Technologies

COP28 Climate Deal Marks ‘Beginning of the End’ for Fossil Fuels

A landmark agreement sees the biggest global push yet away from gas, coal and oil toward a future powered by renewable energy.

This July, as heat waves swept across Europe and the US, NASA and the European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service both made a damning prediction: 2023 was set to be the hottest year on record. Now, with the Northern Hemisphere’s extreme summer heat and wildfires behind us, we’re still on track for that prediction to be correct.

Furthermore, a study led by renowned NASA climate scientist James Hansen and published in November puts us on track to blow past the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to preindustrial levels this decade, rather than next, as previously thought. This threshold marks a tipping point for our planet, after which, scientists say, Earth will experience devastating and irreversible changes that threaten lives, livelihoods and habitats.

This is the scientific reality that politicians and officials representing countries from across the world grappled with as they assembled this December in Dubai at the UN’s COP28 climate conference. Throughout the confab, they assessed countries’ progress toward meeting the goal laid out in the 2015 Paris Agreement of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while working out how to wean society off fossil fuels.

The result? A landmark deal, agreed to by nearly 200 countries, to «transition away from fossil fuels» for the first time. Getting the explicit language around fossil fuels into the text was a hard-won victory — although not everyone views it that way. Climate activists, scientists and small island nations criticized a draft of the document published earlier in the week for dropping references to «phasing out» fossil fuels.

«Whilst we didn’t turn the page on the fossil fuel era in Dubai, this outcome is the beginning of the end,» UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell said in his closing speech. «Now all governments and businesses need to turn these pledges into real-economy outcomes, without delay.»

Whether climate summits like COP28 are an effective way to tackle the climate crisis is a heavily debated topic in environmental circles. As an attendee at the two previous climate summits (COP27 in Egypt and COP26 in Scotland), I’ve witnessed firsthand the struggle between countries to reach agreements and the frustration of other participants at the lack of ambition. The same was true in Dubai this year — perhaps more so than ever, given the looming presence of fossil fuel companies at the summit.

«The influence of petrostates is still evident in the half measures and loopholes included in the final agreement,»environmentalistand former US Vice President Al Gore said as the summit drew to a close. «Whether this is a turning point that truly marks the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era depends on the actions that come next and the mobilization of finance required to achieve them.»

Even as scientists have been clear with their warnings about human-caused climate change, they’ve also been clear about the solutions: The transition to renewable energy sources, such as solar, hydro and wind, must be prioritized to minimize the amount of greenhouse gasses being pumped into the atmosphere. Plus, if we’re to stand a chance of creating a livable future on our planet, there can be no new development of fossil fuel projects.

This isn’t exactly what politicians want to hear. While they’re onboard with embracing and expanding renewables, many governments, including the UK and the US, continue to greenlight new gas and oil projects. But when they come together at the UN summit, other participants demand they justify their actions on the global stage, as everyone attempts to get on the same page about how to tackle the most pressing problem of our time.

«Countries are far off track in meeting climate promises and commitments,» UN Secretary General António Guterres said in a press conference in June. «I see a lack of ambition. A lack of trust. A lack of support. A lack of cooperation. And an abundance of problems around clarity and credibility.

«It’s time to wake up and step up,» he said.

As anyone will know who’s wrestled with a personal cost/benefit analysis on whether to install solar panels on their house or if it makes sense to buy an EV, trying to make the best decisions for the future of our planet isn’t always straightforward. But gatherings such as COP represent our best chance of getting everyone on the same page.

What is COP28?

COP28 is the most important event on the climate calendar. The annual global meetup this year was in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.

The United Nations has been hosting COP (which stands for «conference of the parties») summits since 1995 as a way to gather the countries annually and assess progress in dealing with climate change. It’s at COPs that governments have signed some of the most significant climate agreements, including the 1995 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris Agreement.

Not everyone was happy that COP28 took in the UAE, a petrostate that’s one of the top five oil-producing countries in the world. This is compounded by the fact that the man the UAE called upon to serve as president for this year’s event is Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the head of Adnoc, the UAE’s biggest oil company. Climate activist Greta Thunberg called the decision «completely ridiculous.»

Al Jaber, who also serves as chairman of the UAE state-owned renewables company Masdar, told The Guardian in an interview last month that while he wasn’t the obvious man for the job, he was committed to making the summit a success. «My focus is to phase out emissions from everything,» he said. «Regardless of where it comes from.»

In the week leading up to the climate talks, the BBC and Centre for Climate Reporting revealed they had obtained copies of official briefing documents in which the UAE outlined plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with nations during preliminary COP28 talks.

In the opening days of the summit, the Guardian revealed that Al Jaber had said at an event in November that there was no scientific basis for needing to phase out fossil fuels and that pursuing a full phase-out would «take the world back into caves.» Climate scientists and other critics objected heavily to this statement, arguing that phasing out fossil fuels was the only way the world stands a chance of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.

«The COP28 agreement, while signalling the need to bring about the end of the fossil fuel era, falls short by failing to commit to a full fossil fuel phase out,» Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, former UN human rights commissioner and chair of the Elders, said of the outcome of the summit. «If 1.5 degrees Celsius is our ‘North Star,’ and science our compass, we must swiftly phase out all fossil fuels to chart a course towards a liveable future.»

Who did (and didn’t) attend COP28, and what are they saying?

As COP28 kicked off in Dubai, the summit reported 80,000 people were registered to attend, making it the largest COP ever. The attendee list included many of the world’s most powerful and influential figures who are currently assembling under one roof to hammer out deals designed to ensure a livable future.

The White House confirmed just days before the summit started that President Joe Biden would not attend this year’s climate talks. Biden was conspicuous by his absence after previously making high-profile stops at COP27 last year in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, and at 2021’s COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. He’s also talked many times about putting the climate at the heart of his administration.

In his place, Vice President Kamala Harris and Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry led a US delegation to Dubai, including senators and members of Congress. «The decision embraces transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems so as to achieve net zero by 2050,» said Kerry in a press conference at the close of the summit. «And the first and easiest thing that countries need to do to make this commitment a reality is to stop building new unabated coal.»

Other notable people who attended COP28 include King Charles III, a longtime supporter of environmental causes who made the opening address of the summit. He reminded attendees that «the world does not belong to us,» as he issued a call to arms to leaders attending the summit.

One high-profile, highly anticipated person was forced to bow out of COP at the last moment due to illness: Pope Francis. His visit to the UN climate summit would have been a first for any pontiff. In a papal exhortation in October, he urged governments to make COP28 a turning point. The pope called for decisive action and defended the actions of climate activists fighting for a just transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewables.

Along with the officials from government delegations, climate activists and members of civil society and nongovernmental organizations play an important role at the UN climate summit. Many of them are normal people who have become involved in the climate justice movement through local and national campaigning.

Their presence at COP is considered to be crucial, as they help to hold governments accountable when they don’t fulfill their commitments. It also means that people who are being affected by climate-related issues have their voices heard by those with decision-making power.

It’s up to individual countries as to who they include in their national delegations at COP, and for some, this means including representatives of fossil fuel companies. Last year at COP27, Global Witness counted 636 people with ties to fossil fuel companies – a number that rose to 2,456 this year.

What was on the agenda at COP28?

COP is always a highly political event, but this year the focus was on discussions about making access to renewable power more cheaply and easily available, creating green jobs and ensuring that people around the world have access to fresh air, clean water and a healthy environment to live and work in.

The agenda for COP28 was dictated largely by the president of the event, who is chosen by and from the host nation. This summer, Al Jaber outlined four priorities for the summit:

Fast-tracking the renewable energy transition.
Fixing climate finance by securing funding for the most affected, lower-income countries from wealthier, high-polluting countries.
Focusing on people, livelihoods and nature.
Making this the most inclusive UN climate summit to date.

Preliminary talks ahead of the summit saw an agreement to phase out fossil fuels rise to the top of expected outcomes for COP28. This would be an important step after two years ago in Glasgow, when language in the final agreement around ending reliance on coal was watered down at the last moment to read «phase down» rather than «phase out.»

These small differences have caused huge divisions between countries at previous climate conferences, and did so again at COP28, where many countries walked away from the talk frustrated at the vague reference to «transition away» from fossil fuels. «The resolution is marred by loopholes that offer the fossil fuel industry numerous escape routes, relying on unproven, unsafe technologies,» said Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International.

Still, the inclusion of language around fossil fuels has been hailed as breakthrough. Brokering such an agreement was a tough task for Al Jaber, and until late in the day, it looked like it might not happen.

The deal was far from the only important outcome to emerge from COP27. On the opening day of the summit, the UN announced a partnership with Microsoft that will see it use an AI-powered tool to measure how well countries are following through on their climate pledges, The New York Times reported. COP’s detractors, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, frequently criticize the conference for putting too much emphasis on empty promises (or «blah blah blah,» as Thunberg calls it) that yield little to no action. If it works as promised, the UN and Microsoft’s use of AI could significantly improve accountability and highlight the countries not pulling their weight.

One anticipated source of tension was around financing climate reparations. But the first announcement out of COP28 confirmed that a deal had been struck to establish a loss and damage fund. This was an early win for Al Jaber, but more significantly for the civil society groups and climate justice activists who have been fighting for decades for a breakthrough that will hopefully see compensation reach those who are most impacted by climate change but have done the least to cause it.

For more on the key outcomes of COP28, Carbon Brief has a comprehensive list of announcements and deals. The US made many announcements at the summit, all which can be found here.

Next year’s summit, COP29, is set to be held in Azerbaijan. Between now and then, there is much work for all the countries involved in the UN process to be getting on with — namely, working hard and fast to meet their net zero commitments. «Climate action must not cease because the gavel has come down on COP28,» Robinson said. «World leaders must continue to urgently pull together and find ways forward to tackle this existential threat. Every day of delay condemns millions to an uninhabitable world.»

Technologies

Apple Expands Official Self Service Repair Options to Include iPads

DIY types, take note, the updated Self Service Repair Store provides iPad owners a whole new world of options.

Having iPad trouble? With Apple’s May 29 expansion of its Self Service Repair Store, you may be able to fix your device at home.

Users will have the choice of taking their iPads to an Apple Store Genius Bar or attempting certain repairs by themselves with help from Apple’s own resources. The Self Service Repair Store will now offer genuine iPad parts (including displays, batteries, cameras and charging ports), repair toolkits and the ability to arrange an Apple Diagnostics session, among other add-ons. This change also affects independent repair providers who were not previously able to legally repair iPads or offer parts to customers.

The service expansion will cover the iPad Air (M2 and later), iPad Pro (M4), iPad mini (A17 Pro) and iPad (A16) models.

This follows past expansions Apple has made to its self-repair program, which started in 2022, such as adding the MacBook Pro in 2023. At the time, we noted that this move may be in response to the Right to Repair movement, which has led to repair-oriented legislation in all 50 states. Whatever the reason, Apple has now expanded its own self-repair options to tablet owners.

«At Apple, our goal is to create the world’s greatest products that last as long as possible,» Brian Naumann, vice president of AppleCare, said in a statement. «With today’s announcement, we’re excited to expand our repair services to more customers, enabling them to further extend the life of their products, all without compromising safety, security, or privacy.»

Apple also announced its Self Service Repair options would be expanding this summer into Canada, making it the 34th country offering the program. A representative for Apple did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Technologies

T-Mobile Says It’s Not Spying on You. What the New Screen Recording Tool Actually Does

A new setting that looks like a privacy risk is popping up for some customers. T-Mobile explains what’s really going on.

Some T-Mobile customers during the past week have been surprised to discover a new — and enabled by default — feature in the T-Life app called «Screen recording tool.» In light of recent iffy recording tools such as Microsoft’s Recall AI feature in Windows, seeing a feature that records the contents of your screen is bound to raise privacy concerns.

Screen Recording in T-life
by
u/Ok_Theory5606 in
tmobile

How to disable Screen recording tool if you see it

If you’re a T-Mobile subscriber, you can check if this new option has been turned on by opening the T-Life app, tapping Manage and then tapping Settings (the gear icon). The Screen recording tool option shows up under the Preferences heading.

If the option is there, tap it to reveal a description and a toggle switch. The description reads: «We use a tool to record how customers use the app to analyze and improve your experience. Only T-Mobile will review and analyze your info. If you turn this toggle on or magenta, we will record your screen while you use the app. If you turn this toggle off or gray, we will not record your screen.»

To disable the feature, tap the switch so it becomes gray. (The «magenta» and «gray» in the text refer to the color of the toggle switch to indicate whether it’s active or not, respectively.)

Why T-Mobile stands behind the new feature

When I reached out to the company for more information, a T-Mobile spokesperson defended the feature, saying it was designed to improve the user experience.

«To help us give customers who use T-Life a smoother experience, we are rolling out a new tool in the app that will help us quickly troubleshoot reported or detected issues,» the spokesperson said. «This tool records activities within the app only and does not see or access any personal information. If a customer’s T-Life app currently supports the new functionality, it can be turned off in the settings under preferences.»

According to a post on droidlife, which earlier referenced the issue, the new option shows up on both iPhone and Android phones.

Why opt-in is so important

On the face of it, the Screen recording tool appears to do what it says, and the fact that it’s limited to just the T-Life app is a reasonable, and expected, limitation.

But as with all potential privacy issues, the fact that T-Mobile is enabling the feature by default has rightly made customers suspicious. It should be off initially, and if an issue arises that would require screen recording, then the company could get permission from the phone owner to turn it on.

T-Mobile in fact has a similar setup within the T-Life app. There’s another screen recording feature that is completely separate from this new Screen recording tool. In the app’s settings, under Help & support, is Screen Share, which can be used during a support call. It allows a T-Mobile expert to view your phone’s screen while troubleshooting an issue. It requires several steps and requires you to consent to having your screen recorded before allowing a support expert to connect to the app.

If you’ve ever tried to help a friend or family member over the phone and asked them to describe what’s on the screen, you’ll appreciate how helpful it can be to view what they’re seeing directly.

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Technologies

CNET’s Daily Tariff Price Tracker: I’m Following 11 Key Products to Help Monitor Tariff Impacts

As inconsistent as things have been, Donald Trump’s tariff policies are still certain to cause price hikes in the US, and I’m here to help track the price moves for things you might want to buy.

President Donald Trump ramped up his clashes with companies over their reactions to his contentious tariff agenda in the past few weeks. For starters, he demanded that Walmart eat the cost of the new import taxes after the company said its prices would go up by the summer because of his import taxes. To close out last week, he threatened Apple with a 25% duty on its products if it doesn’t move manufacturing to the US, a prospect that has been widely dismissed as a fantasy. The president also threatened a 50% tariff on the European Union but pushed that idea back to July after speaking with trade representatives for the union.

The basic truth of the situation is that tariffs are almost certainly going to cause prices to climb and with this piece I’ve been tracking just that: the daily effect of Trump’s tariffs on the prices of 11 popular products you might want or need to buy, whether it be a new phone, laptop or your daily coffee. So far, we’ve seen notable price hikes for the flagship Xbox game console, while everything else has, as Amazon claimed, remained steady aside from occasional fluctuations that might not be tariff-related. That sort of consistency is far from certain, however, given the recent warnings from major retailers like Target and Walmart.

CNET Tariff Tracker Index

Above, you can check out a chart with the average price of the 11 included items over the course of 2025. This will help give you a sense of the overall price changes and fluctuations going on. Further down, you’ll be able to check out charts for each individual product being tracked.

A recent tariff agreement with China, much hyped by the White House, did significantly cut tariff rates against the US’s biggest trading partner. The new 30% rate is only temporary, however, and still historically high. It just looks more reasonable next to the ludicrous 145% rate that was previously in place. As those negotiations move along, companies continue to warn of impending price hikes to deal with the new tariffs, including Sony, which could potentially mean a price hike for its ever-popular PlayStation 5 consoles.

We’ll be updating this article regularly as prices change. It’s all in the name of helping you make sense of things so be sure to check back every so often. For more, check out CNET’s guide to whether you should wait to make big purchases or buy them now and get expert tips about how to prepare for a recession.

Methodology

We’re checking prices daily and will update the article and the relevant charts right away to reflect any changes. The following charts show a single bullet point for each month, with the most recent one labeled «Now» and showing the current price. For the past months, we’ve gone with what was the most common price for each item in the given month.

In most cases, the price stats used in these graphs were pulled from Amazon using the historical price-tracker tool Keepa. For the iPhones, the prices come from Apple’s official materials and are based on the 128-gigabyte base model of the latest offering for each year: the iPhone 14, iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. For the Xbox Series X, the prices were sourced from Best Buy using the tool PriceTracker. If any of these products happen to be on sale at a given time, we’ll be sure to let you know and explain how those price drops differ from longer-term pricing trends that tariffs can cause.

The 11 products we’re tracking

Mostly what we’re tracking in this article are electronic devices and digital items that CNET covers in depth, like iPhones and affordable 4K TVs — along with a typical bag of coffee, a more humble product that isn’t produced in the US to any significant degree.

The products featured were chosen for a few reasons: Some of them are popular and/or affordable representatives for major consumer tech categories, like smartphones, TVs and game consoles. Others are meant to represent things that consumers might buy more frequently, like printer ink or coffee beans. Some products were chosen over others because they are likely more susceptible to tariffs. Some of these products have been reviewed by CNET or have been featured in some of our best lists.

iPhone 16, 128GB
Duracell AA batteries, 24-pack
Samsung DU7200 65-inch TV
Xbox Series X
Apple AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C case
HP 962 CMY Printer Ink
Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank
Bose TV speaker
Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook, 256GB
Starbucks 28-ounce ground dark roast coffee

Below, we’ll get into more about each individual product.

iPhone 16

The iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand in the US, so this was a clear priority for price tracking. The iPhone has also emerged as a major focal point for conversations about tariffs, given its popularity and its susceptibility to import taxes because of its overseas production, largely in China. Trump has reportedly been fixated on the idea that the iPhone can and should be manufactured in the US, an idea that experts have dismissed as a fantasy. Estimates have also suggested that a US-made iPhone would cost as much as $3,500.

Something to note about this graph: The price listed is the one you’ll see if you buy your phone through a major carrier. If you, say, buy direct from Apple or Best Buy without a carrier involved, you’ll be charged an extra $30, so in some places, you might see the list price of the standard iPhone 16 listed as $830.

Apple has made several moves this year to protect its prices in the US as much as possible, like flying in bulk shipments of product ahead of the tariffs taking effect and working to move production for the American market from China to India, where tariff rates are less severe. This latter move provoked a response from Trump, given his noted fixation on the iPhone, saying last week that he «had a little problem» with Tim Cook over the move, claiming without evidence that the Apple CEO pledged to bring more manufacturing to the US. Cook and others close to the company for years say that the supply chains for its products are too complex to move manufacturing entirely to the US.

This week, Trump further threatened a 25% penalty rate against Apple products if it did not move manufacturing to the US. How that will play out is still unclear, but notably, foreign-made iPhones with 25% tax would still probably be much cheaper than iPhones predominantly made in the US.

Duracell AA batteries

A lot of the tech products in your home might boast a rechargeable energy source but individual batteries are still an everyday essential and I can tell you from experience that as soon as you forget about them, you’ll be needing to restock. The Duracell AAs we’re tracking are some of the bestselling batteries on Amazon.

Samsung DU7200 TV

Alongside smartphones, televisions are some of the most popular tech products out there, even if they’re an infrequent purchase. This particular product is a popular entry-level 4K TV and was CNET’s pick for best overall budget TV for 2025. Unlike a lot of tech products that have key supply lines in China, Samsung is a South Korean company so it might have some measure of tariff resistance.

For most of 2025, this model has hovered around $400 but it’s currently sitting at about $429. Whether this is a temporary fluctuation or a more permanent price hike, we’ll let you know as time goes on.

Xbox Series X

Video game software and hardware are a market segment expected to be hit hard by the Trump tariffs. Microsoft’s Xbox is the first console brand to see price hikes — the company cited «market conditions» along with the rising cost of development. Most notably, this included an increase in the price of the flagship Xbox Series X, up from $500 to $600. Numerous Xbox accessories also were affected and the company also said that «certain» games will eventually see a price hike from $70 to $80.

Initially, we were tracking the price of the much more popular Nintendo Switch as a representative of the gaming market. Nintendo has not yet hiked the price of its handheld-console hybrid and stressed that the $450 price tag of the upcoming Switch 2 has not yet been inflated because of tariffs. Sony, meanwhile, has so far only increased prices on its PlayStation hardware in markets outside the US.

AirPods Pro 2

The latest iteration of Apple’s wildly popular true-wireless earbuds are here to represent the headphone market. Much to the chagrin of the audiophiles out there, a quick look at sales charts on Amazon shows you just how much the brand dominates all headphone sales. Earlier in the year, they tended to hover around $199 on the site, a notable discount from its $249 list price. In the past month, however, its gotten closer to that price on Amazon, so if you’re looking to buy a pair, you might want to consider doing it sooner rather than later.

HP 962 CMY printer ink

This HP printer ink includes cyan, magenta and yellow all in one product and recently saw its price jump from around $72 — where it stayed for most of 2025 — to $80, which is around its highest price over the last five years. We will be keeping tabs to see if this is a long-term change or a brief uptick.

This product replaced Overture PLA Filament for 3D printers in this piece, but we’re still tracking that item.

Anker 10,000-mAh, 30-watt power bank

Anker’s accessories are perennially popular in the tech space and the company has already announced that some of its products will get more expensive as a direct result of tariffs. This specific product has also been featured in some of CNET’s lists of the best portable chargers. While the price has remained steady throughout the year, it is currently on sale for $16 on Amazon, but only for Prime members.

Bose TV speaker

Soundbars have become important purchases, given the often iffy quality of the speakers built into TVs. While not the biggest or the best offering in the space, the Bose TV Speaker is one of the more affordable soundbar options out there, especially hailing from a brand as popular as Bose. This product has been one of the steadiest on this list in terms of price throughout the year, but it’s currently on sale for $199, potentially as part of Amazon’s Memorial Day sale. So, if you’re looking for an affordable, tariff-free TV speaker, now might be the time.

Oral-B Pro 1000 electric toothbrush

They might be a lot more expensive than their traditional counterparts but electric toothbrushes remain a popular choice for consumers because of how well they get the job done. I know my dentist won’t let up on how much I need one. This particular Oral-B offering was CNET’s overall choice for the best electric toothbrush for 2025.

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook

Lenovo is notable among the big laptop manufacturers for being a Chinese company making its products especially susceptible to Trump’s tariffs.

Starbucks Ground Coffee (28-ounce bag)

Coffee is included in this tracker because of its ubiquity —I’m certainly drinking too much of it these days —and because it’s uniquely susceptible to Trump’s tariff agenda. Famously, coffee beans can only be grown within a certain distance from Earth’s equator, a tropical span largely outside the US and known as the «Coffee Belt.»

Hawaii is the only part of the US that can produce coffee beans, with data from USAFacts showing that 11.5 million pounds were harvested there in the 2022-23 season — little more than a drop in the mug, as the US consumed 282 times that amount of coffee during that period. Making matters worse, Hawaiian coffee production has declined in the past few years.

All that to say: Americans get almost all of their coffee from overseas, making it one of the most likely products to see price hikes from tariffs.