We’re now less than a month away from Apple unveiling the iPhone 17, if rumors are to be believed. I always look forward to this highlight of the tech calendar, especially since I’ve been writing about and primarily using an iPhone for well over a decade. 

When it comes to the 2025 iPhone, there’s one thing I’d love to see Apple prioritize — and it might not be what you expect. It’s not a cool new design, a bigger battery or a more impressive camera. It’s definitely not advanced AI capabilities.

Instead what I’d love to see from the iPhone 17 is even better repairability, particularly more self-repair options. A lot of tech inevitably passes through my hands as part of my job, but I feel a keen responsibility not to feed into the culture of over-consumption. Treating gadgets as disposable is an unrealistic way to live, and it places a heavy burden on our already overburdened planet. 

Extending the life of our tech through repair is one of the tools at our disposal to reduce that burden. Increasingly, and partly due to an increase in right-to-repair legislation coming into force around the world, tech companies are making it easier for us to perform these repairs ourselves, rather than relying solely on costly in-house repair schemes.

For a long time, Apple was not among them. In fact, it strongly advised people not to tinker with their iPhones at home at all. That all changed in 2021 when it introduced its Self-Repair Program. It’s continued to take strides in making it easier to repair phones — which, let’s not forget, are complex, intricately designed pieces of technology. But it still has some way to go, especially when it comes to ease and accessibility.

I’m currently using an iPhone 15 Pro Max that’s rapidly approaching its second birthday. It’s no spring chicken, but aside from its waning battery capacity, I have absolutely no complaints about its performance. Next month it will get its annual software upgrade with the release of iOS 26 and it will feel brand new to me all over again. This is a phone that has years of life left in it — if I choose to replace the battery, that is.

But in all truthfulness, I’m nervous to do it. I’ve repaired plenty of tech in my time, usually under the supervision of someone far more skilled than I am, but the stakes feel so much higher. The spare parts and repair tools aren’t cheap, and it could quickly get even more expensive if I mess it up. Then I’d have no choice but to invest in a new phone after all.

I’m determined to try, but I’d also like Apple to make it even easier in the future for me to replace the battery — I don’t want to feel like I’m conducting open-heart surgery on my phone. I have to commend the company for its efforts in this direction already.

When Kyle Wiens, CEO of online community, advocacy group and parts retailer iFixit, performed his first teardown of the iPhone 16 last year, he pointed out many of the repairability improvements Apple introduced with the model and praised the company for releasing the repair manual on the same day as the phone.

Two months later, Apple started selling replacement components via its Self-Repair Program. Even better, the company lets people rent, rather than buy, the repair kits they need, reducing further waste and the overall cost of making repairs.

It was an important step in the right direction for Apple and spurred iFixit to award the iPhone 16 a repairability score of 7/10. That still leaves room for improvement, and I hope to see the iPhone take at least one additional step toward becoming the gold standard in phone repairability this year. It’s not an easy thing for a phone-maker to do, but Apple has been a pioneer in so many respects. Why not this one too?

Like TV screen static, a VHS tape rewinding, or a butter churn, the grating sound of AOL dial-up Internet will also soon be a thing of the past.

As simply stated on its support website, «Dial-up Internet to be discontinued.» The service will end Sept. 30 2025, at which point, «this service and the associated software, the AOL Dialer software and AOL Shield browser, which are optimized for older operating systems and dial-up internet connections, will be discontinued.»

That’s not good news for those folks still relying on dial-up, mainly in rural areas in the US and where broadband is not available. Data from the 2019 census revealed that 265,331 people relied solely on dial-up Internet.

The cacophony of beeps and whistles that accompanied dial-up Internet were an iconic sound from the dot-com boom of the 1990s.

Hopefully folks losing their dial-up will be able to access one of several alternatives: DSL (Digital Subscriber Line), cable, fiber optic (FTH), wireless internet (such as 5G) or satellite.

AOL ending its dial-up sparked a bunch of threads on Reddit, with many chatters surprised that dial-up still existed in this era of fast-speed Internet. On a thread, «AOL discontinues its dial-up internet, and we’re just surprised they even offered it in 2025,» many Redditers waxed nostalgic:

• «My parents switched to unlimited when I spent an entire night downloading the Batman and Robin trailer.»
• «My very first video download ever was Rob Zombie’s Never Gonna Stop. It took eight hours.»
• «Fascinating! The last time I used dial-up from AOL was in 1999 on the Greek island of Rhodos.»
• «My first modem had rubber couplers to put a physical phone handset into.»
• «Ah the memories of not being able to use phone because Limewire [was] running lol.»

Shopping for a new pair of wireless earbuds means checking out some of the usual suspects, including Apple’s AirPods lineup. The AirPods Pro 2 sit at the top of the pyramid, but they aren’t what we’d call cheap. At around $250, they’re definitely in the premium category. And that’s why choosing to buy a pair of refurbished earbuds is a good idea — especially while Woot is selling them for just $130. But if you buy today and use code SAVETEN at checkout, you’ll score a pair for just $117.

This code is only for today, and stocks could run dry quickly, so keep that in mind. These earbuds come with the same accessories as a new pair would, and you’ll get a one-year Amazon limited warranty included, too. Note that the charging case that you get here is the Lightning model, though. Not the newer USB-C version.

The AirPods Pro 2 come with multiple sizes of ear tips so you can make sure to get the perfect fit, and all of the usual active noise cancellation and Transparency mode features are present and correct, too. In fact, Amazon says you can expect 2x more ANC capability compared with the previous AirPods Pro generation.

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Apple also says that you can expect up to 6 hours of listening time with ANC enabled, while that grows to 30 hours when you use the included MagSafe charging case. That case also included a built-in speaker to make it easier to find your AirPods Pro the next time they fall between the sofa cushions — something we all know is going to happen sooner or later.

Why this deal matters

Picking up a pair of refurbished AirPods Pro 2 is a great way to get top-notch features at midrange prices, and this deal is just the ticket. Just remember that stocks might run out before the deal comes to an end. We suggest ordering sooner rather than later to lock this price in.