Apple’s next-gen streamer may never let you lose the remote again
Now that Apple has deemed the original Apple TV 4K from 2017 ‘vintage’, what better time to announce something new? That, apparently, is exactly what’s happening, with the likeliest culprit for a debut being the upcoming ‘Welcome Home’event, scheduled for tomorrow. But what does it actually bring to the table?
A new chip, certainly. Older reports reckoned the streamer would incorporate an A17 or A17 Pro chip, the cheapest way of ensuring it’ll get Siri’s new AI smarts. More recent scuttlebutt suggests it’ll get something a tad more robust, say an A19 or A19 Pro chip. It’ll be wrapped in a black box that looks eerily similar to the last.
According to Mark Gurman, a resident Apple insider for Bloomberg, the TV 4K has also tested built-in microphones in the box to handle Siri interactions, rather than relying only on the controller. Apple has also reportedly tested speakers on the refreshed Siri remote, allowing users to locate it between the couch cushions quickly. ‘Til Apple confirms these upgrades for the streamer, it’s best not to get your hopes up too high.
The new Creality K3 cuts down print time and saves you filament, apparently
Creality, the Chinese 3D printing company, recently opened pre-orders in China for its new K3 printer. The headline feature here is Creality’s KliTek nozzle-changing system. It’s made up of four separate nozzles, each with an independent filament channel. Gone are the days of flushing filament through a shared nozzle for every colour change. According to Creality, those swaps can happen in around five seconds (4.8 seconds to be exact). You can even use different-sized nozzles together, with 0.2mm, 0.4mm, 0.6mm, and 0.8mm nozzles supported.
Maybe the best news is that you’ll get root access to your printer out of the box; you’re free to use the open-source OrcaSlicer, and Creality says it will even make the printer’s Klipper-based firmware available in phases.
With Creality listing the K3 in its ‘flagship’ category, it was never going to be cheap. In China, its pre-sales price is listed at ¥4,599 (about R11,343), but we found a local listing for a rand under R20,000. How much are four nozzles worth to you?
Saints Row 3: Remastered comes to Android, iOS for around tree-fiddy (Rands)
Saints Row was, for the longest time, the anti-Grand Theft Auto. The pinnacle of the series was Saints Row 3. If you’ve somehow missed every console release, there’s one more chance for you to play the bonkers open-world gang simulation. Feral Interactive, the studio behind the newest port, has announced that Saints Row 3: Remastered will launch on Android and iOS devices on 29 October.
Local pricing isn’t known yet, but the American costs have been announced. The $20 price translates to around R350 here at home, but the iOS store has pricing pegged at R300. It is, honestly, still cheaper to wait for the game series to go on special on one of the local console stores or Steam, but that won’t let you play as the Boss alongside Pierce, Shaundi, and Johnny Gat (plus ancillary other personalities) on your mobile device.
According to Feral, the game has been “expertly optimised for mobile and adapted to touchscreen with customisable controls. Gamepads and keyboard & mouse are also fully supported, so you can run the streets however you see fit.” You’ll also need at least 20GB of available space to install the game, plus all of its DLC. If nothing else, it’ll let you wash the taste of the recent Saints Row reboot out of your mouth.
iPad Mini is getting the OLED treatment next
In other Apple news, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman seems confident that a new iPad Mini — this time bearing an OLED display — will hit shelves sometime in November. It’s the first in the iPad Mini family to ever get the OLED boost, and Apple will likely milk that trait for all it’s worth. It’s set to replace the iPad Mini launched in 2024.
Though technically without a name, it’ll be known to everyone as the iPad Mini 8. According to Gurman, Apple is looking to make the new iPad “considerably more expensive” than the last-gen model. For reference, that came with a price tag of around R11,900, or $500. Now, Gurman is prepping readers for a price of around $800.
At that point, it might be worth grabbing a MacBook and calling it a day. The MacBook Neo launched earlier this year with a starting price of R14,000 ($600) in South Africa, even if it doesn’t have an OLED display to brag about. The device is at least rumoured to pack in the A20 Pro chip, currently powering the iPhone 18 Pro phones.
