The Morning After: What to expect from Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event next week

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Next week, Samsung will reveal its next family of Galaxy phones. Not the foldables, no, but the traditional S series devices. Going on track record, we can expect to see three S25 devices: standard, Plus and Ultra.

There’s unlikely to be a huge change to aesthetics, but we expect some subtle differences — rounded corners, flatter edges and (of course) thinner bezels. Inside, at least in the US, the S25 series will probably be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, designed for on-device generative AI. The chip promises 45 percent faster single- and multi-core performance while using 27 percent less power than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so it could improve battery life too.

Some rumors suggest a Galaxy S25 Slim with a — you guessed it — slimmer design. It’s all very on trend. However, given the FCC certifications only appear to cover the usual trio of flagships, that device may not arrive until later in the year. (If at all.)

Expect an awful lot of AI razzle-dazzle too. One rumor suggests the Galaxy S25 series will include “an AI Agent that provides personalized clothing suggestions and transport information,” even though Google and myriad third-party apps already fully service the latter. I’d put money on a laborious bragging segment from Samsung and its AI tricks — many of which will fall by the wayside. A request: Please steal the Pixel’s Add Me photo feature.

We’ll be reporting live from Samsung’s first Unpacked event of 2025. Mark your calendar for January 22!

— Mat Smith

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iPhone Air rumors and an entry-level iPad

According to Bloomberg, the iPhone 17 Air will be 2mm thinner.

The rumored ultra-thin iPhone we’ve heard about for the last few months will get Apple’s Air branding. In his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the iPhone 17 Air will be roughly 2 millimeters thinner than any other phone model.

“It will have a base-level A19 chip and a single-lens camera system,” Gurman notes, and will serve “as a testing ground for future technologies.” A single-lens camera could be an intriguing decision now three sensors is the standard for Apple’s most premium phones.

Now, how about a MacBook mini?

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Sonos CEO steps down after disastrous app launch

After eight years on the job.

Sonos

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is leaving the company after last year’s disastrous app launch, in which its redesign was missing core features. Back in May 2024, the company rolled out a mobile app rife with bugs and missing features like alarms and sleep timers. Some customers even complained that entire speaker systems would no longer work after updating to the new app. Sonos’ stock price has fallen by around 13 percent since the app launched. Sonos laid off over 100 people in August as it tried to fix the software and revenue fell 16 percent in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended on September 28.

Spence’s payout package includes $7,500 per month until June, a cash severance of $1.9 million and shares in Sonos. I aspire to screw up an app update.

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Meta deleted links to Instagram competitor Pixelfed

Sharing the Instagram alternative was briefly considered ‘spam.’

Meta appeared to block links to Pixelfed, a decentralized photo-sharing platform, on Facebook, according to users on both Bluesky and 404 Media. A small group of posts that linked to pixelfed.social was deleted, with Facebook’s Community Standards on spam used as a justification.

There’s a bigger impetus for users to jettison Instagram: Meta just announced dramatic changes to how it plans to moderate speech on its platforms. The company is ending both its third-party fact-checking program and made changes to its Hateful Conduct policy last week. A Meta spokesperson said removing the posts to Pixelfed was a mistake, and they’d be reinstated.

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