The sequel to Sony's best headphones could be even more expensive — what we know
Sony's WH-1000XM5 headphones are the best headphones you can buy, because they're good at just about everything you need from them. But that may not be the case for much longer, with leaks suggesting the WH-1000XM6 headphones are coming later this month. And now we might know how much they're going to cost.
According to leaker Roland Quandt, over on BlueSky, Sony is probably going to increase the price of the XM6 by 10% in the European market. Presumably, he means the original €419 price tag, rather than the current discounted price. In that case, it means the XM6 would cost around €460.
If that price hike extends to other markets, including the U.S, it means buyers are looking at a price tag of around $440. Assuming tariffs don't come into force and increase that figure in the process.
Quandt also claims that the headphones will be available in silver, black and Midnight Blue. No sign of the XM5's Smokey Pink hue, so those of you hoping for a pair of XM6s in light pink may be out of luck.
Quandt expects the headphones to arrive "soon" but didn't go into further details. Though if earlier reveals are anything to go by, Sony could officially announce these headphones before the end of May.
According to a deep dive by The Walkman Blog, there are plenty of things to expect from the XM6 headphones when they arrive — the first being Made for iPhone certification. That effectively means the headphones have been tested and approved by Apple, and here's hoping it means the XM6s will have better support for Apple's Find My feature.
The blog also reports, based on various regulatory document leaks, that the headphones will offer fast charging, a 3.8V battery rating and detachable earcups. It also looks like the XM5s will have the same 30mm drivers as the XM5.
Other rumored changes include Bluetooth 5.3 support, a boost in antenna gain to 2.91 dBi and a MediaTek system on chip powering everything.
Hopefully, if rumors on the reveal are to be believed, we should be finding out for sure in the coming weeks. Be sure to check out our Sony WH-1000XM6 hub for all the latest news and rumors.
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Tom's Guide
an hour ago
- Tom's Guide
macOS Tahoe hands-on preview: Apple Intelligence and Liquid Glass steal the show
Apple is in the process of finalizing macOS Tahoe for release this fall, and so far I think it could be the most interesting macOS update in years. I say that because I wrote our last few macOS reviews, and after spending the summer testing beta versions of macOS Tahoe I think it could be an exciting upgrade for lots of Mac owners. That's because there are a whole host of changes coming in macOS Tahoe, including some of the most meaningful implementations of Apple Intelligence I've seen in macOS to date. But you don't have to take my word for it. Now that it's public, anyone can download the macOS Tahoe beta to start puttering around and playing with all the (yet unfinished) features Apple is working on, including the supercharged new Spotlight Search, some fun new folder customization options and the new Games and Journal apps. It's risky to install a beta version of macOS on a Mac you rely on, however, so I recommend you read my hands-on preview of macOS Tahoe if you're curious about what's coming but don't want to deal with the hassles of beta software yourself. Like most versions of macOS, Tahoe will be a free upgrade for all supported Macs. However, some Macs which are currently running macOS Sequoia just fine won't be able to make the jump to Tahoe. To help you figure out if your Mac can run the 2025 macOS update, here's a list of all the Macs that will officially support macOS Tahoe: If your Mac is on the list, you're good to go! One important thing to do before installing beta software: back up your Mac! You could use Apple's built-in Time Machine feature or a reputable third-party service like Backblaze — our guide to the best cloud storage solutions offers even more recommendations for you. As much as I think the many implementations of Apple Intelligence in macOS Tahoe are what really make the most difference, they aren't the first big change you'll notice when you upgrade. No, the first thing you'll notice is the new "Liquid Glass" design aesthetic you get with Tahoe. This visual overhaul gives a lot of the macOS interface the appearance of glass, such that menus and Widgets will often appear translucent and you can make out blurry versions of what's beneath them. But that's just the immediate change. As you start to explore macOS Tahoe you'll find there are a host of small differences from earlier versions, including a new folder customization menu that lets you change folder colors or add an emoji to the icon so you can more easily identify it. This little change alone adds an appreciable amount of character to your Mac, and since I also enjoy the new glassy design language I'm loving the look of macOS Tahoe so far. Once you get over the visual changes, you'll notice how AI (sorry, Apple Intelligence) has infiltrated macOS in a few different places. Spotlight Search has gained a host of new capabilities and features, for example, including the ability to run complex commands right from the Search bar. I'll explain in more detail shortly, but the simple version is that Spotlight Search can now help you do a lot more right from the search field, no need to dig into apps. There's also new options to generate Genmoji or images in the Image Playground, including new visual styles you can use in the Playground by tapping into ChatGPT. These upgrades aren't life-changing, but they let you do more fun stuff with AI in macOS. Elsewhere, macOS Tahoe taps Apple Intelligence to add new features like real-time translation in FaceTime, Messages and calls with the Phone app. I didn't get much time to test this since most of the people I communicate with regularly speak the same language, but if that wasn't true I could easily see this upgrade being the most impactful change in macOS Tahoe. Plus, utility apps like Reminders and Notes can do more than ever thanks to Apple Intelligence. That includes auto-adding reminders based on messages or emails you receive, transcribing recorded audio from phone calls within the Notes app and a lot more. You can also take more advantage of your iPhone's features via Continuity. So you can get more useful and actionable Live Activities updates, for example, or launch iPhone apps right from the Spotlight Search bar. There are also new apps, including an all-new Games app for Mac and a Mac version of the Journal app you know from your iPhone. One part of macOS that doesn't get a big overhaul, at least that I've noticed, is Safari. And that's fine, I don't think it needs any big updates, but it's interesting that Apple hasn't done much to mess with Safari this year. There are lots of other small changes in macOS Tahoe, but for the sake of brevity let me run you through the most meaningful updates I've noticed in my time testing it. So far my favorite upgrade in macOS Tahoe has to be the supercharged Spotlight Search. What used to be a fairly straightforward and sometimes frustrating macOS search tool has become something far more capable, since you can now search more easily with natural language, filter the results far more effectively and even execute a host of commands from within the Spotlight Search bar. I'm still learning how to effectively take advantage of these upgrades, but after just a few weeks of testing I think the new Spotlight Search is a game-changer for Mac power users. Not only is it more capable now as a search utility — potentially freeing you from having to rely on third-party search tools like Alfred — it can also do things like send email and messages, search within applications and create reminders right from the search bar. So if I pull up Spotlight Search right now by hitting Cmd + Space and start typing "send," for example, it immediately starts populating the search results with results like "send email" (via the Mail app), "send message" (via the Messages app), "send Chrome feedback to Apple" (since I have Chrome open right now) and other, less relevant options. Hit Tab and you can start using the arrow keys to scroll through the results, and hitting Enter lets you immediately execute one of these actions right in the Spotlight Search bar. Select "send message," for example, and the Spotlight Search bar fills with a Mad Libs-esque series of blanks for key details like the message you want to send and the person you want to send it to. Type to fill the details in, hit Tab to switch between fields, and hit Enter when you're ready to send the message. This makes the task of sending a text message on your Mac a series of keyboard shortcuts if you want it to be, and it's one of hundreds of examples of how you can now get a lot more done within Spotlight Search without taking your hands off the keyboard. I'm sure not everyone loves the new Liquid Glass visual language Apple is implementing across its various devices in 2025, but I'm a fan. With macOS Tahoe that graphical change feels fairly subtle at first, but that might be because I've been writing about computers long enough that I remember the glassy Aero visual language that Microsoft implemented decades ago in Windows Vista. So when I first upgraded to macOS Tahoe it almost felt like a nostalgic throwback to see all these semi-transparent apps and windows on my desktop with dynamic levels of translucency. I actually liked the look (if not the performance) of Windows Vista, and I feel the same way about macOS in Liquid Glass. But I think what's actually cooler than the visual redesign is the way in which you can now customize the look of folders in Finder by changing the color of the icon or slapping an emoji on it. I know, it's not the most impactful or time-saving change you'll find in macOS Tahoe, but I find it makes the MacBook I'm writing this on feel more like "my" Mac, in the same way that slapping stickers on the lid makes it feel personalized and unique. It's a small change to the way macOS works, but I'm all for it. Two of the more interesting additions in macOS Tahoe, for my money, are the new Games and Journal apps. I'm cautiously excited about the Games app because it seems like a useful one-stop hub for accessing all the games on your Mac, whether you got them from Apple Arcade, the App Store, Steam or other game services. However, I can't be sure how useful the Games app for Mac will end up being because the version I've been testing in the beta edition of macOS Tahoe is missing some functionality. The "Home" tab doesn't load right now for me, for example, but I'm sure that by the time Tahoe launches in the fall it will. You can buy Apple Arcade games just fine through the "Arcade" tab, but while the "Play Together" tab shows options for adding friends, issuing game challenges to them and launching multiplayer sessions none of it works for me yet. And while the Library tab does a good job of automatically finding all the games on your Mac, it doesn't seem to be the best place to launch them. I just tried to launch a Steam game from the Library tab of the Games app, for example, but since Steam wasn't already running it instead threw a "You must start Steam before launching the game" error in my face. But I can immediately pull the game up in Spotlight Search and hit Enter to launch it, and macOS automatically launches Steam and then launches the game I want to play. This is exactly how it should work, so it's perplexing that the Games app (at least in my limited testing of an unfinished beta version) doesn't work the same way. However, I expect most of these issues to be addressed by the time macOS Tahoe launches later this year. So while I'm a bit concerned that the Games app will prove superfluous for anyone who already uses clients like Steam or the Epic Games Launcher to manage their games, I have to reserve judgment on it until the release version of macOS Tahoe is live and folks are using the Games app to game with each other. Something I don't have to hold back on is the Journal app, which is now cross-platform across iOS, iPadOS and macOS when you upgrade to Tahoe. If you, like me, have never used the Journal app on your iPhone (perhaps because, like me, you hate typing on that tiny screen) then this could be the upgrade you need to get into it. Personally, I find the Journal app way more usable on macOS because I get to use my MacBook's full keyboard and touchpad to navigate the interface. I really appreciate how you can add images, recordings and locations to journal entries with a click, and the fact that you can keep multiple journals means you can do things like have a recipe book, a diary and a restaurant reviews journal all going simultaneously. I have to confess, for all its simplicity I'm surprised at how versatile and useful the Journal app is, and I'm glad that it's coming to Macs with Tahoe so a lot more people will have an easier time using it. There's a lot more to dig into with macOS Tahoe; I've only scratched the surface in my weeks of testing the developer and public beta versions. There's more to come, too, since Apple is going to be working on adding and fine-tuning features until it launches this fall. But already I feel like it's going to be a good and worthwhile update for every Mac that supports it, because as long as you don't mind the new Liquid Glass aesthetic it seems to make macOS better across the board. The new Spotlight Search is my favorite upgrade so far because it makes it easier to get things done right from the Search bar, no need to take your hands off the keyboard. I love that aspect of Windows' Start menu, so to see Apple take a page from Microsoft's playbook is a delight for me. But I also love the look and feel of the new macOS, and I think the customization features plus the new Journal app make my MacBook feel a lot more like it's "my" Mac. And while I'm not sure the Games app will ever reach parity with Steam or be more than a hub for Apple Arcade games, I do love that Apple is improving the state of Mac gaming and making it easier for Mac owners to play games with each other. I'm looking forward to seeing and reviewing the release version of macOS Tahoe later this year, and I'll keep digging into the unfinished betas until then to help you understand how to best utilize all the new features. Stay tuned! Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
3 hours ago
The Tea app was intended to help women date safely. Then it got hacked
Tea, a provocative dating app designed to let women anonymously ask or warn each other about men they'd encountered, rocketed to the top spot on the U.S. Apple App Store this week. On Friday, the company behind the app confirmed it had been hacked: Thousands of images, including selfies, were leaked online. 'We have engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure our systems,' San Francisco-based Tea Dating Advice Inc. said in a statement. 404 Media, which earlier reported the breach, said it was 4Chan users who discovered an exposed database that 'allowed anyone to access the material' from Tea. The app and the breach highlight the fraught nature of seeking romance in the age of social media. Here's what to know: Tea founder Sean Cook, a software engineer who previously worked at Salesforce and Shutterfly, says on the app's website that he founded the company in 2022 after witnessing his own mother's 'terrifying'' experiences. Cook said they included unknowingly dating men with criminal records and being 'catfished'' — deceived by men using false identities. Tea markets itself as a safe way for women to anonymously vet men they might meet on dating apps such as Tinder or Bumble — ensuring that the men are who they say they are, not criminals and not already married or in a relationship. "It's like people have their own little Yelp pages,'' said Aaron Minc, whose Cleveland firm, Minc Law, specializes in cases involving online defamation and harassment. In an Apple Store review, one woman wrote that she used a Tea search to investigate a man she'd begun talking to and discovered 'over 20 red flags, including serious allegations like assault and recording women without their consent.'' She said she cut off communication. 'I can't imagine how things could've gone had I not known," she wrote. A surge in social media attention over the past week pushed Tea to the No. 1 spot on Apple's U.S. App Store as of July 24, according to Sensor Tower, a research firm. In the seven days from July 17-23, Tea downloads shot up 525% compared to the week before. Tea said in an Instagram post that it had reached 4 million users. A female columnist for The Times of London newspaper, who signed into the app, on Thursday called Tea a 'man-shaming site'' and complained that 'this is simply vigilante justice, entirely reliant on the scruples of anonymous women. With Tea on the scene, what man would ever dare date a woman again?'' 'Over the last couple of weeks, we've gotten hundreds of calls on it. It's blown up,' attorney Minc said. "People are upset. They're getting named. They're getting shamed.'' In 1996, Congress passed legislation protecting websites and apps from liability for things posted by their users. But the users can be sued for spreading 'false and defamatory'' information, Minc said. In May, however, a federal judge in Illinois threw out an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit by a man who'd been criticized by women in the Facebook chat group 'Are We Dating the Same Guy,″ Bloomberg Law reported. State privacy laws could offer another avenue for bringing legal action against someone who posted your photograph or other personal information in a harmful way, Minc said. In its statement, Tea reported that about 72,000 images were leaked online, including 13,000 images of selfies or photo identification that users submitted during account verification. Another 59,000 images that were publicly viewable in the app from posts, comments and direct messages were also accessed, according to the company's statement. No email addresses or phone numbers were exposed, the company said, and the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024. 'At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that additional user data was affected. Protecting tea users' privacy and data is our highest priority,' Tea said. It said users did not need to change their passwords or delete their accounts. "All data has been secured.'' .
Tom's Guide
3 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
Google Pixel 10 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25: Battle of the Android phones takes shape
For much of the year, Samsung has set the tone for the best Android phones with its Galaxy S25 release from earlier in the year. But with a Google launch event looming, we're likely to get a look at the Pixel 10 very soon, setting the stage for a Google Pixel 10 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 showdown. The Galaxy S25 would be a tough enough phone to beat on its on, given the high-end Snapdragon chipset, excellent camera setup and long-lasting battery you'd expect from one of the best Samsung phones. But then Samsung went and added more Galaxy AI features to the S25, making this phone even more appealing to those who value devices with built-in smarts. But Google is no slouch when it comes to AI features of its own. The company's handsets just won our AI phone face-off against Samsung and Apple devices, and that's before the Pixel 10 ushers in new AI features powered by its updated system-on-chip. And some other hardware improvements are rumored for the Pixel 10 as well. We're not going to see a true winner emerge from a Google Pixel 10 vs. Samsung Galaxy S25 face-off until after Google announces its next flagship. But here's how that match-up is shaping up based on Pixel 10 rumors and what we've seen in our Galaxy S25 testing. Google Pixel 10 (Rumored) Samsung Galaxy S25 Screen size 6.3 inches 6.2 inches Chipset Tensor G5 Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy RAM 12GB 12GB Storage 128GB, 512GB 128GB, 256GB, 512GB Rear cameras 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10.8MP 5x telephoto 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x telephoto Front camera 10.5MP 12MP Battery size 4,970 mAh 4,000 mAh Size 152.8 x 72 x 8.6mm 146.9 x 70.5 x 7.2mm Weight 204 grams 162 grams Colors Obsidian, Indigo, Frost, Limoncello Navy, Icyblue, Mint, Silver Shadow Google has set an August 20 date for its Made by Google hardware event, and while we don't know for certain what's on the agenda, new Pixel phones almost certainly figure to be the headliners. After all, it was last August that Google released its Pixel 9 phones. If you remember, the Pixel 9 saw a price hike to $799, which matches the cost of the Galaxy S25 that Samsung revealed in January 2025. The base model S25 features 128GB of storage, and since the phone has been out for more than half the year at this point, you can probably find discounts amont the best phone deals. Recent reports suggest that the Pixel 10 won't feature any changes from its predecessor's price, meaning a Pixel 10 vs. Galaxy S25 face-off will be a battle of $799 phones. Like the S25, we're looking for the Pixel 10 to come with 128GB of storage. The Galaxy S25 didn't introduce many design changes to Samsung's flagship lineup, and the Pixel 10 doesn't figure to be a radical departure from the Pixel 9 either. That's a bit of a surprise since the Pixel 9a released this spring did away with Google's distinctive horizontal camera bar. Yet, every Pixel 10 render we've seen — including one posted by Google — shows the same old camera bar as before stretching across the back of the phone. The Galaxy S25 did shed some weight, while switching to enhanced Aluminum Armor 2 for its sides. Samsung's phone weighs 5.71 ounces, and unless Google drops some mass from the nearly 7-ounce Pixel 9, you figure the Pixel 10 will weigh more. In fact, some rumors claim the Pixel 10 will be slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor to accommodate a larger battery. (More on that in the battery section.) The Pixel 10's screen size is certainly expected to remain unchanged from the 6.3-inch panel on the Pixel 9. That means a little extra screen real estate compared to the 6.2-inch Galaxy S25. Samsung's display is a bright one, with a peak brightness of 1,789 its on our light meter, but the Pixel 9 wasn't that far off at 1,769 nits. We'll see if the Pixel 10 can outshine the competition. There is a rumor that Google is turning to displays with improved dimming rates to help combat eye strain, but that appears to be a feature limited to the Pixel 10 Pro models. Nevertheless, if it does find its way on to the Pixel 10, Google's entry-level flagship might enjoy an edge over the Galaxy S25. The Galaxy S25 comes in four standard colors — Navy, Icyblue, Mint and Silver Shadow — with three other colors exclusive to Samsung's store. Pixel 10 color rumors list Obsidian, Indigo, Frost, and Limoncello as the likely options. Galaxy S phones have enjoyed an edge over rival flagships when it comes to camera setups, as even the entry-level model offers a telephoto lens. But it sounds like Google may be answering that with the Pixel 10. Rumors about the upcoming Pixel suggest the standard model will join the Pixel 10 Pro in offering a zoom lens. The telephoto camera on the Pixel 10 isn't likely to be as powerful as what's on its Pro counterpart — rumors suggest a 10MP sensor — but it would allow the Pixel 10 to match the Galaxy S25's camera offering. To make things even more interesting, the Pixel 10 is rumored to support a 5x zoom, which would top the 3x zoom offered by the Galaxy S25's 10MP telephoto camera. To go with that new telephoto lens, the Pixel 10 would reportedly feature a 48MP main camera and an ultrawide shooter with either a 12MP or 13MP sensor depending on who's doing the leaking. (Those specs would be a downgrade from the Pixel 9's 50MP main and 48MP ultrawide cameras in terms of resolution.) The Galaxy S25 offers a 50MP main camera and 12MP ultrawide camera to go with its telephoto lens. Samsung phones typically outpace Google's flagship device in CPU and GPU testing, and that doesn't figure to change with a Pixel 10 vs. Galaxy S25 match-up. For starters, the Galaxy S25 uses an optimized Snapdragon 8 Elite system-on-chip, which produces some of the best benchmarks we've seen on an Android phone. Google uses its own Tensor chips, and while they perform well enough for most tasks, they're simply not as fast as the best Snapdragon silicon. That said, there is one rumor that suggests the Tensor G5 could be built on a 3nm process, which would lead to bigger-than-normal performance gains. Still, most people expect the Tensor G5 to be a 4nm chip. Even so, the story behind Tensor usually revolves around the AI features it enables, with updated silicon powering more advanced capabilities. We haven't heard many rumors about the AI improvements in the works for this year's Pixel, but you figure that Google will be looking to match the cross-app actions that the latest version of Galaxy AI supports on the the S25 series. Now that Android 16 is out, you'd imagine the software will come preinstalled on the Pixel 10 when it arrives. Samsung's new foldable phones debuted with that software, and the company is in the process of rolling it out to already available models like the S25. Both Google and Samsung offer seven years of support for their flagship phones — something we don't anticipate changing once the Pixel 10 arrives on the scene. Google's Pixel phones have struggled to keep pace with devices offering the best phone battery life, with the Pixel 9 lasting 12.5 hours on our battery test — a better-than-average result, but hardly world-beating in light of the Galaxy S25's 15 hour, 43 minute time on that same test. One of the ways Google could combat that is with a bigger battery. Reports claim the Pixel 10 will turn to a 4,970 mAh cell, up from 4,700 mAh on the Pixel 9, and well ahead of the S25's 4,000 mAh power pack. The Pixel 10 is also said to be including Qi2 wireless charging magnets to its panel for more secure connections with charging pads. The Galaxy S25 supports Qi2 speeds, but it lacks the magnets. The Galaxy S25 took a big leap ahead this year with its Galaxy AI features, particularly the ability to have the assistant perform tasks across multiple apps with one command. As impressive as that is, AI is Google's bread-and-butter, so we're very interested to see if the Pixel 10 can up the stakes on AI capabilities. Certainly, other Pixel 10 rumors suggest the Galaxy S25 will have a fight on its hands — especially if that rumored telephoto lens does show up on Google's least expensive flagship. In other words, the stage is set for a pretty compelling clash of Android phones, and we won't have to wait long to see how it plays out.
