9 great reads from CNET: iPod at 20, MacBook Pro, Pixel 6 and more

What’s old is new again for Apple, which this week refreshed its MacBook Pro line at the high end and touched up its AirPods and HomePod Mini offerings as well. The biggest change: The 16-inch MacBook Pro now runs on Apple’s own M1 chips, rather than those from Intel.

And what’s old is inexplicably still with us: This week marks the 20th anniversary of the iPod, whose glory days are long gone, yet a version of it can still be found in Apple’s product listings, if you look hard enough. For those of you waxing nostalgic, CNET’s Ty Pendlebury looks back at how the iPod evolved over those two decades, and Roger Cheng talks with Tony Fadell, inventor of the iPod.

Those stories are among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don’t want to miss:

Apple’s iPod is improbably still around: Here’s a look at its past 20 years

Apple’s breakthrough gadget has survived music streaming, rival players and the iPhone. But it’s had to drastically evolve with the times.

‘Whoa whoa’: iPod’s inventor looks back on Apple’s ‘really big risks’

For the 20th anniversary of the iPod, Tony Fadell, who invented Apple’s iconic music player, reminisces about its creation in an interview with CNET.

Apple’s MacBook Pro Touch Bar is finally gone, and it won’t be missed

Commentary: Apple has done away with an expensive gimmick I hated as much as its disastrous butterfly keyboard. 

Inside the Pixel 6 cameras’ bigger AI brains and upgraded hardware

Exclusive: Google’s new smartphone uses dozens of artificial intelligence techniques to try to take the best photos and videos.  

James Bond’s first openly gay character reveal in No Time to Die made me tear up

The 25th Bond film introduces the franchise’s only explicitly queer character — and a protagonist at that.  

25 years of Porsche Boxster: An inspired drive with the inspiration 

The Porsche 718 Boxster 25 Years heritage model not only honors its predecessor, but delivers in its own right.

This Lord of the Rings app is the only thing getting me to exercise  

Commentary: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. 

Fisher-Price made a working Chatter phone for adults because we’re all broken inside

Childhood is calling. And it costs $60 at Best Buy.  

You can explore this immense sci-fi video game over and over 

Outer Wilds will make you say “holy shit” out loud. A lot. 

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