PlayStation fans aren’t the only ones getting new gaming announcements this month. Xbox gamers are gearing up for their favorite event of the year. 

The Xbox Games Showcase will stream Sunday, followed by Outer Worlds 2 Direct, a presentation showcasing the upcoming sequel to Obsidian’s 2019 The Outer Worlds game. Here’s what to expect.

How can I watch the Xbox Games Showcase?

The Xbox Games Showcasewill stream on Sunday, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. Xbox plans to debut new titles from its first-party studios and third-party partners. Both the Showcase and Outer Worlds 2 Direct can be streamed on Facebook, Steam, TikTok, Twitch and YouTube. The full list of links is available in the Xbox Wire announcement. 

Two gaming experts will lead the livestream in real time: Ethan Rothamel, a hardware program manager for Xbox, and Senpapi Gabe, a streamer and content creator. Fans are hoping for news about Gears of War: Reloaded and the next Call of Duty, among other things.

Xbox will share blog posts about the big announcements on Xbox Wire. Separate recaps of the Xbox Games Showcase and Outer Worlds 2 Direct will also be available on Xbox Wire. 

How can I watch Outer Worlds 2 Direct?

The Outer Worlds 2 event will kick off immediately after Xbox’s showcase and will be streamed on the same sites.

Evan Zimmer, a CNET editor and gamer, broke down what to expect from the sequel. 

«This time around, you’re dropped into the Arcadia system, a far-off star system colonized by megacorporations,» said Zimmer. «It expands on the groundwork laid by the first game, with deeper build customization and RPG elements, like its skills and flaws system, while still leaning heavily into the original’s satirical tone and excellent dialogue.»

The original Outer Worlds was popular for its satire and snappy dialogue. It won several awards, including Game of the Year at the Game Awards in 2019. A release date for Outer Worlds 2 hasn’t been announced yet, but could be shared at the livestream event. 

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 wasn’t too tough today. I’m no anatomy expert, so I had to let the other answers fill in 6-Across, but everything else was pretty simply. 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 to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: «Oh, for heaven’s ___!»
Answer: SAKE

5A clue: Ending for «cine» and «multi,» in movie theater names
Answer: PLEX

6A clue: Pelvic bone
Answer: ILIUM

8A clue: «This will ___!» («Unacceptable!»)
Answer: NOTDO

9A clue: Excited cry from a kid on the [circled letters]
Answer: WHEE

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: What a ballerina might do on one toe
Answer: SPIN

2D clue: Permit
Answer: ALLOW

3D clue: Richards of the Rolling Stones
Answer: KEITH

4D clue: Radiate, as energy
Answer: EXUDE

7D clue: Stooge with a bowl cut
Answer: MOE

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.

We’re just a few short months away from getting our hands on the rumored iPhone 17 Pro, along with the rest of the new iPhone lineup. 

With Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference just days away, the latest rumors for the iPhone 17 Pro tout better video capabilities and improved battery technology. There’s even talk that audio clarity could get a boost, which we’ll get to in a bit.

And lest we forget, President Donald Trump’s tariffs still loom large amid the anticipation of the rumored iPhone 17. Each day brings more uncertainty about how much tariffs could raise the price of an iPhone, including a 25% tariff that Trump targeted at Apple after it announced US iPhone manufacturing would move to India — not the US — to avoid Chinese tariffs. 

We’re tracking all the biggest leaks and rumors about the iPhone 17 Pro and spilling what we’ve heard so far. 

iPhone 17 Pro release date: When is the next iPhone coming out?

Over the last several years, Apple has consistently announced its new phones in the first half of September. This will likely be the case with the full iPhone 17 lineup, with the exception of the iPhone 17E, which could arrive in early 2026, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo and a report from The Information.

The iPhone 17 lineup may be the last to follow this fall-release model. Starting with the iPhone 18, Apple will reportedly split its phone releases so that lower-cost iPhones launch in the first half of the year and the higher-end Pro models become available later in the year. But that isn’t expected to happen until 2026, so you can likely still expect the iPhone 17 Pro to become available this fall.

Preorders for a new iPhone typically begin the Friday after the announcement, with the phone shipping a week later.

iPhone 17 Pro price: Will tariffs increase the cost of the next iPhone?

President Trump has raised, lowered and paused tariffs a dizzying number of times since February, all of which could affect the cost of the iPhone 17 Pro. 

Apple, which says it could move much of US iPhone production from China to India, has escaped many of the tariff hikes thanks to a reciprocal tariff exemption list that includes many phones, laptops and other electronics that Apple produces. 

However, all the reprieves appear to be temporary, so reciprocal tariffs could still affect prices by the time the iPhone 17 is released. 

Trump threatened Apple with a 25% tariff on all iPhones made outside the country in a social media post on May 23. Later that day, he said that all smartphones — not just iPhones — would be hit with the 25% tariff by the end of June if they don’t move operations to the US.

Regardless of how tariffs play out, Apple plans to raise iPhone prices later this year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Apple apparently plans to ascribe the price increase to better features and design costs so it can avoid pointing the finger at tariffs and incurring the wrath of Trump (like Amazon temporarily did). 

CNET Managing Editor Patrick Holland, who’s been reviewing phones for CNET since 2016, points out that the iPhone is overdue for a price bump. He noted that Apple has never increased the price for an iPhone Pro ($999) since the iPhone X was first introduced in 2017. 

So yes, you should expect to pay more for the iPhone 17, regardless of tariffs.

Read more: Thinking About Buying a New iPhone? Here’s Why You Should Wait

New iPhone 17 colors

Rumors of a new color for the iPhone started in April, when Twitter user and leaker Majin Bu (not the Dragon Ball Z character) posted that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max could get a sky blue option. The latest MacBook Air models come in sky blue, which could give you some idea of the soft hue we’ll see on the iPhone if it goes in the same direction. 

For reference, the iPhone 16 and Plus made a splash last year when they debuted pink, teal and ultramarine color options, alongside the standard white and black. The iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max introduced a new color, desert titanium — a restrained shade of peach — alongside the classic natural titanium, white titanium and black titanium options.

iPhone 17 Pro camera bump redesign

The iPhone 17 Pro’s camera has been the subject of multiple rumored changes, most notably that Apple could add a horizontal camera bar that spreads across the width of the phone. The front-facing «selfie camera» could also be getting an upgrade.

Back in January, Bu posted a leaked image on X suggesting that the phone could feature a pill-shaped camera bar that looks a lot like the camera bar on Google’s Pixel 9 phone.

That raised the question of whether the iPhone 17 Pro would align the three camera lenses in a single row or leave them stacked in a pyramid design, as it did with the iPhone 16 Pro.

In February, Bu posted CAD renders of what could be the iPhone 17 lineup, and Front Page Tech also shared iPhone 17 Pro renders in this video on YouTube: 

Both showed horizontal camera bars for the iPhone 17 Pro models that keep the stacked lens layout. 

Pu wrote in March that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max will feature a 48-megapixel telephoto rear camera, up from 12 megapixels on the iPhone 16 Pro models. That would mean all three cameras on the iPhone 17 Pro models — Fusion, ultrawide and telephoto — would be 48 megapixels.

And as for your selfies, analyst Jeff Pu reports that the front-facing camera will be upgraded from 12 megapixels on the iPhone 16 to 24 megapixels on all iPhone 17 models.

Front Page Tech reported in April that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max may also add a built-in video feature that allows you to record with the front and rear cameras simultaneously. The feature would let you overlay a shot of your face over an outward-facing video.

Leaked Specs: iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 17 Pro vs. iPhone 17 Pro Max

Specs for the iPhone 17 are more grist for the rumor mill. All of the information in the chart below is based on rumors, leaks and analysis we’ve gathered about the iPhone 17 base model, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. None of the information in this chart has been confirmed by Apple.

Audio

Among the latest rumors to surface comes from wccftech, which claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max would get longer earpieces, citing a post on X from @duanrui1205. In theory, that could signal improved audio clarity. CNET got to learn first-hand how Apple tests, calibrates and tunes the audio (and video) on an iPhone. Additional improvements in audio quality could potentially elevate an already impressive feature.

Display

Apple Insider reports that the iPhone 17 could get a larger display than the iPhone 16. DSCC founder and Counterpoint Research VP Ross Young posted on X that the base iPhone 17 will be 6.3 inches, an upgrade from the iPhone 16’s 6.1-inch display. In theory, that means the iPhone 17 would have the same screen size as the iPhone 17 Pro.

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is rumored to continue with a 6.9-inch display, similar to the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

One feature you likely won’t see with the new iPhone 17 Pro models is an antireflective display, which Holland called one of the best attributes of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. A source told MacRumors that Apple had to scrap plans for a more scratch-resistant display because of scaling issues with the coating process.   

Refresh rate

After the backlash over Apple not updating the 60Hz display on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, rumors of a 120Hz display (Pro Motion) on all iPhone 17 models could be welcome news, along with possibly adding the always-on display to the baseline model. 

Memory

Apple Intelligence and AI are likely to play more prominent roles with the iPhone 17. To support the new features, all the iPhone 17 models will step up to 12GB of RAM, tipster Digital Chat Station reported in April. Kuo has also suggested this could happen, according to Digital Trends. 

Considering that the iPhone 16 lineup had 8GB of RAM across all models, this could be a big upgrade for the iPhone 17. 

Frame

There’s been plenty of discussion about whether the iPhone 17 Pro will ditch its titanium alloy frame for an aluminum one. The most recent rumors, according to Pu, predict that the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max will all have aluminum frames.

Dynamic Island

Pu predicted in May that all iPhone 17 models will use a new metalens technology for the proximity sensor, which could result in a smaller Face ID sensor and Dynamic Island, according to a report by 9to5Mac. However, Pu’s report contradicts Kuo, who said that the iPhone 17’s Dynamic Island would remain «largely unchanged» compared to the iPhone 16.

Dimensions

According to a report by 9to5Mac in May, the iPhone 17 Pro Max may be 8.725mm thick, compared with the iPhone 16 Pro Max, which clocks in at 8.25mm thick. That larger size could potentially make room for more battery.  

In a post on X, Majin Bu showed a video of what looks like a thicker iPhone 17 Pro model, likely basing the design on the iPhone 17 Pro’s rumored dimensions: 

iPhone 17 battery life

At the beginning of May, Pu said the iPhone 17 Pro could have the A19 Pro chip. By the end of the month, Pu predicted the iPhone 17 base model will have the same A18 chip used in the iPhone 16, MacRumors reported.  

The iPhone 17 Air was originally expected to scale back on battery life to make a thinner design possible, although the latest rumor from AppleInsider is that it might use a silicon-anode battery that could help extend the battery life. 

Are new iPhone rumors and leaks to be trusted?

Here’s the part where I come in and say: Everything’s a rumor until Apple officially releases the next iPhone. Rumors and speculation leading up to the iPhone’s release are often based on insider knowledge or leaked information from teams working on the iPhone’s designs, but those designs are works in progress — not necessarily the final product.