Technologies

Your 2018 iPhone XS Is Now a ‘Vintage’ Device: Here’s What That Means

The device will still get updates for the rest of the year, but Apple is otherwise ceasing support for the 2018 iPhone.

Things don’t last forever, and in the tech world, they rarely even last five years. Apple lists older products on what it calls the vintage list, which consists of products the company stopped selling five to seven years ago. And if you bought your iPhone in 2018, the iPhone XS, your phone is now officially vintage.

The iPhone XS launched in 2018 and was officially discontinued in 2020 once all of its stock ran out. The phone joins the iPhone 7 Plus, two iPhone 8 models, the iPhone XS Max, and the iPhone 6S Plus, all of which have been added to the list since the calendar flipped to 2025.

Now that it’s there, the iPhone XS, along with the other iPhones listed above, will spend the next two years as a vintage device on Apple’s roster. Once they hit the seven-year mark, these phones will be moved to the obsolete list. The most recent device to be rendered obsolete by Apple is the 5th-generation iPad.

You have a vintage phone, so what now?

The good news is that having a vintage phone doesn’t mean much in the immediate short term, but it will before the end of the year.

Apple products continue to have repair support for up to five years after they leave store shelves, but can still be repaired after the five-year mark, provided that there are still parts available. That means that the iPhone XS and the other models listed are no longer officially supported, but repair techs can still order parts as long as Apple has them.

Such parts are likely in abundance since the phone just entered the vintage list. However, over the next two years, it’ll become harder and harder for repair shops to find official parts for the iPhone XS. So, if your phone breaks next year, there is no guarantee that a repair shop will be able to find official parts to fix it.

In terms of software, it’s much the same story. Apple is still releasing iOS 18 updates and will continue to do so until iOS 26 comes out. After that, Apple tends to stop supporting the prior generation of iOS. Since the iPhone XS is not included on the list of iOS 26-compatible devices, software support will mostly end later this year once the new version comes out.

Apple did this last year as well, with the final iOS 17 update releasing on Nov. 19, 2024. Apple typically guarantees support for devices for up to five years, and since the iPhone XS came out in 2018, it has long since surpassed the mark.

Being put on the vintage list can be construed as a light warning from Apple that your phone will no longer be supported very soon. If you own an iPhone XS, you’ll have software support until November when iOS 26 launches, and you’ll have repair support as long as the parts hold out. You don’t need a new phone today, but it’s something you may want to look into sooner rather than later.

Technologies

How Did ChatGPT Get ‘Absolutely Wrecked’ at Chess by an 1970s-Era Atari 2600?

The console Gen Xers used to play Pac-Man and Pitfall on apparently was better than anyone knew.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has some major AI chatbot competitors in the market: Gemini, Copilot, Claude. Now add to that list the Atari 2600. The OG video game console, which was first released in 1977, was used in an engineer’s experiment to see how it would fare playing chess against the AI chatbot.

By using a software emulator to run Atari’s 1979 game Video Chess, Citrix engineer Robert Caruso said he was able to set up a match between ChatGPT and the 46-year-old game. The matchup did not go well for ChatGPT.

«ChatGPT confused rooks for bishops, missed pawn forks and repeatedly lost track of where pieces were — first blaming the Atari icons as too abstract, then faring no better even after switching to standard chess notations,» Caruso wrote in a LinkedIn post.

«It made enough blunders to get laughed out of a 3rd-grade chess club,» Caruso said. «ChatGPT got absolutely wrecked at the beginner level.»

Caruso wrote that the 90-minute match continued badly and that the AI chatbot repeatedly requested that the match start over.

For decades, the ability for computers to defeat humans at chess has been a measure of their power. In 1997, IBM made headlines when its Deep Blue technology defeated chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov in a series of matches.

Caruso’s experiment doesn’t mean ChatGPT is useless for chess, but because it’s more of a language model than a supercomputer, it’s less likely to serve that purpose well. A few years ago, a developer created a ChatGPT plugin called ChessGPT. But it may be better to discuss chess with OpenAI’s chatbot than to try to play against it.

A representative for OpenAI did not immediately return a request for comment.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Technologies

iPhone 17 Rumors: New iPhone Battery Could Be Stronger and Smaller

Speculation on better battery life and charging could give a power boost to the rumored iPhone Air.

The next iteration of iPhones is just around the corner, with an official announcement expected sometime this fall. With the Worldwide Developers Conference now behind us, we’re most looking forward to the announcement of the iPhone 17.

There are plenty of rumors about what the next iPhone will look like and what sort of specs it may have. One of the more popular talking points for any new smartphone release is battery life, and the new iPhone is no exception. A rumored iPhone 17 Air with a thinner design has raised the question of whether a slimmer iPhone would have to sacrifice battery life.

Regardless of the model type, battery life is a concern across the board. After all, you can’t use your new tech if the battery drains too fast and doesn’t last more than a few hours. We’ve sorted through all the rumors and leaks when it comes to the battery for the iPhone 17. Let’s break it down.

Battery size for the next iPhone

Current iPhones utilize a lithium-ion battery, which is less malleable and not really conducive to being used in a slimmer model, like the rumored iPhone 17 Air. So, if they were to shrink the lithium-ion battery to fit a skinnier frame, it would likely have less capacity. However, Apple may be adding a silicon-anode battery to the new slimmer iPhone, according to AppleInsider.

Compared with graphite-based anodes, common in lithium-ion batteries, silicon anodes can hold more lithium ions, allowing them to store more energy. In theory, that would mean a more compact silicon-anode battery wouldn’t sacrifice power. The iPhone may even charge faster than previous iterations as a result. As for the rumored iPhone 17 Pro Max, according to 9to5mac, it’s expected to have a slightly larger battery than the iPhone 16 Max Pro.

AI-powered battery management

The next iPhones (and the current models after iOS 26 rolls out) will have AI-powered adaptive battery energy management starting this fall, we learned at WWDC. Part of Apple Intelligence, the company will utilize AI to monitor how you use your device and adjust performance and energy consumption settings accordingly, aiming to extend the phone’s battery life. Think of Adaptive Power as the first step toward extending your iPhone’s battery life and Low Power mode as the last step of doing the same.

Another piece of new hardware that’ll likely impact battery efficiency is the rumored A19 processing chip. The iPhone 17 base and Air will likely get the A18 chip, which is the same chip that the iPhone 16 uses. However, according to Apple analyst Jeff Pu, the rumored iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are set to include the A19 chip, which would likely come equipped with better optimization, which in turn could impact how long the battery will last on the rumored iPhone, and how efficiently it will run.

How accurate are iPhone rumors?

Until Apple officially releases its new phone, speculation on the iPhone 17 is simply educated guesswork. While most rumors come from insider knowledge or are leaked from the teams working on these products, until Apple says otherwise, they remain rumors.

Technologies

Patreon to Take Bigger Cut From New Creators Starting This Summer: Here’s What to Do

If you’ve ever thought of making a Patreon, now’s the time.

Patreon is changing its business model, and new creators will soon feel the difference. Starting later this summer, Patreon will increase the percentage it takes from newly launched creator accounts. While existing creators will keep their current revenue share, those joining the platform after the change will give up a larger portion of their earnings to Patreon.

As of now, Patreon takes an 8% cut or a 12% cut from creators, depending on their selected tier, though the 8% plan is the most popular. The new pricing model will introduce a single, universal tier that takes 10% of creators’ earnings.

If you’ve ever listened to a podcast on Spotify or a YouTube video, then you’ve likely heard the host mention something about «joining the Patreon» and acccessing the exclusive content posted there. Patreon is a membership platform founded in 2013 that allows creators to earn recurring income directly from their fans, or «patrons,» through paid subscriptions. Creators can offer exclusive content, perks or access in exchange for monthly support.

Patreon says the adjustment reflects investments in new tools, safety features and infrastructure for creators. This marks the first major change to Patreon’s fee structure since its 2019 revamp, which introduced tiered plans. The update won’t impact current users, but it could influence where future creators choose to build their communities and monetize their work.

The new pricing will only apply to creators who launch a Patreon page on or after Aug. 4, so if you’ve ever thought of making a Patreon, now’s the time.