Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The Federal Trade Commission published a new report about the data collection policies of social media platforms and video streaming services, and the results are damning, if not unexpected. The report, which was released on September 19th, found that these platforms not only surveil consumers but often retain vast troves of data indefinitely about users and non-users alike — and suggests they can’t be trusted to regulate themselves. Given the billions of dollars companies stand to earn from collecting and monetizing user data, “self-regulation has been a failure,” the report says. “Predicting, shaping, and monetizing human behavior through commercial surveillance is extremely profitable — it’s made these companies some of the most... Continue reading…

After display analyst Ross Young published a post on X saying Apple suppliers would start shipping the panels for the new M4 MacBook Air and the low-cost iPad 11 in October, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman now reports that Apple plans to release the new MacBook models sooner than expected. While the journalist originally predicted the M4 MacBook Air models would launch around WWDC 2025, he now claims Apple will introduce the new models in the first quarter of next year. If that's the case, the company could be preparing a spring event with several announcements, including these Macs, an entry-level iPad 11, the long-rumored iPhone SE 4, and even the second-generation AirTag. Apple first introduced the M4 chip in May with the new iPad Pro. While the company is expected to host an October event for new Macs and iPads, it seems the Cupertino company will focus on the M4 MacBook Pro (with M4 Pro and M4 Max variants), the M4 Mac mini (with M4 and M4 Pro options), a new iMac, and a refreshed iPad mini. According to Apple, the M4 chip has a powerful new CPU with 4 performance cores, 6 efficiency cores, next-gen ML generators, and up to 50% faster CPU compared to the M2. With a 10-core GPU, it offers Dynamic Caching and hardware ray tracing. M4 can deliver the same performance as the M2 with just half the power. The Neural Engine comes with a 16-core design, running up to 38 trillion operations per second. It’s 60x faster than Apple’s first Neural Engine. The M4 Pro and M4 Max variants should be even more powerful than that. An M4 Ultra is expected to launch later next year with new iterations of the Mac Studio and, possibly, the Mac Pro. BGR will let you know once we learn more about Apple's plans. Don't Miss: When will Apple release new M4 Macs? The post M4 MacBook Air could launch sooner than expected appeared first on BGR. Today's Top Deals Today’s deals: First Apple Watch Series 10 discount, $20 waterproof speaker, $17 myQ garage controller, more Today’s deals: $100 off Sihoo Doro C300 Pro office chair, Rare Nintendo Switch OLED sale, Anker chargers, more Today’s deals: $129 AirPods 3, Nintendo Switch game sale, $30 Fire TV Stick 4K, $16 TOZO earbuds, more Today’s deals: $689 Apple Watch Ultra 2, $40 cordless Waterpik, $305 Lenovo IdeaPad 1 laptop, more

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., visited Nebraska Wednesday to encourage the state to change how it allocates its electoral votes, NBC News reported.

About 130 U.S. soldiers are returning to their bases after being deployed last week to a remote western Alaska island with mobile rocket launchers amid a spike in Russian military activity off the western reaches of the U.S., a military official said Thursday.

City council members in Norwalk, California, have extended a ban on homeless shelters despite threats of "legal action" from Gov. Gavin Newsom, reported LAist.

The S&P 500 surged to a record high close Thursday, the day after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points and indicated more rate cuts were on the horizon.

Federal prosecutors issued a 150-page rebuttal to Bob Menendez's attempt to dismiss his bribery conviction, telling the judge that the evidence against the former Democrat senator is "overwhelming," Politico reported Thursday.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., has vowed to boot at least two Republicans off the Intelligence Committee should Democrats regain majority control following November's elections, Axios reported Thursday.

KANSAS CITY, MO — Tragedy befell a local house of worship as early reports indicated that what had been a perfect church was immediately ruined after it was attended by one human being.

The people who created the Pitted Ware Culture may have used seal hides to build boats.