Dell XPS 15 9510 review: OLED, RTX, and all of your favorite acronyms

After getting a big redesign last year, Dell’s latest XPS laptops are mostly spec bumps. In fact, that’s exactly what it was with the XPS 17 9710. With the Dell XPS 15 9510, it’s that and a bit more.

Obviously, the spec bump means it now comes with Intel’s 11th-generation processors. With the GPU, that also means that for the first time, it comes with NVIDIA GeForce RTX graphics. However, there’s also now an option for an OLED touchscreen, something that was removed last year with the move to 16:10. It’s a solid upgrade.

Dell XPS 15 9510 Specs

CPU	11th Generation Intel Core i7-11800H (24MB Cache, up to 4.6 GHz, 8 cores)
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4GB GDDR6 [45W]
Body	13.57×9.06×0.71in (344.72×230.14x18mm), 4.31lbs (1.96kg)
Display	15.6″ OLED 3.5K (3456×2160) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflective 400-Nit Display
Memory	16GB, 8GBx2, DDR4, 3200MHz
Storage	512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
Battery	6-Cell Battery, 86WHr (Integrated), 130W USB Type-C charger
Ports	(1) USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with (DisplayPort/PowerDelivery) (1) 3.5mm headphone/microphone combo jack (2) Thunderbolt 4 (USB Type-C) with DisplayPort and Power Delivery (1) Full size SD card reader v6.0 (1) Wedge-shaped lock slot
Keyboard	English keyboard, black, backlit, Fingerprint Reader
Connectivity	Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.1
Camera	720p at 30 fps HD camera Dual-array microphones IR camera
Audio	Stereo woofer 2.5 W x 2 and stereo tweeter 1.5 W x 2 = 8 W total peak
Material	CNC machined aluminum with carbon fiber or woven glass fiber composite palm rest
Color	Frost exterior, Arctic White interior
OS	Windows 10 Home
Price	$2,400.99

Design: Frost and Arctic White makes the Dell XPS 15 sexier

Dell’s XPS lineup has had a pretty similar look for ages. Typically, it has a grayish-silver exterior with a black carbon fiber palm rest. For a while, the sides were also black, although that changed to silver with the latest designs. This is the standard Dell XPS design; for example, if Dell came out with some new model, this is the design it would use.

The Dell XPS 15 is a beautiful machine and a delight to use.

However, there have been variants, such as the XPS 15 Dell sent me. This one comes in a color called Frost, and the interior is a color called Arctic White. This look has been available on the XPS 13 and the XPS 13 2-in-1 for a while, but it’s new to the XPS 15.

The XPS 15 with Frost exterior and Arctic White interior is a winner, and it’s a shame this isn’t considered the standard for the lineup. You can’t get this look on the XPS 17.

Indeed, the Dell XPS 15 is a beautiful machine and a delight to use. It’s made from a single block of CNC-machined aluminum, and the new color options are a welcome change.

Like we saw on the XPS 15 9500 last year, there’s no more USB Type-A. Indeed, Dell, Apple, and Microsoft are all ditching USB Type-A on their premium PCs, in favor of USB Type-C. On the left side, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, either of which can power dual 4K displays or one 8K display. You can also use it to connect to an external GPU, super-fast external storage that gets 40Gbps data transfer speeds, and more.

On the right side, there’s a 3.5mm audio jack, a full-size SD card slot — a rarity in laptops these days — and another USB Type-C port. The USB Type-C port on the right, on the other hand, is only USB 3.2 Gen 2, meaning it gets 10Gbps speeds instead of 40Gbps. It does support DisplayPort and Power Delivery, so you can still power a monitor or charge the device from either side.

I’m a big fan of this new design. The redesign that came with the Dell XPS 15 9500, which was the first the laptop received in five years, was a winner. Adding the Frost exterior and the Arctic White interior is the cherry on top.

It’s also not too heavy at 4.31 pounds, although it actually starts at 3.99 pounds with a smaller battery. It’s heavier than, say, the Surface Laptop 4 15, but they’re very different machines. We’ll talk more about that in the performance section.

Display: The Dell XPS 15 has a 16:10 OLED screen

The size of the screen is 15.6 inches, but as of last year’s Dell XPS 15 9500, it’s 16:10 instead of 16:9. That means it’s a bit taller. Personally, I feel like 16:10 at 15.6 inches is the sweet spot. Since the screen is taller, and therefore not as wide, I feel like a 13 inch 16:10 laptop can feel a bit narrow. This size feels perfect.

One sacrifice Dell had to make with the XPS 15 9500 is the OLED model. After all, that’s the nature of new things. There simply wasn’t an OLED option available yet. Now, OLED has made its return. Indeed, the Dell XPS 15 9510 might be mostly a spec bump, but it does have those new configurations like the 4K OLED display, or the new color option.

From my display testing, it gets 100% sRGB, 94% NTSC, 96% Adobe RGB, and 100% P3. That’s awesome. It really doesn’t get better than that. If you care about color accuracy and editing media like photos and video, it’s a phenomenal screen.

However, it’s not all that different from the standard 3,840 x 2,400 LCD. That’s because Dell just makes really great displays on its Dell XPS laptops. I remember the first time the company introduced an OLED screen on the XPS 15. It was at a briefing in New York City, and I got to see the 4K OLED and non-OLED options side-by-side. While I’m always a sucker for a good OLED display, it was clear an OLED option really isn’t necessary because the non-OLED variant is so good already.

They’re the same price though, so it’s up to you. Personally, I’d still go for OLED, but it’s not like you’d be making a bad decision with non-OLED. Also, you need to go OLED in order to get the Frost exterior and Arctic White interior.

Of course, it has Dell’s trademark InfinityEdge display, meaning it has super-narrow bezels for a more immersive experience. While it’s beautiful and makes for a pleasant experience, there’s one compromise that has to be made. The webcam is 720p, and to be fair, when this laptop was designed, people didn’t care about webcams. It’s only in the last 18 months that webcams have become an issue with so many people working from home.

Keyboard and touchpad: It’s made of woven glass fiber

Honestly, I praise the exterior of the device, but the interior is oh so nice. The one with the black interior has a keyboard deck that’s made of carbon fiber with a woven yet smooth finish. The Arctic White keyboard deck is made of woven glass fiber, and it’s textured. It’s absolutely beautiful, and also pleasant to the touch. Also a nice touch is all of the accessories come in white too, including the 130W charger.

The Dell XPS lineup is the only one that's truly aiming to compete with Apple.

The keyboard itself is pretty solid, and I think Dell has made some improvements over the last few years. The resistance feels just right, and the sensitivity compensates the resistance perfectly. I don’t find myself making mistakes because I accidentally hit something that was too sensitive or something like that.

As far as consumer laptops go (the business market is another level), the Dell XPS 15 9510 definitely has one of the best keyboards around.

The keyboard is flanked by the stereo speakers. Indeed, this thing comes with dual 2.5W speakers and dual 1.5W tweeters, the other two of which are located on the bottom of the sides. The Waves MaxxAudio Pro sound quality is phenomenal, and that’s all part of Dell Cinema, which includes CinemaColor, CinemaSound, and CinemaStream. It’s all about creating an amazing streaming experience, and Dell gets the job done.

Also on the keyboard is a fingerprint sensor, and that’s the top-right key. Sadly, Dell doesn’t scan your fingerprint when you first press it like other OEMs do. With the XPS 15, you have to touch it after the PC boots up.

Let’s talk about the Microsoft Precision touchpad though, because this thing is massive. I absolutely love how Dell takes advantage of all of the available real estate on the keyboard deck to make a nice and roomy touchpad. It’s something Apple does on its MacBooks, and Windows OEMs don’t do so much. Honestly, I find the Dell XPS lineup is the only one that’s truly aiming to compete with Apple.

Performance and battery life: It’s the first Dell XPS 15 with RTX graphics

The model Dell sent me is far and above the base model, but it’s the one I’d say is the one you want. For all laptops, I tend to recommend 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage, and that’s what we have here. It also comes with a Core i7-11800H and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti. Other graphics options are Iris Xe integrated graphics, and an RTX 3050.

If you’re looking for a 15 inch laptop, it’s important to know what you’re going to do with it. This isn’t the case for 13 inch laptops because frankly, pretty much all 13 inch laptops use the same internals — a 15W U-series processor and integrated graphics. They’re great for productivity.

But for 15 inch laptops, there are two completely different classes of laptops. There are those that use the exact same internals as 13 inch laptops, just with bigger screens. These are thinner, lighter, and get better battery life. Then there are those that have 45W H-series processors and dedicated graphics. These are thicker and heavier, but they’re more powerful.

The Dell XPS 15 9510 fits into that latter category, and that category can range from consumer laptops to gaming PCs to mobile workstations. To me, I think the XPS 15 is the best blend of performance and portability. It’s obviously heavier than, say, a Surface Laptop 4, which uses U-series chips, but it’s designed for more of a creativity use case.

In my testing, battery life was between five (exactly on one test) and five hours 33 minutes. This was while running Windows 11 and the battery on recommended settings. As usual, it was while doing regular work. I have to say, the battery life exceeded my expectations, although 86WHr is a pretty sizeable battery. It’s just that things like the 45W processor, the dedicated GPU, and the 4K OLED display are all things that will suck down battery life.

For benchmarks, I used PCMark 8, PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, and Cinebench.

	Dell XPS 15 9510 Core i7-11800H, RTX 3050 Ti	Dell XPS 17 9710 Core i7-11800H, RTX 3060	Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7-10875H, GTX 1650 Ti	HP Pavilion Aero 13 Ryzen 7 5800U
PCMark 8: Home	3,969	4,037	3,652	4,512
PCMark 8: Creative	5,731	6,100	4,839	4,360
PCMark 8: Work	3,571	3,564	3,322	3,977
PCMark 10	5,988	6,379	5,136	5,758
3DMark: Time Spy	4,801	7,158	3,742	1,212
Geekbench	1,538 / 7,514	1,561 / 8,775		1,427 / 5,524
Cinebench	1,491 / 9,399	1,515 / 11,652		1,365 / 7,115

When choosing devices to compare benchmark scores to, I start with relevant PCs like the last-gen XPS 15 and the current-gen XPS 17, but I also look for PCs with similar PCMark 10 scores. I was a bit surprised to be adding a mainstream HP laptop with U-series processors and integrated graphics to the list, yet here we are.

Conclusion: Should you buy the Dell XPS 15 9510?

Dell’s XPS 15 has long been one of my favorite laptops. I’ve always found it to be the right balance of power and portability. It offered 45W H-series processors and dedicated graphics in a world where if you wanted those things, you’d have to look toward gaming laptops. In more recent years, laptops like these have become more common. NVIDIA launched its Studio program, and more OEMs are targeting creators with separate lines of PCs from their gaming laptops.

But while the form factor is becoming more common, the Dell XPS 15 remains on top. The XPS 15 9510 comes with new Intel 11th-generation 45W processors, along with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 series graphics, making it the first XPS 15 with RTX. On top of that, it comes with other perks, such as the return of the OLED display and the Frost and Arctic White interior. Not only is it a great PC, but it’s beautiful too.

The big downside of course, is it still has a 720p webcam. There was no way of getting around this though. This product just got a full redesign last year, so that means this design is planned for a few more years as well.

Other than that, the Dell XPS 15 9510 has everything you need. It’s got the power for heavier tasks when you need it, and the style for when you’re out and about.

Dell XPS 15 9510

Dell's XPS 15 9510 blends power and portability in a four-pound package, adding an OLED display and a new colorway.

Features:

Pros: Cons:

See at Amazon

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Verizon’s next Stream TV device will double up as a soundbar

After launching the next-gen Stream TV last year, Verizon is now gearing up to launch another streaming device. An FCC listing of the upcoming device reveals that it will double up as a soundbar for your TV.

The FCC listing includes quite a few details about Verizon’s next Stream TV device. It reveals that the device will have the model number STI6251, and it might be called the Stream TV Soundbar. It will be manufactured by Askey (a subsidiary of ASUS), and it will offer dual-band Wi-Fi support and Android TV 11.

Looks like @Verizon will launch another Stream TV #AndroidTV device, this time in the form of a Soundbar.

The STI6251 is built by Askey (ASUS) and comes with Android TV 11. So far no interesting info found in the FCC listing. https://t.co/HRyt9PQbRZ pic.twitter.com/34Lonzkf7B

— Android TV Guide (@AndroidTV_Rumor) October 7, 2021

Although the listing doesn’t reveal much else about the device, we suspect it will offer all the features you get with the Verizon Stream TV, including 4K streaming support and Google Assistant-powered voice and text search. It might include a lightly skinned version of Android TV with preinstalled apps like Disney+, Hulu, ESPN, Pluto TV, MLB TV, HBO, STARZ, Prime Video, and Netflix. Since it will double up as a soundbar, we also expect to see a decent set of speakers.

As of now, we’re not sure if Verizon will offer the Stream TV Soundbar with the Google TV interface instead of Android TV. But that might be the case as a few other manufacturers have started teasing their own streaming sticks with the updated UI.

Verizon is yet to share any official information about the Stream TV Soundbar. We’ll make sure to let you know as soon as we learn more about the device.

If you’re thinking of getting a streaming stick, make sure you check out our best Android TV boxes and sticks roundup to see our top picks.

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Can my PC run Windows 11? Here are the system requirements!

Today, Microsoft finally announced Windows 11. Along with a new UI, there’s a whole new Microsoft Store, Snap Layouts, and even Android apps are coming to Microsoft’s in-house operating system by way of the Amazon Appstore. But now, you’re probably wondering what the system requirements are so you can see if your PC can even run Windows 11.

Luckily, Microsoft already has a support document ready. And yes, the system requirements have been increased, although in fairness to the Redmond firm, it really hasn’t raised system requirements in any significant way since the Windows 7 era.

First of all, RAM requirements are going up. You need 4GB of RAM to run Windows 11, double that of a 64-bit Windows 10 machine and quadruple that of the 32-bit requirement for Windows 10. You’ll also need 64GB of storage instead of 32GB.

You’re going to need a 64-bit processor to run Windows 11. 32-bit support is out, and it was even out for new Windows 10 PCs, although they were still getting updates. The CPU also needs to have two or more cores, and that includes everything sold in the modern era.

However, none of those listed CPU requirements matter, and it’s unclear as to why Microsoft even lists them. The firm actually has a specific list of CPUs that are supported. If you don’t want to look up yours, it’s pretty simple. For Intel, it’s eighth-gen or newer; for AMD, it’s Zen 2 or newer; and for Qualcomm, it’s Snapdragon 850 or newer.

Microsoft had promised to reconsider its position on Intel seventh-gen and AMD Zen 1 processors, but not much changed. Seventh-gen Core X and Xeon processors were added, as well as one single mainstream chip: the Core i7-7820HQ, also known as the processor in the Surface Studio 2.

The other key change is TPM 2.0, although if you’ve got a supported processor, you should have TPM 2.0. It’s been a requirement for new PCs since Windows 10 version 1607. You can check and see if your PC has it, and if not, you might even be able to enable it in the BIOS.

Windows 11 System Requirements

Processor:	1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster with 2 or more cores on a compatible 64-bit processor or System on a Chip (SoC)
RAM:	4 gigabyte (GB)
Storage:	64 GB or larger storage device Note: See below under “More information on storage space to keep Windows 11 up-to-date” for more details.
System firmware:	UEFI, Secure Boot capable
TPM:	Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 2.0
Graphics card:	Compatible with DirectX 12 or later with WDDM 2.0 driver
Display:	High definition (720p) display that is greater than 9” diagonally, 8 bits per color channel
Internet connection and Microsoft accounts:	Windows 11 Home edition requires internet connectivity and a Microsoft account to complete device setup on first use. Switching a device out of Windows 11 Home in S mode also requires internet connectivity. Learn more about S mode here. For all Windows 11 editions, internet access is required to perform updates and to download and take advantage of some features. A Microsoft account is required for some features.

If you’d like, you can take a look through the full requirements of Windows 11, which gets a lot more granular. One thing that’s not listed here is that PCs will require a Precision touchpad, something that may be an issue with older PCs, and even some newer HP laptops.

If you aren’t sure if your PC meets the Windows 11 minimum requirements, you can also run Microsoft’s PC Health tool, which will check your PC’s compatibility for you.

Note that since this article was originally written, there have been various workarounds published for these requirements. As it turns out, you won’t need a workaround. Microsoft will just let you install Windows 11 via an ISO if you don’t have a supported CPU, although you might not get updated.

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Advanced Android Development: How to bypass the hidden API blacklist

Way back in 2018, Google released Android Pie. Among the UI changes and new features, there were also some developer-side changes. Those changes included new APIs, bugfixes for existing APIs, and also restrictions on access to hidden APIs.

Luckily though, there are ways to get around those restrictions. Before I get into how to bypass the restrictions, I should explain a bit about what hidden APIs are, why they were restricted in the first place, and why you might want to access them.

What are hidden APIs?

Hidden APIs are the APIs in Android that app developers normally can’t see. If you take a look at AOSP’s code, you’ll see a whole bunch of classes, variables, and methods that have a @hide annotation inside a comment block above them.

This annotation instructs whatever tool Google uses when compiling the SDK to exclude the item under it. That SDK is then distributed to developers inside the SDKs downloaded through Android Studio. Unless you use a modified SDK, Android Studio will think any of those hidden items just don’t exist. If you try to use one directly, it will show it in red and refuse to compile.

Why are APIs hidden?

There are a lot of reasons why an API might be hidden. Some things are only meant to be used by internal or system apps and won’t work if used by a third-party app. Others are experimental or unstable, and might be removed or changed in the future. Some are even just APIs Google just doesn’t want to apple the normal deprecation cycle to if they’re ever removed.

Why use hidden APIs?

While the standard Android SDK has a lot in it, sometimes it’s not enough. Sometimes there’s something you want to do that already exists in Android, but just isn’t publicly exposed.

For instance, a lot of the apps I make, including SystemUI Tuner and Lockscreen Widgets, make use of a bunch of different hidden APIs. SystemUI Tuner needs to access some to properly track, change, and reset options. Lockscreen Widgets uses some to show the wallpaper under it, among other things.

Most developers don’t need to access hidden APIs, but sometimes they can be pretty useful.

How are hidden APIs restricted?

With the release of Android 9 (Pie), Google introduced the hidden API blacklist. Not every hidden API was included, and there were different levels of lists. Hidden APIs on the whitelist could be accessed by anyone. Hidden APIs on the light-greylist could be accessed by any app, but might be inaccessible in future versions of Android. Anything on the dark-greylist could only be accessed by apps targeting API levels before Pie (i.e., before API level 28). Apps targeting Pie and later would be denied access. Finally, hidden APIs on the blacklist couldn’t be accessed by any non-system (or non-whitelisted) app, no matter the target API.

Android 10 changed how the lists were organized, and simplified them slightly, but the idea stayed the same. Certain hidden APIs could be accessed by apps while others were blocked. Android 11 strengthened the access detection to block a bypass used for Pie and 10.

In all Android versions, any time a third-party app attempts to access a blacklisted hidden API, Android will throw the appropriate “not found” error.

How to bypass the hidden API blacklist

There are actually quite a few ways to get past the hidden API blacklist. Depending on your needs, you can choose ones that work for all Android versions, ones that work for only Android 9 and 10, ones that use native C++ code, and ones that are fully Java-based. There’s even a development-only workaround using ADB.

ADB Workaround

If your device is running Android Pie, run the following two ADB commands to enable hidden API access.

adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy_pre_p_apps  1
adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy_p_apps 1

If your device is running Android 10 or later, run the following ADB command to enable hidden API access.

adb shell settings put global hidden_api_policy 1

To revert to the default behavior, just replace put with delete and remove the 1.

Obviously, these commands aren’t exactly useful for a production app. I can tell you firsthand that properly instructing users on how to use ADB is incredibly difficult. But they can be useful if you need to update an old app to comply with the new restrictions.

Native/JNI workaround

There are two ways you can bypass the hidden API blacklist using JNI in your Android app. One works for Android 9 and 10, and the other works for Android 9 and later.

Android 9 and 10

If you already have a native portion of your app, this will be easy to implement. Just use the JNI_OnLoad() function.
static art::Runtime* runtime = nullptr;

extern "C" jint JNI_OnLoad(JavaVM *vm, void *reserved) {
    ...
    runtime = reinterpret_cast<art::JavaVMExt*>(vm)->GetRuntime();
    runtime->SetHiddenApiEnforcementPolicy(art::hiddenapi::EnforcementPolicy::kNoChecks);
    ...
}

Be aware that this method only works on Android 9 and 10.

Android 9 and later

For any version of Android, you have your choice of two libraries to bypass the hidden API restriction: FreeReflection and RestrictionBypass.

Both are easy to implement and use.

To implement FreeReflection, add the dependency to your module-level build.gradle.

implementation 'me.weishu:free_reflection:3.0.1'

Then override attachBaseContext() in your Application class.

@Override
protected void attachBaseContext(Context base) {
    super.attachBaseContext(base);
    Reflection.unseal(base);
}

If you don’t have an Application class, you can add it pretty easily. Create a new class that extends Application and then point to it in your AndroidManifest.xml.

Example:

public class App extends Application {
    ...
    @Override
    protected void attachBaseContext(Context base) {
        super.attachBaseContext(base);

        Reflection.unseal(base);
    }
}

<manifest>
    ...
    <application
        ...
        name=".App">
        ...
    </application>
</manifest>

To implement RestrictionBypass, add the JitPack repository to your project-level build.gradle.

allprojects {
    repositories {
        ...
        maven { url "https://jitpack.io" }
    }
}

Then add the dependency to your module-level build.gradle.

implementation 'com.github.ChickenHook:RestrictionBypass:2.2'

And that’s it. This library automatically removes the blacklist restrictions.

Java workaround

While the JNI solutions are effective, there are times you might not want to use native code. If you aren’t already doing things in C++, it can add unnecessary size, along with platform restrictions, to your app. Luckily, there are ways to bypass the hidden API blacklist using only Java.

Android 9 and 10

In Android 9 and 10, you can use what can be called double-reflection or meta-reflection to bypass the hidden API blacklist. Because the system only checks what third-party apps are calling, double-reflection tricks it into thinking the system is making the hidden API calls.

This trick can be used to call a method to give your app hidden API exemptions, aptly named setHiddenApiExemptions(). Simply add the following code somewhere early on in your app’s lifecycle (such as Application’s onCreate() method), and it’ll handle bypassing the blacklist.

Method forName = Class.class.getDeclaredMethod("forName", String.class);
Method getDeclaredMethod = Class.class.getDeclaredMethod("getDeclaredMethod", String.class, Class[].class);

Class vmRuntimeClass = (Class) forName.invoke(null, "dalvik.system.VMRuntime");
Method getRuntime = (Method) getDeclaredMethod.invoke(vmRuntimeClass, "getRuntime", null);
Method setHiddenApiExemptions = (Method) getDeclaredMethod.invoke(vmRuntimeClass, "setHiddenApiExemptions", new Class[] { String[].class} );

Object vmRuntime = getRuntime.invoke(null);
setHiddenApiExemptions.invoke(vmRuntime, new String[][] { new String[] { "L" } });

If your app is compatible with versions of Android lower than 9, remember to wrap this in a version check.

Android 9 and later

To bypass the hidden API blacklist on Android 9 and any later version, you can use LSPosed’s library. This library uses Java’s Unsafe API, so it’s unlikely to ever break.

To implement it, just add the dependency to your module-level build.gradle.

implementation 'org.lsposed.hiddenapibypass:hiddenapibypass:2.0'

Then use it to bypass the blacklist.

HiddenApiBypass.addHiddenApiExemptions("L");

If your app is compatible with versions of Android lower than 9, remember to wrap this in a version check.

Conclusion and More Info

There are plenty of options for bypassing the hidden API blacklist on Android, no matter which platform version you target or use. If you’re curious to learn more about how these methods and libraries work, be sure to check out the following links.

• My Stack Overflow Q&A.
• LSposed’s Hidden API Bypass library on GitHub.
• ChickenHook’s RestrictionBypass library on GitHub.
• tiann’s FreeReflection library on GitHub.
• Google’s documentation on the hidden API blacklist.

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Apple faces antitrust charges over NFC chip and App Store payment rules

In recent times, Apple has changed some of its policies and slowly opened up its walled garden. This change came after the company was hit with several antitrust lawsuits. iOS 14, for example, added support for assigning certain third-party default apps, such as email. iOS 15, unexpectedly, allows Android and Windows users to use FaceTime. However, Apple still has some anti-competitive policies, and the latest antitrust lawsuits target two such policies — NFC restrictions and App Store payment rules.

NFC chip and Apple Pay lawsuit

As per a Reuters report, Apple will soon face an EU antitrust lawsuit over its NFC chips and how restricted they are. Apple Pay currently takes full advantage of NFC capabilities on iPhones and Apple Watches. However, rivals don’t get access to the same privileges. The report states:

The European Commission has since narrowed its focus to just the NFC chip, which can only be accessed by Apple Pay, one of the sources said. The EU competition enforcer is now preparing a charge sheet known as a statement of objections, which could be sent to Apple next year, one of the sources said. Such documents typically set out practices considered anti-competitive by the regulator.

The Commission, which has three other cases against Apple, declined to comment. It can fine companies up to 10% of their global turnover for violating EU rules, which based on Apple’s 2020 revenue could come to $27.4 billion.

Apple argues that its Apple Pay policies are for safety and privacy reasons, but it hasn’t commented on the matter just yet.

App Store payment rules lawsuit

Another report from Reuters states that the Dutch watchdog finds Apple’s App Store payment rules anti-competitive. Apple currently charges developers a 15-30% commission on purchases made through the App Store or their in-app purchases (IAP) system. The Cupertino tech giant bans developers from implementing their own payment systems inside apps published on the App Store. This restricts developers and forces them to resort to the relatively overpriced Apple IAP system.

The report shares what laws other governments have implemented that Apple has to abide by:

The European Commission launched an investigation in 2020 parallel to the Dutch probe, but focused on whether app store rules favour Apple apps when there are competing products, such as Apple Music versus Spotify.

A U.S. judge last month ordered Apple to make it easier for apps to promote alternative payment systems. Plaintiff Epic Games, the maker of “Fortnite”, is appealing, saying the decision does not go far enough.

South Korea has enacted a law barring app store operators from forcing developers to use their official payment systems. Apple and Google are due to respond this month on how they will comply.

In Japan, Apple settled an antitrust probe by agreeing to allow some music, video and e-book apps, notably Netflix, to promote purchase options outside their apps.

It’s yet to be seen how these lawsuits will be settled, but it appears that Apple is about to get its waters stirred. Payment platforms have already started promoting their upcoming alternative IAP systems for iOS, following the recent court ruling in the Epic Games vs. Apple case.

Would you use Google Pay or similar services if Apple is forced to let developers take full advantage of the NFC chip? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Plex not working anymore on your smart TV? This might be why

Trying to watch Plex on your smart TV but getting a message saying the server is currently unavailable? Your TV might be to blame. As it turns out, some manufacturers have stopped updating older smart TV models, leading to this issue. The good news is there’s a workaround to get you up and running again.

Plex has shared an important announcement via its forums and sent out emails detailing how some older smart TVs will no longer be able to use secure connections to Plex servers. Manufacturers of the affected TV models are no longer supporting them via updates, and thus they no longer have an updated certificate.

The issue affects TVs from Samsung, LG, Vizio, Hisense, and others on certain operating systems. A non-exhaustive list shared by Plex is shown below.

 

What went wrong

The issue appears to be a security certificate expiration. The culprit is likely the Let’s Encrypt’s DST Root CA X3 cross-signed certificate, which expired on September 30th. As noted by TechCrunch, Let’s Encrypt’s free certificates have been widely used across the internet since 2014, when the nonprofit began issuing free certificates for people to use. A whopping 380 million certificates had been issued as of 2018 across 129 million unique domains.

When Let’s Encrypt first started, they used the existing “DST Root CA X3” cross-signature on all their certificates. This ensured that older and current devices at the time immediately trusted those certs. Let’s Encrypt now relies on their own “ISRG Root X1” signature for all certificates.

The problem arises on older devices that still rely on only the CA X3 signature. Because that signature is now expired, devices like older smart TVs, older phones, and more will no longer establish secure connections.

How to fix it

Plex states that if your server is located on the same network as your TV, you won’t have any issues. However, if the server you’re connecting to is remote, you’ll need to change the Plex settings on your TV to allow for insecure connections. To do this, go to settings and find the “Advanced” section. Set “Allow Insecure Connections” to “Always” as seen below. This setting may appear under the “Main” section on a few older TVs.

The Plex server itself will need to have its “Secure connections” setting set to “Preferred.” Most default installs are already set to this. However, if you have manually changed this setting to “Required” you’ll need to change it back. This can be done by going to Settings, finding the “Network” page, and changing the setting from the drop-down menu as shown below.

For those concerned about privacy, this is a pretty big issue. Connections between these TVs and the streaming server will be unencrypted over the internet. Plex recommends users get a newer device, like an Amazon Fire TV Stick, Google Chromecast, or Roku, to continue using an encrypted connection.

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Verizon adds 3 cities to its 5G Home Internet with 5 others set to get UWB

Today Verizon announced an expansion of its 5G Home Internet service to three new cities and shared the names of five more that will be lighting up with 5G Ultra Wideband (UWB) later this month.

Verizon separates its 5G into two main categories: 5G Nationwide and 5G Ultra Wideband. Nationwide uses “Dynamic Spectrum Sharing” to split their existing LTE frequencies into 5G. This offers slightly better speeds than LTE.

Ultra Wideband is the crazy fast millimeter-wave 5G that produces speeds past 1Gbps on separate, much higher frequencies than LTE. You can see Verizon’s 5G coverage map at this link.

Birmingham, Alabama; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma are the latest three cities to receive 5G Home Internet. Verizon is also offering 5G Business Internet in these locations, alongside Home Internet. This brings the total number of cities offering Verizon Home Internet up to 60 (57 for Business Internet). It’s worth noting that these cities have both 5G Nationwide coverage and 5G Ultra Wideband, too.

Later this month, Verizon will extend 5G Ultra Wideband signal availability to parts of Jacksonville, Florida; El Paso, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Tacoma, Washington. This brings the total city count for UWB to 87.

Verizon is racing to compete with T-Mobile in the Home Internet space. T-Mobile has the lead, offering Home Internet to over 30 million households across the entire country. Verizon has a speed advantage in most cases, however, offering millimeter-wave speeds in most cases. T-Mobile’s Home Internet is limited to its low and mid-band 5G frequencies at this time.

To see if you’re eligible for 5G Home Internet from Verizon, check the website here.

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