Chromebooks and Windows PCs won’t be the only affordable laptops next year, with Apple tipped to release a cheaper laptop, adding another segment to its Mac range.
Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman broke the news, claiming that Apple intends to sell its new laptop variant “for well under” US$1,000 (roughly $1,500 in Australia). Currently, the cheapest Apple computer is the MacBook Air, with the latest M4 model priced at $1,699 locally.
According to Gurman’s reporting, Apple’s in-development laptop — codenamed “J700” — uses an iPhone processor, rather than the M-series silicon used by the rest of the Mac range. Another attempt to keep costs down is said to come from “a lower-end LCD” screen, which will reportedly be smaller than the 13-inch MacBook Air’s display.
Based on Apple’s 2025 fiscal year report, Macs accounted for roughly eight per cent of the company’s US$416.16 billion in net sales. Most of Apple’s revenue comes from iPhones (50 per cent) and ‘Services’ (26 per cent), which refers to App Store commissions, subscriptions, and advertising.
Launching a lower-priced laptop to compete with entry-level Chromebooks and Windows PCs could be a play to expand Apple’s market after years of focusing on mid-range and premium devices.
Gurman didn’t specify which iPhone processor the reported cheaper Apple laptop would use. This year, Apple launched the iPhone 17 with the A19 chipset, and the iPhone 17 Pro range with the A19 Pro. According to Gurman’s sources, the chosen iPhone chip outperforms the M1 system-on-a-chip that debuted in 2020.
Some major Australian retailers, including Big W, sell M1 MacBook Airs for sub-$1,000 prices already. So, Apple would need to factor in a cost that justifies choosing the company’s cheaper laptop.
Gurman expects the new laptop to launch in the first half of 2026, while more M5 Macs and MacBook models are also on the way.
Reddit and Kick are the latest platforms confirmed by the eSafety Commissioner as being part of the Australian youth social media ban set to start on 10 December.
With just over a month to go until Australian children under the age of 16 can’t access designated social media platforms, the latest update provides some more clarity as to which platforms are affected.
The eSafety Commissioner informed nine social media platforms of their designation as “age-restricted platforms” and are subject to the ban. Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram were part of the included platforms early on, while YouTube was added later.
Newly added to the list, Reddit is one of the world’s most popular websites, attracting more than 116 million daily users according to its press page. Australia’s social media ban prevents children from having accounts, but not outright access entirely. Reddit posts can be viewed without an account, so the ban mainly impacts underage users’ ability to post, comment, and send direct messages.
Livestreaming platform Kick is one of the newly designated “age-restricted platforms” impacted by the ban. Image: Kick.
Meanwhile, Kick is an Australian-founded streaming platform where users livestream video games and online casino content. It claims to have “over 75 million users”, notably less than the “105 million+ average monthly users” of competing platform Twitch, which is not included in Australia’s social media ban.
“Delaying children’s access to social media accounts gives them valuable time to learn and grow, free of the powerful, unseen forces of harmful and deceptive design features such as opaque algorithms and endless scroll,” said eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant. “This important normative change will be invaluable to parents and young people alike – creating friction or a check in the online ecosystem that previously did not exist.”
Which platforms are included in the social media ban?
With the inclusion of Reddit and Kick, there are currently nine confirmed platforms designated as “age-restricted social media platforms”:
Facebook
Instagram
Snapchat
Threads
TikTok
X
YouTube
Kick
Reddit
Any age-restricted social media platform that fails to “take reasonable steps” to prevent underage account holders may face penalties of up to $49.5 million.
Before the legislation was passed last year, there were concerns about which platforms would be included and how it would be enforced. What defined a social media platform was contentious, particularly around fears that online video games may have been impacted.
Who’s not currently included in the social media ban?
Iman Grant stressed that the list of platforms considered age-restricted would not remain static. As platforms change or new platforms surface, eSafety intends to react accordingly.
“We will continue to take a whole of ecosystem approach, but we want to reinforce that just because a service is excluded, it does not mean it is absolutely safe,” Iman Grant said. “As parents, we will need to continue being engaged in our children’s online lives.”
Windows of daily free electricity are coming to Australians next year, as part of the newly announced Solar Sharer scheme by the Federal Government.
Under the scheme, which is set to begin in July next year, energy retailers will be made to offer free electricity to homes for at least three hours a day during the middle of the day. It’s meant to take advantage of the more than four million solar systems installed across Australia that feed energy back into the power grid.
Who is eligible for Solar Sharer?
Not all Australians will benefit from Solar Sharer to begin with, however. States regulated by the Default Market Offer will be the first to access the scheme, including New South Wales, South-East Queensland, and South Australia. According to the Government’s official announcement, Solar Sharer will potentially come to other states by 2027 after a consultation period.
To access the scheme next July, eligible households need to have a smart meter, which records energy usage digitally. Then, Australians can monitor their use more closely and run power-intensive appliances during the free window.
Owning solar panels is not a requirement to participate in the scheme, with the Federal Government aiming to reduce power bill stress for homeowners and renters alike.
“People who are able to move electricity use into the zero cost power period will benefit directly, whether they have solar panels or not and whether they own or rent, and the more people take up the offer and move their use, the greater the system benefits that lower costs for all electricity users will be,” said Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.
If you want to increase the security at your home, a wire-free battery-powered security camera is an easy-to-install, easy-to-use solution that gives you a clear view of what’s happening when you are not watching.
A good dinner out can easily cost $150 for two people, and that’s about what you pay to buy a wireless security camera. Security cameras have become popular and competitive over the last few years, so let’s take a look at the Uniden App Cam Solo X2K to see what you get for your money.
The Uniden App Cam Solo X2K is a weatherproof 2K-resolution Wi-Fi battery-powered security camera with a spotlight and free seven-day cloud backup.
Image: Angus Jones.
In the box you will find the camera, a charging cable and a mounting bracket with screws. This is everything you need to get started, as long as you own a smartphone, a screwdriver and a drill.
To detect movement, the camera uses PIR (Passive Infrared) technology. The sensor detects body heat emitted by people and animals. This technology filters out false triggers such as swaying bushes. The maximum range of this sensor is 10m, but it can be adjusted down to 4m. All configuration and setting changes are done via the My Uniden+ app.
Intruder. Image: Angus Jones.
The captured image is in 2K resolution, which is technically a higher resolution than you get from free-to-air TV. There are higher-resolution cameras, but that raises the price. The camera’s viewing angle is 135 degrees (side-to-side would be 180 degrees), which is ample for most situations.
Unless you purchase the optional $60 solar panel, you will need to charge the battery periodically. This period will depend on how often the camera is triggered and how many times the built-in spotlight comes on. Don’t worry, this is likely to be around six months, and you will get a notification on your phone telling you it’s time to charge.
Adding a microSD card. Image: Angus Jones.
Included in the purchase price is seven days of rolling cloud footage backup. A six-second clip can be accessed from your smartphone for seven days after a triggered recording. The video image is transmitted over your home Wi-Fi to cloud storage. You do need to ensure your desired camera location is within Wi-Fi range.
If you want to keep your recordings longer, you can insert a microSD card into the camera for local storage or purchase a cloud subscription for 30-day backup. The advantage of having cloud storage as standard is not having to buy an SD card as an option, but if someone steals the camera, the image of the thief is safe in the cloud for at least seven days. Images and videos can be copied onto your smartphone or PC for permanent records.
Night-time image. Image: Angus Jones.
The camera will capture images at night, with or without the small built-in spotlight, which can be triggered automatically or manually from your phone. To deter intruders, a siren can also be activated. It is also possible to have a two-way conversation with someone close to the camera remotely.
If you are a smart home user, the Uniden cameras will integrate with both Google Home and Amazon Assistant, providing centralised alerts, automation and viewing on your smart displays.
Uniden App Cam Solo X2K specifications and price
Resolution
2K (2304 x 1296)
3.0 megapixels
Storage
Free 7-day cloud storage + local MicroSD card (up to 256GB)
If you look at the competing cameras at this price point on the JB Hi-Fi website, as of the time of writing, there are four in-store-stocked cameras. Two of these cameras require a monthly subscription to operate. The Uniden does not, so the total cost of ownership will be much lower.
Image: Angus Jones.
If you do want 30-day storage instead of 7-day, you can pay a very reasonable $3 a month, which not only gets you the longer storage but also provides intelligent analysis of your notifications. It will identify People, Pets, Vehicles, packages, wild animals and birds. If you want the analysis alone, you can also subscribe for $1.59 a month.
The installation and setup are very straightforward; install the app and follow the on-screen instructions. I like that, as part of the install process, you are asked to take a camera and your phone to the location where you plan to install, and a test is run to determine whether the location is suitable for Wi-Fi connectivity.
My Uniden + App settings menu. Screenshot: Angus Jones.
Now you are set up. Each time you connect to your camera, you get the message establishing an encryption channel, which I find very reassuring in this world of hacking. You can choose to go one step further in the setup menu and add a cloud password, which further protects each stored video file. I must say, navigating the setup menu is made simpler by clear explanations of the various settings.
The 2K image, whilst not as sharp as 4K, is fine, especially given the price premium for better quality. Images can be digitally zoomed, and either video or snapshots can be downloaded. Voice is also captured, and many a time friends have dropped by and left a message on our cameras for us to see. The nighttime recording has excellent quality and is good for around 10 meters, which is more than enough to cover most people’s driveways. It will capture black-and-white images in total darkness, but with the spotlight function enabled, it becomes a colour image.
Uniden has previously been known for minimal false triggers. I am pleased this model follows this tradition using its Thermo Sense technology, as it can be very annoying to have your phone constantly buzzing on a windy day. A cool new feature they have added is that the camera automatically adjusts settings when alarms occur frequently.
Who is the Uniden App Cam Solo X2K for?
If you are not super technically minded and this will be your first foray into home security cameras, the Uniden App Cam Solo X2K is a great pick. With no ongoing fees and seven days of storage for your images, the setup and operation are easy.
With no wires and a rechargeable battery that lasts six months, you can place the camera anywhere you have good Wi-Fi coverage.
The mere presence of a visible camera is a deterrent in itself. Still, with a spotlight that comes on and an optional siren, it certainly scares intruders away — failing that, you end up with good-quality images you can review and pass on to authorities if necessary.
Uniden App Cam Solo X2K
Well-priced, easy to use and install, the Uniden App Cam Solo X2K is a good subscription-free security camera.
The moment you become a parent, you suddenly become bombarded by ads, articles, Reddit posts, and well-meaning strangers telling you about The One Product that fixed everything.
While you can technically do without a baby monitor if you live in a small enough place, or have other smart devices that recognise a baby crying, it is one of those devices that can allow you to put your guard down and relax during a nap. It’s also a device that you can use for a few years, until constantly surveilling your child starts to feel uncomfortable.
There are lots of different formats of baby monitors, each with its own pros and cons. Tapo has gone for the all-digital, Wi-Fi-connected approach, complete with AI detection of a variety of baby activities.
I tested the Tapo C840 with my toddler for more than a month, and generally found it to be a capable (if sensitive) monitor. Read on for a more detailed analysis.
My first impression of the Tapo C840 was of just how thoughtful the box inclusions are. There are two different lengths of USB cable, a really nice stand that connects to a cot, a wall mount, and a sheet with a QR code to a quick start guide with braille.
I unbox a lot of products, and this was an unusually good unboxing experience, finding so many things to make installation easier. Parenthood is exhausting; anything that makes something important easier is a relief.
Image: Alice Clarke.
Setting up the camera with the app was pretty quick, too. There were lots of settings that you can dial in to adjust your experience if you choose.
Tapo C840 specifications and price
Camera resolution
Two lenses:
2K (2560 × 1440)
1080p (1920 × 1080)
Field of view
Wide-angle lens: 144°
Zoom lens: 55°
Size
46 × 46 × 105.8 mm
249 g
Connectivity
IEEE 802.11a/ac/b/g/n (Wi-Fi 5)
2.4GHz and 5GHz
Bluetooth 5.0
Smart home compatibility
Google Assistant
Amazon Alexa
Samsung SmartThings
Apple HomeKit
I’ve tried quite a few baby monitors now, and sadly, this is one of those categories where you get what you pay for (to a point). The picture quality on the Tapo C840 is very good, much better than cheaper options. It has two camera lenses: one 2K wide lens, and the other is a 1080p lens to focus on the baby.
The 2K image is sharp, showing the room in great detail, so you can check in to see if your toddler is doing Something Weird.
The 1080p camera is just to focus on your child’s face, making it easier to make out facial expressions. That’s good for those self-destructing newborns, but also toddlers, so you can anticipate if she’s about to wake up, or if the Dymadon is starting to wear off and her teeth are bothering her again.
The app has gone for a ‘Person of Interest’ aesthetic for the camera, and I’m not mad at that. The app puts a little box around the baby’s face and then labels it “baby”, and then the box moves around with the baby, in case you were uncertain what your child looks like. This would likely be more useful if my daughter slept with a doll, or if I had twins in the bed, and the camera was differentiating between them. As it is in my situation, it’s just pretty funny.
Screenshot: Alice Clarke.
I kinda assumed that it would identify faces and ages of people in general, but it doesn’t put any box around my face when I look at the camera. I can’t tell if that’s because I’ve failed some kind of Captcha and it doesn’t recognise me as a person, or if it’s purely interested in under-5s.
One thing that I do find a bit frustrating is that there’s up to a 45-second delay on the picture. Presumably because the camera sends the images to the cloud, then the cloud sends the images back to my phone, which is not ideal. A minute isn’t the end of the world for a baby that just woke up and is Big Mad about it. But for a camera that makes a lot of claims about covered face alerts, a minute makes a huge difference in those scenarios.
Another thing that I like is that the Tapo C840 is basically just an indoor security camera that also has baby monitor features. This means that if you still have indoor security camera needs after your kid no longer needs monitoring, you can repurpose it.
Alerts
When you first become a mother, you can hear these phantom baby cries all the time. I guess it makes evolutionary sense – it’s a way to get you to check on the baby more frequently. It’s still weird, and keeps you constantly vigilant.
The Tapo C840 is just like that new mother. In a 45-minute period after the baby was asleep, and my wife and I were watching Selling Sunset with headphones on (in transparency mode), I got 13 crying baby notifications. The baby was sleeping peacefully. The Tapo C840 had mistaken traffic noise for a baby’s cry. This is better than earlier in the day when we were playing with our daughter in the living room, and I got a notification every two minutes, mistaking her laughter or just our talking as cries.
Turning the crying detection sensitivity to low has thankfully brought me down to just a handful of false reports per hour. But this function really is worse than useless. A nice idea, but about as accurate as ChatGPT. It’s gone so far into the boy who cried wolf territory that it might be time to rename the fable.
As for the covered face alert, it’s a bit hit-and-miss, and I wouldn’t rely on it. It’s a nice to have, it alerted me when it saw my daughter’s face briefly blocked from the camera while having her nappy changed. But it didn’t alert me when she rolled onto her stomach, face down while sleeping, which is when most parents of little babies would want to be alerted.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t test this with a blanket because I couldn’t trick the Tapo C840 into thinking any of my daughter’s toys were a human baby, and covering my 16-month-old’s face with a blanket long enough for a camera to recognise it didn’t seem ethical. So, my take from the situations I experienced is that it can alert you to a covered face, but not consistently, and sometimes it will be wrong (either way). So, a nice-to-have, but not something to fully rely on.
One thing that I really appreciated was how good it was at alerting me when my daughter was awake, but not crying. Most cameras I’ve tried only have alerts for crying, which is great, but sometimes kids just wake up and are chill about it; they might not start crying until they get sad about the situation. Being able to check on her once she was awake, but not necessarily sad about it, can make a real difference.
Mounting options
Most of the other cameras I’ve tried come with a wall mount, or you can just place them on a shelf. Any other accessories are sold separately. The Tapo C840 includes a cot stand, which is a lovely point of difference.
The Tapo C840 (right) easily mounts to a cot, while the Eufy model I’m testing (left) is connected to a shelf. Image: Alice Clarke.
It is easy to attach to either the side of a cot or the side of a baby jail (AKA playpen) with no damage. It’s designed really well, it looks nice, it’s easy to install, and it’s high enough that my 16-month-old can’t reach the camera standing up. Really, top notch.
Image: Alice Clarke.
Security
When it comes to security on smart home products, breaches are always a matter of when, not if. However, I’m heartened to see that TP-Link has so far been very responsive to patching vulnerabilities (from what I’ve read). There also aren’t any immediate horror stories that come up when you look for them, unlike several other major camera brands.
However, the best way to secure footage is to simply not upload it anywhere and keep it on a local network. Most of my favourite baby monitors come with screen units, and while you have the option of connecting the camera to the internet, it’s not essential. That option doesn’t exist here.
TP-Link also offers a paid subscription (of course) to keep videos for up to 30 days, and cut together clips of your child growing up.
On the one hand, this is adorable. On the other hand, it’s a security vulnerability. It’s optional, and the risk is very low. It’s just important that people are still aware of that very low risk.
Who is the Tapo C840 for?
The Tapo C840 is a really capable baby monitor at a surprisingly good price for the features it offers. It would be a good fit for anyone who already has a Tapo security system and now has a baby, or people who want a baby monitor that all parents can monitor from their phone screen.
Having multiple mounting options in the box makes this a good fit for homeowners and renters alike.
The only people the Tapo C840 wouldn’t suit are people on a very tight budget, and those who don’t want their baby monitor to connect to the internet.
Tapo C840
The Tapo C840 is a really capable baby monitor at a surprisingly good price for the features it offers.
Features
8
Value for money
9
Performance
7
Ease of use
8
Design
9
Positives
Multiple mounting options included in the box
Cameras are very good quality
App is easy to use
Negatives
The app locks some features behind a paid subscription
The baby cry detection goes off constantly, regardless of whether a baby is home, let alone crying
With how much every phone brand has rushed to promote AI features as the next big thing, you’d think that meant lots of people really cared about it, wouldn’t you? Not so, according to Oppo research, which found that a mere four per cent of Australians rank AI as an important phone feature.
That tasty morsel comes from Alex Choros’ reporting at WhistleOut Australia, who quizzed Oppo Australia’s Managing Director, Michael Tran, on local preferences when buying phones. Tran said that “consumers are saturated with so much AI stuff”, which likely contributes towards widespread apathy towards the technology.
Instead, Oppo’s research found that Australians consider battery life to be the most important deciding factor, followed by value for money, camera quality, and device quality. That’s probably why the new Oppo Find X9 phones include massive batteries up to 7,500mAh in capacity.
For years, I’ve used Affinity Photo as my go-to photo editor. It used to be a one-off purchase, a soothing balm in the face of Adobe’s increasingly expensive subscription-based apps. I say “used to be” because Affinity has now re-launched as a free, all-in-one design app under its Australian-based owners.
Another major change is the consolidation of multiple programs into a single app. Previously, Affinity offered three separate apps: Designer, Photo, and Publisher. Made for distinctly different purposes, much like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, each app varied between pixel-based and vector-based editing.
Now, there’s just one app, simply called “Affinity”, which now requires a Canva account to access. Windows and Mac versions are available now, with an iPad version to follow. Opening the app, you can swap freely between ‘vector’, ‘pixel’, and ‘layout’ editing modes. It’s designed to let you illustrate, edit photos, or arrange print designs without swapping between separate programs.
Then there’s the elephant in the room: Canva AI. Alongside the subscription concerns, a lot of creatives feared that they’d face a wave of generative AI features under Canva’s new direction. Those features, including generative fill and background-removing tools, are present, albeit gated behind a Canva Pro subscription.
“We know that transparency around AI use and data handling is essential, and your creative work will always remain yours,” said Ash Hewson, Affinity’s CEO, in an official blog post.
According to Hewson, any work produced in Affinity “is not used to train AI features”. Unfortunately, the V2 versions of Affinity’s apps, which still operated under the buy-once model, won’t get any more updates. At least they’re still available to use, if you have an existing licence.
