Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Apple’s contract chipmaker, said it doesn’t expect any immediate impact on its production from China’s decision to restrict the export of two metals widely used in semiconductors and electric vehicles. Ben Blanchard and Roger Tung for Reuters: In a move that a top Chinese trade adviser warned was “just a start,” Beijing said on Monday it would limit exports of products made from the minor metals of gallium and germanium to protect national security. That followed the U.S. decision to impose export restrictions to curb China’s access to key technologies used for artificial intelligence. Taiwan is a major producer of chips used in everything from smartphones and cars to fighter jets, supplying companies like Apple…

Nanoleaf only manufactured a thousand units of its Ultra Black Triangles light panels, but they’re still available at some retailers. | Image: Nanoleaf Whether you celebrate the “Fourth” or not, Independence Day weekend is oft considered one of the best times of the year to save on everything from TVs and laptops to the humble Toyota Camry. That’s still the case, however, with Amazon Prime Day kicking off in a little over a week, we expect many of this weekend’s best discounts to hang around just a bit longer than they might have otherwise. Take our first deal of the day, as an example. Right now, you can pick up Nanoleaf’s Shapes Ultra Black Triangles at Amazon and Best Buy…

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Apple has become the latest operator of an encrypted messaging service to raise concerns about the UK’s Online Safety Bill, BBC News reports. “End-to-end encryption is a critical capability that protects the privacy of journalists, human rights activists, and diplomats. It also helps everyday citizens defend themselves from surveillance, identity theft, fraud, and data breaches,” a statement reads. “The Online Safety Bill poses a serious threat to this protection, and could put UK citizens at greater risk.” With its statement, Apple joins the likes of WhatsApp and Signal in opposing a provision that would allow communications regulator Ofcom to call on tech companies to use “accredited technology” to identify child sexual abuse content…

Macworld Thinking of buying a Mac or MacBook for school, college or university? Here, in our best Mac for students guide, we take a look at Apple’s current line-up to evaluate which Mac is best for students. We’ll compare the MacBook Air vs MacBook Pro for college and examine whether another Mac might actually be a better choice. Choosing the best Mac for college or university depends on what you are going to be studying as well as how much you have to spend. Luckily registered students can save money on a new Mac by shopping at Apple’s Education Store, or with one of Apple’s partners. We discuss How to get an Apple student discount at Apple’s Education Store separately,…

Illustration by Samar Haddad for The Verge My smart home journey began, like so many others, with a poorly placed light switch. My partner and I had just bought our first house, and the switch that illuminated the kitchen was in the laundry room all the way on the other side, meaning we had to wander through darkness to get to it. I hated that light switch. So what to do? Well, I could spend a bunch of money I didn’t have to hire someone to move it, try to do it myself and accidentally burn my house down with a bad wiring job, or take the plunge on a smart home. I took the path of least resistance (that’s…

One connected lock does not a smart home make. If you want to get serious with home automation, start with a smart home platform. When you first get started with home automation, you’ll quickly find that your smart gadgets do even more when they work together. Yes, it’s great that your smart lights can turn on automatically at sunset and your smart lock will lock itself, but what’s even better is saying “Good night” to a voice assistant and having the shades lower, the lights turn off, the door locks lock, and the alarm system arm. For this, you need a smart home platform. As a smart home reviewer, I am often asked which is the best platform to use.…