📱 iPhone 1 turns 17 today, 🍟 I tried all McDonald's $5 Meal Deals, 🤫 Secret canceled Xbox & Surface Phone, 😱 Robots with human faces

10 tech stories in the quickest format possible

Today’s 10-story newsletter continues below the calendar ⤵️
Discount codes for subscribers who support us are at the bottom

Want to feel old? Today marks 17 years since the iPhone 1 launched in 2007. On Monday morning – but first for paid subscribers – I’ll hit you with some nostalgia with a special look back at Apple’s first smartphone (not counting its Motorola Rokr partnership). It’ll dive into how far we’ve come with a comparison of the iPhone 1 vs the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

🔒 For paid subscribers only (bottom of the page)
I have exclusive discount codes this weekend and every week for paid subscribers who support our human journalism at The Shortcut!

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation Gift Card for $82.99 (save $17.01)

• 🟩 $100 Xbox Gift Card for $79.99 (save $20.01)

• ❎ 50% off Xbox Game Pass discount $25 (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51)

*If they run out, I’ll have more discount codes next weekend for subscribers
**If this one sells out (it’ll go FAST) and you subscribe, message me. I’ll put you first in line for the next batch and privately DM you

🐦 Ask Matt Swider on Twitter or Instagram for hand-picked deals from Walmart / Best Buy / Amazon / B&H / Samsung / Google / GameStop / Xbox / Microsoft Office (PC) / MS Office (Mac)

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Today’s 10-story newsletter continues below the calendar ⤵️

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📆 Your Tech Calendar

• 👻 OUT NOW: Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD - buy it now

• 🎆 July 4, Thur: 4th of July

• 💰 July 8, Mon: Walmart Deals begin

• 🚀 July 10, Wed: Samsung Unpacked

• 🚨 July 11, Thu: Walmart Deals end

• ⚽️ July 14, Sun: UEFA Euro 2024 finals

• 📦 July 16, Tue: Amazon Prime Day begins

• 🏈 July 16, Tue: EA Sports College Football 25 - preorder now

• 🚨 July 17, Wed: Amazon Prime Day ends

• 🏆 July 18, Tue: Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition - preorder now

• 🎮 July 21, Fri: Asus ROG Ally X release date

• 🥇 July 26, Fri: Summer Olympic Games begin

• 📱 Aug 13, Tue: Google Pixel 9 & Watch 3 launch event

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1. 🍟 Review: I tried all the McDonald's $5 Meal Deals – here's what I discovered

• 💸 I tried the 3 different McDonald’s $5 Meal Deals, which include:

• 🍔 McDouble, 🐔 McChicken OR 🌶️ Spicy McChicken + 🐔 4-piece McNuggets, 🍟 Small fries, and 🥤Small soft drink

• 👀 Watch out: NYC, LA and Boston charge $6 for certain Meal Deals

• 🤑 Hidden hack: Save more with a $2 off or $20% off with in-app coupons

• 📆 McDonald’s Meal Deal offer will be available for about a month

Strictly for research purposes, I tested the McDonald’s $5 Meal Deals that just launched as a way to draw in cash-strapped consumers, and I discovered a few McNuggets you’ll want to know about. I’m here to dish on my personal delicious Mickey D's hacks, too.

Let’s go over the basics. There are three different Meal Deals throughout the US right now, and they can vary based on where you live:

• 🍔 McDouble, 🐔 McChicken OR 🌶️ Spicy McChicken

• 🐔 4-piece McNuggets

• 🍟 Small fries

• 🥤 Small soft drink

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👀 2. Secret Xbox streaming stick and Surface Phone you’ll never see

• 🆕 New patents show off a Microsoft streaming stick & Surface Duo 3

• 🤏 The Xbox Streaming Stick looks like a squished-down Xbox Series S

• 😴 Microsoft mothballed the never-launched device in 2022 and 2023

A newly discovered patent has shed new light on Microsoft’s shelved Xbox streaming stick, thanks to Windows Central. Codenamed ‘Keystone’, the Xbox Series S-like device would let players stream games via Xbox Cloud Gaming, with Microsoft aiming to offer the system for around $99.

The patent shows the console would have a USB-A port on the front, a HDMI, ethernet, and power port on the back, and a sync button for Xbox controllers.

Also, check out the Microsoft’s Surface Duo 3

Microsoft Surface Duo 3 patent (Image credit: Patently Apple)

Separately, patents for Microsoft’s Surface Duo 3 have surfaced via Patently Apple. Codenamed ‘Neon’, the Android foldable phone featured a 180-degree hinge and an Apple MagSafe-like back for a kickstand accessory. Like the Xbox streaming stick, plans for the Surface Duo 3 seem to have been scrapped.

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👻 3. Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD review roundup: ‘A great installment in Nintendo’s series’

• 📆 Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is out now – order it here

• 👴 It’s a remake of the 2013 Nintendo 3DS game

• 👏 The title is being praised for being a pleasing remaster

• 😔 However, it doesn’t bring any new content to the table for returning players

After the phenomenal success of Luigi’s Mansion 3, Nintendo has wisely brought the beanpole plumber back for another outing – this time in the form of an HD remake of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, which was first released on the Nintendo 3DS in 2013.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is out today and has received generally favorable reviews, receiving an OpenCritic score of 79 with 77% of critics recommending the game. It’s been described as a “handsome remaster” that is the best way to experience the game and a great way for Luigi’s Mansion 3 fans to enjoy some more ghostbusting action.

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🤖 4. Toys ‘R’ Us’ new ad was created entirely by AI – and it’s awful

• 😫 Toys ‘R’ Us latest advert was created using OpenAI’s Sora text-to-video tool

• 🎬 An Emmy-nominated agency used Sora to create the film

• 📆 The film went from concept to reality in a few weeks

• 👎 It’s been heavily criticized online and downvoted on YouTube

The first AI-generated advert is here, courtesy of Toys ‘R’ Us. Called ‘The Origin of Toys ‘R’ Us’, the short film debuted during the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival and was created using OpenAI’s text-to-video tool, Sora.

The film reimagines the genesis of the retailer as coming to the founder Charles Lazurus in a dream alongside its mascot, Geoffrey the Giraffe. The YouTube video currently has 437 upvotes and 3.9k downvotes, which suggests audiences aren’t happy with this latest AI development.

Following a Sora demo, actor filmmaker, and studio owner Tyler Perry halted an $800 million expansion of his Atlanta studio. “I am very, very concerned that in the near future, a lot of jobs are going to be lost,” Perry told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. “I really, really feel that very strongly.”

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🎧 5. SteelSeries Arctis Nova 5 Wireless review: a gaming headset with the right mix of everything

• ✅ Audio presets custom-tuned specifically for over 100+ game

• ✅ Large, flexible soundstage works well for music and bombastic sound effects

• ✅ Slim, sophisticated design works for everyday wear

• ❌ USB-C dongle can block other ports on the PS5 and some gaming handhelds

• ❌ Changing audio presets requires the phone to be connected over Bluetooth

• ❌ Nova 5 app doesn’t offer any custom EQ tunning and is on the PC app instead

The Arctis Nova 5 might be a mid-range gaming headset, but for $129 it gives you access to SteelSeries’ most illustrious gaming preset feature that’s been only accessible to its high-end gaming headsets thus far.

Thanks to the new companion Nova 5 smartphone app, you can swap between audio presets for over 100 new and popular games from your phone. Many of the gaming EQ presets were mixed by the game developers themselves.

The Arctis Nova 5 headset’s lower price and inviting phone app make it the best and most affordable way to enjoy gaming audio as it was meant to be heard.

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👏 6. Apple Vision Pro is slowly getting more games

• 🙌 More spatial games are coming to Apple Vision Pro

• 🏎️ Games like Warped Kart Racers take advantage of the headset’s capabilities

• 🎮 There are now over a dozen spatial games on Apple Vision Pro

• 🤯 You can also play 250+ titles via Apple Arcade using your Apple Vision Pro

Unlike the Meta Quest 3, Apple has positioned its Apple Vision Pro headset as a productivity and entertainment device first and foremost. But it’s slowly getting more games that take full advantage of the Vision Pro.

Warped Kart Racers lets you use your hands to steer, drift, and throw objects as if you were driving a real kart, and Cityscapes: Sim Builder lets you view and manage a city as though it was located right in your living room.

These two titles join more than a dozen spatial titles on Apple Arcade, including What The Golf?, Super Fruit Ninja, and Solitaire Stories. New titles are also on the way, including Gibbon: Beyond the Trees and Bloons TD 6+, and you can enjoy the best Apple Arcade games on the Apple Vision Pro display.

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☑️ 7. Verizon's new logo drops the classic check mark after 24 years

New Verizon logo (Image credit: Matt Swider / The Shortcut)

• ☑️ Verizon’s dropped the classic checkmark logo introduced in 2000

• 🟥 Its new logo is a red V with a hint of 🟨 yellow for a distinct look

• ❓ Fun fact: Verizon’s name is a mix of Veritas (truth) + Horizon (the future of possibility)

Verizon announced this week that it’s changing its logo, dropping the classic check mark first introduced in 2000 – 24 years ago. The US internet provider’s new logo is a red V with a yellow glow, and the change “will roll out across all platforms and retail stores in the coming years,” according to Verizon.

Here’s a brief history of the post-Bell Atlantic Verizon logos:

2000-2015

2015-2024

2024 to present

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😱🤖 8. One day robots will have faces made of… human-like skin

• 🧑‍🔬 Scientists are working on a new type of synthetic skin

• 🤖 The skin will overcome an issue with current molding techniques to create a more life-like equivalent

• 🤔 It could be used on robots or in other scenarios where molding isn’t sufficient

• 😱 The current iteration is extremely creepy to witness

Robots will be able to express themselves just like we do in the future – quite literally smiling back at us as we order them around (this sounds like a sci-fi TV series just before things go wrong). Thanks to a team of scientists from the University of Tokyo and Harvard University, that smile will be terrifyingly lifelike as robots could soon feature synthetic, human-like skin.

The new technology will enable robotics manufacturers to “fix the skin to the underlying subcutaneous layer”, and the solution is inspired by skin ligaments that keep our skin attached to the muscle underneath. Yes, it’s as creepy as it sounds and as scary as it looks.

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🆓 9. PS Plus free games for July 2024 revealed

• 🆕 Three new games are coming to PS Plus on July 2

• 🏒 Borderlands 3, NHL 24, and Among Us will be free to PS Plus Essential, Extra and Premium members

• 📆 You’ll have until August 6 to grab them, so add the games to your library

• 🚨 Make sure you download June’s PS Plus games before July 2

Sony has shared the next batch of PS Plus free games that are on the way, and there’s a nice selection for PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers to enjoy. The headline title is Borderlands 3, which supports co-op and offers hours of entertainment for those who enjoy the looter shooter genre.

Joining Borderlands 3 is EA Sports NHL 24, the latest entry in its hockey sim series, and the breakout social deduction game, Among Us. These games are also available to PS Plus Extra and Premium subscribers and are free to download from July 2. Make sure you claim them before August 6, as they’ll be replaced by new titles on that date.

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🤖 10. ChatGPT app for Mac is now available to all – here's what it can do

• 🤖 ChatGPT’s macOS app is now available

• ✏️ You can use it to make working, writing, and creating more seamless

• 📆 The app is coming to Windows later this year

• 🖥️ You’ll need an Apple silicon Mac running at least macOS Sonoma

You can now download OpenAI’s ChatGPT app for macOS originally revealed during the ChatGPT 4o announcement in May. Previously, this Mac app was only available to paid subscribers of ChatGPT Plus (slightly changing up our ChatGPT 4o free vs paid comparison).

The ChatGPT Mac app promises to “seamlessly integrate into how you work, write and create”, but your mileage will vary depending on how useful you find it.

You can then use the app to analyze and take screenshots – like asking ChatGPT to optimize some lines of code – upload files to determine which deadline is closest, or simply ask ChatGPT to give you feedback on your essay. You can even use your voice to interact with ChatGPT.

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🔒 Bonus: Discounts for The Shortcut subscribers

We’re expanding our discount codes for paid subscribers, as a pack-in. It’s sort of like CD-ROM pack-ins for subscribers of magazines. Stay tuned for new codes Friday and a special discount coming all next week.

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation giftcard for $82.99

• 🟩 $100 Xbox Gift Card for $79.99

• ❎ 50% off Xbox Game Pass discount $25 (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51)