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Prices subject to change. PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through StackSocial affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

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StackCommerce Team (Sponsored)

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Products featured in these stories are selected by our partners at StackCommerce. If you buy something through links on our site, PCMag may earn an affiliate commission.

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After stepping into the post in 2011, Tim Cook is finally stepping down as Apple’s CEO.

Cook will be replaced by Apple veteran John Ternus on September 1, who has served as the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering since 2021, overseeing the design team.

Cook will stay on at Apple in a new role, acting as Apple’s executive chairman. The move was originally announced back in April this year, following widespread speculation he was set to replace Cook. Ternus already had a high profile at the company, unveiling the MacBook Neo at its launch event in New York in March, for example.

In his resignation letter, Cook called Ternus “a brilliant engineer and thinker,” adding that he is “obsessed with every detail.”

It’s unknown what Ternus’s reign could bring, but Apple commentators like Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman have said Ternus “knows a major design shake-up is needed” at Apple, in contrast to Cook’s “historically limited presence,” citing sources within the company. Gurman has also reported that Cook is still expected to retain several key responsibilities, including maintaining relations with the White House.

The change comes at a busy time for Apple. The upcoming iPhone 18 Pro launch event is pegged for 9 September, just under a week from now. This event could see the debut of Apple’s long-rumoured first foldable device, with a speculated premium price tag over $2,000, as well as a next gen Apple Watch.

Apple is still contending with issues like rising component costs due to the ongoing memory supply shortage, which has led to major price hikes across almost all of its products. The company still has an enviable position in the smartphone world. The iPhone 17 was the world’s best-selling smartphone in Q2 2026, commanding 6% of global sales according to statistics from Counterpoint Research. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Pro came in second and third.

About Our Expert

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Experience

I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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At PCMag Deals, every product we recommend has to hit a few vital benchmarks: good reviews from the experts at PC Labs and real discounts, verified by price-checking apps and historical data across retailers. Every Friday, I pick out the best of the best, tech items that are cut by 25% or higher, and spotlight five of them for your shopping pleasure. This week: a ridiculously bright TV, an amazing mini projector, gorgeous noise-cancelling earbuds, and more, all at massive savings.

Amazon Echo Show 8 Deal

Amazon’s Echo Show smart screens are great hubs for home automation, integrating with thousands of different devices to give you instant control over them. We gave the latest model an Editors’ Choice award in our review, noting that it was optimized for the company’s Alexa+ AI-powered voice assistant, which is better at building off of previous prompts and understanding natural language. The big, bright display can show you visual examples as well as transcripts of your conversations. The large rear-mounted speaker is assertive and crisp, with two front-facing, full-range drivers and a 2.8-inch woofer. It’s also better at knowing when you’re in the room thanks to a suite of sensors including ultrasound, ambient light, and Wi-Fi radar. Take 25% off this killer home assistant while you can.

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Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro Wireless Earbuds Deal

If you’re looking for a pair of earbuds that dominates the competition and you also want to save money, Woot has a weekend-only discount on the exceptional Samsung Galaxy Buds 4 Pro. We gave these in-ear headphones an “Excellent” rating in our review, praising their robust stem-based design, comfortable fit, and excellent sound quality. While they’ll work with any Bluetooth device, they’re at their best paired to a Samsung smartphone, which unlocks high-resolution audio up to 24-bit/96kHz, spatial audio and head-tracking. The companion app gives you tons of control over the sound, with six EQ presets and a custom nine-band option. Battery life is also impressive, with six hours in the earbuds and an additional 26 in the charging case.

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*Deals are selected by our commerce team

TCL QM8L 65-Inch 4K Mini-LED Smart TV Deal

Sick of the dim, fuzzy screen on your current TV? It’s time to trade up. Advances in screen construction and backlighting that use ultra-tiny mini LEDs for crisp contrast and vibrant colors can bring cinema-quality movies and TV shows to your living room, and the TCL QM8L is one of the best examples on the market. We gave this TV an enthusiastic review, earning an Editors’ Choice award for its wide hue coverage, speedy 144Hz refresh rate, and great off-angle viewing. It’s the brightest Mini-LED screen we’ve ever tested in the lab, and it’s got tons of ports for all your devices. At retail, it’s a little spendy, but Best Buy has a ridiculous 44% price drop that makes it very competitive.

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Google Nest Learning Thermostat Deal

The weather is nothing but surprising lately, and as summer comes to an end and temperatures drop, you’re going to need a little help keeping your heating bills under control. A 25% price cut on the excellent Google Nest Learning Thermostat is just what the doctor ordered. It’s simple to install, works with a wide variety of HVAC systems, and works with multiple sensors for a holistic view of your home environment. You can read our comprehensive review, where we praised its big, clear display, user-friendly interface, and support for several different automation protocols including Matter, Google Assistant, and Amazon Alexa. This bundle comes with a remote sensor as well.

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Aurzen Zip Mini Projector Deal

Do you technically need a portable projector that folds up to the size of a stack of Post-It notes? Probably not, but you should want one. The Aurzen Zip is a marvel of engineering, packing bright, colorful images, easy connectivity, and a full 90 minutes of battery life into its tiny shell. In our review, it earned an Editors’ Choice award for its solid picture quality, automatic focus and vertical keystone adjustment, and serviceable built-in speakers. The DLP chip uses a red/green/blue LED light source and TI’s XPR pixel shifting technology to pump out reliable 720p footage. Our main criticism was the price, which is why this 35% discount earns it a spot on the list.

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Want to save even more money on top tech? Our deals page has hundreds of offers.

About Our Expert

K. Thor Jensen

Contributing Writer

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Experience

K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, was released in 2017.

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Kids get into all sorts of things on the internet, but no parent wants young children perusing adult websites, so now, half of the US and several other countries have implemented age-verification laws that require websites to confirm that their visitors are not minors.

Sounds simple enough, but many of us don’t really want to send a video selfie or a photograph of our driver’s license to all the platforms we visit, whether that’s Discord or Pornhub. To that end, Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, has blocked access to its sites (including YouPorn and Redtube) in regions with age-verification laws.

The most recent state to lose access to Aylo sites was Iowa, where Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed an age-verification bill that went into effect on July 1. Previously, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey (R) approved a similar bill that took effect on June 12.

Meanwhile, an age-verification bill approved by Missouri lawmakers took effect on Aug. 28. Aylo sites were already blocked in the state under a regulation issued by the attorney general, but the legislature wanted to make it more official.

In March, Aylo also blocked access to its sites in Australia in protest of the Online Safety Act, about a month after it did the same in the UK. They joined two dozen US states and France, where Aylo sites are inaccessible without a VPN.

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Though Australia’s law was passed in 2021, age-verification requirements for “designated internet services,” a broad category that includes websites, went into effect on March 9.

“Age checks relating to certain products have long been used to allow the community to protect children from things which might endanger their immediate safety or may harm their long-term health and development,” the Australian government argues.

Age checks in the country can be handled in one of the following ways:

• Matching of photo identification

• Facial age estimation

• Credit card checks

• Digital identity wallets or systems

• Confirmation of a user’s age by their parent

• Using technology to estimate age based on relevant data inputs.

Aylo, however, backs device-based age verification, which would put the onus on companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft to check people’s ages versus specific porn sites.

“Australia is following a similar approach to the UK, which all our evidence shows does not effectively protect minors, and instead creates harms relating to data privacy and exposure to illegal content on non-compliant platforms,” an Aylo spokesperson says. “We continue to believe that device-based solutions remain the most realistic and effective way to protect minors online, and every organization in a user’s online journey plays a role.”

Aylo points out that Apple requires app stores to verify a user’s age when creating an account to comply with a Texas law. “We suggest Apple enable the screen time feature to limit adult websites by default, and make it such that the very same verification be required to disable it,” it says. “This can ensure that only age-verified Apple devices can access adult websites.”

In Australia, VPN use reportedly surged in the days leading up to the ban, The Guardian reports. Proton VPN, for example, moved from 174th to 19th place on the list of free iPhone apps in Australia while NordVPN went from 189th to 13th, according to Sensor Tower data.

The Australian law requires service providers to “take reasonable steps to prevent workarounds,” which could include integrating “VPN detection services,” but that’s often easier said than done. (More on VPNs below.)

Last year, Aylo said it would comply with the UK’s Online Safety Act. However, Aylo later determined that the law had “not achieved its intended goal of protecting minors, [and] made the internet more dangerous for minors and adults and jeopardized the privacy and personal data of UK citizens.”

As of Feb. 2, new users in the UK cannot access Aylo’s content-sharing platforms, including Pornhub, YouPorn, and Redtube, though “UK users who have verified their age will retain access through their existing accounts.”

In April, meanwhile, EU regulators announced that an age-verification app is “ready for deployment in EU countries, [and] will allow users to prove their age without sharing unnecessary personal data and to browse the internet in full privacy, while ensuring that children cannot access inappropriate content.” Security consultants, however, have concerns.

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Which US States Are Blocked From Viewing Pornhub?

In the US, Aylo has blocked Pornhub and its other sites in the following states in protest of its age-verification laws:

• Alabama

• Arizona

• Arkansas

• Florida

• Georgia

• Idaho

• Iowa

• Indiana

• Kansas

• Kentucky

• Mississippi

• Missouri

• Montana

• Nebraska

• North Carolina

• North Dakota

• Oklahoma

• South Carolina

• South Dakota

• Tennessee

• Texas

• Utah

• Virginia

• West Virginia

• Wyoming

Ohio also has an age-verification law, but Pornhub is not blocked there because the law doesn’t apply to providers of interactive computer services, which Aylo says covers its sites. Lawmakers there are now working to close that loophole with a bill that passed the House in March, but hasn’t seen much action since then.

In early April, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) vetoed the state’s age-verification bill, arguing that it’s an “intrusion into the personal privacy of Wisconsin residents.” Residents would be required to hand over personal information to adult sites when verifying their age, and “nothing in the bill prohibits the transmission of such information to a third party, such as a data broker or the government,” Evers says. “This is a violation of personal privacy.”

Similar bills in Hawaii and Washington state failed to make it out of committee, while Minnesota House lawmakers rejected HR 1434 in late March.

In Michigan, bill sponsors pulled their companion House and Senate bills over concerns about data collection. Lawmakers there, however, are pursuing a social media addiction bill that trade group NetChoice says would lead to “invasive age verification.”

According to the Free Speech Coalition, another seven states have pending age-verification bills—Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island—as well as Washington, DC.

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How Did This Start in the US?

The age-verification battle in the US dates back to 2023, when Louisiana passed an age-verification bill. At the time, Pornhub complied with the law and saw its traffic drop by approximately 80% in the state.

“But we know that people didn’t stop consuming porn overnight because of this new law,” Pornhub says. “They just very easily moved to pirate, illegal, or other non-compliant sites that don’t ask visitors to verify their age.”

Pornhub argues that it has “robust Trust and Safety measures…to protect both the users viewing content on Pornhub from engaging with potentially dangerous content and provide a safe platform for creators to monetize their content and engage with fans.

“Therefore, these laws have not only failed at protecting minors, but have introduced further harm by displacing traffic to sites with few or zero Trust and Safety measures,” it says.

So, as more states moved to pass age-verification laws, Pornhub opted to block access in those states, starting with Utah in 2023.

If you visit Pornhub in a state where the site is blocked, you’re met with a message that argues the state’s law is “ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.

States argue that they’re trying to protect children. “If a billion-dollar corporation would rather leave Missouri than verify that children are not accessing graphic sexual content, that tells you everything you need to know about its priorities,” Missouri Attorney General Hanaway said in a statement. “We are proud to stand on the side of parents, families, and basic decency. Missouri will not apologize for protecting children.”

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What Do These State Laws Do?

The laws are very similar, but here’s a sampling of what they require.

• In Alabama, access to Pornhub was blocked ahead of an age-verification law that went into effect on Oct. 1, 2024, AL.com reports. Under HB164, adult sites must use “reasonable age verification methods” to confirm that people are over the age of 18 and display warnings about porn being “potentially biologically addictive” and harmful to “human brain development.”

• In Florida, HB 3 requires adult sites to verify that visitors are 18 “using either an anonymous or standard age verification method.” Anonymous ones “must be conducted by a nongovernmental, independent third party.” Florida’s attorney general can collect civil penalties of up to $50,000 per violation, reasonable attorney fees, and court costs, while minors can also pursue up to $10,000 in damages.

• In Indiana, SB17 went into effect on June 27, 2024, and requires sites that offer adult content to “use a reasonable age verification method to prevent a minor from accessing an adult-oriented website.” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita says, “Children shouldn’t be able to easily access explicit material that can cause them harm. It’s common sense. We need to protect and shield them from the psychological and emotional consequences associated with viewing porn. We look forward to upholding our constitutional duty to defend this law in court.”

• In Kentucky, House Bill 278 applies to sites where more than one-third of their content would be considered harmful to minors.

• In Missouri, AG Hanaway used the state’s Merchandising Practices Act to impose a new age-verification rule that requires platforms that host sexually explicit content to prevent minors from accessing them via age checks that use government IDs or another reasonable method. Failure to implement these safeguards will result in penalties up to $10,000 per day. Lawmakers recently turned that regulation into law.

• In Montana, SB 544 requires sites to verify age by having people provide “a digitized identification card” or access a “commercial age verification system” that checks a government ID or uses some other sort of “commercially reasonable method” to verify someone’s age.

• In North Carolina, House Bill 8 was part of a larger education bill that also covered things like adding a computer science requirement for high school graduation. But it also imposed the age-verification check for adult sites. It requires sites to use “a commercially available database that is regularly used by businesses or governmental entities for the purpose of age and identity verification or…another commercially reasonable method.” Sites that fail to comply could face civil action from the parents of kids who viewed pornography or anyone whose data is unlawfully retained. In signing the bill in 2023, former Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said those age checks are “important…to help protect children from online pornography.”

• In Tennessee, the Protect Tennessee Minors Act requires sites to verify IDs once an hour via uploaded IDs and retain seven years of anonymized data on users who access the site, The Tennessean reports. (South Carolina’s Child Online Safety Act (H. 3424) has similar requirements.)

• In Texas, HB 1181 requires adult sites to verify that visitors are of age. It was set to go into effect in September 2023, but Pornhub sued and secured an early victory. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed and got a temporary reprieve in March 2024, allowing the state to enforce HB 1181.

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Taking It to the Courts

The Free Speech Coalition and a group of adult platforms, including Aylo, have sued over laws in several states. The Texas case made its way to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in Texas’s favor in late June 2025, putting the brakes on the other cases.

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How to Access Pornhub in States Where It’s Blocked

The Pornhub website as it appears in Utah. (Credit: Pornhub)

When Pornhub was blocked in Utah, we turned to VPN services and connected to servers in Virginia and Utah. Upon navigating to Pornhub, we were greeted by the blockade message.

If you’re affected by the ban, use the VPN app of your choice to connect to a server not in a location currently blocked by Pornhub. (Note that while this guidance can be used to get around Pornhub’s embargo, it could also be used to avoid the very age-restriction requirements Pornhub is protesting. We can’t advise you on the risks of trying to circumvent the law.)

When you switch on a VPN, your web traffic is routed through an encrypted connection to a server operated by the VPN company. That server could be in a different state or a different country from you. Because your web traffic exits that server, it appears as if you are browsing the web from wherever the server is. 

So, if you’re in Utah, you should connect to a VPN server that’s not located in Utah, and then navigate to Pornhub as usual. We recommend that you also use incognito mode while streaming pornography to prevent the URLs from showing up in your browser’s history and autocomplete options. 

If you don’t already have a VPN service installed, you can find one that will suit you in our roundup of the best VPNs for Pornhub.

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Which VPN Should You Use?

Nearly all VPN services will let you specify the country where you want your traffic to appear. Some will let you pick down to the city level. A few let you see a list of the actual servers themselves, and their locations, and make your choice that way. 

US-based Pornhub viewers will probably want to use a VPN server that’s located in the US. We recommend a VPN that will at least let you choose servers in a specific US state. Do note that latency will increase and browsing speed will decrease when using a VPN, and that the impact will be more noticeable the further away the VPN server is from you.

PCMag’s top-rated VPN Editors’ Choice winner, Proton VPN, shows the cities and specific servers available to customers. It also offers an excellent free VPN, but your server choice will be far more limited—there are servers in the US, but you can’t specify which to use. Fortunately, the free version has no time or data limit.

Other Editors’ Choice-winning VPNs that let you select cities include IVPN, Mullvad VPN, NordVPN, and TunnelBear VPN. Note that IVPN and Mullvad VPN use a privacy-protecting account number system that requires very little personal information, and both will accept cash sent to their respective HQs for a nearly anonymous experience.

Max Eddy contributed to this story.

About Our Expert

Chloe Albanesius

Executive Editor, News

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Experience

I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag’s news coverage.

Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I’ve covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that’s now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

Latest By Chloe Albanesius

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The first of every month brings a pile of licensed movies to Netflix, along with all the original content we’ve come to expect. I dug through the listings on the streaming service for the next seven days and found three things that you should save to watch. The second season of The Gentlemen promises more crime world shenanigans, a new Untold documentary delves into the 2024 Olympics’ weirdest moment, and more.

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This Week on Netflix: PCMag’s Picks

Graveyard: Season 3 (August 28)

There are so many shows on Netflix that pass by unnoticed, so I try to use this column to highlight ones you might have missed. Graveyard is a Turkish police procedural that focuses on cases of violence against women. Led by Inspector Ӧnem, the team (which works out of a basement) deals with honor killings, suicides, and exploitation. It takes the CSI-style cop drama and uses it to grapple with gender issues in really interesting and mature ways.

Untold: Raygun: Breaking Badly (September 1)

Netflix’s Untold series of documentaries takes stories that went viral and dives deep into the details, and September starts off with a real corker. The 2024 Olympics had plenty of memorable moments, but one of the most viral came for the wrong reasons, with Australian breakdancer Rachael “Raygun” Gunn delivering a perplexing performance that saw her lose each of her events 18-0. Afterward, the internet went wild with accusations of cheating, nepotism, and more. But she just wanted to dance!

• Directors: Chapman Way, Maclain Way

• Stars: Rachael Gunn, Samuel Free

• Genre: Documentary

• Rating: TV-MA

The Gentlemen: Season 2 (Sept. 3)

Spinning off from Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film, The Gentlemen is a barrel of fun. When the Duke of Halstead dies, his son Eddie inherits his estate, only to discover that his father was running a massive weed-growing operation on the grounds. Now he has to adjust to a life of crime, deal with his berserk brother, handle the competition, and try to survive. It’s entertainingly twisted and packs a lot into each episode, making it a fun binge-watch. Season 2 sees Eddie set on expansion, despite obstacles in his way.

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Netflix New TV Series and Show Releases This Week

August 28
Graveyard – Season 3

August 29
Four Hands, Two Sonatas

August 31
Sex Lives of College Girls – Seasons 1-3
Sheriff Labrador – Season 2

September 1
Heartland – Season 19

September 2
Driven – Seasons 1-3
Lovesick

September 3
The Gentlemen – Season 2
Major Crimes – Seasons 1-6

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Netflix New Movie Releases This Week

August 28
All the Truth in My Lies
The Secret Woman
The Whisper Man

September 1
17 Again
About Time
Alien
Aliens
Antz
Battleship
Big Daddy
The Blues Brothers
The Boy Next Door
Conan the Barbarian
Cruel Intentions
Dragnet
The Flintstones
Gothika
Greta
Jared Fried: The Family Plan
Jarhead
Jaws
Jaws 2
Jaws 3
Jaws: The Revenge
Kick-Ass 2
Knocked Up
Liar Liar
Neighbors
Phantom Thread
Ready or Not
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Extinction
Resident Evil: Retribution
The Rite
Scarface
Shark Tale
Sleepless in Seattle
Straight Outta Compton
T2 Trainspotting
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Uncle Buck
Unfriended
Untold: Raygun: Breaking Badly

September 2
Resident Evil: Damnation
Resident Evil: Death Island
Resident Evil: Vendetta
Turning Point: Generation 9/11

September 3
Fito Paez: The World Within a Song
Folktales
Smile 2

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Leaving Netflix This Week

September 1

Black Lightning: Seasons 1-4
Creed
Creed II
Creed III
Desperado
The Fault in Our Stars
The Girl on the Train
Goosebumps
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle
Hotel Mumbai
Legion
Matilda
Miracle
Muriel’s Wedding
Orphan Black: Seasons 1-5
Passengers
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2
Rocky
Rocky Balboa
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Rocky V
Rookie of the Year
Rudy
Scooby-Doo
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
Zombieland

About Our Expert

K. Thor Jensen

Contributing Writer

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Experience

K. Thor Jensen is a writer and cartoonist living in the Pacific Northwest. He has contributed to dozens of prestigious outlets, including PCMag, Tested, Clickhole, and Newsweek. His second graphic novel, Cloud Stories, was released in 2017.

Read Full Bio

You can’t cruise around the World Wide Web without a laptop. Sure, you can use a tablet or smartphone, but it isn’t quite the same. With a mouse, keyboard, and screen, laptops and PCs are the most efficient vehicles for navigating the digital town—and doing it efficiently. 

So if you’re headed to the device dealership to bring home a new driver, let me hand you the keys to the HP OmniBook 3. Between a big, beautiful touchscreen and enough computing power to get you through the workday, plus some after-hours playtime, it’s a strong contender for your next laptop. To sweeten the deal, Best Buy has it for a jaw-dropping 48% off, saving you $620 for a limited time.

If you prefer gazing at a bigger display all day, this OmniBook 3 checks that box with a gorgeous 16-inch touchscreen. It has a 1200p resolution—just a step above regular HD—and can reach up to 300 nits of brightness, which is standard for midrange laptops. A laptop this size toes the line between ultraportable and a desktop PC replacement, which is terrific territory for folks who want a big screen without being tethered to their desks. 

Now, let’s talk power. Rocking a 2025 Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 processor, this CPU is built to handle heavy workloads, extreme multitasking, content creation tasks like 4K video editing, and even running AI tasks right on the laptop without outsourcing them to some remote server. You can even run some higher-end games on this thing! Plus, thanks to 16GB of RAM, you’ll have ample memory to keep everything running smoothly and quickly (and plenty of room to store files with the 512GB SSD). 

The HP OmniBook 3 is a capable daily driver with a big, beautiful screen acting as your window to the web. This massive $620 discount makes the already affordable midrange even more enticing to budget-conscious buyers. But if you’re looking for other options, check out our experts’ list of the best affordable laptops for 2026.

Other Affordable Laptop Deals

*Deals are selected by our commerce team

About Our Expert

Some of the best prices on tech gadgets and gizmos can be found at Woot. The site is essentially a deals hub, featuring discounted goods every single day of the year across seven categories, including electronics and computers. It’s not unusual to see markdowns on devices from Apple, Samsung, Google, and other premium brands. However, there is one catch: stock sells out fast at Woot. So, don’t wait to add something to your cart and checkout or you might miss out! Plus, Prime members automatically get free shipping.

Right now, you can take advantage of almost $800 off a Samsung 11-channel surround sound system and save $70 on a JBL Charge 6 portable speaker. Plus, pick up premium Sennheiser Accentum Wireless Headphones for under $80. The deals don’t stop there: snag a Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra for $260 less, and take 46% off a Logitech G305 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse.

Let’s take a closer look at the best Woot deals so you can start saving!

VPN Deal

Boasting an extensive suite of privacy and security features, including advanced encryption, threat detection, and transparent data practices, NordVPN is not only the fastest VPN we’ve tested, but also the best value. It’s essentially a robust privacy ecosystem that uses tools like NordPass for secure password management and NordLocker for file encryption and cloud storage. It’s our Editors’ Choice VPN pick, and right now, you can get an entire year’s subscription on sale for just $24.99.

Smartphone Deals

Per our expert, Iyaz Akhtar, “The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is the ultimate Android handset with top-of-the-line power, terrific cameras, a built-in stylus, and the most innovative AI features we’ve seen in a phone to date”. The large 6.9-inch screen provides an immersive experience for watching content, while the rounded corners and narrower body make the phone ergonomic and comfortable to hold. Performance is exceptionally smooth, too. It earned our Editor’s Choice Award last year, and right now, you can pick one up for $610 less.

Smartwatch Deal

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra is designed for Android users who enjoy exploring and going off-grid, as well as athletes. It offers advanced technical performance and rugged durability. In addition to highly detailed sleep analysis (including snore detection) and multisport tracking, it features AI-based recommendations to maximize your progress, giving an energy score, wellness score, and more. In terms of hardware, it’s slightly bigger and beefier with a titanium build and includes a customizable quick button to speed up navigation. Currently $260 off, it’s a great time to invest in this adventure companion.

More Smartwatch Deals

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Robot Vacuum Deals

Save time, energy, and effort with the iRobot Roomba Combo 2. This powerful robot vacuum and mop features a four-stage cleaning system with four suction levels and three mopping levels that’ll clear your floors of any dirt, dust, and stubborn pet hair in one pass. It also empties itself, holding up to 60 days’ worth of dirt. You truly won’t have to lift a finger except for once every two months. Best of all, it’s marked down by $340 right now.

With the iHome AutoVac Nova S1 Pro, you can enjoy the luxury of clean floors with minimal effort. This capable robot vacuum and mop gets the job done and empties itself into a dustbin. It boasts 2,700 Pa of suction power and automatically engages Hyper Drive when it encounters carpet. At under $160, it’s an affordable cleaning companion. 

The iRobot Roomba Combo i5+ is another capable robot vacuum and mop designed for dry and wet messes. It uses a 4-stage cleaning system with unique dual multi-surface rubber brushes that adjust to different floor types and don’t get tangled from pet hair. Plus, it empties itself into an enclosed bag that can hold up to 60 days worth of dirt, making your life even easier.

See how they compare to other self-emptying robot vacuums we’ve reviewed.

Earbuds Deals

The Bowers & Wilkins Pi6 wireless earbuds boast strong, high-res audio with drive units adapted from the Px7 S2e headphones. Better still, aptX adaptive technology adjusts the sound dynamically for an optimal listening experience, whether you’re jamming to tunes, watching movies, or gaming. Plus, there’s active noise cancellation to make sure every detail remains clear in loud environments. You won’t be disappointed with these earbuds, especially at a 60% discount, which drops the price from $249 to $99.99.

The sleek and stylish Galaxy Buds 4 Pro are a premium pair of noise-cancelling earbuds, offering a comfortable fit, excellent audio quality, and nifty AI features – and all for under $160 right now. In addition to crisp high-res audio, adaptive ANC technology automatically adjusts the noise cancellation in real time for a strong, smooth, and distraction-free listening experience. Plus, you can access Galaxy’s AI assistant hands-free and take advantage of live translation. We awarded their predecessor, the Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, a rating of “Excellent.” If you’re an Android user, these are a top pick.

The Beats Fit Pro are designed to fit securely in your ears and stay in place, making them a compelling choice for those who find typical earbuds tend to slip out of their ears. In terms of sound, they deliver the classic bass-forward Beats audio profile, with above-average noise cancellation and adaptive EQ. We already recommend them for iPhone users who love strong bass, and now they’re $90 cheaper.

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Headphone and Headset Deals

According to our expert, Tim Gideon, the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless Headphones “offer commendable active noise cancellation (ANC) and produce balanced sound with plenty of sub-bass power and high-frequency detail for half the price of category leaders from Bose and Sony” (and that’s at full price). Add a sleek design and a comfortable fit, and you’ll understand why we recommend them as a great value for wireless Bluetooth over-ear headphones. With a 55% discount, bringing the price to well under $100, they’re practically a no-brainer.

When it comes to affordable wireless gaming headsets, the SteelSeries Arctis Nova 3P is a great value, delivering well-balanced, detailed sound and a lightweight, comfortable feel. There is a whole host of software-powered features and EQ settings, including over 200 game audio presets available through Arctis Companion. We awarded a very similar model a rating of “Excellent” in our 2025 review, and we expect this one to be equally impressive.

Speaker Deals

Compact and rugged, the JBL Charge 6 produces surprisingly powerful sound for its size with strong bass and high-frequency clarity – and it’s $70 off right now! Plus, the companion app features adjustable EQ for a more personalized listening experience. Per our expert testing, this fully waterproof and dustproof device earned a rating of “Excellent,” and we recommend it as a top pick for a Bluetooth speaker you can bring anywhere and everywhere.

Featuring a built-in carabiner, this fully waterproof (and dust-proof) Bluetooth speaker is super portable and easy to bring on the go. Considering its small size, the Clip 5 produces surprisingly loud and crisp sound, thanks to the powerful driver and passive radiator. The bass is punchy, and you can pair it with other JBL speakers for more robust stereo sound. With a sale price of $49.95, it’s a solid budget-conscious choice if you want to listen to music when you’re out and about. Clip it to your bag, belt, or bike, and get ready to jam out—for less.

When you want big, loud, and powerful sound, pull out the Anker Soundcore Boom 2 Pro. This fully waterproof (and dustproof!) portable outdoor speaker delivers rich audio with strong bass and nine-band EQ. Customizable LED lighting helps create a fun party ambiance. It’s basically the same speaker as our Editors’ Choice-Winning Anker Soundcore Boom Plus 2, only with a slightly more rugged build — it even floats!

These Sonos outdoor speakers are an excellent option if you want to set up a robust, powerful sound system for the patio or backyard. Each speaker is built to withstand the elements (rain, humidity, salt spray, UV rays, freezing temperatures, etc.) and is optimized for outdoor audio playback with Sonos Amp technology. From rich, low bass to crisp, balanced mids and highs, you’ll find these speakers provide an excellent outdoor listening experience.

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Sound System Deals

The Samsung HW-Q990H/ZC system features a powerful soundbar, wireless subwoofer, and rear speaker kit that work together to create rich, room-filling sound. The wireless soundbar automatically analyzes the environment to calibrate the sound to your space. At the same time, “Active Voice Analyzer” technology helps make sure dialogue and on-screen voices remain crisp, clear, and easy to understand. Plus, the sound system integrates easily with voice assistants and smart devices via Alexa, Chromecast, AirPlay, and more. It’s a robust, high-end sound system that’ll immerse you in your favorite on-screen content — and with roughly an $800 markdown, now is the time to upgrade.

Curious how this model compares to other soundbars? Read our reviews for the best soundbars.

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Smart TV Deals

The Amazon 50-inch Fire TV Omni UHD delivers solid performance at an affordable price, especially with this 53% discount. Easily stream content from subscription platforms or watch free live TV in crisp, clear ultra high-def quality. Plus, you can access video games via the cloud with the option to connect Bluetooth controllers.

At first glance, the Samsung 32-Inch The Frame QLED 4K TV looks more like a framed work of art than a smart TV. That’s because it’s meant to double as wall art when not in use. It hangs flush against the wall with customizable bezel options and features an anti-glare matte display for showcasing beautiful works of art (such as Monet’s Water Lilies or the famous Mona Lisa). However, it also streams video content and video games beautifully in clear, colorful 4K resolution.

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Portable Charger Deals

The Anker Nano power bank easily fits in a purse, bag, or pocket, yet it has enough power to charge an iPhone 15 up to four times. A built-in USB-C cable makes life even easier (it also has USB-A and USB-C ports). Pick up this handy device while it’s on sale so you never have to stress when your battery life dips into the red.

The Trkoy MagSafe Battery Pack is compact, but mighty. Even though it’s smaller and lighter than most smartphones, it has more than enough power to completely charge your iPhone 16. It works wirelessly via MagSafe with ultra-strong magnets, but you also have the option to charge through a USB-C cable. As an added perk, it supports pass-through charging, meaning you can power up your phone and the MagSafe battery simultaneously.

For more options, give a gander at our expert advice and tips for buying Batteries & Power.

Microsoft Office Deals

Earning an Editors’ Choice and PCMag’s Best of the Year awards, Microsoft Home Office 2024 is a one-time purchase that gives you lifetime access to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote on a single Mac or Windows device (meaning you won’t have to pay for a Microsoft 365 subscription over and over again). The Microsoft Office productivity apps are top-tier, especially with Word being the world’s most powerful word processor and Excel boasting more features and power than Apple’s Numbers. With the price reduced to $119.99, this is a worthwhile investment if you primarily use one device.

Suitable for cloud-free use on a single Windows device, the Microsoft Project Professional 2024 software package includes an extensive set of project- and resource-management tools, timesheets, Microsoft Teams business collaboration, and the option to sync with Project Online and Project Server. It’s a powerful tool if your team manages lots of complex projects and has the time to learn how to use the software optimally — you can read more about who we recommend Microsoft Project for in our review.

Keyboard Deal

Gaming should be fast and fun, which is why you need this highly responsive gaming keyboard. The Razer BlackWidow V4 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard features light, balanced keystrokes with an extra-durable build, including two layers of sound-dampening foam. You’ll also enjoy the versatility of a multi-function roller and media keys, along with two-sided RGB underglow lighting on each key. It’s also wireless, with the option to quickly cycle through up to three Bluetooth-connected devices.

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Computer Mouse Deal

Weighing just 68 grams (and 86 grams with the battery installed), this lightweight, wireless mouse provides reliable and efficient performance for both work and play. In addition to optical-mechanical switches, six programmable buttons help ensure optimized video gaming performance as you can set up personalized gameplay and custom shortcuts. With a single AA battery installed, it boasts over 300 hours in battery life, but you can also use the Powerplay wireless charging station for virtually endless use.

Wi-Fi Router and Extender Deals

The D-Link Smart Mesh Wi-Fi Router works best in smaller living spaces, delivering a fast, steady network signal over 1,500 square feet. Multiple devices can connect to the network to stream HD video, content, transfer large files, or run video games without lag or delay. Plus, it’s compatible with Alexa and Google voice assistants.

Say goodbye to dead zones and slow buffering with the Linksys Wi-Fi Extender RE7000. Featuring dual wireless bands of 2.4GHz and 5GHz, this slim and compact device boosts network speeds up to 1.9Gbps, providing fast and seamless Wi-Fi throughout every corner of your home. It’s compatible with all Wi-Fi routers, but you can also connect a wired device via the gigabit ethernet port for even faster Wi-Fi speeds. At a sale price of just $26.99, it’s an affordable way to boost the efficiency of your home network.

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Microphone Deal

The Neat Bumblebee II is a USB condenser microphone that produces clear, professional-quality sound with a cardioid pick-up pattern. It boasts a zero-latency, high-fidelity headphone amp, so you can record or stream in real-time without delay. Other useful features include a mute button (with an LED button to indicate the status) and a removable desk stand. On sale for $14.99, it’s a great value if you’re in need of a solid microphone.

Home Projector Deals

With the CiBest Google TV Smart Projector 4K, you can transform any wall space into a cinema-sized movie screen, displaying your favorite media in crisp 1080p resolution. The projector features built-in hi-fi stereo speakers and officially licensed Google TV, offering easy access to streaming apps and Google Voice Assistant. Devices can be connected via HDMI, AV, USB ports, or aux port, so as long as you have the necessary adapter, you can project from your smartphone, laptop, flash drive, or Xbox/PlayStation with ease.

Despite its small, compact size, the Pro FHD Mini Projector can project media and images clearly in 1080p quality on a screen or wall space anywhere from 40 to 130 inches. You can easily mirror content from your smartphone or computer and access thousands of TV shows and movies through the built-in app market. Built-in speakers offer solid 360-degree stereo sound, but there’s also the option to connect other Bluetooth speakers for more robust surround audio. With 270-degree rotation and 360-degree image flip, it’s easy to get your content at the precise viewing angle and orientation you want.

Dash Cam Deal

Enjoy added peace of mind regarding your vehicle’s security with the Jzones 4K 3-channel dash cam. On the front, it captures clear 4K footage with a 155-degree lens, while the rear camera records in 1080p with a 130-degree wide-angle lens. Left- and right-side cameras ensure full 360-degree coverage. Since it’s Wi-Fi connected, you can easily access live and recorded footage through the companion app. Plus, it’ll automatically record emergency video and lock the files when it senses scratching or collision damage on the car.

See how it compares to other dash cams we’ve tested.

Smart Lighting Deal

If your home is already decked out with Philips Hue bulbs, you’ll want to pick up this Hue Bridge 2.0 for full control of your smart home lighting. It lets you add up to 50 Philips lights and accessories (both indoor and outdoor) to your smart home devices, meaning you can turn them on/off, adjust the brightness, sync the lights to music, and more, all from your smartphone — even from miles away. This clever smart hub earned a rating of “Excellent” in our 2015 review, so it’s worth grabbing for under $32.

Looking for something else? Check out additional Woot tech deals for even more end-of-summer savings.

About Our Expert

An advertiser paid for editorial consideration of this deal. Our experts vetted the deal based on our independent expertise. Because we determined that the deal will save you money, we covered it.

Calling all web-slinging hometown heroes! If you haven’t seen Spider-Man: Brand New Day yet, this is your official sign to swing to your local movie theater to catch it on the silver screen. Action-packed and filled with a few of your favorite heroes (and villains), you’ll be on the edge of your seat as Peter Parker takes on a threat unlike anything the MCU’s New York City has seen before. And that’s saying something!

But when you get home and gear up for your own online adventure, you shouldn’t be sweating on the edge of that seat anymore. Not when you can be cool, collected, and comfortable in one of the best gaming chairs on the market: the Secretlab TITAN Evo. And if you don’t want to leave your favorite amazing arachnid at the theaters, we have some super news: Secretlab officially teamed up with Marvel to bring a new, Spidey-themed variant to its best ergonomic gaming chair. 

Spider stan or not, the Secretlab TITAN Evo is worth more than a gander if you’re in the market for a new gaming chair. Especially PCMag expert Will Greenwald gave it a rare 4.5/5 rating and awarded it our overall Editors’ Choice award for conventional gaming chairs when he reviewed the 2022 series. And while the Spider-Man variant is worth more than its weight in spider webs, there are plenty of other variants on sale for $50 off right now to explore!

Secretlab is one of the best gaming chair brands in the business. It prioritizes superior materials and build quality in its ergonomic chairs, which is why some of the world’s best esports players, professionals, and three million other users worldwide decided to park it in front of their desk. While our review covered the 2022 edition of the Secretlab TITAN Evo, it’s safe to say that the company has only made its flagship chair even more enticing. 

No matter how you sit, the TITAN Evo adjusts to your body with top-tier adaptability. And to distribute your weight over long sessions, it employs highly dense (and patent-pending) cold-cure foam that doesn’t sink or bottom out as softer foam would. But if you’re worried about lumbar support, don’t—the TITAN Evo uses a four-way L-ADAPT lumbar support system to move up, down, in, and out to support your back’s natural curvature. Between that, 4D swappable armrests, and the patented magnetic memory foam head pillow, all you have to do is look at the chair to realize it fulfills its comfortable purpose. 

You have plenty of styles and upholstery options to choose from, but you’ll notice that dozens of variants are on sale for $50 off their normal list prices. And though it isn’t on sale, if your heart is set on matching Peter Parker’s secret identity, you can preorder the Secretlab Titan Evo in the Spider-Man variant now! It features a distinctive red-and-black design on its SoftWeave Plus upholstery, complete with silken webs on its backside and dark tendrils spilling along the side wings (which makes us think of a particularly gooey, chaotic symbiote). This chair is officially licensed by Marvel and lets you channel the Spidey spirit in style!

Preorders for the Secretlab TITAN Evo Spider-Man Edition start at $684 for the regular-sized chair and $734 for the XL!

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TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for one Windows 10 or 11 PC for a one-time payment of $54.99.

Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus provides six familiar productivity applications without an ongoing Microsoft 365 subscription. The $54.99 perpetual license includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and Access for one Windows PC.

This edition prioritizes stability. Its mature tools deliver consistent functionality without frequent feature changes, making it useful for organizations, regulated industries, and restricted environments that value predictable software.

The suite supports advanced data analysis and database management, as well as everyday documents, spreadsheets, presentations, email, and notes. Its streamlined interface includes dark mode, while built-in security and compliance capabilities support professional workflows.

It is designed to run reliably across compatible hardware with minimal system requirements. The license key and download link are delivered instantly, and it works with Windows 10 and Windows 11.

There are two important limitations. This product is Windows-only and will not work on Mac or macOS. The license is also tied to the specific PC on which it is installed rather than to a Microsoft account.

That device-linked structure differs from the Home and Business edition and helps make the license more affordable.

Know your overall cost up-front when you get Microsoft Office 2024 Professional Plus for just $54.99 (MSRP $249.99).

Prices subject to change. PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through StackSocial affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

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While all the attention is on the next generation of iPhones Apple is about to unveil on Sept. 9, the company’s existing models continue to rule global sales.

According to Counterpoint Research, the iPhone 17 was the world’s best-selling smartphone last quarter (Q2 2026), commanding 6% of global sales. Meanwhile, the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 Pro came in second and third, respectively, to complete an all-Apple podium.

The top three positions have now remained unchanged for two successive quarters. The same phones also led in Q4 2025, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max led that quarter, with the iPhone 17 coming in second.

Per Counterpoint’s Q2 2026 report, Samsung’s Galaxy 26 Ultra is the best-selling Android phone globally, and it’s the first time an ultra-premium phone has led the June quarter. The next two best-selling Android phones are also from the same maker: the Galaxy A07 4G and the Galaxy 17 5G.

Surprisingly, the top 10 list only features phones from Apple and Samsung. The iPhone 17e and the iPhone 16 are the two other Apple devices on the list, while Galaxy A17 4G and Galaxy S26 are the two other Samsung phones. Combined, the top 10 phones accounted for 26% of global smartphone sales last quarter.

(Credit: Counterpoint Research)

For the iPhone 17e, support for MagSafe wireless charging and expanded storage from 128GB to 256GB at the same $599 price as the iPhone 16e played a crucial role in driving strong sales, Counterpoint says.

The report arrives as Apple enters a new era. Tim Cook will step down as CEO on Sept. 1 and will be replaced by current hardware chief John Ternus. On Wednesday, Apple announced it is hosting an event on Sept. 9, where we expect Ternus to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro models and the company’s first-ever foldable iPhone.

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Jibin is a tech news writer based out of Ahmedabad, India. Previously, he served as the editor of iGeeksBlog and is a self-proclaimed tech enthusiast who loves breaking down complex information for a broader audience.

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