Technologies

I Can’t Wait for Apple’s F1 Movie. Its Haptic iPhone Trailer Has Me Even More Excited

Feel the F1 cars rumble and buzz with the magic of the iPhone’s Taptic Engine.

I first experienced the sensory overload of being close to a Formula 1 car going full speed during a test day for the British Grand Prix last summer. The rumbles from the cars as they pull out of the pits feel like they’re shaking your bones loose, and each crescendoing shriek as the vehicles streak through your field of vision is like the shrill fizz of a firework that’s almost grazed your ear.

In releasing the trailer for its upcoming film, F1 The Movie, Apple has tried to recreate some of this sensory experience in miniature for anyone with an iPhone. The trailer taps into the device’s Taptic Engine to vibrate at different frequencies during the scenes featuring the F1 cars. Is it a little gimmicky? Sure. But it’s also clever and fun, and the perfect way to build excitement among F1 fans such as myself who are also suckers for immersive experiences.

To try out the experience, you’ll need an iPhone running iOS 18.4 or later. You can find the trailer with the Apple TV app on your phone.

F1 The Movie will debut in UK theaters from June 25 and head to US theaters on June 27, and I’m excited for a few different reasons. I’m a huge Drive to Survive fan, for a start, and last year, during that same test day when I was at Silverstone, the movie’s cast and crew were on site shooting a couple of scenes. While I didn’t see Brad Pitt, I got to observe his car and the inside of the fake garage the team had set up while wandering down the pit lane.

There would be no way to make a truly convincing movie about F1 without fully immersing the shooting within the existing traveling circus that is the F1 world. I was impressed with the level of detail I observed — if you didn’t know any better, you wouldn’t have been able to pick out the fictional F1 team from the real teams in the pit.

This movie is a big-budget, star-studded effort from Apple. Its main challenge will be bringing the same tension and drama that F1 fans are used to seeing from the races and drivers in real life.

Technologies

The Most Exciting Video Game Rumors and Leaks Ahead of 2026

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Wednesday, Dec. 17

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Dec. 17.

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.

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.

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: Nod (off)
Answer: DOZE

5A clue: Naval submarine in W.W. II
Answer: UBOAT

7A clue: Tricky thing to do on a busy highway
Answer: MERGE

8A clue: Heat-resistant glassware for cooking
Answer: PYREX

9A clue: Put into groups
Answer: SORT

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Break up with
Answer: DUMP

2D clue: Falls in line, so to speak
Answer: OBEYS

3D clue: Legendary vigilante who cuts a «Z» with his sword
Answer: ZORRO

4D clue: Rarin’ to go
Answer: EAGER

6D clue: Common reminder for an upcoming appointment
Answer: TEXT

Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.

Technologies

You Can Watch an Exclusive Avatar: Fire and Ash Scene on TikTok Right Now

Disney and TikTok partner on an immersive content hub for James Cameron’s latest movie about the alien Na’vi.

If you’re not quite ready to head to the theater to watch Avatar: Fire and Ash, an exclusive scene preview might sell you on the visual spectacle. As part of a new collaboration with the social media giant, Disney is posting snippets of its new movie to its TikTok account.

This scene isn’t part of any trailer and won’t be posted to other social media accounts, making TikTok the only place you can view it — unless you buy a movie ticket. A first look at the new movie’s scenes isn’t the only Avatar-related bonus on the social media platform right now, either. TikTok has partnered with the house of mouse to bring an entire «immersive content hub» to the app.

A special section of TikTok includes quizzes and educational videos that explore the alien world of Pandora shown off in the movies. On TikTok, you can take a personality quiz to find out what Na’vi clan you most closely align with and unlock a special profile picture border to use on your account.

Science and fiction blend together with a series of videos from real doctors who explain the basis for some of Avatar’s world-building. If you want to learn about exoplanets or how realistic the anatomy of the movie’s alien animals is, these videos will feed your brain while still providing entertainment value.

Perhaps the most enticing part of Disney’s latest social media collaboration is the opportunity for fans to win prizes and trips. TikTok creators who make edits with the #TikTokAvatarContest hashtag are entered into a competition to win Avatar merchandise. The biggest winners will be able to take a trip to visual effects studio Wētā Workshop in New Zealand or visit Avatar director James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment Studio in Los Angeles.

Avatar: Fire and Ash is the third installment in director Cameron’s cinematic passion project. While the first Avatar movie was released in 2009, Cameron didn’t release another entry in the franchise until 2022. In total, there is a five-movie arc planned for the indigo alien Na’vi on the moon of Pandora.

The Avatar movies are known for pushing the boundaries of CGI visual effects in cinema. They are also historically big winners at the box office: the original Avatar is the highest-grossing film of all time, earning $2.9 billion across its theatrical releases. Its sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, is the third-highest-grossing film of all time, trailing Avengers: Endgame. You can stream those movies on Disney Plus.

It remains to be seen whether Avatar: Fire and Ash will financially live up to its predecessors. The film currently has mixed reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.