The Vergecast

By The VergeNews Technology Tech News

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The Vergecast episodes

March 15The MacBook Neo's a winner
David and Nilay bought new computers this week, as the MacBook Neo turned out to be a surprisingly great cheap Apple laptop. The hosts discuss their experiences with the machines, from the processor to the keyboard to the mess that is MacOS Tahoe. After that, they talk about the future of Xbox, Project Helix, and what it might mean for every gaming PC to become an Xbox... and for the Xbox to become a gaming PC. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the latest on Paramount and Warner Bros, Grammarly's sloppelgangers, and more.
Further reading:
MacBook Neo review: the Mac for the masses
Asus chief says Macbook Neo's affordable pricing came as a shock to the entire PC market — compares $599 notebook to a tablet and content-consumption device
The MacBook Neo is surprisingly easy to disassemble and repair.
From 2007: Ballmer Laughs at iPhone
Apple Studio Display XDR review: a great, but expensive, pro option
The iPhone 17E is good, but you probably shouldn’t buy it
iPad Air review 2026: the M4 and other chip bumps make a difference
Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next
iPhone Fold rumor: iPad-like multitasking, but no iPad apps and no Face ID
Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027
Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC
Microsoft says you should build next-gen Xbox games by building them for PC.
FCC chair blasts Amazon after it criticizes SpaceX megaconstellation
Brendan Carr on X
FCC chief tells CNBC WBD-Paramount merger deal is ‘cleaner’ than Netflix’s, will be approved ‘quickly’
Grammarly is using our identities without permission
Grammarly is turning off the expert review AI feature that stole our identities
Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out
The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled
Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus review: This again
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 50 min
March 10The twist in the Ticketmaster antitrust fight
Last week, it appeared the US Department of Justice was off to a strong start in its antitrust case against Live Nation Ticketmaster. Then, this week, the two sides surprised everyone by settling. The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins the show to explain the stakes of the case, the facts of the settlement, and why things aren’t entirely over just yet. Then, The Verge’s Hayden Field catches us up on what’s happening between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Department of Defense. OpenAI got the contract, but it looks like Anthropic might be the real winner here. If the company’s business can survive, that is. Finally, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether you should get a foldable phone. And why foldable phones even exist.

Further reading:
Live Nation settles government antitrust suit — that probably doesn’t include a breakup
How Live Nation allegedly terrorized the concert industry
Did Live Nation punish a venue by taking Billie Eilish away?
Inside Anthropic’s existential negotiations with the Pentagon
We don’t have to have unsupervised killer robots
How OpenAI caved to the Pentagon on AI surveillance
Trump orders federal agencies to drop Anthropic’s AI
Iran Strikes: Anthropic Claude AI Helped US Attack. But How Exactly? - Bloomberg
My favorite folding phone is the one that doesn’t exist yet
Google Pixel Fold review: closing the gap
Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 10 min
March 08 Version History: Furby
In 1997, David Hampton and Caleb Chung took one look at a Tamagotchi and decided they could bring the virtual pet craze into the real world. Their robotic companion, Furby, packed a bunch of advanced technology into a small, adorable, often annoying package. But for all the irritation it caused (Furby famously had no on-off switch) there was a surprising amount of thoughtful philosophy in its design. The Verge’s Vee Song, Sean Hollister and host David Pierce are joined by Coco the Furby to discuss the lore behind the hottest toy of 1998.

⁠Geocities chat with Furby co-inventor David Hampton⁠

If you like the show, ⁠⁠follow the Version History audio podcast feed⁠⁠ to get every new episode.
Version History is also on video! Check us out on YouTube.
⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.
We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 16 min
March 06This phone starts fires on purpose
While most phone makers work hard to ensure their products don’t start fires, Oukitel made a phone that starts fires on purpose. This week on The Vergecast, Dominic Preston joins Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel to wrap up all the weird and wonderful phones he and the team saw at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Then, Sean Hollister takes us through Google and Epic’s enemies-to-lovers saga: A secret $800 million deal, a non-disparagement agreement, and something about the metaverse for some reason. Plus: Nilay just had the best home movie experience of his life thanks to the Kaleidescape 8TB solid-state server, Dom’s charging his smart phone on a mini racecar, and Sean delivers some disappointing news about the Lego smart brick we were all rooting for. And Brendan Carr is still being a dummy.
Further reading:
⁠Nothing is finally covering up with the slim, metal Phone 4A Pro⁠
⁠Nothing couldn’t wait to show off the Phone 4A⁠
⁠Nothing’s Headphone A are something worth considering⁠⁠
Honor’s Robot Phone is a bad robot, an interesting camera, and maybe your friend⁠
⁠Honor claims its Robot Phone will launch later this year⁠
⁠Honor’s Magic V6 is the first foldable with an IP69 rating⁠
⁠Xiaomi’s Leica Leitzphone mostly earns the name⁠
⁠Xiaomi, unlike Google and Samsung, thinks camera hardware comes first⁠
⁠Xiaomi 17 is a small(ish) phone with a big(ish) battery⁠
⁠Here’s the upgrade to my favorite phone camera of last year⁠
⁠Tecno is doing a modular phone (again)⁠
⁠Lenovo made a Framework-like laptop with modular ports — and a second screen⁠ ⁠
Google isn’t waiting for a settlement — the 30 percent Android app store fee is dead⁠
⁠Here’s how Google describes its fee-reducing Apps Experience and Games Level Up programs⁠
⁠Epic and Google have signed a special deal for a new class of ‘metaverse’ apps⁠
⁠Tim Sweeney signed away his right to criticize Google until 2032⁠
⁠Fortnite is returning to Google Play globally⁠
⁠FCC Chair Brendan Carr is pushing for US-based call centers⁠
I’m not ashamed to admit the Kobo Remote is the best gadget I’ve bought this year⁠
Did Live Nation punish a venue by taking Billie Eilish away?⁠
I charge my phone on a racing car. Do you? ⁠
⁠Investigating the 61-pound machine that eats plastic and spits out bricks
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 44 min
March 04MacBook Neo, iPhone 17e, and iPad Air: The Vergecast Livestream
Apple released a bunch of new iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Studio Displays this week. The Verge’s Nilay Patel and David Pierce tried them all this morning, and are back to share their thoughts live.
Further reading:
All the news about Apple’s MacBook Neo, iPhone 17E, and more
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr
March 03The 6G, modular, robot phones of the future
Most mainstream phone options are kind of the same, year in and year out — but that doesn’t mean there’s no innovation to be found. The Verge’s Allison Johnson is at Mobile World Congress, and joins the show to report on all the modular phones, robot phones, small phones, big phones, and (alas) 6G phones set to hit the market this year. After that, The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed explains the phenomenon of the gadget strap, and makes the case that they’re an increasingly useful accessory as our phones become even more important to our daily lives. (Yes, even if you have pockets.) Finally, The Verge’s Jay Peters helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether the metaverse, however you want to define it, is ever going to be realized.
Further reading:
Oh great, here comes 6G
Honor claims its Robot Phone will launch later this year
Lenovo made a Franken-laptop with modular ports and a second screen
Vivo’s next phone will launch with a professional camera rig
Tecno’s latest concept phone is lit by neon
Honor’s Magic V6 is the first foldable with an IP69 rating
The Motorola Razr Fold is shaping up to be pure flagship
Xiaomi’s super-slim power bank costs extra in orange.
Honor’s thinnest tablet doesn’t come cheap.
Peak Design has wearable gadget straps for people who hate bags
Apple’s misunderstood crossbody iPhone strap might be the best I’ve seen
Meta confirms Reality Labs layoffs and shifts to invest more in wearables
Meta’s VR metaverse is ditching VR
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 14 min
February 27The Galaxy S26 is a photography nightmare
Samsung just launched its newest phones, the Galaxy S26 lineup, and wow is it full of Vergecast stories. There’s the very cool new Privacy Display, which seems genuinely useful; there’s the AI-powered camera, which seems like a disaster waiting to happen; and there’s the new agentic AI in Android, which Google and Samsung might be positioned to actually pull off. After talking through all the new stuff, Nilay and David discuss the recent executive shakeup at Xbox, and try to figure out why Microsoft just can’t win in games. Finally, in the lightning round, it’s time for Brendan Carr is a dummy, some truly remarkable charts, and much more.
Further reading:
⁠Samsung Unpacked 2026: live updates from the Galaxy S26 ⁠⁠announcement event ⁠
⁠Samsung Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26 Plus hands-on: More of the same ⁠
⁠Samsung AI photos⁠
⁠Google Gemini can book an Uber or order food for you with new agentic AI features ⁠⁠Google and Samsung just launched the AI features Apple couldn’t with Siri⁠
⁠I’m super impressed with the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s new Privacy Display ⁠
⁠Samsung announces Galaxy Buds 4 and Buds 4 Pro at Unpacked 2026⁠
⁠Xbox shakeup: Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond are leaving Microsoft ⁠
⁠Xbox chief Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft ⁠
⁠Read Xbox chief Phil Spencer’s memo about leaving Microsoft ⁠
⁠Sarah Bond is leaving Xbox ⁠
⁠Read Xbox president Sarah Bond’s memo about leaving Microsoft. ⁠
⁠Inside Microsoft’s big Xbox leadership shake-up ⁠
⁠Read Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma’s first memo on the future of Xbox ⁠
⁠New Microsoft gaming CEO Asha Sharma says “hear you” to complaints about a lack of Xbox exclusives.⁠
⁠New Xbox CEO: ‘The plan’s the plan until it’s not the plan.’ ⁠
⁠Microsoft says today’s Xbox shake-up doesn’t mean game studio layoffs ⁠
⁠Billions of dollars later and still nobody knows what an Xbox is ⁠
⁠Chairman Carr Announces Pledge America Campaign⁠
⁠Does Anthropic think Claude is alive? Define ‘alive’⁠
⁠Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas AI Scenarios chart⁠
⁠Youtube Chair Drama⁠
⁠OpenAI’s Stargate struggles. ⁠
⁠OpenAI’s first ChatGPT gadget could be a smart speaker with a camera ⁠
⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠[email protected]⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 36 min
February 24How Claude Code Claude Codes
Few AI products have found the kind of product-market fit we’ve seen from Claude Code. On the eve of the product’s first anniversary, Anthropic’s Boris Cherny explains why Claude Code is so powerful, all the work left to do, and why he no longer writes any code himself. After that, The Verge’s Hayden Field joins the show to talk about how we should think about giving our data (and our computers) to AI, even when it seems useful. Finally, The Verge’s Allison Johnson helps David answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (866-VERGE11) about whether you should go buy a phone, like, right now.
Further reading:
Claude Code is suddenly everywhere inside Microsoft
Claude has been having a moment — can it keep it up?
The AI security nightmare is here and it looks suspiciously like lobster
OpenClaw’s AI ‘skill’ extensions are a security nightmare
Humans are infiltrating the social network for AI bots
Anthropic connects Claude to Microsoft Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive
MCP extension unites Claude with apps like Slack, Canva, and Figma
The RAM shortage is coming for everything you care about
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 21 min
February 19The speech police came for Colbert
Once again, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and his bad ideas about free speech have rankled a late night host. And once again, Nilay and David talk through what the equal-time rule actually means, why organizations keep caving, and why it's apparently up to people like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel to fight back. After that, the hosts discuss the facial recognition feature Meta hopes to launch for its smart glasses, plus the gadgets we're likely to see Apple launch in the couple of weeks. In the lightning round, we get some bleak news on Tesla's self-driving skills, a robovac security disaster, and the future of Warner Bros.
Further reading:
Why CBS Didn't Broadcast Stephen Colbert's Interview With James Talarico
Stephen Colbert says CBS banned him from airing this James Talarico interview
Why Everyone's Talking About Stephen Colbert, CBS, The FCC And James Talarico
Meta reportedly wants to add face recognition to smart glasses while privacy advocates are distracted
From the NYT: Meta Plans to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Its Smart Glasses
Apple’s doing something on March 4th
Apple is reportedly planning to launch AI-powered glasses, a pendant, and AirPods
Apple starts testing end-to-end encrypted RCS messages on iPhone
Apple’s Podcasts app will let you ‘seamlessly’ switch between audio and video shows
Looks like we can expect more AI from the Galaxy S26 camera. | The Verge
Google announces dates for I/O 2026
Western Digital says it’s “pretty much soldout” for 2026.
Valve’s Steam Deck OLED will be ‘intermittently’ out of stock because of the RAM crisis
Switch 2 pricing and next PlayStation release could be impacted by memory shortage
Tesla’s robotaxis have crashed 14 times in 9 months.
Tesla won’t use the term ‘Autopilot’ in California anymore
Why are Epstein’s emails full of equals signs?
4chan’s creator says ‘Epstein had nothing to do’ with creating infamous far-right board /pol/
DJI’s first robovac is an autonomous cleaning drone you can’t trust
The DJI Romo robovac had security so poor, this man remotely accessed thousands of them
DJI says yes, it will fix its other Romo robovac security hole within weeks
Samsung ad confirms rumors of a useful S26 ‘privacy display’
Warner Bros. Discovery gives Paramount one week to present its ‘best and final’ offer
WordPress’ new AI assistant will let users edit their sites with prompts
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 31 min
February 17Your next laptop could be a foldable phone
The Verge's Allison Johnson has recently been doing the unthinkable: she's been leaving her laptop at home. Allison joins the show to explain how she turned her Samsung foldable into a useful computer, and why it feels so good to do so. Then, Sportico's Jacob Feldman joins the show to talk about the Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl, and the overall state of sports streaming in 2026. (Unfortunately, it's all still very complicated.) Finally, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email [email protected]!) about whether flip phones might have a future in an AI world.

Further reading:
YouTube TV reveals pricing for its sports, news, and entertainment packages

From Sportico: 2026 Sports Tech: Amazon vs. Youtube vs. ESPN vs. Netflix vs. Tiktok
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 review: stunning, bendy, and spendy
Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp
Logitech’s Keys-To-Go 2
Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to [email protected] or call us at 866-VERGE11.

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1 hr 18 min

About The Vergecast

From the publisher's feed

The Vergecast is the flagship daily podcast from The Verge about small gadgets, Big Tech, and everything in between. Every Friday, Nilay Patel and David Pierce hang out and make sense of the week’s…