We love a ranking here on The Vergecast, and it’s time for the hardest one yet: David and Nilay compare notes on the 50 best products Apple has ever made, and see how their answers stack up to the many, many voters on The Verge this week. Before that, though, it’s time for a bit of AI news — surprise, it’s enterprise software! — and the comeback of the Hype Desk. After all that, and after the rankings, we do a round of Brendan Carr is a Dummy, talk about the fediverse, and repurpose our old iMacs. Vote for The Vergecast in the Webby Awards! A vote for The Vergecast is a vote that Brendan Carr is a dummy, that buttons are good, and that party speakers rule the world. Voting is open until April 16.  ⁠https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/technology⁠ Further reading: ⁠OpenAI’s big numbers: $122 billion funding round, 900 million weekly ChatGPT users. ⁠ ⁠Why OpenAI killed Sora ⁠ ⁠I think Google is taking a couple digs at OpenAI about Sora. ⁠ ⁠Apple’s third-party Siri Extensions could lead to an AI App Store. ⁠ ⁠Microsoft’s new ‘superintelligence’ game plan is all about business⁠ ⁠OpenAI acquires TBPN | OpenAI⁠ ⁠Apple turns 50: celebrating five decades of the tech giant ⁠ ⁠Everything is iPhone now ⁠ ⁠Steve Jobs and the greatest run of products in tech history ⁠ ⁠How the invention of QuickTime changed computers forever ⁠ ⁠The triumphs and failures of Apple without Steve Jobs ⁠ ⁠The Apple product that really changed the industry: the MacBook Air ⁠ ⁠Apple at 50: a visual history ⁠ ⁠The origin story of Apple’s long-running relationship with Foxconn ⁠ ⁠Apple’s long, bitter App Store antitrust war ⁠ ⁠Snazzy Labs' iMac - Studio Display Mod Guide⁠ ⁠Flipboard Surf launches social websites combining Bluesky, Mastodon, RSS, and more⁠ ⁠These Raspberry Pi price hikes are no joke ⁠ ⁠Today is the final day to save up to $150 on a PS5 before the price goes up ⁠ ⁠Sony temporarily suspends memory card sales due to shortages ⁠ ⁠The White House has an app now, and Trump wants you to report people to ICE on it ⁠ ⁠What’s inside the White House app? ⁠ Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's Apple 50 week, so we've got an Apple-filled podcast. First, longtime Apple journalist Jason Snell joins the show to talk about the state of the company as a hardware maker, a software maker, a force for good in the world, and more. Then, blogger and entrepreneur Anil Dash explains why he's worried about the rise of video podcasts, and the role Apple could play to make it better. Finally, The Verge's Allison Johnson helps answer a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about swapping your phone for a watch. And a tablet. And some other things. Further reading: Rank the 50 best Apple Products⁠ ⁠Apple in 2025: The Six Colors report card⁠ ⁠Apple turns 50: celebrating five decades of the tech giant⁠ ⁠Apple II Forever!⁠ “Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical statement. Why Apple’s move to video could endanger podcasting's greatest power Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We start with some important business: Nilay has a flight to catch, and is very worried he won't catch it. Also, it's Apple's 50th anniversary next week, and we're going to spend the week debating which Apple products are the best Apple products. (Head to the ad-free Vergecast feed to hear our selection show!) But mostly, this episode is about social media. In two key trials this week, juries found social platforms liable not for the content they display but for the actual structure and features of the platform. That could change the way social media companies act, and how users fight back. After that, it's time for the silliness of the router ban, the latest in the chatbot wars, and an update on what's happening with Grammarly's Expert Voices feature. Further reading: Rank your top 50 Apple products Verge subscribers, here’s how to set up ad-free podcasts  The TSA is broken — is privatization next?  What is ICE actually doing at American airports?  Meta misled users about its products’ safety, jury decides  Meta and YouTube found negligent in landmark social media addiction case  Social media on trial: tech giants face lawsuits over addiction, safety, and mental health What it was like to watch grieving parents stare down Mark Zuckerberg in court  A bombshell child safety leak changed Meta — for the worse  Internal chats show how social media companies discussed teen engagement  2026 is the year of social media’s legal reckoning  The US government just banned consumer routers made outside the US  The United States router ban, explained FCC green-lights Nexstar's $6.2B merger with rival TV station owner Tegna Cox Communications not liable for pirated music, Supreme Court rules  Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me  North Carolina man pleads guilty to AI music streaming fraud.  Apple is testing a standalone app for its overhauled Siri  OpenAI is planning a desktop ‘superapp’  This is Microsoft’s plan to fix Windows 11  OpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney deal The age of piracy ended with LimeWire | Version History Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David is bored with his iPhone. Over the last few months, he has been testing every other phone he could get his hands on, from the Pixel to the Razr to the Unihertz Titan. And at the end of it all... David bought another iPhone. The Verge's Allison Johnson joins the show to recount some of her own phone-testing experiences, to litigate the quality of foldable and flippable phones, to debate Android vs. iOS, and ultimately to help David decide whether he actually bought the right phone. After all that, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about whether AI can help us figure out how to use our devices better. Or maybe just use them for us. Devices are too complicated. Further reading: Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp Google Pixel 10 review: perfectly fine Apple iPhone 17 review: the one to get The iPhone Air makes a strong statement Why flip phones should be the future of smartphones Who needs a laptop when you have a folding phone? Gemini’s task automation is here and it’s wild Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David and Nilay start the show by exploring the increasing disconnect between the people who make AI products, and the people who keep saying they don't want them. (Or, at least, don't want to pay for them.) The AI industry is starting to retrench to a business-first approach, because there's simply no killer app for it yet. Speaking of no killer apps! Allison Johnson then joins the show to talk about the shockingly short life of the Samsung TriFold, and her bizarre journey to try and review the now-dead foldable. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the fate of the metaverse, and some important internet debunking. Further reading: ⁠OpenAI cuts back on “side quests.” ⁠ ⁠OpenAI’s adult mode will reportedly be smutty, not pornographic ⁠ NYMag: ⁠Should You Be Able to Have Sex With ChatGPT?⁠ ⁠I think VCs are starting to panic about the lack of *broad* consumer | TikTok⁠ ⁠For the second time this week we have VCs vocalizing their frustration | TikTok⁠ ⁠Poll: Majority of voters say risks of AI outweigh the benefits⁠ ⁠How Americans View AI and Its Impact on Human Abilities, Society | Pew Research Center⁠ ⁠Samsung discontinues its Galaxy Z TriFold after just three months ⁠ ⁠Oppo’s nearly creaseless foldable isn’t launching in Europe after all ⁠ From last year: ⁠Just look at Huawei’s trifold phone⁠ ⁠This is not a fly uploaded to a computer⁠ ⁠ChatGPT did not cure a dog’s cancer⁠ ⁠Meta is actually keeping its VR metaverse running, for now⁠ ⁠Nvidia just announced DLSS 5 and Digital Foundry already has a video. ⁠ ⁠Jensen Huang, on the critical reaction to DLSS 5: “Well, first of all, they’re completely wrong.”⁠ ⁠DLSS 5 looks like a real-time generative AI filter for video games ⁠ ⁠Nvidia has lost the plot with gamers ⁠ We're hiring a new podcast producer. Come work with us! Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new era of software development is upon us. Career coders are no longer writing code, but rather managing teams of agents that do the work on their behalf. You can Claude Code your way through seemingly just about any problem. So what does that mean for the software we use, and the people who make it? Paul Ford, a writer and technologist who both writes about code and manages a team of coders, joins the show to explain his somewhat conflicted excitement about the new crop of AI tools, and his worries about what they’ll do to the world. After that, The Verge’s Dominic Preston helps answer a question from the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠!) about the differences between the US phone market and the global phone market, and whether US buyers are missing anything important. Further reading: ⁠The A.I. Disruption Has Arrived, and It Sure Is Fun⁠ ⁠Claude has been having a moment — can it keep it up?⁠ ⁠How the creator of Claude Code sees the future of AI⁠ ⁠Ftrain⁠ From Bloomberg: ⁠What Is Code?⁠ ⁠Xiaomi, unlike Google and Samsung, thinks camera hardware comes first⁠ ⁠Oppo’s new foldable isn’t quite creaseless, but it’s pretty damn close⁠ ⁠Honor’s Robot Phone is a bad robot, interesting camera, maybe a friend⁠ ⁠Vivo and Oppo’s telephoto extender comes to iPhone⁠ ⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David and Nilay bought new computers this week, as the MacBook Neo turned out to be a surprisingly great cheap Apple laptop. The hosts discuss their experiences with the machines, from the processor to the keyboard to the mess that is MacOS Tahoe. After that, they talk about the future of Xbox, Project Helix, and what it might mean for every gaming PC to become an Xbox... and for the Xbox to become a gaming PC. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the latest on Paramount and Warner Bros, Grammarly's sloppelgangers, and more. Further reading: MacBook Neo review: the Mac for the masses   Asus chief says Macbook Neo's affordable pricing came as a shock to the entire PC market — compares $599 notebook to a tablet and content-consumption device The MacBook Neo is surprisingly easy to disassemble and repair. From 2007: Ballmer Laughs at iPhone Apple Studio Display XDR review: a great, but expensive, pro option The iPhone 17E is good, but you probably shouldn’t buy it  iPad Air review 2026: the M4 and other chip bumps make a difference  Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next  iPhone Fold rumor: iPad-like multitasking, but no iPad apps and no Face ID  Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027  Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC  Microsoft says you should build next-gen Xbox games by building them for PC.  FCC chair blasts Amazon after it criticizes SpaceX megaconstellation Brendan Carr on X FCC chief tells CNBC WBD-Paramount merger deal is ‘cleaner’ than Netflix’s, will be approved ‘quickly’ Grammarly is using our identities without permission  Grammarly is turning off the expert review AI feature that stole our identities  Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out  The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus review: This again  Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Both David and Nilay bought new computers this week, as the MacBook Neo turned out to be a surprisingly great cheap Apple laptop. The hosts discuss their experiences with the machines, from the processor to the keyboard to the mess that is MacOS Tahoe. After that, they talk about the future of Xbox, Project Helix, and what it might mean for every gaming PC to become an Xbox... and for the Xbox to become a gaming PC. Finally, in the lightning round, it's time for Brendan Carr is a Dummy, the latest on Paramount and Warner Bros, Grammarly's sloppelgangers, and more. Further reading: MacBook Neo review: the Mac for the masses   Asus chief says Macbook Neo's affordable pricing came as a shock to the entire PC market — compares $599 notebook to a tablet and content-consumption device The MacBook Neo is surprisingly easy to disassemble and repair. From 2007: Ballmer Laughs at iPhone Apple Studio Display XDR review: a great, but expensive, pro option The iPhone 17E is good, but you probably shouldn’t buy it  iPad Air review 2026: the M4 and other chip bumps make a difference  Apple is going high-end with new ‘Ultra’ products next  iPhone Fold rumor: iPad-like multitasking, but no iPad apps and no Face ID  Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027  Microsoft’s ‘Xbox mode’ is coming to every Windows 11 PC  Microsoft says you should build next-gen Xbox games by building them for PC.  FCC chair blasts Amazon after it criticizes SpaceX megaconstellation Brendan Carr on X FCC chief tells CNBC WBD-Paramount merger deal is ‘cleaner’ than Netflix’s, will be approved ‘quickly’ Grammarly is using our identities without permission  Grammarly is turning off the expert review AI feature that stole our identities  Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out  The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled Samsung Galaxy S26 and S26 Plus review: This again  Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, it appeared the US Department of Justice was off to a strong start in its antitrust case against Live Nation Ticketmaster. Then, this week, the two sides surprised everyone by settling. The Verge's Lauren Feiner joins the show to explain the stakes of the case, the facts of the settlement, and why things aren’t entirely over just yet. Then, The Verge’s Hayden Field catches us up on what’s happening between Anthropic, OpenAI, and the Department of Defense. OpenAI got the contract, but it looks like Anthropic might be the real winner here. If the company’s business can survive, that is. Finally, David answers a question on the Vergecast Hotline (call 866-VERGE11 or email vergecast@theverge.com!) about whether you should get a foldable phone. And why foldable phones even exist. Further reading: Live Nation settles government antitrust suit — that probably doesn’t include a breakup How Live Nation allegedly terrorized the concert industry Did Live Nation punish a venue by taking Billie Eilish away?  Inside Anthropic’s existential negotiations with the Pentagon  We don’t have to have unsupervised killer robots  How OpenAI caved to the Pentagon on AI surveillance  Trump orders federal agencies to drop Anthropic’s AI  Iran Strikes: Anthropic Claude AI Helped US Attack. But How Exactly? - Bloomberg My favorite folding phone is the one that doesn’t exist yet  Google Pixel Fold review: closing the gap Motorola Razr Ultra (2025) review: looking sharp Subscribe to The Verge for unlimited access to theverge.com, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ad-free podcast feed.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to vergecast@theverge.com or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1997, David Hampton and Caleb Chung took one look at a Tamagotchi and decided they could bring the virtual pet craze into the real world. Their robotic companion, Furby, packed a bunch of advanced technology into a small, adorable, often annoying package. But for all the irritation it caused (Furby famously had no on-off switch) there was a surprising amount of thoughtful philosophy in its design. The Verge’s Vee Song, Sean Hollister and host David Pierce are joined by Coco the Furby to discuss the lore behind the hottest toy of 1998. ⁠Geocities chat with Furby co-inventor David Hampton⁠ If you like the show, ⁠⁠follow the Version History audio podcast feed⁠⁠ to get every new episode.Version History is also on video! Check us out on YouTube.⁠Subscribe to The Verge⁠ for unlimited access to ⁠theverge.com⁠, subscriber-exclusive newsletters, and our ⁠ad-free podcast feed⁠.We love hearing from you! Email your questions and thoughts to ⁠vergecast@theverge.com⁠ or call us at 866-VERGE11. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices