Panic, a company known for its range of apps designed for Apple's iPhones, iPads, and Macs, today announced the launch of pre-orders for its Playdate handheld gaming system.
Panic had 20,000 Playdate systems available for preorder for shipping in late 2021, but those quickly sold out and orders placed now will ship out in 2022.
Priced at $179, the Playdate is a pocket-sized gaming system that has a unique design. It features a black and white display, bright yellow chassis, a d-pad, A+B buttons, and a crank on the side that serves as a flip-out rotational controller.
The pocketable gaming system will feature pre-installed games from developers like Zach Gage, Shaun Inman, Bennett Foddy, and Keita Takahashi.
There will be several games available at launch, and an additional game will be delivered each week for a few months. The Playdate comes equipped with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, a USB-C port for charging, and a headphone jack.
Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by Juli Clover
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to expand the iPhone's redesigned Mail app to the Mac starting with macOS 15.4, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
The first macOS 15.4 beta should be made available in the coming weeks, and Apple has previously suggested that the iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4 series of software updates will be released to the public in April.
The revamped Mail app debuted on all...
Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
I don't understand all the hate for this (not just here, but other comments/forums). This device is not meant to compete with the switch or stream deck. For me this is a nostalgia machine that puts a modern spin on the original game boy (which I grew up with). The debate on pricing I understand, but not whether it should exist.
Lots of cynicism here, but I think it’s a breath of fresh air. Playdate was never positioned and should not be considered as a new entrant in the competitive handheld console market: rather, it is a nifty, kind of charismatic curiosity that promises 24 free games.
Good graphics and gameplay don’t strictly come in the form of expensive 3D games replete with modern rendering embellishments and cutting-edge technical implementations: instead, what the Playdate is posing is a more halcyon, minimalist view of gaming, one that understandably appears kind of alien to people who are ensconced within their own, limited, predefined concept of the medium. I feel like people have a narrow view of what gaming can be in the modern day, and have forgotten that the medium of gaming is, well, simply a medium, and that it can be wider than just console wars and PC gaming. And I don’t think anyone, including Panic, expects Playdate to be at all competitive in that market.
Perhaps it is a bit of a hipster product, but the price is not bad at all given the quality of the design and the number of free exclusive games it will get. Looking forward to receiving my pre-order later this year.
New games from Lucas Pope, Bennett Foddy, and Keita Takahashi games plus 21 more?
Yeah that's an immediate buy from me.
Once the dev tools are out in the wild the homebrew community for this should be interesting.
The hater parade on this is just fascinating. What a bunch of joykills.
Yes a bunch of creators we admire teamed up to make something cool and amazing. It's a little expensive because it turns out that making custom hardware is expensive. "It's not gonna compete with the Switch" no **** sherlock, they're only making twenty thousand this year.
After the Steam Deck has been shown (and ordered by myself), there is NO interest in this from me. This is just a gimmick. (a too highly priced gimmick)
