The Vergecast

Latest Episodes:

The iPhone Fold could make concerts even worse Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

This week Apple announced a Mac Mini made for AI and a Mac Studio made for AI, both with faster M6 and M5 Pro chips made for AI. But that's all an amuse-bouche to Sept. 9's (expected) main course: the long-awaited folding iPhone. Nilay Patel, Jake Kastrenakes, and David Imel run through all of this week's Apple news, including the most important story: a surprise discount on the legendary polishing cloth.
Then, they react to Meta's settlement in its latest kids safety trial, geek out about Grand Theft Auto VI with the Hype Desk's Ashley Esqueda, check out the Pokémon Fitbit, and decide if Nvidia just saved the global economy.

Further reading:

⁠File a comment with the FCC⁠

⁠Apple announces September iPhone launch event⁠

⁠Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute⁠

⁠Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra⁠

⁠Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices⁠

⁠Apple’s ‘new’ polishing cloth is the same except $10 cheaper⁠

⁠Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement⁠

⁠Meta is planning an ad blitz urging TikTok and YouTube to follow its lead.⁠

⁠All the ways Instagram and Facebook are changing for teens⁠

⁠Rockstar finally responds to ‘heartbreaking’ GTA 6 leaks⁠

⁠Fierce Network: FCC opens comments on E-Rate as the program gets attacked in court⁠

⁠Nvidia is about to be a hundred-billion-dollar-a-quarter company⁠

⁠Panic is passing Playdate tariff refunds on to customers.⁠

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0:00 Welcome to the Vergecast
01:26 Apple Mac AI Hype
02:26 Mac Mini Agent Craze
06:32 Mac Studio vs Nvidia
11:43 Price Hikes and Cloth
17:01 iPhone Event Invite
17:38 iPhone Fold Debate
21:30 Camera Crash Out
26:57 Meta Settlement Breakdown
28:59 First Amendment Fallout
36:59 Age Verification Push
39:30 Filter Rules and Loopholes
44:11 Will Teens Just Switch Apps
45:20 Reels Versus Shorts
46:35 Government Next Steps
47:39 Break And Reset
47:50 GTA VI Showcase
54:29 Leaks And Spoilers
57:12 Can GTA Save Games
01:00:51 GTA Online Money
01:02:04 Brendan Carr is a Dummy
01:03:45 E Rate Fight
01:08:46 Nvidia Earnings Hype
01:17:50 Pokemon Sleep Fitbit
01:22:41 Waymo Versus Tesla
01:28:34 Decoder And Goodbye

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How to buy a laptop when everything’s expensive Aug 27, 2026

Show notes

If, after months of increasingly dire RAMageddon warnings, you just now find yourself in the market for a new laptop... we're here to help. In the latest installment of our "RAMageddon Survival Guide," laptop reviewer Antonio G. Di Benedetto joins David Imel to offer his recommendations.

Further reading:

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Meta will cut teens off of Instagram after two hours Aug 26, 2026

Show notes

Two-hour usage limits, age verification, and a $17.1 billion payout: We're breaking down today's big settlement in Meta's kids online safety trial. Senior policy reporter Lauren Feiner and senior tech and policy editor Adi Robertson discuss how we got here, why Meta settled, and what this means for the ongoing conversation around teen mental health and social media.

Further reading:

Meta agrees to heavy restrictions on teen users in major lawsuit settlement

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Does smart home tech work in a college dorm? Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

It can be hard enough to set up smart home tech in a house or an apartment, but what about a dorm room? Jennifer Pattison Tuohy recently tested out some smart home tech when she dropped off her son for his freshman year at Clemson. Jen reports back to David Imel on how the gadgets stood up to the challenges of college Wi-Fi and rules against hanging things on the wall.

Further reading:

Apple’s new M6 chip gets more cores and more AI compute

Apple’s new Mac Mini has fresh M6 and M5 Pro chip offerings — and higher prices

Apple launches new Mac Studios with its ‘most powerful chip ever’ — the M5 Ultra

Android is getting its own weird dots to cure car sickness

WhatsApp is making it easier to ignore spam calls

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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We play a brutal quiz of our gadget memories Aug 24, 2026

Show notes

Do you remember your first BlackBerry? Do you remember when that first BlackBerry launched? On this episode taped before David Pierce went on leave, producer Travis Larchuk leads David, Nilay, and The Verge’s Sean Hollister through a game of memory and history and a surprising amount of feelings tied to gadget launches.

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We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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Pixel 11 gets in on the digicam trend Aug 21, 2026

Show notes

Smart phone cameras have been getting better and better at capturing flawless, true-to-life images. But is that what the people really want?
David Imel joins Nilay Patel and Jake Kastrenakes to talk through the Pixel 11's Camera Looks. They're Google's nod to the trend of retro digital and analogue cameras, and alter how a photo is processed on the sensor level. At the same time, its super zoom is still hallucinating text and making stuff up.

Then it's a supersized Brendan Carr is a Dummy, with increasingly infuriating tales of how Brendan Carr is being a Dummy, culminating in the FCC's quest to make sure your internet connection remains slow.

Plus, we talk through the confounding AirPods camera leak, the Fairphone, and YouTube's new method for counting views.

Further reading:

We’re also on video! Check us out on YouTube.

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We ask Gemini and Alexa to track cats and give advice Aug 20, 2026

Show notes

For better or worse, Amazon Alexa and Google Home's smart voice assistants have been imbued with the powers of generative AI. The promise is that you can use natural language with your smart speaker to adjust your thermostat, lock the doors, and find out what your pets have been up to. The reality is smart home voice assistants seem to be going through an identity crisis. Senior reviewer Jennifer Pattison Tuohy invites Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel onto his own podcast to compare notes on life with Alexa Plus vs. Gemini for Home.

Further reading:

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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Pixel reviewer roundtable Aug 19, 2026

Show notes

Pixel reviewers assemble: Senior reviewer Victoria Song leads a Vergecast roundtable with editors Dominic Preston and Cameron Faulkner to discuss the Pixel 11/Pro/Fold and the Pixel Watch 5. We discuss if HiLight is a LowLight, whether we miss the temperature sensor, and if the Watch 5’s GPS truly beats Garmin and Apple. And stay tuned for more camera discussion on Friday’s Vergecast.

Further reading:

Nvidia’s new financial strategy does not compute

Amazon’s drones will soon deliver to nearly 500 US cities and towns | The Verge

Framework gave its 12-inch laptop some hardware upgrades | The Verge

This robot vacuum solves my kitchen stool problem

The Pixel 11 isn’t the best Pixel of 2026, but it’s the smartest buy

The Pixel 11 Pro is a great phone, no thanks to its flashiest new features

Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold feels like the end of an era

Google’s Pixel Watch 5 is promising — but it isn’t finished

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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A repair shop’s guide to surviving RAMageddon Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

It feels right now like prices are going up, gadgets are getting worse, and everything is getting harder to buy. Leo Mastrolia, the Digital Doctor and the owner of a repair shop in New Jersey, is seeing this all play out first hand. For the second part of our conversation (and the first part of our RAMageddon survival guide), he tells us what he’s telling his clients about fixing their gadgets, managing upgrades, and surviving a parts crisis.

Further reading:

Elon Musk made flying even worse so Palantir could profit

Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods appear in leaked video

Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US

Spirit in the machine

Polaroid’s new Pokémon collection captures memories, not Pikachus

Digital Doctor Repairs on YouTube

Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.

We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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The Digital Doctor will see you now Aug 17, 2026

Show notes

A few years ago, Leo Mastrolia started a gadget repair shop. Little did he know he’d eventually become known across the internet as The Digital Doctor, and would learn to fix practically every gadget you can think of. On this episode, which is part one of our conversation with Leo, he tells us about his journey as a gadget fixer, the growth of his social channels, and how right-to-repair fights and upgrade cycles are affecting life in his store.

Further reading: