Best VPN services 2023: today’s top picks

Looking to sign up for a VPN to safeguard your online privacy? Now is the perfect time. In today’s digital landscape, the internet is teeming with personal and financial data belonging to billions of individuals, including yourself. It’s a veritable feast for cybercriminals, who wreak havoc and cause substantial financial damage to both businesses and individuals every year. To counter this threat, it’s crucial to fortify your internet-connected devices and shield your online activities from identity thieves, traffic snoops, censorship, and other unauthorized network intruders. However, with the multitude of VPN providers flooding the market, finding the best one for your needs and budget can be daunting. Save yourself the trouble with our comprehensive roundup of the best VPN services of 2023:

NordVPN isn’t free, but with three different encryption protocols (IKEv2/IPsec, OpenVPN, and NordLynx), it’s easy to see that this provider values your privacy. The company has also worked hard to build up its server network to include more than 5,200 servers in 60 countries around the world.

One stand-out feature that makes NordVPN a strong contender for the best VPN service out there is split tunneling. If you’re not familiar, split tunneling is the ability to whitelist some activities (such as gaming or streaming) to bypass the VPN and use the regular “clearnet” for better performance.

From protected DNS queries to a kill switch feature that automatically disables your connection when you lose sync with the VPN server, NordVPN wants you to know that your information won’t fall into the wrong hands. It’s also one of the most open VPNs about exactly what servers it offers in what countries, and provides 24/7 live chat support for questions.

The company has recently improved its platform support, adding dedicated apps for iOS and Android and thus overcoming its one weakness. You can also use it on six devices simultaneously. The NordVPN client provided one of the most attractive interfaces, and connecting to a server is straightforward and very quick, so much so it’s one of our top picks for the best Chrome VPN extension.

It’s also available for a host of devices and made our list for the best Fire TV Stick VPN. NordVPN can be installed in a VPN router as well, which expands the list of supported devices to include Chromecast, Raspberry Pi, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and Fire TV (in other words, anything connected to your VPN router). During our testing, we also found it to be the fastest VPN in our NordVPN vs ExpressVPN comparison, so if it’s speed you’re after, look no further.

ExpressVPN’s “#1 Trusted Leader in VPN” claim may be a bit difficult to prove, but the service offers a compelling list of features nonetheless. It also constantly tries to make regular improvements in speed and simultaneous streaming capabilities, and with support for all major platforms (Windows, MacOS, Android, etc.), you won’t need to worry about compatibility. ExpressVPN shows up on a number of best VPN lists, including our list of the best VPN for Linux and the best VPN for Windows, so its relatively high prices seem justified.

The more than 3,000 servers are all well-placed throughout common travel destinations and urban centers. Any package will land you high-speed unlimited bandwidth and 24-hour customer service. With so many features, including bypassing ISP throttling, built-in threat protection, and split tunneling, it’s no wonder this vendor is considered the best VPN by many users — although you should note that ExpressVPN only supports up to five simultaneous connections with a single subscription, which is the lowest number of the services on our list.

But they also provide a workaround of sorts for that: If you install ExpressVPN on your router, your router can protect all of your devices (as the router itself only counts as one device towards your subscription), regardless of how many other devices are connected to that network hub. This way, you can have well more than five devices protected at once.

Setting up ExpressVPN and connecting to a VPN server was easy enough. Netflix complained about a proxy in use when we used the automatic configuration option, but it worked fine when we manually selected a local U.S. server, so it’s a working Netflix VPN. Amazon Prime Video played just fine, and our other internet tests were completed without issue.

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It may not quite rank as the best VPN, but when it comes to price, Surfshark is hard to beat and is a great option for those looking to protect their privacy while minimizing costs. Surfshark is available for as cheaply as $60 for the two-year plan, and to sweeten the deal even more, that includes an unlimited number of simultaneous connections.

Feature-wise, Surfshark is fairly basic. This isn’t necessarily a problem if you don’t need any bells and whistles and just want a solid VPN on the cheap. In fact, the simple, no-nonsense interface, intuitive setup, and simple operation could easily be selling points if you explicitly don’t want to fuss with unnecessary complications. It supports a host of different devices, and it’s one of our top picks for the best Apple TV VPN, too.

That’s not to say it’s completely bare-bones, though; you get multiple encryption protocols to choose from (OpenVPN UDP or TCP, IKEv2/IPsec, and WireGuard) and a double VPN hop that lets you route your connection through two remote servers instead of one, adding an extra layer of security when desired.

Surfshark also works quite well with streaming services, although its speeds aren’t quite as good as other top VPN services like NordVPN and ExpressVPN. All in all, though, it’s the best VPN of 2023 for those on a budget, and especially for larger local networks such as family homes and offices.

IPVanish offers all the key features you could need from a VPN at a great price. With regular sales being part of the IPVanish experience, you can commit for a year at a very low cost, enjoying the protection that comes from a choice of more than 2,000 VPN servers across more than 75 different locations.

Besides offering extensive protection whether you’re browsing from home or using a public Wi-Fi hotspot, IPVanish also makes it simpler to avoid Deep Packet Inspection — a method used by ISPs to limit your internet speed at times. The VPN offers unmetered data transfer caps and there’s no limit on how many devices you can use it with so it’s incredibly flexible for high-volume users and larger local networks.

No logs are kept, plus there’s a choice of multiple connection protocols which is useful if you want to get more involved in your VPN settings. 24/7 customer support means the VPN is always on hand to help you out, too. Not that you should need it too often thanks to simple-to-use apps for all major platforms. It’s a great service and it’ll even help you avoid geo-restrictions on many of your favorite streaming apps.

AtlasVPN is a newcomer to the VPN industry, but it comes packed with secure and steadfast features that challenge even the big players. What’s amazing about this VPN is that it has a comprehensive free data plan that is one of the best on the market, and if you decide to upgrade to the faster, premium servers, then it only costs $49 per year or $72 for three years. While the server network may be considerably smaller than its competitors, it is a newer service with much more room to expand.

In terms of security, although the service is young, it didn’t cut any corners when constructing the server security. You can feel comfortable knowing you’re protected behind 256-bit encryption, WireGuard protocols, IPv6 leak protection, and a whole host of other features. Whether you’re browsing the internet casually, conducting important transactions, gaming, or streaming, you’ll find that AtlasVPN’s servers are ideal for you.

What’s more, Atlas now offers SafeSwap servers, a brand-new feature that enhances anonymity and security. With SafeSwap, you can rotate IP addresses without ever having to swap between VPN servers. As of now, AtlasVPN is the only provider that offers something like this. SafeSwap draws from a pool of IP addresses with outgoing traffic routed to the various addresses, yet you’ll experience no decrease in speeds — that’s super important if you’re streaming.

Last, but certainly not least, you can use AtlasVPN on all of your devices (if the client supports the VPN) and keep yourself protected wherever you are. With unlimited simultaneous connections, you don’t need to worry about getting booted off the VPN in case you reach the limit. The application is easy to install on all devices that even your grandparents could use AtlasVPN and stay protected online. The free data plan can help accommodate you or your family members to VPN services to better understand the inner workings of staying safe online.

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Speed can be a limiting factor with even the best VPN, and Hotspot Shield — a relatively new player in the virtual private network space — sought to make that problem its main focus. With up to gigabit speeds, we can safely say that Hotspot Shield seems to have succeeded in that endeavor.

The virtual private network was named the fasted VPN in 2019 and 2020 by Speedtest.net, too, so that doesn’t appear to be mere marketing. But Hotspot Shield isn’t a one-trick pony and has more to offer than just fast speeds. Its list of features also includes military-grade encryption and unlimited bandwidth (at gigabit speeds, mind you).

Hotspot Shield is also very simple to set up and use, but we’d like to see a little more customization options, such as control over encryption protocols. This is part of the deal you get with this VPN, though, as Hotspot Shield utilizes its own proprietary “Hydra” encryption protocol which the company claims is what makes it so fast. That’s just the nature of this beast, it seems.

Another consideration, and a potential drawback, is that as with ExpressVPN, you’re limited to five simultaneous connections per subscription. If you accept these limitations and can deal with some compromises in favor of speed, though — perhaps you’re looking for the best VPN for gaming or the best VPN for Kodi — then Hotspot Shield is an excellent choice that lives up to its promise of speed.

And in the event that you find it’s still not snappy enough for your digital lifestyle, Hotspot Shield also offers a VPN free trial. New subscribers get an extended 45-day money-back refund period, which is the most generous guarantee on our list. There’s also a free VPN plan, although speeds are capped at 2Mbps.

With VPNs, it’s all about location, location, location. PrivadoVPN is a Swiss company and is thus free from the laws of the U.S. and the European Union. Switzerland has pretty robust privacy laws, as well. It’s also not a member of the “fourteen eyes surveillance network,” so user traffic isn’t logged and passes through privacy-friendly countries. That means you needn’t worry about your true IP address being revealed.

Interestingly, PrivadoVPN operates one of the smaller server networks of all the providers on our list, measuring in at more than 320 servers spread between 58 physical locations in 47 countries, but that doesn’t preclude it from being a contender for the best VPN of 2023. That’s because it only offers physical server locations not virtual ones because it is not willing to compromise the quality of its service so it can promote a higher number.

If routing around region-based content restrictions and other geographical hassles is your priority, you might be better served with a VPN that has a wider global server spread, such as ExpressVPN. Although, having said that, PrivadoVPN is a fraction of the cost and covers a large chunk of countries, so if the one you’re wanting to virtually jump to is on its list, then we’d recommend taking it for a spin.

PrivadoVPN has it where it counts, though, with several encryption protocols to choose from: OpenVPN, IKEv2, and SOCKS5. The addition of SOCKS5 proxy support is noteworthy, as it allows for fast and seamless peer-to-peer transferring of large files, which is something many VPNs shy away from. This makes PrivadoVPN perhaps the best VPN service for peer-to-peer file transfers if that’s your primary use case for one of these services.

It’s not the cheapest VPN on our list, although that’s offset by the fact that you can use the VPN on up to ten devices simultaneously. There’s also a free app-based package that gives you 10GB of bandwidth per month.

With more than ten million active users and over 7,000 servers spread across the globe, CyberGhost is a giant in the VPN space. It’s also one of the most versatile virtual private networks out there, both in terms of supported devices/platforms as well as what activities it’s useful for.

CyberGhost VPN is compatible with computers, mobile devices, smart TVs, and even gaming consoles, and one great feature of the VPN is that it will automatically connect you to the best server for whatever you’re doing at the moment. That’s a vital consideration for bandwidth-heavy activities like gaming and streaming.

Another feather in the CyberGhost cap is that it supports peer-to-peer file transfers (read: It’s good to go for torrenting, and as we mentioned, it’ll select the best server for it so you get the fastest upload/download times). The interface is great, too, particularly on the computer. It gives you complete control and lots of configuration options including preferred server setups for your most-used programs and apps.

For encryption protocols, CyberGhost supports OpenVPN, IKEv2, and WireGuard, wrapping your connection in AES 256-bit encryption to keep your data and IP address hidden. CyberGhost is based in Romania and has a no-logs policy, and while this should keep you safe from certain prying eyes, this hasn’t been independently audited.

If that’s not a deal-breaker, CyberGhost is a strong contender for the best VPN of 2023 (take a look at our NordVPN vs CyberGhost comparison for more information on how it stacks up to the best) if you’re looking for the sweet spot between versatility and price. A limited-time introductory offer lets new subscribers grab their first two years of service for $57, which averages to just over $2 per month.

With a name like PureVPN, this virtual private network had better offer some viable protection — and it does. The software’s hallmarks lie in its ability to connect to a mélange of services for different activities, with wide compatibility with various devices and software interfaces.

The service starts at $55 for two years, making PureVPN another one of the best cheap VPNs on our roundup. That subscription includes port forwarding, multiple encryption protocols (PPTP, SSTP, L2TP/IPSec, IKEv2, and OpenVPN UDP/TCP), malware blocking, P2P support, and an audited no-log policy. You can also get some premium add-ons like encrypted file transfers and a password manager at extra cost.

As with any good virtual private network service, PureVPN will prevent websites from viewing your personal IP address, thus preventing others from identifying you or your geographic location. And with more than 6,500 servers on six continents, you won’t be at a loss for worldwide connection points to choose from.

Like NordVPN, PureVPN features split tunneling that allows you to whitelist certain activities you don’t need or want to go through the VPN, allowing you to use online services and browse the web through the VPN and on the clearnet simultaneously. PureVPN also offers you a personal IP address for you to use with certain sites and services — a good idea for those that require logins.

Our second-to-last pick isn’t as feature-rich as the others listed on our best VPN of 2023 roundup, but it’s nonetheless worth a mention if you’re looking for another no-frills (read: cheap) virtual private network that doesn’t bog you down with features you don’t need. TunnelBear puts ease of use and newbie-friendliness front and center. If you’re new to VPNs and find all this a bit intimidating, this big bear might be the one for you.

The main appeal of TunnelBear is simplicity and ease of use. You don’t have to fuss around with choosing encryption protocols or any other complicated setup. That’s bad news for advanced users who want more control and customization options, but it’s great for average folks who don’t want or need all that stuff getting in the way. TunnelBear does what it needs to do with good encryption, a kill switch, and a no-logging policy, with the added benefit of full yearly independent audits that the company releases to the public.

That simplicity does, however, bring a couple of bear-sized caveats. Firstly, there’s no free VPN trial or money-back guarantee, which could be a non-starter for many who are new to the VPN game and don’t want to fully commit to a service right away. If this describes you, you’re probably better served with a VPN that has a 30- to 45-day refund period.

On the other hand, TunnelBear does have a limited free plan that stands in as a trial of sorts, but that won’t give you a good feel for what the VPN can actually do. The second drawback with TunnelBear — and this could be a doozy, depending on your needs — is that it’s not really optimized for streaming (and you can forget gaming). The server network is also relatively small.

If you can live with those limitations, though, then TunnelBear is a reliable and extremely user-friendly VPN that gets the job done for web browsing, online work, and general internet use. It’s one of the cheaper picks, too, so long as you spring for the $120 three-year plan which averages $3.33 per month.

Private Internet Access does everything you could want from a good VPN. It hides your IP address, protects your information, and scrambles your browsing activity using a variety of encryption methods including OpenVPN and Wireguard. Private Internet Access also has one of the largest numbers and selections of servers of all the VPN providers on our roundup.

The PIA client source code is also publicly available, leaving no doubts about how the software works (or whether or not there are any backdoors or other nasties lurking in the code). Other nice features include split tunneling, a kill switch in the event of a dropped connection, dedicated IP addresses, and anonymous payments when making online purchases.

We tested Private Internet Access using its Windows installer, which configures the VPN protocols and provides a simple utility in the taskbar to turn the VPN connection on and off. While the interface was spartan, the performance was excellent. Our test system consistently maintained over 110Mbps download and 19Mbps upload speeds with the VPN connection turned on, very close to our usual 125Mbps download and 20Mbps upload speeds.

On the downside, Netflix complained about a proxy and Amazon Prime Video wouldn’t play due to a geographical restriction. These errors occurred whether we used the automatic setting or selected a local U.S.-based server. However, Private Internet Access claims that users can get “unrestricted access to all the content you want” since their VPN service supports Netflix and “all other major streaming services.”

For those looking for an affordable VPN option that hides your IP address well and protects you online, then Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection might be for you. You can get a full-year subscription to Kaspersky for only $34 right now, or $7 for a monthly subscription.

What’s perhaps even more enticing is the free data service that Kaspersky VPN provides its customers. If you’re unsure about how VPNs work and want to test one out before you commit to a subscription, then you can utilize the free data service first. While there may be other providers that gift users more megabytes per month, the benefit of using Kaspersky’s VPN is the combination of its free service as well as its cheap monthly price. There’s even a 30-day money-back guarantee for the premium product if it’s not a fit.

Secure Connection has outperformed nearly all others in independent speed testing, making it a great companion for gaming, streaming, torrenting and downloading. It has recently added support for popular streaming platforms, and you can also now connect your router and other devices directly to the VPN to protect your entire network.

All in all, if you’re looking for a comprehensive service that gives you strong privacy protection, then Kaspersky is an affordable option you can utilize for digital anonymity. It has industry-standard 256-bit encryption along with a strict no-logging-of-user-activity policy, kill switch, and P2P-supported servers. Upon cross-referencing Kaspersky VPN Secure Connection with other competitors, the affordability and strong fundamentals of the service make it an excellent introductory VPN for beginners to digital privacy, as well as for seasoned tech geeks.

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All of the VPNs on our list have high ratings for security, but there are a few specific things you should look for if your safety threshold is a bit higher than that of an average user. We suggest paying attention to:

Due to the fact that it ticks all of these boxes, and thanks to additional advanced features like split tunneling, NordVPN takes the cake as the most secure VPN you can subscribe to right now.

In the most basic terms, a virtual private network allows you to safely send information when using public networks via a group of networked computers and faraway servers. And while VPNs are effective at what they do, you should be aware of their limitations.

For general data encryption and protection when online, they are an excellent choice. They can help prevent data throttling by hiding you from your ISP (internet service provider). They can get around regional restrictions or price changes by allowing users to switch servers at will. Additional features can restrict web access, help detect malicious sites, and other services.

On the other hand, even the best VPN is not a security panacea. They can be detected and banned by governments, for example, and low-quality versions can log and even sell your data. Services can also block access to content when a VPN is used, which is why trying to get around something like Netflix’s regional restrictions can be hit or miss.

All that said, so long as you understand their limitations and adjust your expectations accordingly, we definitely think that you should use a VPN in 2023 if you’re concerned with online privacy and security.

Signing up for free VPNs, while tempting at first glance, can be a risky business. Know that all “free” services are making money off of you somehow (the old axiom that states “if something’s free, you’re the product” comes to mind), whether it be from advertisements or something less innocuous, such as selling user activity data. The best VPNs typically promise no activity or user logs and many boast third-party audits of this claim but do have fees.

We’ve narrowed down the very best VPN service options above, but thanks to frequent deals and discounts, you’ll find that even the best services don’t cost that much. The small savings you get by using a free VPN really aren’t worth the trade-off in performance and protection. Check out our guide to are free VPNs are safe for more in-depth info about the risks and compromises involved with these.

Shopping on a budget? We’ve also rounded up all the best VPN deals.

Virtual private networks themselves are perfectly legal in most jurisdictions, including the United States, and there’s nothing illegal about using one for anything you’d do on the internet that’s not an unlawful activity. At its most basic, a VPN is simply a network of privately operated servers that you connect to and through which your internet traffic is routed. That said, VPNs can still put the user in a legal gray area under certain circumstances. This largely comes down to geography.

Certain countries and jurisdictions, particularly those where the state engages in censorship, have laws against circumventing these government restrictions, up to and including blanket bans on virtual private networks. China, Cuba, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey, and Russia are a few countries known for restricting or completely prohibiting VPN usage. If you’re concerned about this, make sure to read up on your national and local laws before you start shopping for a VPN.

It also should go without saying that a VPN doesn’t cast a magic spell that makes illegal activities legal. Any action that is unlawful when conducted online without a VPN is still unlawful when using a VPN. This includes piracy. Peer-to-peer file-sharing protocols such as BitTorrent have many legitimate uses (open-source software distribution, for example), but illegally sharing copyrighted materials isn’t one of them. Bear this in mind if you’re specifically looking for a good VPN for torrenting.

Also, know that virtual private network providers are beholden to the laws of whichever country they’re registered in and may have to hand over information to law enforcement during the course of an investigation. Virtually all VPN operators boast a “no logs” policy, meaning that they do not keep a record of user activity. In this case, there would be nothing to hand over, although there’s no way to be fully certain that a VPN provider’s “no log” policy is being followed to the letter.

Some VPNs have their no-log practices audited by independent third parties on a regular (typically annual) basis, but this still doesn’t offer 100% certainty. The only way to be sure that you stay out of trouble while using a VPN is to simply obey the law. A virtual private network is for protecting your privacy and keeping your sensitive personal information secure — not for conducting illegal activities outside of the purview of law enforcement.

Finally, note that while not illegal, using a VPN does violate the terms of service of certain websites and apps (Netflix is one notable example). While breaking a company’s terms of service is not a crime, it can still result in that site or app restricting your access to its services and even shutting down your account. Virtual private networks often advertise that they are streaming- and gaming-friendly, but in our own tests, we have frequently found this to be hit-and-miss. Be sure to do your research if you plan to use your VPN activities like these.

WWDC 2023 Biggest Reveals: Vision Pro Headset, iOS 17, MacBook Air and More

Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference kicked off on Monday with a keynote address showing everything coming to the company's lineup of devices. WWDC has been typically where the company gives us a first look at new software for iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and Macs. But this year, Apple revealed a bevy of new hardware, too. 

The big announcement was the debut of the Apple Vision Pro headset, a "new kind of computer," as CEO Tim Cook put it in the presentation. But with MacBook Air and other Mac hardware announcements -- including new silicon -- as well as software upgrades, no corner of Apple's ecosystem lacked for updates.  

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2023

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For a detailed summary of everything announced as it happened, give our live blog a look. Read on for the highlights of the presentation and links to our stories.

The Apple Vision Pro is the company's answer to the AR and VR headset race. It's a personal display on your face with all the interface touches you'd expect from Apple, with an operating system that looks like a combination of iOS, MacOS and TVOS. And it's not going to come cheap: The Apple Vision Pro retails for $3,499 and will start shipping early next year, though only in the US.

The device itself looks like other headsets, though the glass front hides cameras and even a curved OLED outer display (more on why later). The headset is secured to the wearer's head with a wide rear band (an over-the-top strap is optional), though as rumors suggested, there's an external battery back that connects over a cable and sits in your pocket. There's a large Apple Watch-style digital crown on the right side that lets you dial immersion (i.e. the outside world) in and out.

The Vision Pro has three-element lenses that enable 4K resolution, though you can swap out lenses, presumably for different vision capabilities. Audio pods are embedded within the band to sit over your ears, and "audio ray tracing" maps sound to your position. A suite of lidar and other sensors on the bottom of the headset track hand and body motions. 

Technically speaking, the Vision Pro is a computer, with an M2 chip found on Apple's highest-end computers. But a new R1 chip processes all the other headset inputs from 12 cameras, five sensors and six microphones, and sends it to the M2 to reduce lag and get new images to its displays within 12 milliseconds. The Vision Pro runs the new VisionOS, which uses iOS frameworks, a 3D engine, foveated rendering and other software tricks to make what Apple calls "the first operating system designed from the ground up for spatial computing."

Interior cameras track your facial motion, which is projected to others when on FaceTime and other video chatting apps. 

To keep users from being cut off from the outside world, the EyeSight feature uses inside-pointing cameras and the headset's outer display to show your eyes -- essentially showing people around you what your eyes are focusing on. If you've dialed your immersion all the way on, your eyes will disappear on the outside screen. But you're not totally cut off. While wearing the headset, if someone approaches you they'll filter in to your vision.  

The interface uses hand motions to control the device, though there are also voice controls. It's tough to tell how these controls will work, and we'd expect that users will need some time to adapt to not using a mouse and keyboard.

This isn't just an entertainment device. Apple is pitching its first new product in eight years as a work-from-home and travel device, essentially letting you open however many windows you want. It can work in the office as a display for Macs, and supports Apple's Magic Keyboard and Trackpad devices. 

The Vision Pro has Apple's first 3D cameras and can take spatial photos, providing 3D depth with binaural audio to experience moments with more immersion. Of course, this spatial experience is extended to movies that's "impossible to represent on a 2D screen," Apple said during its presentation, continually teasing the exclusivity that non-headset wearers won't even understand without trying out a Vision Pro. Disney CEO Bob Iger took the WWDC stage to vouch for the headset, and followed with a short video showing interactive 3D experiences that Vision Pro users will soon get to experience on the Disney Plus streaming service.

Now that Apple has all these new cameras and eye-tracking, it's introduced a way to secure your data and purchases with Optic ID, which uses your eyes as an optical fingerprint for authentication. Camera data is processed at the system level, so what the headset sees isn't fed up to the cloud.

Read more: Apple's 'One More Thing' Retrospective 

As was rumored, Apple announced a new MacBook Air 15, a larger version of the MacBook Air 13 that launched last year. 

The 15-inch MacBook Air is powered by an M2 chip and gets up to 18 hours of battery life. Configurations can come with up to 24GB of memory and up to 2TB of storage, retailing for $1,299 to start (or $1,199 with a student discount).  

The 15-inch model is 11.5mm thick and 3.3 pounds, and has two Thunderbolt ports and a Magsafe cable connector -- along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It has an above-display 1080p camera in a notch, three microphones and six speakers with force-canceling subwoofers.

Read more: 15-inch MacBook Air M2 Preorder: Where to Buy Apple's Latest Laptop

A new Mac Studio has landed and it comes with Apple's latest silicon. The new model comes with an M2 Max chipset, or the new M2 Ultra chipset -- essentially two M2 Max chips combined, which enables up to 192GB of memory.

The M2 Ultra stole the spotlight with new capabilities, with a 24-core CPU and streaming 22 videos at 8K ProRes resolution at once. It can support up to six Apple Pro Displays at once. 

The Mac Studio starts at $1,999 and will be available starting next week.

Apple wasted no time announcing that its new high-end desktop Mac Pro model would get the M2 Ultra as well. The new Mac Pro gets all the M2 Ultra upgrades as the Studio, including support for up to 192GB of RAM. 

The Mac Pro has eight thunderbolt ports, two HDMI ports and dual 10GB ethernet ports, with six open PCIe Gen 4 slots. The new Mac Pro comes in both upright tower and horizontal rack orientations.

The new Mac Pro starts at $6,999 and will be available starting next week.

iOS 17 brings a ton of quality-of-life improvements, and the iOS 17 developer beta is available now to download. Finally, you can use more filters while searching within your Messages. In addition to pressing and holding on messages to reply, you can also simply swipe on specific messages to reply to them, and voice notes will be transcribed.

Say goodbye to gray screens when you get calls -- now you can set full-screen photos or Memoji to contacts when they call you. And if someone leaves a voicemail, you can see it transcribed in real time to help you screen calls if you don't recognize a caller.

WWDC 2023: Here Are All the Major iOS 17 Features

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A new safety feature, Check In, sends a note to a trusted contact when you reach a location -- like when you make it home safe after late-night travel. If it's taking you longer to get to a destination, you'll be prompted to extend the timer rather than alert your contact. It also shares your battery and signal status. Check In is end-to-end encrypted.

Last year, Apple introduced an iOS feature to let you copy photo subjects and paste them as stickers -- and now you can do that with video to essentially create GIFs to share with friends or even as responses to Messages. All emoji are now shareable stickers, too.

AirDrop has been a helpful tool to send files between Apple devices, but now you can share your contact info with Name Drop. You can choose what you want to share between email addresses, phone numbers and more.

Also, say goodbye to relying on Notes to jot down your thoughts -- Journal is a new secure app for personal recollections. Apple is pitching it as a gratitude exercise, but iOS will auto-include activities like songs and workouts you've done to your personal log. 

Apple Maps got an update that Android owners have had for years -- the ability to use Maps offline, especially helpful when you're outside network range while outdoors or conserving battery.

A new mode, StandBy, converts an iPhone to an alarm clock when it's charging and rotated horizontally. It gets smart interactions like a large visible clockface along with calendar and music controls.

Lastly, as was rumored, you won't have to say, "Hey Siri," anymore. Just saying "Siri" will bring up the voice assistant.

Read more: Apple Finally Lets You Type What You Ducking Mean on iOS 17

iPadOS 17 brings more controls to widgets, which don't just show more info at a glance -- they have more interactive buttons to let you control your smart home or play music.

iPadOS 17 is bringing more interactive personal data to the Health app, including richer sleep and activity visualization. 

The next iPadOS update brings quality-of-life upgrades like more lock screen customization and multiple timers (helpful when cooking), as well as improvements to the follow-you-during-video-calls Stage Manager feature for iPad selfie cameras.

With all the screen space on an iPad, Apple expanded what you can do with PDFs, which can be autofilled and signed from within iPadOS. iPad owners can collaborate in real time while tweaking PDFs, and the files can now be stored in the Notes app.

MacOS Sonoma, named after one of California's most famous wine-producing areas, continues the WWDC theme of adding more widget functionality. 

Sonoma also has some gaming upgrades like a new gaming mode that prioritizes CPU and GPU to improve frame rate. Apple is paying attention to immersion with lower latency for wireless controllers and speakers or headsets. The company is also courting developers with game dev kits and Metal 3. But the biggest gaming announcement is that legendary game creator Hideo Kojima's opus Death Stranding is coming to Macs later this year. "We are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms," Kojima said during the WWDC presentation. 

On the business side, Mac has improved videoconferencing with an overlay that shows slide controls while you're presenting. Apple also introduced new reactions -- like ticker-tape falling for a congratulations -- that can be triggered with gestures.

PassKey, the end-to-end encrypted password chain tech Apple introduced last year, can now be shared with other contacts, and everyone included can edit and update passwords to be shared with the group. 

Safari has security updates including locking the browser window when in private browsing mode, and profiles to separate accounts, logins and cookies between work and personal use.

Apple has a handful of improvements to its audio products. AirPods will get Adaptive Audio, which combines noise canceling with intelligent audio to drown out annoying background noise while letting through important sounds -- like car horns or bike bells. It'll also pass through voices in case someone starts a conversation in person.

And it's far easier to digitally take control of the music with SharePlay while somebody with CarPlay is driving -- a prompt will go out to others in the car asking if they want to take control.

Yet again, widgets make an appearance with WatchOS 10, the next operating system upgrade for Apple Watches. Widgets are now accessible in a stack from your home screen -- just use the digital crown to scroll between them.

Apple has focused on cycling this year, improving workouts by showing functional threshold data, an important metric for cyclists. It also connects over Bluetooth to sensors on bikes, and there's a new full-screen mode for iPhones that allows you to use it as a full screen while cycling.

Hikers, rejoice! WatchOS 10 has upgraded its compass with cellular connection waypoints, telling you which direction to walk and how far you have to go before you can get carrier reception. It also shows SOS waypoint spots, and shows elevation view in the 3D compass view. There's also a neat topographical view.

Apple is also expanding its Mindfulness app to log how you're feeling in State of Mind, choosing between color-coded emotional states. You can even access this from your iPhone in case you're away from your Apple Watch. 

On top of the WatchOS Mindfulness updates, Apple introduced a neutral survey to self-report mood and mental health, which acts as a sort of non-medical way to indicate whether you may want to get professional help.

Apple also has a new cross-device Vision Health focus in the Health app, and a new feature on the Apple Watch measures daylight time spent outside to watch for myopia in younger wearers. Screen Distance uses the TrueDepth camera on iPads to warn people if they're too close to the screen.