingear, this is where and how your PC is built, egregious chrome pipe fittings and all.

Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place.

First published April 2017

Acer has made something of a name for itself in the PC gaming world these past few years for some absolutely bonkers pieces of gaming hardware. The trend started with the Acer Predator 21X, a 21-inch gaming laptop with desktop parts inside.

The laptop costs $8,999 (about £6,729, AU$11,879) (at the time of first publishing), and houses some of the most intense silicon available today. It also weighs a back-breaking 18.74 pounds (8.5kg).

Acer then followed up this barely mobile monster with an even more powerful machine, a desktop known as the Predator X. The company hasn’t even issued a price or release date for the PC yet. But, with two server-grade Intel Xeon processors and the latest, most powerful Nvidia graphics cards paired together via SLI, rest assured that it too will rival the down payment on your house.

Surely the market for these pre-built, mega-powered gaming PCs is tiny – how many people do you know with thousands in cash lying around? So, if that’s the case, then why does Acer bother crafting such power-packed PCs?

“You are right, X is pushing to the limit. But [that] may not be 100% limited to in terms of GPU performance, [hardcore] gamer performance,” Acer President of IT Products Jerry Kao tells us. “Because we’re also thinking a different kind of usage model – when you’re playing a game you are still doing multitasking. 

"A lot of gamers are playing games," he says. "[But] they also broadcast while they are playing games. They livestream to other people. So, I was thinking about different usage, the amount of pure, strong [GPU] performance sometimes may not help.”

Targeting the 1% of PC gamers

With these devices, Acer is targeting a very specific type of PC gamer that perhaps other mainstream PC product manufacturers aren’t: effectively the 1% of PC gamers. So, it’s easy to consider the Predator X line of products an extremely low volume, high yield end of its business.

So, it’s clear that Acer looks to establish its might and position in the PC gaming space with these highest of high-end devices, but how does it go about that? It’s not quite as simple as just putting the most powerful components into a box and shipping it off.

“For the first time we created our 9000 series, last year, [it] got to be a very successful concept when we launched it, because we were starting from the gamers’ demand,” Acer’s General Manager of Stationary Computing Products Jeff Lee says. “That’s the starting point from the design.”

“We don’t just say, well, put the best CPU, put the best GPU inside – what [is] the end user needing? For example, for our special edition Acer Predator Helios 500 … because our end-user survey tells us that our female gamers, what they care about most in addition to performance is the noise control. So, we did a special edition in fact [that] has a special, tailor-made application where an end-user can change what kind of noise level they can accept.”

Like any product maker, Acer designs and conceives its highest-end PC gaming products with the end user in mind, but not just from a gaming perspective. We’re told that, especially with the Predator X, Acer is considering what gamers do other than gaming while a game is running. Kao promises that this isn’t just a cliche for Acer but a defining tenet of its design philosophy.

“Again, it’s back to the user demand,” Lee tells us. “For example, our users not only play games but also do the streaming [and] multitasking, so I think [the latest] technology and also the end-users’ demands will be our [focus].”

Of course, Kao and Lee are keen to point out that Acer offers PC gaming devices for several levels of budget, and that features first conceived at the highest end can eventually trickle down into those more approachably-priced products.

What’s Acer’s future in extreme gaming hardware?

That said, Acer’s mission to deliver the highest-end PC gaming experiences of any mainstream computer maker will not stop. In fact, Acer is already cooking up a new extreme PC gaming product aimed at another niche: portability in the high-end desktop space.

“So, I think we are thinking more about something like a form factor change, a new usage model, Kao teases. “Not just the CPU [or] GPU – of course that’s something that all the competitors are doing. But, we are thinking [of having] a revolutionary form factor change, or usage model change. So, thinking about a LAN party, what you can carry today: [the] desktop is too heavy; the notebook ... you need to carry a keyboard and all those things, and it’s not easy – or a notebook is not strong enough. So, [how can] you carry a strong notebook with luggage, or is there or something like that? We are thinking of solutions. So, a new form factor change is something that we’re working on now.”

Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place.

First published June 2018

Amazon has unveiled a new and upgraded version of its Eero mesh Wi-Fi router, at a much cheaper price than its first model, and offering even easier setup.

The router itself is available right now in the US at the time of writing for just $99 / £99 / €99), while a three-pack of Eero routers is priced at $249 / £249 / €279. A launch in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK is coming this November.

The new router was unveiled at Amazon's product launch event at its Seattle, Washington headquarters,

Considering that the first Eero mesh Wi-Fi set cost a whopping $399 (about £300, AU$534), this is a dramatic price cut. This notably undercuts the Google Wifi three-pack by $10 in the US, at the time of writing.

• Echo speakers get cool new displays and better sound
• Echo speakers are getting new privacy controls
• Keep up with all the news from the Amazon event at our liveblog

Wi-Fi enhanced by Alexa – starting with Eero

Like other Eero products before it, these come with dual-band radios as well as Eero's 'TrueMesh' technology, which promises to eliminate dead spots in your Wi-Fi coverage. Better yet, a three-pack can now cover up to 5,000 square feet with Wi-Fi signal, a 66% improvement over the previous model.

Amazon is also introducing two new security services with these new routers, Eero Secure and Eero Secure+, designed to safeguard the devices that connect to your network. The company hasn't yet revealed the specific features of each service at the time of writing, only that Secure+ offers on-the-go protections and control.

The company was much more excited to talk about how Alexa has been updated to offer voice-based Wi-Fi controls through Eero devices. Here are some of the commands you can expect:

• “Alexa, pause the WiFi for dinner.”
• “Alexa, turn on the guest WiFi.”
• “Alexa, pause the Playstation WiFi.”

Amazon promises to make these Alexa features available to a number of router devices in the future, particularly Asus and TP-Link routers later this season as well as Arris and Linksys devices beginning early next year.

Now that it's available for less than Google Wifi, Amazon just made Eero a much more interesting proposition for a vast majority of would-be customers, especially with voice controls. Whether this will spark a Wi-Fi war between Amazon and Google is yet to be seen, but we'd be willing to bet on it.

• These are the best wireless routers to date

Apple has announced that the Mac Pro 2019 model will be produced in an Austin, Texas manufacturing facility. This is the same location where Mac Pro computers have been manufactured since 2013 with the previous-generation model.

The news marks a milestone in Apple's public commitment to growing the US economy, but also comes amid growing tariffs on imported Chinese goods under the Trump administration as well as growing general criticism of off-shore manufacturing conducted by US companies.

Several parts within the 2019 Mac Pro will be "designed, developed and manufactured by more than a dozen American companies for distribution to US customers," according to a press release.

• Here's what's new with macOS Catalina
• The 16-inch MacBook Pro is coming soon – we hope

'Federal product exclusion'

Apple itself states that this entire endeavor is "made possible following a federal product exclusion Apple is receiving for certain necessary components."

This means that Apple has been pardoned by the US federal government from paying inflated import tariffs on a certain amount of the parts sourced from China within the Mac Pro for 2019. Had Apple not received this "federal product exclusion," it's possible that Mac Pro 2019 production would have taken place elsewhere worldwide.

Apple is also keen to point out that "the value of American-made components in the new Mac Pro is 2.5 times greater than in Apple’s previous generation Mac Pro."

Again, what this means is that these American-made parts are costing Apple and its partners 2.5 times as much to produce as before, due to the generally higher cost of labor in the US compared to that of, say, China – where the majority of Apple product manufacturing and assembly takes place today.

Apple previously stated in June 2019 that the 2019 Mac Pro will start pricing at $5,999 (about £4,730, AU$8.720). It's unknown whether Apple issued this pricing before or after it received this "federal product exclusion." Regardless, it would be in bad form for Apple to increase the starting price after announcement, so we wouldn't expect that to change before release.

If you remember, Apple products of even the recent past used to include the line "Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." This line is no longer featured on Apple's iPhones as of the XS and XR series.

Surely, the Mac Pro 2019 will feature a new, more US-centric line emblazoned on its chassis somewhere.

• Here are the best Macs to date

Microsoft is getting ready to host its October Event 2019 in New York City on October 2 – which is today, for most people.

The company still has given no hints as to what it plans to showcase during this much talked about event, but there have been many leaks and rumors in the past few months that all but confirm the forthcoming debut of a few major Surface products.

With the Surface Pro 7, Surface Laptop 3 and a completely new product dubbed ‘Centaurus’ showing up in different leaks and rumors from anonymous sources, we’re expecting a possibly star-studded showing.

That’s not to mention the existing product lines that are just about due for an upgrade like the Surface Book 3 and Surface Studio 3. Though we haven’t heard much of anything regarding those devices in particular.

We'll be at the event to bring you all the latest news, and if you want to watch along, then check out our Microsoft October Event 2019 live stream: how to watch the new Surface launch online guide.

• Massive leak reveals Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3 ahead of launch

With that, here are the highlights on each of the Surface products that we hope to see during the Microsoft October Event, in order of how likely they are to make an appearance.

What we’re likely to see: Surface Pro 7

Now with leaks and rumors detailing the possible exact configurations of the Microsoft Surface Pro 7, it’s almost definitely a shoo-in for the Microsoft October Event. We’re now anticipating to get an even more affordable configuration for the tablet in the form of one packing an Intel Core i3 processor (CPU).

What we don’t know is whether Microsoft is finally adopting USB-C – particularly Thunderbolt 3 – instead of the proprietary Surface Connect port. We also would like to see Intel Ice Lake CPUs and an improved Type Cover. Both have been rumored, so we’ve got high hopes.

What we’re likely to see: Surface Laptop 3

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is just about the only other incumbent Surface device to be discussed in rumors and leaks, with not just one but two configurations becoming available. That’s right; it’s rumored that a 15-inch version will be joining the 13-inch model this year.

And, that’s not all: European retail listings are hinting that the Surface Laptop 3 will use AMD processors inside, as opposed to Intel. However, we’re more concerned with whether Microsoft adopts Thunderbolt 3 ports here as well. In addition, the design could also use a bit of updating.

What we hope to see: Surface Book 3

The computing world has changed considerably since the Surface Book 2 hit the streets, making the release of a Microsoft Surface Book 3 all the more important in 2019. Both versions of the 2-in-1 laptop could benefit from Nvidia’s new RTX graphics, for a start.

While we haven’t heard much in the way of rumors or leaks concerning a Surface Book follow up, an update is well overdue amid massive gains by its ‘prosumer’ laptop competition. Of course, again, we’d like to see Thunderbolt 3 included, as well as stronger power management with those more powerful RTX graphics.

What we hope to see: Surface Studio 3

Like the Surface Book 3, we’ve heard next to nothing about a Microsoft Surface Studio 3 release. But it’s also another long overdue update that we would love to see at the Microsoft October Event. That said, we’re quite fine with the all-in-one artist desktop’s design.

What we would like to see updated here are the internals. That is, we’d like to see the follow up released rocking the latest Nvidia graphics and Intel processors. In years past, this has not been the case at launch. Finally, just give us Thunderbolt 3 already, and maybe up the resolution?

What we hope to see: Surface ‘Centaurus’

There has been a number of patent application releases and other rumors surrounding a new Microsoft Surface device, one that touts either dual screens or a single folding display. The various patent images and rumors conjure up thoughts of Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 foldable tablet.

Of course, there’s very little known about how this device will fit into Microsoft’s larger portfolio, and what specific or unique use cases it will serve. Will it be a folding phone-meets-tablet? We can’t wait to see whether we find out at the Microsoft October Event.

• These are the best laptops the world over

Initially codenamed ‘Hatch’ in several benchmark listings and other leaks, Google has reportedly been hard at work over the past few months developing this all-new Chromebook.

This rumored Chromebook is apparently going to come packing up-to-date Intel Core processors(CPUs), as well as more memory (RAM) than most Chromebooks. At least, that’s what the latest leaks are suggesting, setting up the Hatch to be a truly worthy successor to 2017’s excellent Pixelbook.

The most recent – not to mention, credible – leaks related to Hatch are regarding a named Pixelbook Go, which has been rumored to be the follow up to the Google Pixelbook Chromebook. And, we've just recently gotten our best look at the Pixelbook Go yet.

Currently, leaks suggest that this Pixelbook Go will have configurations rocking Intel Core m3, i5 and i7 processors, as well as 8GB or 16GB RAM and 64GB, 128GB or 256GB of storage. And, it will also have a 13.3-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio and a choice of 1080p and 4K displays.

Still, Google clearly has quite a lot to live up to with this Chromebook release, especially considering whatever losses were caused by the failure in reception to Pixel Slate. Here’s everything we’ve heard so far about the Hatch, codename for Google’s next Chromebook.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Google’s next in-house Chromebook
• When is it out? Possibly October 15 with Pixel 4
• How much will it cost? Hopefully no more than Pixelbook did

Google Hatch release date

While rumors and leaks of a release date are rather thin right now, many reports from MySmartPrice and NotebookCheck peg this Chromebook to release alongside the Google Pixel 4. That would mean a debut date of October 15, which is already anticipated by Pixel fans.

With that, it would be more than likely to see the Hatch hit store shelves and online retailers before the end of October. At the very least, an October 15 debut would all but guarantee a release before the Christmas shopping season.

Google Hatch price

Unfortunately, nothing in these leaks and reports comes close to discussing a potential price for the Hatch. However, we do know that the Chromebook is expected to run some of the latest 10th-generation (Comet Lake) Intel Core CPUs, starting with the dual-core Intel Core i3-10110U.

This would obviously put the Hatch in line with premium-priced Ultrabooks, like the Dell XPS 13. So, we can safely expect this Chromebook to reach similar prices, much like that of the previous Pixelbook that we so loved.

Google Hatch specs and features

We now know of several key specification points and features expected to be included in the Hatch Chromebook product. For starters, we’re again aware that Google is reportedly equipping the laptop with Comet Lake Intel CPUs.

This is based on recently leaked Geekbench testing information made publicly available, specifically listing the Intel Core i3-10110U part in use, with outlets further speculating that Google won’t stop here. It’s likely that Google will include Comet Lake options for the Core i5 and perhaps even the Core i7.

Coupled with at least 8GB of RAM listed in the Geekbench results, this will make for a Chromebook that’s decidedly more powerful than most, which has been a hallmark of Google’s homemade Chrome laptops since their start.

Rounding out the known rumored feature list are a 2,400 x 1,600-pixel display with a 3:2 aspect ratio – just like the Pixelbook of 2017 – along with a new built-in stylus, backlit keyboard and a proper fingerprint reader for additional security.

All told, the Google Chromebook codenamed ‘Hatch’ is may be among the very best once more. However, judging by the Pixel Slate downturn, Google would be wise not to rest on its laurels here.

• These are the best Chromebooks we've tested to date

With IFA 2019 drawing to a close in Berlin, Germany, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve seen announced and had a chance to test out at the show. In particular, we saw more than a few new laptops that excited us for the end of 2019 and beyond in computing.

From the most graphically-powerful laptops we've ever seen to laptops shaped like Ultrabooks but bristling with the power of portable gaming machines, there are some rad laptops coming down the pipe. Here’s a brief look at the most exciting laptops from IFA 2019.

Asus ProArt StudioBook

With an Nvidia Quadro RTX 6000 graphics processor (GPU) and an Intel Core i9 processor (CPU) inside, as well as a 15-inch, 4K Pantone-validated display with 120Hz refresh rate, Asus’s new pro-grade creators laptop is certainly set to be an incredibly powerful mobile workstation.

Asus also has a 17-inch version of the laptop coming, complete with a four-sided NanoEdge display, the first of its kind with incredibly narrow bezels all around. These mega-powerful laptops will be available in October 2019, and pricing will be announced later – though with these kind of parts inside and out, don't expect them to be affordable.

Razer Blade Stealth (Late 2019)

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 (Late 2019) coming this month and starting at $1,499 (€1,679, about £1,250/AU$2,220) has an option for the most powerful graphics in an Ultrabook to date. The new “Late 2019” model can come fitted with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU and a 10th-Generation Intel CPU that finally make this Ultrabook a proper gaming laptop.

Of course, this is not the entry-level version of the laptop, and as such will cost a pretty penny for the luxury of truly mobile PC gaming. However, this is an excellent sign of things to come, as clearly cramming hardcore-grade graphics into thin and light laptops is entirely possible.

Lenovo Yoga C940

The new Yoga C940 – succeeding the C930 – has the usual 360-degree hinge, but the speaker within has been improved and redesigned. Lenovo calls this feature the "Rotating Sound Bar," and it now offers Dolby Atmos audio through the drivers.

Lenovo also equipped this new laptop with one of the first available 10-nanometer Intel processors, leading to purportedly massive gains in battery life. And, to sweeten the pot even further, a new 15-inch model with Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics is here. The Yoga C940 launches this October starting at $1,249 (about £1,040, AU$1,850).

Acer Predator Triton 500

The new flagship, 15-inch gaming laptop from Acer is the first to market with a 300Hz refresh rate in its display. This means that the screen can reliably display up to 300 frames per second without any visible screen tearing or other artifacts – a boon for esports champs that need to be faster than ultra-fast.

Acer will release the Predator Triton 500 in the EMEA region this November, with a North American release later in December. The gaming laptop will start at $2,799 (about £2,320, AU$4,140).

• IFA 2019 is Europe's biggest tech show, and the TechRadar team is in Berlin to bring you all the breaking news and hands-on first impressions of new TVs, wearables and other devices as they're announced.

Dell is well into work on its rumored foldable laptop display, judging by the latest patent granted to the company by the US Patent Office. This patent, merely days old at the time of writing, is all about the hinge technology behind this folding display.

The patent comes along with several images detailing the various individual elements of this hinge, which Dell calls the "Information handling system with thin flex." Judging by the name, this thin flex hinge part is designed to both facilitate the foldable nature of the device's display and the transfer of information between parts of the display.

Dell's summary of the patent reads: "An information handling system may include a flex hinge having a first flexible sheet that bends at a different radius than a second flexible sheet when the flex hinge is transitioned from a first position to a second position. A mounting bracket fixes each of the flexible sheets to the information handling system, and a friction linkage engages with slots within the first and second flexible sheets. An organic light emitting diode is connected to the flex hinge."

• These are the top 2-in-1 laptops today
• We've tested Lenovo's foldable ThinkPad X1
• Our favorite Windows tablets of 2019

Getting ahead of the foldable future of computing

In Dell's mission to drive foldable displays in computing, it has to be incredibly vague as to what it's working on within publicly accessible patent applications. This is why you see language such as "information handling system."

According to Dell, an information handling system can be anything from a full-on computer to a solid-state drive or a processor. Of course, looking at Dell's patent artwork clearly reveals the intent to apply this patent to a mobile computer – most likely a laptop – with a foldable display. The very same we've already seen rumored.

Why a foldable display? Dell uses terminology such as "flex sheets" in reference to images of what are clearly displays. It appears that these two flex sheets within the device could support a contiguous display.

"... the flex hinge assembly can support an information handling system with around an eight mm thickness," the patent reads. "While the information handling system  is shown with two displays ... the flex hinge assembly can support the information handling system with a single flexible organic light emitting diode (OLED) display that extends across both portions..."

So, yes, Dell is almost certainly working on a foldable laptop display. But, since we're still seeing patent applications release in 2019, we're almost certainly not going to see a finished product until sometime in 2020 or beyond.

• These are the best laptops we've tested in the past year

Amazon is offering the Microsoft Surface Go tablet with the maximum storage available for almost $100 off in a Deal of the Day.

The 10-inch Windows tablet is a favorite of ours, bringing ultra-mobile and budget-strapped customers a much more fitting version of the Surface tablet. In fact, we gave the tablet 4.5 stars and our 'Recommended' award.

However, it's important to note that this Surface Go deal does not include the Microsoft Type Cover ($129) nor does it include the Surface Pen ($99). Collectively, getting the complete Surface Go experience will cost an additional $230, roughly speaking.

This is, unfortunately, par for the course for Microsoft Surface products and has been for a few years now. Ultimately, with this deal, you could get the Surface Go in this configuration for just $615. In comparison to the $779 this complete setup would cost you normally – albeit with 4GB more RAM – you're saving $165 altogether.

We bring all of this up, rather than simply tell you that the tablet is 100 bucks off, because the Surface Go isn't really a complete product without at least that Type Cover. Regardless, this is the cheapest the Surface Go with 128GB of storage is likely to be between now and Black Friday.

• These are the best laptops to date

At long last, Apple has fully addressed its part in the ill-advised, industry-wide practice of using human contractors to listen in on conversations between its digital assistant – in this case, Siri – and users. The company made a formal apology.

Apple owned up to its practices and promised to end them in a comprehensive press release, detailing what it was doing, why, and how it will improve its Siri digital assistant without this assistance moving forward.

This apology is the result of the company's promise a month prior to suspend its use of contractors while it reviewed the intricacies of its process. Now, Apple has promised to stop using contractors completely in the process that it calls 'grading', in which these contractors would evaluate audio transcriptions of Siri conversations for accuracy.

"As a result of our review, we realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize," Apple says in the press release.

• What we expect from the 16-inch MacBook Pro 2019
• The iPhone 11 is almost here, too
• Finally, everything we know about the new Mac Pro

Siri improvements via humans will be opt-in

To make amends, Apple has detailed three things it will do between now and its next major operating system updates in iOS 13 and macOS Catalina later this year. First, the company "will no longer retain audio recordings of Siri interactions," but will still use anonymized, computer-generated transcripts to improve the service.

Secondly (and thirdly, really), all iOS and macOS users will have to opt in if they want to contribute to Siri improvements by allowing anonymized audio samples of their conversations to be reviewed by fellow humans. Those humans will be Apple employees only, not contractors.

Of course, Apple hopes that you will continue to opt in for better Siri improvements in the future, knowing now that only Apple employees will be using these anonymized audio samples for that reason. (Not to mention Apple's self-proclaimed slavish devotion to user privacy.)

However, with its nigh-limitless resources, we're sure Apple can figure out how to improve Siri with or without our voices.

• These are the best Macs we've tested this year

Microsoft has cryptically announced an October 2 event that will be held in New York City. The invitation depicts a Windows logo that is incomplete and simply states "Save the date."

The company's invitation adds nothing more for us to speculate upon, but the timing could not be better. 

By the time of the event, it will have been nearly a whole year since Microsoft has shown off any consumer hardware products – and two years since the Surface Book 2 released.

• Here's what we think of Surface Pro 6
• Surface Laptop 2 was a major improvement
• Our thoughts on the Surface Studio 2 

Get ready for new Surfaces

Judging purely by the amount of time that has passed since Microsoft has released the Surface Pro 6 or Surface Laptop 2, it's high time for the company to refresh at least these two products.

Of course, we have lots of expectations for the Surface Pro 7 and Surface Laptop 3, particularly for them to finally support USB-C or, if we're really lucky, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity. Frankly, it's time to sunset the proprietary Surface Connect port.

Then, there's the possibility of a Surface Book 3 or Surface Studio 3. Both are well overdue for proper updates with Nvidia 20-Series graphics and 10th-generation Intel Core processors. Particularly, we'd love to see both devices lean into their professional capabilities and power levels, differentiating them even further from the rest of the Surface line.

Then, there's the possibility of this rumored Surface device codenamed Centaurus, a dual-screen 2-in-1 laptop in reportedly in development at Microsoft, to debut during this event. Regardless, we'll be there covering it live, so sit tight.

• These are the best laptops we've tested within the past year