Technologies

Apple Has No Plans to Resurrect the iPhone Mini, Report Says

The iPhone company is reportedly moving away from smaller phones to even bigger handsets.

We have some bad news for lovers of the iPhone Mini: It looks as though the diminutive device won’t make a comeback anytime soon. Apple is not planning to reintroduce the smaller iPhone model, according to Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. During a recent livestreamed Q&A session, he noted Apple has shifted away from smaller designs to go «bigger and bigger and bigger,» which in turn makes the smaller phones feel even smaller. «We’ll see what the market tells Apple,» he added.

The statements from the longtime Apple reporter, who has close ties to company sources, come as the company recently stopped selling its third-generation iPhone SE — effectively leaving no iPhone model with a display under 6 inches. The company is also reportedly working on a foldable iPhone with a 7.8-inch crease-free inner display and a 5.5-inch outer display, with a launch date of as early as next year.

The iPhone Mini, which hasn’t been refreshed since 2021, had a 5.4-inch display. The smaller model debuted with the iPhone 12 Mini in 2020.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although the iPhone 12 Mini and 13 Mini developed a niche fanbase, particularly among people who thought it fit better in their hands, they failed to gain widespread traction. At the time, Counterpoint Research reported the iPhone 12 Mini accounted for only 5% of iPhone 12 sales in January 2021. Neither the iPhone 12 Mini nor the 13 Mini cracked the top 10 list of best-selling smartphones by the end of that year, according to Counterpoint.

Ramon Llamas, a director at market research firm IDC, told CNET «the writing was on the wall for this one.»

«With the trend to larger and larger smartphones — hello there, iPhone Pro Max — and the success of value-based products — iPhone SE and iPhone 16E — the iPhone Mini’s niche spot in the world has been under constant pressure from all of its other iPhone cousins,» Llamas said.

«I think a lot of people liked it, particularly for their aging parents who wanted something small and simple to handle — but rarely for themselves.»

Technologies

Today’s All-Symbol NYT Connections Answer Feels Like an April Fool’s Joke

Here’s the answer to April Fool’s tricky Connections puzzle for April 1, #660.

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 Connections puzzle feels like an April Fool’s Day prank. The grid is filled with symbols or single letters, no words. Many of them are recognizable, but some of them threw me for a loop (especially the single letters), and they might confuse you too. 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 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: It’s all about the Benjamins.

Green group hint: Combined.

Blue group hint: Cartoony faces.

Purple group hint: Not left.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Currency symbols.

Green group: And/together with.

Blue group: Emoticon mouths.

Purple group: «Right.»

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is currency symbols. The four answers are $, £, ¥ and €. (Dollar sign, pound sign, yen and euro.)

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is and/together with. The four answers are &, +, N and X.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is emoticon mouths. The four answers are (. ), O and P.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is «right.» The four answers are R, →, ⊾ and ✓

Technologies

IGN Live Fan Festival Returns With Games, Celebrities and More on June 7

IGN’s second annual live games show comes back to Los Angeles and tickets are now on sale.

When the venerable gaming show E3 shut down for good back in 2023, fans and developers lost the best opportunity in the US to hear breaking news about upcoming games and play a few themselves. While Summer Game Fest has emerged for media like CNET to get this access, fans were left out in the cold — until last year, when the first IGN Live was held for the public to get hands-on play time and see celebrities on stage.

This year, IGN Live returns to Los Angeles on June 7 and 8, giving fans access to more games, panels and announcements from Netflix, 2K, Lenovo and more.

IGN hasn’t shared its lineup for this year’s weekend of events, but last year’s IGN Live included the first news about a potential Xbox handheld from Xbox head Phil Spencer, a panel of the cast of The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, an interview with Casper Van Dien on the Starship Troopers: Extermination game and hands-on time with upcoming Souls-like Phantom Blade Zero.

IGN Live will be held at Magic Box @ The Reef in downtown Los Angeles, and wishful attendees can buy tickets now, with early bird tickets starting at $15 per day or $30 for the full weekend (discounts available until April 30).

Fans who can’t make it, don’t worry: the show will be streamed on IGN.com, YouTube, Twitch and the site’s social channels.

Disclosure: IGN is owned by Ziff Davis, the same parent company as CNET.

Technologies

What Time is Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: How To Watch April Nintendo Direct

The Switch 2 reveal is almost here.

The Nintendo Switch 2 reveal on Wednesday could be the biggest gaming news of the year. After surprising everyone with a teaser of the new console back in January, Nintendo will hopefully give some more details about the Switch 2, such as how much it’ll cost, what games are coming out and when it will launch.

Nintendo has kept details about the Switch 2 under wraps since January. What is known is that the Switch 2 will be bigger than the original Switch, have more graphics power, use new Joy-Cons and have backward compatibility with games for the original Switch. There’s also the big question about that mysterious C-button. Everything else about the new console should be revealed on Wednesday.

Here’s what we know about the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct.

When is the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct?

Nintendo says the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct will happen on Wednesday, April 2, at 6 a.m. PT (9 a.m. ET, 2 p.m. BST).

Where can I watch the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct?

Like previous Nintendo Direct events, the show will be streamed live on Nintendo’s YouTube channel and Twitch channel.

What will be revealed at the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct?

The biggest reveal will be the release date and price of the Switch 2. Considering there will be Nintendo Switch 2 Experience events happening until June 1, the launch of the new console will likely happen in June. A recent leak showed that U.S. retailers may open pre-orders for the Switch 2 on April 9.

As for price, the Switch 2 could possibly launch at the same $300 price tag that the original Switch had, but don’t bet on that. The OLED Switch costs $350, and given it’s been nearly eight years since the original Switch arrived, it makes more sense for the Switch 2 to have a $400 launch price.

Then comes the games. So far, Nintendo has only shown a new Mario Kart in the Switch 2 reveal. Nintendo usually has some of its major franchises ready whenever it launches a console, so expect more Mario titles or a Zelda game to be available at launch or soon after. Several 2025 titles are also expected, including Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, Pokémon Legends Z-A and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

It will also be interesting to see how much third-party support it’ll receive. The Switch trailed behind the Xbox and PlayStation consoles in third-party games due to its lack of hardware power, but if Nintendo beefs up the Switch 2 specs to make it comparable to, say, a Steam Deck, that support could grow exponentially.

Tech specs will be another big reveal for the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. Potential buyers will be interested in seeing how much of a graphics upgrade they’ll get with the Switch 2 and what kind of battery life it could have.

There are also questions about the new Joy-Cons. The reveal video showed how the new controllers can act like a computer mouse, which could make for some interesting uses with certain PC games.

As of now, the only major feature revealed by Nintendo is the Switch 2’s backward compatibility with the original Switch. It appears most of the Switch library will work on the new console, with a few exceptions.