🏰 Disney+ price hike (how to avoid it), 🎮 New PS5 controller, 🍎 iPhone 16 release rumor, 🕹️ New Game Boy

10 tech stories in the quickest format possible

Friday’s 10-story newsletter ends with discount codes below ⤵️
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🏰 1. Disney+ password crackdown & price hike – how to avoid paying

• 🔒 Disney+ to end password sharing in Sept

• 🫰 Prices will increase in October

• 💸 Ad tier: from $7.99 to $9.99/mo

• 💰 Ad-free tier: $13.99 to $15.99/mo

• 🤝 Disney teased a paid sharing feature… for “an additional fee”

• 😐 Crackdown also applies to Hulu & ESPN+

I try to give you a heads-up on price increases, even if it’s bad news, but I also offer solutions to save money on all things tech through The Shortcut.

1. Verizon offers a Disney+ Bundle free for 6 months on its 5G Get More or 5G Play More mobile plans (must enroll by 11/17/2024). It’s $10/mo thereafter. Other plans can get it for $10/mo, too (w/o the 6mo free).

2. American Express Platinum Card’s $695/yr fee has a $240/yr Digital Entertainment Credit ($20/mo in statement credits) for Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, Peacock, the New York Times & WSJ. Use it or lose it!

3. If Disney follows Netflix’s password crackdown, you’ll be able to stream via a laptop using a shared account. Buy a cheap HDMI-to-USB-C cable on Amazon and plug your laptop into a TV.

If it feels like Disney+ goes up in price every year, it’s because it does. But we’re here to help you escape the Disney price hike vault one article at a time.

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🔒 2. $100 PlayStation, $50 Nintendo & Xbox gift card deals; 50% off Game Pass

🔒 For paid subscribers, free trial users or anyone who shares our newsletter

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation giftcard for $83

• 🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for $39.99

• 🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $40

• ❎ 50% off Xbox Game Pass for $26.99 (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51 and soon to be $60 for 3 months)

At the bottom of this newsletter: We’re expanding our discount codes – first for paid subscribers – as a pack-in. It’s like CD-ROM pack-ins in 90s magazines.

😬 Can’t afford it? I’m opening up more ways to be a premium subscriber for people who can’t spare $5/mo ($4.16/mo). Support us in other ways by referring your friends & family to The Shortcut. Help us grow!

🐦 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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🧑‍⚖️ 3. Google ruled an illegal monopoly, says judge. Here’s some evidence

• 💰 Google is accused of spending billions to create an illegal monopoly

• 🌎 It’s the default search engine worldwide

• 📱 95% of the search on smartphones is powered by Google

• 🙅‍♂️ Google said it’ll appeal the antitrust ruling

• 👴 It’ll take years for this to be settled

🧠 Did you know? Google pays Apple billions to be Safari’s default search on your iPhone and then charges more money for its text-search ads.

🧑‍⚖️ Monopoly money. That’s a monopoly, according to a landmark antitrust ruling by a US federal judge. Bad news for Google (and its ability to upcharge for search ads) and bad news for Apple (it got $20 billion in 2022 from this deal).

🔜 That’s not all, says the FTC. Google pays Reddit $60m/year to train its Gemini AI on Reddit user data (despite leading to dangerous AI Overviews). Suddenly, Google Search prominently ranked Reddit, which saw a 50% traffic boost. Colluding much?

🧾 Our evidence. Hey, look at us! The Shortcut reported an exclusive story about a 2,000% increase in PSVR 2 sales last week (via our sample data). Tons of sites linked to us. Who outranked us in Google when you typed in our exact headline? Reddit and its page repurposing our story.

That’s shady. That’s also a monopoly 🎲 🎩

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🤖 4. Astro Bot PS5 controller preorders – how to find it in stock

• 🎮 Sony’s Astro Bot controller is hard to find

• 🚨 Not in stock? See my X for restock alerts (turn on notifications)

• 😍 The new controller has one of the most unique designs yet

• 📆 Ships alongside the PS5 game Sept 6

• 💰 $79.99 at stores like Walmart & Amazon

We set up a PSVR 2 PC adapter restock guide, and it looks like The Shortcut will need to do the same for the Astro Bot PS5 controller. I always help The Shortcut subscribers and answer 1:1 questions. There will be more.

🎮 Pre-order the Astro Bot PS5 controller

💿 Pre-order Astro Bot the game

📱 5. iPhone 16 launch date could be September 10

• 🚀 Apple’s event may be Tuesday, Sept 10

• 📆 If so, iPhone 16’s release date would be Friday, Sept 20

• ✋ Apple won’t delay it, even if AI isn’t ready

• 🤖 Apple Intelligence won’t be ready until October in iOS 18.1

One month from now, we’ll see Apple announce the iPhone 16. The running theory is that Tuesday, September 10 is the date. The timing is to our liking, as a lot of tech press (including The Shortcut) will be at IFA 2024 in Berlin the week before.

The most interesting news this week comes from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman: Apple won’t delay the iPhone 16, even if its Apple Intelligence won’t be ready until October with iOS 18.1. But you can try Apple Intelligence in beta now.

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🕹️ 6. Order this ModRetro Chromatic ‘Game Boy’ color, only at GameStop

• 🎨 GameStop is selling an exclusive gray color of ModRetro Chromatic

• 🤩 It’s the ultimate Game Boy by Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey

• 🌞 The pixel & color-accurate IPS LCD is bright enough to use outdoors

• 📆 Price: $199 & it’ll shipping this holiday

If you grew up with a Nintendo Game Boy and want to relive the joys of on-the-go 80s- & 90s-era games with a 2024 twist, check this out:

The ModRetro Chromatic is getting an exclusive gray color variant at GameStop, and it’s available to pre-order now. The handheld is rightly described as the ultimate Game Boy, allowing you to enjoy Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on a pixel-perfect, backlit IPS LCD display.

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🪖 7. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 maps leak – reminder to get it for $11.99

• 🗺️ 20 maps from Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 have apparently leaked

• 🚫 Images were shared online and quickly hit with copyright claims from Activision

• ☢️ Map names include Babylon, Canals, Catacomb, Dig, Island, Nuketown & Radar

• 🔜 Black Ops 6’s open beta is in September (TBA on the exact date)

• 💸 We have a guide on how to get the game for as cheap as $11.99

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🔜 8. Lenovo Legion Go Lite could be announced soon

• 🆕 Lenovo appears to be preparing to release a new Legion Go model

• 📏 Dubbed the Lenovo Legion Go Lite, it will feature a smaller screen

• 🥶 The cooling system also sounds like it will be improved

• 🤫 The info was spotted on Lenovo’s website, but no announcement yet

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🎮 9. Zelda gets her own Nintendo Switch game – and a new trailer

• 🆕 Nintendo shared new gameplay details of Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

• 🐴 Zelda can use various abilities to traverse the world and overcome enemies

• 😍 You’ll visit classic locales from the series, like Kakiriko Village

• 📆 Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will be released on September 26

• 🎮 See the limited-edition Nintendo Switch Lite

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🎬 10. The Last of Us season 2 trailer gives us a glimpse of Abby and Dina

• 🆕 HBO has a The Last of Us Season 2 trailer

• 📆 It returns in 2025 (as early as January)

• 👀 It shows off some key characters from the game, including Dina and Abby

• 🎮 The season will cover the end of The Last of Us and early parts of The Last of Us Part 2

Ending with some good techie news as a bonus 11th story

🧠 11. Neuralink implanted into 2nd patient successfully

• 😮 Neuralink has successfully implanted a second patient with its brain chip

• ♿️ The patient has a spinal cord injury, similar to the first patient Noland Arbaugh

• 🤯 Arbaugh can control a computer mouse using his mind

• 🤞 “I don't want to jinx it but it seems to have gone extremely well with the second implant,” Musk told podcast host Lex Fridman

⬆️ Tap the 🌟 icon button on this page ⬆️

🔒 Bonus: $100 PS, $50 Nintendo & Xbox gift card deals; 50% off Game Pass

• 🟦 $100 PlayStation giftcard for $83

• 🍄 $50 Nintendo Gift Card for $39.99

• 🟩 $50 Xbox Gift Card for $40

• ❎ 50% off Xbox Game Pass for $26.99 (Microsoft’s MSRP is $51 and soon to be $60 for 3 months)

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 90s magazines.

😬 Can’t afford it? Totally fine. I’m opening up more ways to be a paid subscriber for people who can’t spare the $5/mo ($4.16/mo) to keep us going. Support us in other ways by referring your friends & family to The Shortcut. Help us grow!