Month: April 2022

Apple’s MacBook lineup offers impressive performance and at first glance, the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro seem quite similar. They have the same CPU/GPU, same ports, same FaceTime camera, and more. However, the more powerful 2021 14-inch MacBook Pro may complicate your decision. Let’s take a closer look at the MacBook Air vs Pro to see what differentiates these MacBooks and help you decide which to buy in 2022.

Beyond the larger screens, the all-new 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro notebooks feature a refreshed design, mini-LED display backlighting, the return of I/O including HDMI, SD card slot, and MagSafe, and the removal of the Touch Bar.

And of course, they have more power than ever with the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips. If you’re on the fence between the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro, check out our detailed guide.

• Here’s how the new 14” and 16” MacBook Pro compare to other MacBook models

But if you know you want a compact 13 or 14-inch MacBook, read on for our in-depth Air vs MacBook Pro comparison. Also, keep in mind there is a new MacBook Air in the works that could arrive as soon as summer 2022.

• 2022 MacBook Air: Everything the rumors say we should expect

Initial reactions to Apple unveiling the new M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro in late 2020 included confusion about the point of continuing to offer both since they appear so similar.

While it is impressive and somewhat confusing that the $999 base M1 MacBook Air has the same CPU/GPU and neural engine as the $1,299 and higher M1 MacBook Pro, there are some notable differences that are worth considering before making a decision.

And with the 14-inch M1 Pro/Max MacBook Pro available there are even more differences.

MacBook Air vs Pro hardware comparison

You’re getting the powerful and efficient M1 chip with 2020 MacBook Air and Pro machines with 4 high-efficiency cores and 4 high-performance cores for the CPU. But interestingly enough, it’s actually a 7-core GPU on the base MacBook Air models instead of the 8-core on the higher end Air configurations and all the MacBook Pro models. Ben Lovejoy, my colleague wrote an explanation on this.

In addition to the GPU differences, the MacBook Pro has active cooling. This is notable because it allows for the notebook to run at high speeds even when subjected to prolonged loads.

For the 14-inch MacBook Pro, you get the M1 Pro or M1 Max chip with the option for more CPU and GPU cores, increased RAM, full HD 1080p FaceTime camera, and more.

Maybe more minor in the big picture, but both MacBook Pro models features high dynamic range with stereo speakers and the mics are “studio-quality.”

It’s great to see Wi-Fi 6 support all models. However, it’s just a 720p FaceTime camera on the 2020 MacBooks. Apple says it’s improved the image quality with its image signal processor. But to get the full HD 1080p FaceTime camera, you’ll need to buy the new 14-inch MacBook Pro.

You’re going to see awesome performance for everyday computing with all three of these computers but if you lean toward heavier workflows, the new MacBook Pro is the winner.

If you are looking for a portable solution that is both cost-conscious and lightweight, then the MacBook Air would be a good choice.

MacBook Air vs Pro display comparison

If screen brightness is important to you, chalk up another point for the MacBook Pro with its 500-1600 nits brightness vs 400 nits on the MacBook Air.

The new MacBook Pro’s up to 1,000 sustained nits brightness (1,600 peak) may be just for HDR content, but you’re still getting up to 120Hz refresh rates with ProMotion, mini-LED backlighting, and even thinner bezels.

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro display does include a notch at the top center of the display for the 1080p FaceTime camera. But unlike the iPhone, the notch doesn’t include Face ID hardware/support on the new MacBook Pro notebooks.

MacBook Air vs Pro I/O comparison

The difference between the 2020 Air and Pro with the rest of the I/O not covered above is the Touch Bar coming on the MacBook Pro and dedicated row of function keys (new ones too for dictation, spotlight, more) on the MacBook Air.

One downside with the 2020 MacBooks is support for just 1 external display up to 6K at 60Hz.

In contrast, the 14-inch MacBook Pro offers much more I/O including 3 USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, HDMI, SDXC slot, MagSafe, and support for up to 3 external displays.

• Best USB-C display and Thunderbolt 3 display for MacBooks and iPad

Size, weight, and finish comparison

As you’d expect, the MacBook Air is the lightest machine with the 13-inch MacBook Pro weighing a touch more, and the 14-inch naturally being the heaviest.

The MacBook Air, with its tapered design is the slimmest Apple notebook. The MacBook Air is the only model that comes in the golden color.

Battery life comparison

Real-life use shows massive battery life gains for Apple Silicon MacBooks compared to the old Intel models. However, keep in mind you probably won’t see exactly the Apple ratings of up to 15-20 hours without compromises like turning down display brightness, etc.

But in any case, the power efficiency and battery life improvements are big with Apple Silicon!

Pricing comparison

Across the different configurations, it’s a $300-$1,000 difference between the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

Stocked models are the 256GB/8GB RAM and 512GB/8GB RAM configurations for the 13-inch Air and Pro. Models with 16GB RAM for the 2020 Air and Pro are custom orders.

And the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model starts at $1,999 with M1 Pro chip, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD.

MacBook Air vs Pro wrap-up

Hopefully you now have clarity on the right MacBook for you. The MacBook Pro is for you if you are looking for more power and active cooling to handle extended workloads. A brighter screen and additional ports make the MacBook Pro the best choice.

Meanwhile, if you have light to medium performance needs, and prefer the lightest machine with great battery life, the MacBook Air is the choice starting at a really reasonable $999.

But don’t overlook the possibility that a new MacBook Air will be released in the next few months. If you know you’d like an Air but don’t need it immediately, it could be worth waiting to see if a new model arrives this summer or fall.

• 2022 MacBook Air: Everything the rumors say we should expect

Elden Ring is a stunning open-world RPG that feels like an endless well of surprises. Whether it’s summoning giant glowing jellyfish or the simple joy of trotting around on Torrent, the game provides ample opportunities for players to admire its world. This game is a marvel for anyone, but it’s even more special when a child sees it firsthand. Lately, to the delight of fans online, streamer Sizzsarz has been streaming Elden Ring alongside a special guest: her daughter Evie.

Sizzsarz is a variety streamer on Twitch. She first started streaming Elden Ring when it came out, and while she primarily streams by herself, every now and then her daughter Evie will hop on her lap and join her. They do different things in Elden Ring . Sometimes Evie runs around with Torrent and sometimes Sizzsarz shows Evie all of the awesome monsters that live in this game’s world.

Sizzsarz uses a green screen, so whenever Evie comes by, it looks like she magically appears from behind a barrier. Evie has appeared on multiple streams, and on one stream, she wore a sparkly blue princess dress with a matching headband. During streams, Evie provides astute commentary and sometimes sings. Evie sings “Rain Rain Go Away” when the mother-daughter pair were exploring Limgrave.

The best thing about Evie is her facial expressions. Evie has large, round eyes which express her curiosity about the world. A clip she recently filmed of herself seeing Agheel, the dragon, was very popular on TikTok and racked up more than three million views. In it, Evie sits on her mom’s lap, eyes wide and mouth agape as she looks at the dragon. Evie and Evie don’t battle it. Instead, they watch it as it moves by, while Evie exclaims, “Hehe! He wants to chase !”

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For a clip featuring a giant world of monsters, it sure is cute. If you want more of Evie’s adorable video game reactions, you can check out Sizzsarz’s Twitch channel or watch clips on TikTok.

Earlier this month, Apple had employees return to work at the corporate office in a hybrid format. This has taken place slowly. They’re currently in the office one day per week, but according to company policy, by May 23 employees will need to be in office at least three days per week.

However, some employees have not warmed up to the idea of returning to the office. Organizing under a new group called “Apple Together,” these individuals are advocating for employees’ well-being and rights. In a letter addressed to company leadership on Apple Together’s website Friday, these employees push leadership for increased flexibility.

The letter provides multiple reasons why the employees of Apple Together believe remote work should still be an option.

We tell our customers about how amazing our products can be for remote work but we cannot actually use them remotely. How can we expect our customers to take that seriously? If we haven’t lived it, how can we possibly understand the problems that remote work presents in our products?

It goes on to state how commuting is “a huge waste of time as well as both mental and physical resources.” There’s also the argument of how this hybrid model affects the diversity of the company’s workforce.

The final paragraph says it all:

As Steve stated, “It’s not logical to hire intelligent people and then tell them how to work.” “We hire smart people to tell us what they should do.”

Nintendo Switch Sports is, effectively, a party game played with friends. And, 99% of the time, you’ll need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play online multiplayer on any game on the Switch. You can play Nintendo Switch Sports , online by yourself, earning progression towards unlockables.

This may sound hair-splitting but it works. You’ll just be competing against very easy CPU competition in “online” single-player modes. But you will earn points that can be put toward unlockables.

We saw it for ourselves earlier today. You can create a guest account if you have Nintendo Switch Online and log in using that. When you tee up a single-player match, you get a screen informing you that you’ll be playing in trial mode.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

As we found out after a quick — and easy — badminton match, we still picked up points that can go toward rewards. So, if you’re reading that you don’t need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play Nintendo Switch Sports, that’s technically correct. And that, as we all know, is the best kind of correct.

The long-awaited Studio Display firmware upgrade is now available to resolve all issues with the webcam. Apple also launched the Self Service Repair Store. Benjamin and Zac also discuss the newest developments with Apple Pay Cash, the App Store old app purge, and more.

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I can’t bear clutter in my real life and in my videogames. Those people who save up all of their potions and power-ups, not breaking them out even when they’re facing the last boss of a video game? It’s hard for me to relate. If I get something in a game, I use it. I will sell the item if I don’t intend to use it. This is what I have been doing in Elden Ring ,, and it has all been great — until the past week when I realized that I had made serious tactical mistakes.

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for Fia’s questline in Elden Ring.]

I’d like to emphasize that I made it quite far in Elden Ring before my penchant for selling items became a problem. At the time of writing this post, I’ve played for 87 hours, and I still keep my inventory as clean as a whistle. Except for Fia’s questline, when I felt strongly regretting my decisions, I have no regrets.

Fia, an NPC from Elden Ring , offers you a hug whenever you visit the Roundtable Hold. This safe place is where you can upgrade your weapons and perform administrative tasks. After you have reached a certain level in the game Fia will ask you to give her a dagger.

She won’t tell you to whom the dagger belongs, but if you happen to talk to a guy named D, you’ll have the option to give him the dagger. If you do give it to him, though, Fia will use it to murder him, after which you’ll be able to grab the armor off of his corpse.

You can guess what I did next. I sold the entire set. I’ve been wearing Radahn’s set of armor since I beat him, and it’s stronger than D’s armor, which was worth thousands of runes. I often sell armor to the blacksmith while I’m upgrading my weapons, because many times I need only a few runes to pay for the job, and he’s got a “Sell” option right there (although, importantly, there is no buy-back mechanic).

After selling D’s armor, I continued on in Fia’s questline. Next came the battle against Valiant Gargoyles of Nokron. Even with my Mimic Tear summon to help me out, I found it to be a tough fight. They spit out a lot of poison, and there are two of them; you’ve got to keep one distracted so you can take out the other. After a few tries, I looked up whether or not I could summon any NPCs to help me get through this fight. It turned out that the NPC outside of the boss arena was D’s brother. He’s cursed to go to sleep forever unless I give him D’s armor. It would have been possible to awaken him and get his assistance with the gargoyles if I had held on.

Image: FromSoftware via Polygon

Image: FromSoftware via Polygon

Image: FromSoftware via Polygon

Image: FromSoftware via Polygon

Folks, I still have not beaten those gargoyles. I’ve gained several levels. I beat some mid-bosses at the Mountaintops of the Giants. I also redid Renalla’s character build to make me a stronger force. When I return, I believe I will be able take out the gargoyles.

Yet I have to admit: I fucked up. Also, I was repeatedly warned about my behavior. Whenever I would stream Elden Ring with my pals on Discord, they would tell me that my empty inventory screens made them feel “stressed out.” My coworker Mike McWhertor saw me bragging in Polygon’s Slack about how often I sell stuff in Elden Ring and he didn’t mince words, telling me, “I cannot support this behavior.” Readers, I admit: I thought this mindset was ridiculous. What’s the point of holding on to weak swords or leggings that I have never worn? It was worthwhile, even if it cost a few ranes. Each rune is important!

But if I had only searched online as to whether D’s armor had any plot relevance, I would have easily avoided this — and usually, I do check that, but I saw the high rune cost and cashed in. I regret my mistake, yet I don’t intend to change my lifestyle choices, even though I also regret the time period when I sold my GameCube and all of its games (including Super Smash Bros. Melee) because I was short on cash at the time and I didn’t think I’d care that much in the future.

It can be difficult to decide what is worth keeping and what should be thrown out. My penchant for getting rid old stuff has helped me keep my home clean and not stress me. However, in Elden Ring , I have no reason to make this mistake. I could have simply Googled it. It is my hope that I will do it again next time. But no promises.

Resolve is a confusing but necessary stat in Rogue Legacy 2, as it essentially caps how many Relics you can carry. Our Rogue Legacy 2 Resolve guide explains how Resolve works and what you can do to increase it.

What is Resolve?

Resolve is the little stat next to the white glowing flame in the top left corner of your screen and it represents your Heir’s confidence in their own abilities. Higher stats indicate more confidence.

The non-loremeaning is that the Heir’s Resolve decreases as you equip more armor and relics.

If your Resolve is below 100%, your Heir loses Max HP by an equal percentage. You start the game with 225% Resolve at default.

What affects Resolve?

You can increase your starting Resolve through the Psychiatrist upgrade in the skill tree, and several other upgrades improve things that passively affect Resolve, like armor weight and Relic Resolve cost.

Wearing excessive armor can directly reduce your Resolve. Also, you will be able to pick up Relics which usually have a cost. The closer your character is to holding their max weight in armor, the less Resolve they’ll have.

You’ll have to consider how you can accommodate your style without losing too much of Resolve.

Image: Cellar Door Games via Polygon

If you rarely get hit by enemies, cutting down on your Resolve below 100% may be worth it to pick up extra abilities to help you clear out rooms and challenges. However, if you’re damage-prone, you might want to focus on armor to help reduce your HP loss.