🍎 New iPhone 16 color, ⌚ Google Pixel Watch 3 can save your life, 📱 iPhone 17 Air, 😭 Nintendo Switch 2 release delay

10 tech stories in the quickest format possible

Friday’s 10-story newsletter ends with discount codes below for subscribers ⤵️

🍎 1. Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro may come in a new ‘Bronze’ color

Are these the iPhone 16 Pro titanium colors? (Image credit: Sonny Dickson / X)

• 🥉 Bronze may be a new iPhone 16 Pro color

• 🌈 Joins existing colors: black, white & gray

• 🏅 Still no true gold iPhone 16 Pro color

• 🌹 Prior rumors suggested ‘rose gold’

📆 Four weeks from today, Friday, September 13, iPhone 16 pre-orders may begin – that’s if Apple’s launch event is indeed on September 10. The list of rumored iPhone 16 colors has increased, with a new “rose gold” or “bronze” finish expected for the titanium iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Sure enough, today, a known Apple leaker, Sonny Dickson, posted a photo on X of what appears to be a Titanium Bronze iPhone 16 Pro. Max (Buondonno, not the iPhone 15 Pro Max) has the full story.

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💔 2. Google's Pixel Watch 3 ‘Loss of Pulse Detection’ feature could save your life one day

• ❤️ Google’s Loss of Pulse Detection is coming to the Pixel Watch 3

• 🔬 It uses advanced AI and information from the watch’s sensors

• 🚑 It calls emergency services if it detects you don’t have a pulse

• 🌍 Coming first to Europe, later to the US when regulators approve it

• 🍎 The Apple Watch doesn’t have this life-saving feature – yet

The most interesting feature we wrote about in our Pixel Watch 3 hands-on was a last-minute surprise at Google’s presser, “Loss of Pulse Detection.” It’s designed to contact 911 if your watch no longer detects your pulse while you’re wearing it.

✨ How does it work? AI, machine learning, and lots of sensors.

⌚ It uses Pixel Watch 3’s heart rate sensor (green lights), then IR sensor (red lights), and finally, motion sensors. Fail to respond to a countdown timer and siren and it’ll call emergency services. Hopefully, the Apple Watch 10 has this life-saving tech, too.

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3. Sony Bravia 7 review: this Mini LED TV is our new favorite for PS5 gaming

🏆 Review score: 4 out of 5

Pros

• ✅ ⚫⚪ Near OLED-level contrast in a Mini LED TV

• ✅ 💡 Highlights bright enough to make you squint

• ✅ 🌈 Naturalistic color reproduction

• ✅ 🔉 Dedicated mid-range speaker drivers deliver loud & clear dialogue

• ✅ 📺 Netflix & Prime Video calibrated mode optimizes picture for streaming

• ✅ 🎮 Gaming at 4K 120Hz is responsive and smooth

Cons

• ❌ 🪩 In-room reflections can get distracting

• ❌ 🤏 Narrow viewing angles

• ❌ 🔌 Only two 4K 120Hz gaming ready HDMI 2.1 ports

• ❌ 💸 $600 price increase over Sony’s preceding X90L 4K TV

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📱 4. Apple could release a super slim iPhone 17 Air next year

Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max in hand on the date it launched – will future iPhones get even thinner? (Image credit: Kevin Lee / The Shortcut)

• 💨 Apple could release an iPhone 17 ‘Air’ next year

• 📏 The model will be much thinner than we’re used to

• 🤔 There may be performance, screen, and camera trade-offs

• 😍 The look and feel could tempt those who care about aesthetics

iPhone 16, more over. Apple is reportedly working on a super slim iPhone 17 Air. The phone will feature a far thinner design and could appeal to those who prefer the look and feel of a device over pure performance, reports Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.

Eventually, Apple plans to squeeze the power of its iPhone Pro lineup into the new slimmer design, but don’t expect that to happen until 2027. This year’s models won’t differ too much, with big changes expected for the Apple Watch’s 10th anniversary.

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😭 5. Nintendo Switch 2 release date could be further away than we thought

• 😢 Nintendo Switch 2 might not be out until April or May 2025

• 📆 It’s been widely tipped to release in March 2025

• 👏 An announcement is due to take place this fiscal year

• 🔜 Nintendo could reveal the Switch 2 in September

It turns out that the Nintendo Switch 2 release date might be later than everybody thought. Some developers have said that they don’t expect to see the successor to the Switch until at least April/May, which is a month or two later than the predicted release date of March 2025.

That wouldn’t be a disaster, especially as Nintendo still has a lineup of excellent games on the way. However, the wait is becoming increasingly difficult, especially as more competition comes from portable PC handhelds and potentially an Xbox handheld or PSP 2.

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🆚 6. 5 ways the Google Pixel 9 Pro can be a serious iPhone 16 Pro rival

• 📐 Two sizes for the Google Pixel 9 Pro – finally

• 🤳 Upgraded 42MP selfie camera shows promise

• 🪄 AI magic tricks that make sense like Add Me

• ⚡ Much faster charging with 45W charger (9 Pro XL only)

• 🤖 Free year of Google Gemini Advanced AI ($240 value)

Our hands-on Google Pixel 9 Pro and 9 Pro XL review won’t get a final score until the new phones launch next week, but the Made By Google launch event taught us a lot about how seriously Google is taking its latest Android smartphones.

This is a very different Pixel experience than when I first started reviewing Google’s phones ten years ago – back when it was the Nexus program and then when Google outsourced Pixel manufacturing to LG and HTC. Google not only owns the hardware, but it’s rivaling Apple one month ahead of the expected iPhone 16 event.

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😢 7. GTA San Andreas VR on hold, says Mark Zuckerberg

A concept photo of what GTA in VR could feel like (Image credit: DALL-E)

• 😢 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas VR has been put on hold

• 📆 Meta first revealed the game in 2021, but it’s now been mothballed

• 🤷‍♂️ Meta said both companies are focusing on other projects

• 👀 A VR version of GTA: San Andreas would have generated a lot of interest

😱 8. Until Dawn on PS5 gets a release date – and it's out before Halloween

• 📆 Until Dawn is out on October 4 for PS5 and PC

• 😱 It’s an enhanced and revised version of the 2015 horror game

• 🆕 Players can enjoy new graphics, gameplay tweaks and collectibles

• ♿️ The game also has new accessibility and usability settings

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🎮 9. Your Asus ROG Ally could become a Steam Deck soon – here's how

• 🙌 Valve is bringing SteamOS to other portable PC handhelds

• 👍 It means the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go could benefit in the future

• 👏 Valve said it’s also still working on dual boot support for the Steam Deck

• 💪 Valve’s Linux-based operating system has many advantages over Windows

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🤖 10. The Astro Bot PS5 controller is going for crazy money due to scalpers

• 💰 The Astro Bot PS5 controller is already being held to ransom by scalpers

• 😱 It’s up on eBay for more than double the price from some sellers

• 👉 Get alerts: Subscribe to The Shortcut and follow Matt Swider on X

• 😤 Sony has a frustrating history of underestimating demand for its accessories

We’ve been tracking Astro Bot controller pre-orders since they went live, but high demand and low supply have seen scalpers step in. The price is $79.99, but scapers are trying to sell desperate buyers Sony’s latest PS5 controller color for up to $198.99 – more than double MSRP.

Your best bet is to follow Matt Swider on X and turn on notifications for when the next restock goes live so you can grab one without paying over the odds. We’re sending out alerts for PSVR 2 PC adapter restock, too, and eventually PS5 Pro pre-orders.

One more story that’s far out 🌌

🦾 11. Report: Apple is prepping an iPad-like robot for your smart home in 2026

Probably not quite like this, but one can imagine

• 🦾 Apple is readying an iPad on a robotic arm for your smart home

• 📺 The device could resemble an Amazon Echo Show 10 but way more futuristic

• 💸 Bloomberg says Apple might charge less than $1,000 for it

• 📅 It could be released between 2026 and 2027

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