Technologies

Save the Date: Apple Officially Announces iPhone 15 Event ‘Wonderlust’

We expect to see the iPhone 15, Apple Watch Series 9 and more at the company’s annual fall event.

Apple sent out invites Tuesday for its fall launch event, where we expect to see the iPhone 15 and several other devices revealed. The «Wonderlust» event will be Sept. 12 at 10 a.m. PT.

This falls within Apple’s usual timeline of holding its iPhone launch event in mid-to-late September. Last year’s event for the iPhone 14 and Apple Watch Ultra was held Sept. 7, 2022, for instance.

The iPhone 15 will likely be the marquee device revealed. We expect to see four models released this year: a standard and larger Plus in the lower tier, and a more advanced Pro and Pro Max in the pricier tier.

It’s never quite clear what else will launch alongside each year’s iPhone, though in the last several years a new Apple Watch, AirPods and standard iPad have been shown off at these events.

There’s one new device that will almost certainly make an appearance: the Apple Vision Pro. The AR/VR headset, revealed at WWDC 2023 in June, isn’t expected to start arriving in Apple stores and shipping to customers until early 2024. So don’t expect it to get an early release this fall. But we’d be surprised if Apple didn’t take the opportunity to hype its next exciting advance in personal technology — even if businesses will likely be the only ones to foot the headset’s wallet-melting $3,500 price.

We could also see more announcements for Apple’s services, with new additions to Music, TV Plus, Fitness and iCloud.

What other products we’ll see Sept. 12 — and that will be available to buy before the holidays — is a bit tougher to determine. Here are our best guesses for what Apple will show off on its stage.

Reading the Apple tea leaves

As previously stated, we’re confident that Apple will follow tradition and release a new phone lineup (iPhone 15) and watch series (Apple Watch Series 9). The company could still throw a few curveballs within those lineups, though.

The iPhone 15 is heavily rumored to switch to USB-C this year across all models. Only the pricier Pro and Pro Max models will get a new A16 bionic chipset, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman said, while the standard iPhone 15 and Plus models will use the A15 chip that came in last year’s premium iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max models. This follows Apple’s new tradition of only giving the top-tier models the newest mobile chipsets. On the upside, the standard models are expected to swap out the notch for the multipurpose Dynamic Island.

There’s been no hint of a new iPhone SE, with the third and most recent model of Apple’s affordable phone line launching in March 2022, so we wouldn’t expect a new one at this year’s fall launch event.

We expect to see the Apple Watch Series 9, though the latest rumors suggest we’ll only get new processors and fresh colors — but not the glucose monitoring that earlier leaks suggested might be coming. It’s not clear if we’ll get new versions of the Apple Watch Ultra or iPhone SE (second generation), which debuted and were refreshed last year, respectively.

It’s also a pretty safe bet to expect a new standard iPad, since the model has been refreshed every year since 2017. A new iPad Air is unlikely, as the line was last refreshed in March 2022. Similarly, new versions of the 11-inch and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models with M2 chips came out in October 2022. It has been two years since the last iPad Mini came out in 2021, but that series hasn’t been updated as regularly as other models in recent years.

Further down Apple’s product line, it’s harder to tell what might come and what may wait for early 2024 and beyond. We could see some unexpected launches, but with the Vision Pro taking the spotlight, it doesn’t seem like Apple needs much more than its darling headset to wow its faithful flock. That said, Apple built a reputation on last-minute surprises, so we’ll always hold out for One More Thing.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 24 #539

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Aug. 24, No. 539.

Looking for the most recent Strands answers? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Strands puzzle is a tough one. Long words, short words, they’re all over the map. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Plug your ears.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Check the decibel level.

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

BLAST, LAST, LABS, TING, STING, BOOT, DENT, DENTS, GOON, NITS, SIRE, STIR, RISE, ROSE

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

LOUD, NOISY, BOOMING, BLASTING, STRIDENT, BOISTEROUS

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is HUBBUB. To find it, look for the H that’s five letters down on the far-right row, and wind backwards.

Toughest Strands puzzles

Here are some of the Strands topics I’ve found to be the toughest in recent weeks.

#1: Dated slang, Jan. 21. Maybe you didn’t even use this lingo when it was cool. Toughest word: PHAT.

#2: Thar she blows! Jan.15. I guess marine biologists might ace this one. Toughest word: BALEEN or RIGHT.

#3: Off the hook, Jan. 9. Similar to the Jan. 15 puzzle in that it helps to know a lot about sea creatures. Sorry, Charlie. Toughest word: BIGEYE or SKIPJACK

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, Aug. 24

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 24.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s Mini Crossword cites one of my favorite childhood shows in 6-Across. Hint: Think of a red-headed comedian who was famous for tugging her ear and for some classic commercial parodies — and who is still with us at age 92. Need answers for today’s NYT Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Perch for a family photo
Answer: SHELF

6A clue: Burnett with a variety show from 1967 to 1978
Answer: CAROL

7A clue: Plant that yields mezcal
Answer: AGAVE

8A clue: Deceptive ploys
Answer: RUSES

9A clue: «You’ve gotta be kidding me!»
Answer: YEESH

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: How a leap of faith might feel
Answer: SCARY

2D clue: Dutch seat of government, with «The»
Answer: HAGUE

3D clue: What many pencils can do that magic markers can’t
Answer: ERASE

4D clue: Holds dear
Answer: LOVES

5D clue: _ and blood (kin)
Answer: FLESH

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 24, #805

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Aug. 24, #805.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a real mix. The green category reminds me that the puzzle editors love to find common words that have second meanings that are somewhat rare. Hint: «Rent» doesn’t only mean money you pay to a landlord. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Cheers!

Green group hint: You don’t want this to happen to your pants.

Blue group hint: Sssss…

Purple group hint: Do this with a phone.