Technologies
How Microsoft fixed Halo Infinite after facing the franchise’s biggest test yet
Last summer, fans were so disappointed by a public demo that Microsoft delayed it a year. That delay ends Dec. 8.

Microsoft wants Halo Infinite to be many things, and it will be tricky to balance them all. It’s the Halo team’s first attempt at a free-to-play online shooter. It also has a dramatic new multihour installment in the saga of its primary hero, Master Chief, told in an «open-world» setting where players can wander and explore rather than being sent from mission to mission.
But that all was in jeopardy with the Master Chief’s most hardcore fans a year and a half ago, when Microsoft showed off its first demonstration of Halo Infinite’s gameplay. At the time, the game was to helm the launch of Microsoft’s next big video game consoles, the $500 Xbox Series X and $300 Xbox Series S. Both devices focused on performance as their selling point, promising more intricately designed and better-looking games.
The fan outcry over the demo, which Microsoft had titled Ascension, convinced the company to delay the game another year to avert tarnishing one of the industry’s most storied video game franchises. That year ends on Wednesday, when Halo Infinite’s new story will go on sale for $60 for the Xbox and PC and will be made available for free for subscribers to the Xbox Game Pass. (The multiplayer online component of the game was made available as a beta on Nov. 15.)
Bonnie Ross, a Microsoft corporate vice president and head of Halo maker 343 Industries, said the challenge her team faced was that of overambition. Microsoft wanted to offer Halo Infinite on Xbox and PC at the same time, another first, requiring additional engineering to make it work well with different types of computers and with Valve’s Steam online store, in addition to Microsoft’s own Xbox service.
In an interview shortly before the game’s launch, Ross discussed Halo Infinite’s development, which has been difficult not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic. All its firsts, she said, amounted to a lot of demands on the team. And that’s on top of the struggle any installment in a beloved longtime franchise faces: making a game that’s approachable for newcomers while satisfying for fans.
«It should feel familiar and comfortable if you’re a Halo player, and you should be able to see things other can’t because of the lore, but it should also be a place where a new person can come in and have a story,» she said. «This is our time to make sure we are paying homage to what is Halo.»
It’s been two decades since Master Chief, the primary hero of the Halo universe, blasted onto our screens. And to say it blasted is an understatement. As the launch title for Microsoft’s then-new Xbox video game console, Halo was front and center, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon.
More than 81 million copies of Halo games have been sold so far. But it’s so much larger than that. Halo has spawned toys, cartoons, live-action adaptations, an esports league, more than 30 novels and about a dozen games. There’s a Halo version of Hasbro’s board game Risk and even an official gold-plated necklace shaped like one of the game’s most popular alien weapons, the energy sword.
Ross has been at Microsoft for more than three decades, earlier working on titles like the Zoo Tycoon simulation game and the action adventure Crackdown. She took over Halo in 2007, when the original developer, Bungie, split off from Microsoft in order to make the online shooting game Destiny.
Halo Infinite’s development was different from previous installments in part because it was being built on new coding technology, called the SlipSpace game engine, which was designed to help Halo’s developers create the expansive space-age world where Master Chief fights foes to save humanity.
Ross said SlipSpace wasn’t ready enough before the game began being built. «It’s kind of like we’re trying to fly the plane while we’re building the plane,» she said. The result was that it took longer to bring all the different images, designs and sounds together. «That just caused a lot of pain for people.»
By the time of Microsoft’s first big gameplay reveal in the summer of 2020, mere months before the game’s planned full launch, the team was working to cut visual quality in an effort to get the game finished in time. Some people within the Halo team worried the cuts were too deep, Ross said. When fans reacted poorly to what they saw, Microsoft pushed the game to the fall of this year.
«We just took on too much real estate,» she said. «We had a very ambitious initial creative direction that I think for a while strayed us away from the core of what we wanted to deliver on: paying homage to Halo.»
Today, Ross said she’s proud of what the team’s accomplished, and early reviews for the parts of the game that have been made public have been glowing.
«Given the slow burn recession the series has experienced over the past decade, it’s impossible to read Halo Infinite as anything other than a shocking return to form,» CNET’s Mark Serrels wrote in his review of the game Monday. «Halo Infinite is a very special video game.»
GameSpot’s Jordan Ramée, who gave the game a «superb» score of 9 out of 10, said that while the story occasionally falters, it otherwise «feels like the best Halo campaign in years and an excellent evolution of what Halo can be.»
Below are edited excerpts from our conversation with Ross.
Halo has one of the longest development times for a regular running series in the industry. Why does it take so long?
Ross: I’ll be transparent: I think you could probably see it was not intended to be quite as long. We needed time to overhaul the engine, figure out free-to-play and figure out how to have a more expansive world. And so, just that tech infrastructure just took a lot more time than we had had planned. I think that there’s a lot of learnings on doing both, as they were both new things for us to do. So I would just say that those just took longer than we had planned to do that. And then you can add COVID in there to make it even harder to do anything.
It seems from the outside that development was a struggle, COVID aside. What did your team run up against?
There’s a lot of different things there. I’d say one thing would be that we made the commitment to create a new engine and overhaul. And there were pieces that were not done as we were moving into preproduction and even production. It’s kind of like we’re trying to fly the plane while we’re building the plane. And I think that that just caused a lot of pain for people. Things just took way longer than they should to get the content into the game and make sure the content is polished.
We had a very ambitious initial creative direction that I think for a while strayed us away from the core of what we wanted to deliver on: paying homage to Halo. I think we just took on too much real estate.
Was that ambitious «initial creative direction» the open-world mechanics?
I want to say I’m super proud with where we are. And we took the time to get there. But if you could go back in time, there are some decisions — maybe we shouldn’t have tried so many new things at once. Like doing free-to-play and doing a more expansive world with your more traditional story, but you’re also allowed to have a lot more agency in your play. Those two things are huge in and of themselves. And we decided to take them both on.
It just meant we had to be a lot more thoughtful on what is the most important thing to land with each of those. So again, where we are today, I’m so proud of what the team got to. And as far as a leadership perspective, there are probably decisions — not probably, there are decisions I should have made earlier on that would have made an easier development path for the team.
And those decisions being whittling down some of the effort?
Yes, or even picking one and not both of them.
So COVID is this big thing in the room. I’ve heard a lot about how it’s impacted work all over the place. I think a lot of people see game development as being hunched over a keyboard all the time because it’s on computers, so why is it any different in the office or at home?
Ross: The positive was that it was incredibly impressive how quickly — from the moment we were told to go home for just two weeks, and hopefully it wasn’t going to be more than that — we were actually able to get the team up and productive. I assumed we were a day-for-day slip [needing to delay the game’s launch] being in the pandemic, but I would say that the team definitely pulled together and was able to be a lot more productive than I had anticipated.
But what you lose: You talk about how yes, it’s technology, but it’s also art. You just lose that shared perspective. Even where we obviously stumbled on the Ascension demo, we shouldn’t have.
I do want to say there were multiple people on the team pointing out, «Hey, I think this is wrong.» But we’re all looking at it at home on whatever monitor with whatever color grading that we have. And that was a huge wakeup call for us. We did need to have those touch points with people coming in, sitting side by side — at a distance — and looking at monitors.
After Ascension, we cleared out a whole section of our fourth floor and then put monitors in with all the different versions of the game and then also set up cameras so people who didn’t feel comfortable coming in could still work from home and participate from home.
And then basically, we had someone that kind of controlled and said, «OK, we’re looking at this build on this screen» and everyone can give input. And the team came in, and for both campaign and multiplayer, weekly to do those evaluations. And that, just I don’t think at least for where we were in production for our game, we couldn’t do that from home.
Again, I’m incredibly impressed with what the team was able to do, but you know yourself and from your friends or family, COVID created additional life challenges and personal challenges. I definitely feel that a lot of focus was on just people contact and spending your time that you would have on a one-on-one making sure the team’s OK. I don’t know, I kind of meandered from what your question was.
But that’s important. They are human beings, and as much as they’re professionals and good at what they do, I think all of us had that fuzzy time in the middle of all this where we couldn’t really get anything done. And multiply that by however large your team is, and that adds up.
Yup.
I think of your team as very attuned to your community. Did you already have a sense that you were going to need to delay before showing the summer 2020 demo?
What I would say happened before is we made a tremendous amount of cuts. And you see some of those cuts reflected in, I think, the Ascension demo. So we had people on the team already raising flags that we’ve cut too deep.
And I think that was just more of a very public look in the mirror that, «Yes, we did indeed cut corners that we shouldn’t have cut,» and we needed to really take a step back and make sure that we were spending the time we needed.
But I would say, unfortunately, putting that out in public was not what the team wants to see. You know, I think the team wants to be proud of everything they put out and wants it to represent the quality of their work. And what we put out didn’t.
So I think that that was definitely a more visceral wakeup call than before, going, «Yeah, it’s really important to be there for day one launch [of the new Xbox]. And «We can do it» to «We actually can’t do it.»
That’s a journey for the team, but ultimately, what they were able to do with the additional year — I’m really proud of what they’ve been able to do.
One of the things I constantly hear from you or someone on the team is that this is a Master Chief story. In the past, with the previous game Halo 5, there was some controversy about how you played as Master Chief for some of it, but not others. I’m curious what you’ve learned, because obviously you need to grow and change and innovate, but there seems to be a limit to what at least parts of the community will accept.
I think that the Halo 5 story was not a bad story. It’s just not the story you want to have when you’re looking at a numbered game that’s sitting on Master Chief’s journey. It’s an interesting side story, but I think our learning is that we have to pay homage to what is Halo, and there are things that are sacred and Halo. And if you’re going to change them, you have to have a deliberate, meaningful reason, and you have to bring the audience along with you. And we just kind of jumped into a disruptive story. I think we missed, you know, with our campaign story. Again, not a bad story, not bad gameplay — I’m not criticizing the work there. It just wasn’t the right — that wasn’t what users would expect and I think, really, what is iconic to Halo. And it doesn’t mean that we can’t go tell different stories, it’s just you need to make sure you’re being pure and true with your programming why you’re making changes.
OK, a little off to the side, what is Infinite? We’ve had numbered games for a long time. Why Infinite now?
As we were looking at the console ecosystem and PC, I think that starting with a number means you kind of needed to be there for the whole series. And as we’re starting a service — a free-to-play service — we want to start from a point where if you love Halo and you know Halo, it feels comfortable. If you’ve never been in Halo, you can jump in whenever and experience any part and we’re gonna keep adding things, but we want to make sure that it’s open and inviting to everyone. So, it’s basically just, you know, a fresh start for how we look at Halo for the next 10 years. Like a platform upon which to build storytelling for the next 10 years.
So should I expect Halo 7 at some point? Or Halo Infinite Plus One?
I think we have our hands full in making sure that we stand up and support this game. So, infinitely Infinite.
Update, 11:36 a.m. PT: Clarifies name of Halo’s new game engine.
Technologies
The Duskbloods Is New FromSoftware Gaming Action Coming to Switch 2 in 2026
Talk about a surprise for the new Switch.

FromSoftware had a big day with the Switch 2 Direct. The company revealed a new game called The Duskbloods and confirmed that its smash-hit action RPG Elden Ring is coming to the new console, which launches on June 5 for $450.
The Duskbloods is exclusive to the Switch 2, which was a surprise announcement during the Switch 2 Direct. According to FromSoftware, the game is a player vs. player vs. enemy, or PvPvE, online multiplayer game similar to the developer’s upcoming Elden Ring: Nightreign.
Players will be part of the Bloodsworn, which is a group that has «transcended human strength thanks to their special blood.» Each individual will be playing against each other as well as taking on other foes.
The game features some mainstays for FromSoftware games, with a gothic tone and a focus on gore, like its popular Bloodborne game for the PS4. It does appear that characters have a few more abilities than seen in previous games from the cult developer.
The Duskbloods will release sometime in It will be released in 2026.
The Switch 2 will launch on June 5 and preorders will start on April 9 at retailers. The new console will feature plenty of third-party support, with major games like Borderlands 4, Madden and Civilization 7 coming from other publishers.
Technologies
Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Thursday, April 3
Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for April 3.

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 NYT Mini Crossword has two similar clues, 5-Across and 6-Across. They both play off the same idea — using the first part of two words to make one, all food-related. I didn’t get that at first, so I struggled with those two clues. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.
The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. 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 at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.
Mini across clues and answers
1A clue: Hit the ___ (go to bed)
Answer: SACK
5A clue: Misleading name for a sub/shish kebab restaurant?
Answer: SUSHI
6A clue: Misleading name for a taco/pasta restaurant?
Answer: TAPAS
7A clue: Certain sports bets
Answer: OVERS
8A clue: Cooped (up)
Answer: PENT
Mini down clues and answers
1D clue: Almost *too* sophisticated and charming
Answer: SUAVE
2D clue: Upscale Colorado skiing destination
Answer: ASPEN
3D clue: Word after bar or pie
Answer: CHART
4D clue: Smooch
Answer: KISS
5D clue: Word on an eight-sided traffic sign
Answer: STOP
How to play more Mini Crosswords
The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.
Technologies
Nintendo Switch 2: Everything We Know About the Console, New Games, Release Date
The $450 console will get Mario Kart World at launch, 4K gaming when docked, Switch 2 Edition game enhancements and new mouse controls.

The Nintendo Switch 2 console’s biggest reveal yet arrived Wednesday morning as part of the company’s Nintendo Direct event. This teed up a day of Switch 2 reveals that include its June 5 release date, a $450 price, its specs, and its initial game lineup that extends from launch into 2026.
The console will be further buoyed by having Mario Kart World as a launch title, which will go on sale in either a $500 bundle with the Switch 2 or on its own for $80 — making the open-world racing game one of Nintendo’s most expensive yet. Other games announced, such as Donkey Kong Bananza, are being priced around $70, which matches the cost of 2023’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. That Zelda game and Breath of the Wild are among the original Switch titles that will get enhanced Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades, a premium upgrade allowing players to get new features, modes and graphical enhancements that take advantage of the newer system’s capabilities.
Here are the top highlights from Nintendo’s console event, all of the games we’ve heard about so far (including new titles, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition titles and GameCube games coming to Nintendo Switch Online) and all of our coverage so far. You can also check out our Nintendo Switch 2 live blog for even more updates about the Switch 2 as we learn them.
- Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Live Recap: Launches June 5, $450 and More
- Nintendo Switch 2 Priced at $450, Coming June 5
- How to Preorder Nintendo Switch 2: All Store Links
- All Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Games Coming Day One
- Nintendo Is Taking on Scalpers With a Genius Switch 2 Purchase Rule
- What You Need to Know About Nintendo Switch 2 Edition Games
- Switch 2 Specs vs. Switch 1 Specs: How Nintendo’s Consoles Compare
- Every New Feature in Switch 2 Joy-Cons and Pro Controller
- GameCube Games Are Coming to Switch Online: Here’s the List
- Nintendo Switch 2: What We Didn’t Get During Nintendo Direct 2025
- Mario Kart Goes Open-World With Mario Kart World
- The Duskbloods Is New FromSoftware Gaming Action Coming to Switch 2 in 2026
- The Nintendo Switch 2 Is Almost Here, Grab Some Games From Just $20 to Celebrate
- Yes, Silksong Is Coming in 2025, as Revealed in Switch 2 Nintendo Direct
- Mario, Pokemon and More Will Get Free Nintendo Switch 2 Updates
- Switch 2’s Zelda Notes Could Revolutionize Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Wait for the Switch 2 Before Playing These 3 Nintendo Games
- Nintendo Switch 2: Here’s Why I Won’t Be Upgrading as a Fan of Cozy Games
- The Switch 2 Is Almost Here and You Need a Specific Type of MicroSD Card — Here’s Where to Find Them
Nintendo Switch 2 console
The Nintendo Switch 2’s specs saw a noticeable technical bump over the Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch, 1080p resolution LCD that supports a 120Hz refresh rate — matching what we now see on most Android phones. When the Switch 2 is docked, compatible games can run in 4K resolution. The new dock also includes a cooling fan.
The Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage, and the new Switch 2 Game Cards will load games faster. For digital libraries, however, the Switch 2 will only work with microSD Express cards, which are different from the microSD cards that are compatible with the prior Nintendo Switch. Nintendo will have a Software Transfer feature available to help move games and data from the original Switch to the Switch 2.
The new Joy-Con for the controllers will support mouse controls, and a new C button will be part of a new GameChat communication feature that allows both voice and video chat. There’s also a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing players to see each other.
The Switch 2 also adds a second USB-C port to the top of the system, which Nintendo says can help connect its new camera accessory or charge the console when playing in tabletop mode. Nintendo also revealed a new Switch 2 Pro Controller with the C button and customizable GL and GR buttons on the back.
Following the presentation, Nintendo unveiled the system’s price of $450 in the US. It will also sell the Switch 2 bundled with a digital version of Mario Kart World for $500.
Mario Kart World
Mario Kart World removes its traditional boundaries and lets drivers roam freely across an entire world of race courses. The game will get its own Nintendo Direct later this month, where we’ll see additional details, but we already know it’ll include traditional races and a Free Roam mode, much like in the Forza Horizon series.
Getting the game bundled for an extra $50 on the cost of the Switch 2 might be the move if you are interested in the game, because Nintendo announced on its website that standalone copies of Mario Kart World will cost $80.
Joy-Con 2 C button and GameChat
Nintendo’s rolling out its new C button across several new Switch 2 controllers. The button will be used for the new GameChat communication features without a headset. The button will be used alongside a microphone on the console itself, which Nintendo says can be used whether it’s docked to a TV or in handheld mode.
In its teaser video, Nintendo promises the microphone will be able to cancel out loud background noises. GameChat will also work with a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, allowing video chat and various camera-based game modes in supported titles. GameChat will be free at launch through March 31, 2026.
Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games upgrade titles
The Nintendo Switch 2 will play three types of games: original Switch games, Switch 2 games and Switch 2 Edition games that will receive substantial enhancements. For many of these Switch 2 Edition games, you’ll need to buy an upgrade pack if you own the original for Switch. Many of them will get more than just enhanced graphics in the upgrade; for example, Super Mario Party Jamboree will get new games that support the new Joy-Cons’ mouse controls, audio recognition and video camera gameplay options through the Switch 2 Camera.
Other Nintendo Switch games that are getting Switch 2 Edition options include The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Enhancements vary: The Zelda games will start working with a companion phone app for maps and sending schematics to friends, while Kirby will get a new story that’s exclusive to the Switch 2 Edition. On the third-party side, Civilization 7 will get mouse controls.
Nintendo did not announce what upgrade packs will cost. However, some Switch games will get free updates that will improve performance or enhance features when playing them on the Switch 2. The Switch games getting these updates include:
- Arms
- Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
- Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Game Builder Garage
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
- Pokemon Scarlet
- Pokemon Violet
- Big Brain Academy: Brain vs. Brain
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment is a new game set in the world of Zelda that tells the story that leads into The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. This appears to be similar to how Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity told the story of a war that led to the events of Breath of the Wild. The teaser shows Zelda discovering that she’s arrived in the past of Hyrule, and the game will expand on how she gets involved in the corresponding Imprisonment War.
Nintendo Switch 2 games
Several other first- and third-party games were spotlighted during the Switch 2 Direct. These include Donkey Bananza, one of the first 3D platforming games featuring DK since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64. Kirby will also return to the racing genre in Kirby Air Riders, which comes more than 20 years after the GameCube racer Kirby’s Air Ride. DragXDrive will use mouse controls to control a futuristic wheelchair basketball game in which players will simulate push and pull motions to control their character.
An onslaught of Switch 2 third-party games were quickly shuffled through during the Direct, which I list below. An unnamed James Bond game is in development at Hitman studio IO Interactive, as is a darker title from Elden Ring creator FromSoftware called The Duskbloods, which will be exclusive to the Switch 2.
The full list of announced Nintendo Switch 2 games includes:
- Borderlands 4
- Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster
- Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
- Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion
- Deltarune
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Drag x Drive
- EA Sports FC
- EA Sports Madden NFL
- Elden Ring Tarnished Edition
- Enter the Gungeon 2
- Fast Fusion
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
- Fortnite
- Hades 2
- Hitman World of Assassination — Signature Edition
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
- Kirby Air Riders
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Star-Crossed World
- Kunitsu-Gai: Path of the Goddess
- Mario Kart World
- Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- NBA 2K
- Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
- Nobunaga’s Ambition: Awakening Complete Edition
- Pokemon Legends: Z-A — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Project 007
- Puyo Puyo Tetris 2S
- Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Sid Meier’s Civilization 7 — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Split Fiction
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions
- Street Fighter 6
- Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and Jamboree TV
- Survival Kids
- The Duskbloods
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and 4
- WWE 2K
- Yakuza 0 Definitive Edition
Among these titles, you can see the full list of June 5 Switch 2 launch day games here.
Nintendo GameCube library coming to Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch Online game library will add GameCube games to the Switch 2. On launch day, these games will initially include The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, SoulCalibur 2 and F-Zero GX, with each game getting enhanced graphics. Online multiplayer will also be added to certain titles. Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Strikers and Luigi’s Mansion are among the games set to arrive later. At launch, Nintendo will also sell a GameCube controller, which will be wireless and include a C button for GameChat.
-
Technologies2 года ago
Tech Companies Need to Be Held Accountable for Security, Experts Say
-
Technologies2 года ago
Best Handheld Game Console in 2023
-
Technologies2 года ago
Tighten Up Your VR Game With the Best Head Straps for Quest 2
-
Technologies4 года ago
Verum, Wickr and Threema: next generation secured messengers
-
Technologies4 года ago
Google to require vaccinations as Silicon Valley rethinks return-to-office policies
-
Technologies3 года ago
Olivia Harlan Dekker for Verum Messenger
-
Technologies3 года ago
Black Friday 2021: The best deals on TVs, headphones, kitchenware, and more
-
Technologies4 года ago
iPhone 13 event: How to watch Apple’s big announcement tomorrow