r/TechNewsReviews

Beginning on July 1, 2026, the price of a Lifetime Plex Pass will increase A RIDICULOUS amount - increasing from $249.99 per Lifetime Plex Pass to the astronomical cost of $749.99.

Plex's assertion about the Lifetime Plex Pass is that they considered eliminating it entirely and moving to a more traditional business model (where you only pay a monthly subscription) to establish a more stable, predictable cash flow.

There are only 6 weeks left to purchase the Lifetime Plex Pass at the current price of $249.99, before the new price of $749.99 occurs (an increase of 200%).

If you are a current Lifetime Plex Pass Holder, you will not be affected by Plex's new pricing scheme - no change will be made to your account. Plex's monthly subscription price ($6.99) and annual subscription price ($69.99) will not be out of place for any amount of time.

Plex states their new pricing reflects the "actual, continuous value" of their software. It will be tough for anyone who does not use their software on a daily basis to purchase a Lifetime Plex Pass for $750 (10 years worth of the annual subscription price).

If you've been uncertain about upgrading or adding on to your current Plex server, now is the time to make a decision!

After updating to iOS 26.5, you’ve likely noticed a pop-up announcement regarding the introduction of advertising in Apple Maps. Apple has decided to begin serving ads through Apple Maps in the US and Canada this summer.

Apple is offering businesses a new way to gain visibility, but will do so while being very deliberate to keep your experience as a user first and foremost, Here are the changes you need to know:

• Where will ads be located? You won’t see ads everywhere in Apple Maps. Ads will appear in two specific areas: (1) at the top of search results and (2) in the Suggested Places panel.
• What will the ads look like? Apple design has integrated branded subtle blue backgrounds with an “Ad” tag on all ads.
• Is my data being collected? Apple is committed to keeping your data private. Your location data and clicks are not connected to your Apple Account, and absolutely no personal information you supply to Apple is given to advertisers.
• Do I have a new way to advertise my local business? Absolutely! You will now be able to directly provide your store or business information to customers who are performing high-intent searches in Apple Maps through the new Apple Business site!

This is a great change that will generate significant new revenue for Apple, without implicating consumers through unwanted tracking.

Google has officially gotten serious with Googlebooks — a NEW SET OF PREMIUM LAPTOPS launching this fall.

Unlike the Chromebooks we’re used to seeing, NEW Googlebooks are built around a combination of Android and Gemini AI, making them a totally different kind of device than just a browser in a box; They are high-powered workhorses that function like smartphones with a ChromeOS PROFESSIONAL DESKTOP FEEL.

The new "Magic Pointer" allows you to shake your cursor over an image or email to invoke instant contextual AI actions. As these new Googlebooks will run Android, any mobile capabilities such as "Circle to Search" or "Create Your Own Widget" will be available as soon as they are released on Android devices.

Google has bundled with Acer, Dell, HP & LENOVO to provide powerful yet aesthetically pleasing "no-compromise" machines that will perform just as impressively as they look.

Amazon has slashed the price of the AirPods Max 2 to $509 across all colors. This is the lowest price ever for Apple's flagship earbuds. Whether you dreamed of the sleek black or the eye-catching starry-colored version, the discount applies to all colors. Most orders will arrive by May 11th, but Prime members may receive them sooner, depending on the location.

If you're a frequent traveler looking for the best noise cancellation, or a content creator who needs seamless switching between Apple devices, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for. These deals typically sell out quickly, and stock is unlikely to last until the end of the week! You can buy from Amazon

It appears that the upcoming PlayStation 6 may be undergoing some major changes before release due to issues with production costs. One of the two options Sony was working with was to either keep the system "high-end" and charge a premium price, or go cheap on the console and therefore keep its retail cost reasonable. It looks like at this point, they have settled on the latter.

According to several sources, the new PS6 will not have 32 GB of memory as originally planned but instead use only 24 GB. Additionally, by using a standard 1 TB hard drive and a smaller memory bus, Sony would be able to reduce the cost to manufacture the PS6 by approximately $60. While this may seem like a small amount of money in comparison with the total cost of production, it represents a very large portion of a console's overall selling price — enough that the system could be priced either "within reach" of most people or never make any significant sales at all.

While most game developers prefer to have as much "space" as possible available to them with RAM, there are many instances where a developer will prefer to develop for a console that uses less "likely to be used" memory than for one that has more "usable" memory, even if both consoles have the same amount of total unused memory. Therefore the real question for all gamers is whether they would like to have a console that has more performance and will cost them less to purchase.

The new feature by Microsoft called Low Latency Profile is still being tested. It will speed up the operating system more than before, making it as responsive as a Mac.

Traditionally the processor's speed was kept constant for efficiency and conserving battery, but after the update Windows will switch to a much more efficient method. As soon as you press a key, Windows will boost the processor clock frequency to what is necessary for the type of activity (most often user interactively). This means that any part of the system that is going to be interacted with through user input will be given priority until such time that it is no longer needed.

For example, your response time when opening the Start menu and opening context menus will be up to 70% faster than using Windows 10 before the update.

The applications included with this update will also perform much better, for example, applications such as Outlook, Paint and the Microsoft Store will experience a performance increase of 40% in speed after the update.

Some critics have said that "CPU overclocking" is just a "gimmick" to hide programming defects, but Scott Hanselman, Vice President of Microsoft, said that if Apple does that, then why shouldn't Windows be allowed to have the same type of efficiency?

Overall this will allow Windows to perform at speeds and efficiency levels similar to those of current smartphones and recent Macs.