Apple has announced a special deal for students who purchase a Mac or iPad and use education pricing. The special deal will include free AirPods to go along with the device. Apple also notes that students can upgrade to the AirPods Pro if they want. The least expensive way to get the free AirPods is to buy the MacBook Air base version for $899.

That deal will get the AirPods with charging case for no additional money out of pocket. Students can upgrade to the AirPods with a wireless charging case for $40. Moving up to the AirPods Pro will cost an additional $90. The normal retail price for the basic AirPods is $159, AirPods with wireless charging cases $199, and AirPods Pro typically costs $249.

Other Apple devices that are eligible for the free AirPods deal include the 13-inch MacBook Pro starting at $1199, the 16-inch MacBook Pro starting at $2199, the iMac starting at $1049, and the iMac Pro starting at $4599. The back to school deal also includes savings of up to 20% on AppleCare+.

Grounded is a pleasant surprise of survival games, with the game coming from developer Obsidian -- who made The Outer Worlds and Fallout New Vegas. It's like a Pixar movie fused with the Rick Moranis 1989 classic 'Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'.

You play Grounded as a super-small teenager where you're the size of an ant, and have to survival the (literal) elements of a backyard. You will need to forge weapons, structures, hunt and gather -- as well as cook, food. You'll need to be careful to not be killed by an ant, or worse yet: a spider.

Oh, and just to add: spiders have their eyes glowing red in the dark during the day/night weather cycles, just to make it a little worse. Imagine a spider diving out at you from the grass, in the dark -- yikes.

There is a lot of discussion going on right now regarding the price of Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console -- will it be $399? Will it be $499? Could it cost $599?

Well, according to former Xbox executive Albert Penello, there is "no way" the PlayStation 5 will cost over $499. Penello tweeted out regarding the rumors of the PS5 being $600, where he said: "I believe in the saying "never say never". But I gotta say never. No way this console is over $499".

The latest on the price of the PlayStation 5 is from this leak, which points to a now-deleted listing on Amazon France. The listing teased a $499 price for the standard PlayStation 5, while the digital-only PS5 would be $399 -- both consoles launch November 20, 2020 according to this leak.

If you're patiently waiting for Microsoft's new Flight Simulator to release, then Thrustmaster has your back to drain your wallet ahead of its release.

Thrustmaster has just announced its new brand: Thrustmaster Civil Aviation (TCA) which has a slew of new hardware to ogle over. This includes a modular sidestick, dual thrust lever throttle with add-on modules, an Officer bundle, and a new metal desk clamp.

The company teamed with Airbus on the new Thrustmaster Civil Aviation range of products, where it is about as close as we've ever been to the look and feel of the Airbus A320 sidestick. The TCA Sidestick Airbus Edition mimics the look and feel of the Airbus A320's real sidestick.

We kinda knew it was happening, but now it's confirmed: Apex Legends crossplay is coming -- confirmed during EA Play 2020. Respawn also announced "Lost Treasures Collection" which is the new seasonal event for Apex Legends, check it out:

The new Lost Treasures Collection seasonal event changes Apex Legends up a bit, with core design modifications in the new limited-time game mode "Armed and Dangerous Evolved". This allows players to use a resurrection tool to pick up knocked-out teammates, as well as some wicked twists on players' abilities.

As for crossplay, Respawn and EA announced Apex Legends would have crossplay across all platforms -- this means that someone using EA Origin's launcher or Steam (yes, Apex is coming to Steam) can play together with their friends across the PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and even the Nintendo Switch.

ASUS is always pushing the boundaries of what is possible inside of a gaming smartphone, so the next-gen ROG Phone 3 should be no different -- right? Yep.

According to new leaks on the upcoming ASUS ROG Phone 3 we should expect Qualcomm's Snapdragon 865 to power it, but an overclocked SoC that will see the SoC clocked at a huge 3.09GHz -- up from the already fast 2.84GHz. It should be joined by a huge 16GB of RAM (!!!) and 512GB of storage.

As for the display, ASUS is tipped to use a 6.59-inch AMOLED display that should be FHD+, and I would be disappointed to see anything less than a 120Hz refresh rate. Even all of this, there's not much difference between the ROG Phone 2 and ROG Phone 3 -- but there will be small changes under the hood that give this iteration a nice boost of its predecessor.

EA just showed off a slew of its next-gen games during EA Play 2020, including a sneak peak at future games from BioWare, Criteron -- and even next-gen Battlefield games.

It seems as though we just got our first looks at Dragon Age 4 and what I'm hoping will be great this time around: Battlefield 6. We are getting a tease of what next-gen consoles and next-gen games can do, with the video below teasing an entire freaking building crumbling to the ground -- one of those "only in Battlefield" gameplay moments, I'd say.

The tease doesn't say or do much for Battlefield, but Laura Miele -- the Chief Studios Officer at EA, teases: "We're creating epic battles at a scale and fidelity unlike anything you've experienced before".

Microsoft still has its Xbox Series X cooking in the oven right now, but that hasn't stopped the team from sharing the boot-up sound to the Xbox Series X. Check it out:

The company used Twitter's new "voice notes" feature, with a calm noise that is longer than the boot-up sound on the normal Xbox One console. Microsoft tweeted right after, describing the Xbox Series X boot-up sound: "It's like a choir of gaming angels singing in your ears".

What about the competing console in Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5? How does that look and sound when the PS5 is booting up. The above tweet from Bob Hanson shows what Sony kinda (maybe accidentally, but I'm sure it wasn't an accident) revealed that during their recent Future of Gaming event.

It hasn't even been a month since Zack Snyder's Justice League was confirmed during Zack Snyder's own Man of Steel Watch Party -- yet here we are, with our first sneak peak at what should be one of, if not the biggest release of 2021: Zack Snyder's Justice League.

The clip opens with Diana Prince (Wonder Woman, played beautifully by Gal Gadot) exploring an underground cave, where a creepy (but awesome) voiceover from Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice).

Luthor says the bell has been rung, and "The bell's already been rung and they've heard it, out in the dark among the stars. Ding-dong. The God is dead".

Alright, which we've reached peak gaming people. During the recent Future of Gaming event held by Sony where they unveiled more details and games for the PlayStation 5, one of those new games was a game called Stray.

Stray is being developed by Blue Twelve and published by Annapurna Interactive, and has been in development for 5 years with just two people beginning the early work on Stray in 2015. The trailer above shows that Stray sees you playing a cat -- in 4K hopefully, with beautiful future sci-fi looks and a world where humans are gone -- we've been replaced by robots and cats.

If you've wanted a cat simulator then you've got it with Stray, where you will play the "role" of a smart cat that solves mysteries in what feels like a future version of Tokyo. You'll be joined by a robot friend called B12, where together you will solve mysteries inside of the futuristic city.

A new PS5 size comparison mock-up is making the rounds, but it's pretty inaccurate. The PS5 might be a skyscraper but it's not about to put the Burj Khalifa to shame.

Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 is a chonky beast. Early size comparisons estimate the PS5 could be taller and bigger sideways than the footlocker-shaped Xbox Series X. It's pretty big but it's not that big...at least not as big as shown in these exaggerated new renders.

The latest size-ups are pretty much inaccurate due to one noticable flaw: the sizable discrepancy between the two consoles' front-facing USB ports. Standardized ports and disc-drive slots are used as reference scales by artists to create these mock-ups. So when one of these references is bigger or smaller than the other, it throws the entire thing off.

Guerrilla's new sci-fantasy sequel Horizon Forbidden West will be the first major first-party open-world exclusive to stress the PS5's SSD.

The PS5's 12-channel PCIe 4.0 SSD is revolutionary for pretty much every game. But open-world games like Horizon Forbidden West stand to tremendously benefit from the new custom storage tech. Thanks to the ultra-fast 5.5GB/sec transfer speeds, powerful compression tech, and ultra-tight OS optimizations, Guerrilla says its new Horizon sequel will have virtually no loading sequences as you play.

This includes everything from booting up the game to reloading a checkpoint, and most importantly, fast travel. The PS5 can simply blast textures, assets, and data to the CPU, GPU, and RAM memory pool at such a rapid pace that loading is pretty much obliterated. But it's not just about speed. The SSD also removes seek times altogether, and removes the need for duplicated assets. The PS5 is also incredibly efficient thanks to the massive synergy between the SoC, storage, RAM, and OS toolsets.

Following the massive $7 million earned from the Itch.io racial equality bundle, Humble Bundle is holding their own charity fundraiser that unlocks a ton of games for just $30.

The new Racial Justice Humble Bundle packs in over $1200 worth of games and content for just $30, and all proceeds are donated to to three charities: The NAACP Defense Fund, the Bail Project, and Race Forward. So far the bundle has raised over $2.1 million and counting, and someone (Good Guy Jeff) has donated a whopping $20,000 for the bundle.

So what's all included? There's some heavy hitters in here, but you might already own them. The selection isn't absolutely amazing and the main reason to donate is to support a cause.

Insomniac's new standalone Spider-Man game is the latest to have near-instantaneous loading on Sony's next-gen PS5, and the studio plans to take full advantage of the console's new higher-end tech.

The PS5's new PCIe 4.0 SSD is something special, and all the biggest first-party games plan to squeeze out every last drop of its 5.5GB/sec speeds and 12-channel memory controller. We've already heard about Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart completely annihilating loading sequences, and how Gran Turismo 7 will be a technical marvel on the PS5. But now Insomniac confirms Spider-Man: Miles Morales will also push the next-gen console to its limits.

In a recent developer update, Insomniac confirms Miles' new game will support ray-traced visuals, a whole new dynamic city to explore complete with new higher-end assets and textures, and near-instant loading sequences that flex the PS5's raw SSD power.

Lenovo rolled out updated laptop computers this week, including the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3. Lenovo says this computer is aimed specifically at advanced users who want a high-performance Windows 10 laptop packing the 10th generation Intel H vPro mobile processors. Available processors go all the way up to the Core i9.

Paired up with that high-end processor is optional NVIDIA GeForce 1650Ti graphics. The laptop uses a 15.6-inch display with up to 600-nits of brightness. That level of brightness should make the screen easy to view even in brightly lit rooms or direct sunlight. Lenovo also wraps in Wi-Fi 6 and an optional CAT16 LTE-A wireless WAN card.

The latter allows the user to connect to LTE networks when Wi-Fi hotspots aren't available. One of the cooler features of the notebook is called Modern Standby, which helps users maintain a work-life balance by ensuring emails, messages, and updates are received even if the lid to the notebook is closed. The feature also allows rapid resume from distractions if the machine goes into sleep mode or the top is closed.

Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed again, this time to coincide with the launch of next-gen PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles.

Today CD Projekt RED delayed Cyberpunk 2077 to November 19, 2020, over three months later than its original September launch. Interestingly enough, this is just a day before the PlayStation 5 could release. Recent deleted Amazon listings pinpointed a November 20 launch for the PS5.

The timing is a little suspect. Is Cyberpunk 2077 being delayed so it can be a next-gen launch game? Possibly. CDPR says the delay will allow them to ensure the massive FPS RPG is balanced properly, but the game is still 100% finished insofar as content.

HP makes a whole bunch of different notebooks aimed at all sorts of users, from budget shoppers to high-end gamers. One of the more interesting machines for general computer users is the HP Spectre x360 multi-touch two-in-one laptop. Like all 2-in-1 machines, this one can be used in multiple modes, including tent, tablet, and laptop mode. Typically the device sells for $1,499, but it's on sale right now for $500 off.

The caveat for some users is that the machine is refurbished. If you can stand a refurbished computer, you will get the Spectre x360 for $999. For the price, buyers get a notebook with a 1.8 GHz Intel Core i7-8565U quad-core processor. It's fitted with 16GB of RAM, 32GB of Intel Optane, and a 512GB SSD.

Graphics are handled by an NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU. The screen is a 15.6-inch touch-capable unit with a native resolution of 3840 x 2160. The display also supports the accessory HP Pen for drawing directly on the screen. Other features of the notebook include Bang & Olufsen stereo audio system for quality sound with music and movie playback.

Some users of the latest generation MacBook Pro and MacBook Air notebooks have begun to complain about compatibility issues with USB 2.0 accessories. According to these users, the compatibility issues with the accessories cause the computers to freeze. The problem appears to be limited to MacBook models introduced in 2020.

Many people with compatibility issues report that USB 2.0 accessories are randomly disconnected from the computer, and sometimes the system crash after the accessories disconnected. Some users are boarding that after Randall amounts of time, minutes, or hours, the USB 2.0 devices, including hubs, will stop responding. The only workaround is said to be a reboot of the computer.

Curiously, there doesn't seem to be a clear pattern as to how the compatibility issues occur. Many users are mentioning that there USB 2.0 devices are becoming unresponsive when connected to a USB hub. However, reports indicate that there are problems with USB 3.0 or 3.1 accessories, even if using a hub. One user has reported a workaround.

Epic Games has unleashed Season 3 of Fortnite: Chapter 2, and with it delivers a bunch of new stuff including an Aquaman skin as well as the introduction of cars (that you can't drive yet).

The third season of Fortnite: Chapter 2 saw a gigantic wall of water surrouding the battle royale island this week, with the new season throwing a bunch of the island under water -- forcing battles to take place in the sea. Epic has added in sharks, water skiing, and more.

But get this -- you can water ski... while being pulled through the water by a shark. Epic Games explains: "As time goes on and water recedes, even more locations will be uncovered, and as the roadways become more open, you'll discover new ways to get around".

Anyone that owns a Google Assistant-based smart display will know they can't access regular websites, but that will be a thing of the past soon.

Google will be unlocking this ability for its Google Assistant family of smart displays, saying that "later this summer" we'll be able to use regular web pages that are AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) compatible. AMP is an entirely Google project, where websites like TweakTown, have AMP pages for mobile users.

So once Google pushes out the update to Google Assistant, compatible smart displays will be able to view AMP versions of websites from the tap of a finger. Google has said that the smart display web page ability will be part of its upcoming News feature, but the search giant has been quiet on more details about this new News feature.