IT General

Horror movies come in all shapes and sizes.

You've got your comedy horrors, your psychological horrors, your tense thriller-y horrors — and, of course, your genuinely scary horrors.

I'm not just talking about your run-of-the-mill, yikes-that's-a-bit-creepy kind of films, here, either. I'm talking about the truly terror-inducing — the type of movies you wake in the dead of night thinking about, and which stay with you for a long, long time after the credits have rolled. The horribly twitchy, sleep-with-the-lights-on-and-avoid-all-mirrors kind of movies.

Streaming platform Shudder has a lot to offer in this regard.

SEE ALSO: The best movies on Shudder that you can't stream anywhere else

We've combed through the archives of the service (which is chock-full of horror, sci-fi and thrillers of all kinds) to track down the most terrifying films we could — from jumpy classics like Ring to the bleak puppet-themed horror of Matthew Holness' Possum. If you're unable to deal with jump-scares, these are not for you.

Cushions to hide behind at the ready...

Possum

What's it about?

After losing his puppeteering job, a man returns to his childhood home to destroy a creepy puppet he carries in a brown bag. But after a local teenager goes missing, it's clear that something more sinister is at play.

Why's it so scary?

The overall tone of Possum is probably more bleak than scary, but the puppet is the stuff of nightmares: a near-person sized, spider-like creation with a human mask for a face that has the disconcerting habit of reappearing even after it's been disposed of. The ominous, jagged background score that follows Philip (Sean Harris) around doesn't help, and the jump scares – when they do come – are well placed and unpleasant.

How to watch: Possum is streaming now on Shudder.

The Medium Credit: Sasidis Sasisakulporn / Shudder

What's it about?

A documentary film crew travel to northern Thailand to interview a shaman who claims to be possessed by a goddess — only to get caught up in something far more sinister when her niece begins to act strangely.

Why's it so scary?

"The film's first two acts move at a subtle, simmering pace, but the finale is sheer frightening chaos," writes Mashable's Shannon Connellan in her review. "It's a diabolical move from director [Banjong] Pisanthanakun, who lulls audiences into a sense of security before swiftly pulling the rug out from under us. Sitting at over two hours, the film spends ample time with the characters but keeps the momentum through a sense of foreboding — thanks in part to Chatchai Ponhprapaphan's haunting score. As events escalate, the documentarians' distance to their subjects becomes compromised while they wonder whether they should try to help Mink. This shift is reflected in a mix of their footage and security camera coverage. And in the well-worn tradition of found footage/documentary horror films like Paranormal Activity and The Blair Witch Project, The Medium saves the most disturbing moments for last. There's a scene featuring a Hereditary-level reveal that had me sleepless for days."

How to watch: The Medium is now streaming on Shudder.

The Unheard Credit: Shudder

What's it about?

After undertaking an experimental procedure to restore her hearing, a woman staying in her childhood home experiences auditory hallucinations that may have something to do with her mother's disappearance.

Why should you watch it?

"As you might have guessed from that description, [director Jeffrey A.] Brown's movie is a bit of a genre mish-mash," I wrote in my review for Mashable. "The setup sounds like a Black Mirror episode, the hallucinations and isolation are straight-up horror, and the disappearances blend it all together with a kind of mystery/crime/thriller element. It's a combination that could easily start tripping over itself, but somehow it keeps a steady, confident footing. Between Brown's perfectly unnerving direction, a tight script from Michael and Shawn Rasmussen and a well-acted story, The Unheard crackles through its two-hour runtime with scares and tension aplenty."

How to watch: The Unheard is streaming now on Shudder.

Skinamarink Credit: IFC Films / Shudder

What's it about?

Given how experimental Kyle Edward Ball's movie is, this one's sort of hard to summarise. But it's essentially about two siblings who can't find their dad and are trapped in a dark house by themselves with only a whispering voice for company.

Why should you watch it?

"It totally and entirely wants to terrify us," writes Jason Adams for Mashable in his explainer. "Skinamarink wants us to become children trapped in our beds again. It wants the very concept of the dark to be foreign, filled with questions and strangeness and terror. Forcing us back to when we were little and we didn't know more than what was right in front of us, when what lay beyond our hallway or, God forbid, our front door might as well be the edge of the flat earth, falling off into nothingness."*

How to watch: Skinamarink is streaming now on Shudder.

The Power Credit: Shudder

What's it about?

In 1974, Val (Rose Williams) starts a new job as a nurse in a London hospital. But she soon discovers that the oppressive hierarchy and rolling blackouts aren't the only horrible things she'll have to confront.

Why should you watch it?

"It's the perfect setup for building a creeping sense of dread [...] and [writer/director Corinna] Faith does this with a deft hand," I wrote in my review for Mashable. "There are plenty of jump scares, too, but these never feel gratuitous — like all the best scary films, The Power's horror is used to draw out the movie's main themes, rather than wielding them for mere shock value.

"All in all, the film is pretty hard to fault. The performances are excellent all-round, with Rose Williams showing off incredible range in the central role."

How to watch: The Power is streaming now on Shudder.

Satan's Slaves

What's it about?

After the strange death of their mother, a family begins to suspect that her presence may not have entirely left the house.

Why's it so scary?

Indonesian director Joko Anwar knows how to make a creepy film. It's apparent during the opening scenes in Satan's Slaves, when Rini (Tara Basro) makes a grim discovery in her mother's bedroom, and it only gets clearer from there on out. The movie has a solid mixture of slow build, bumps-in-the-night style tension, and outright jump-scares, putting you on edge early and offering little by way of reprieve.

For fans of Ring (which features further down on this list), there's even a very creepy well...

How to watch: Satan's Slaves is streaming now on Shudder.

SEE ALSO: The best women-centric and feminist horror movies Ring Stay away from those unmarked video tapes. Credit: Omega / Kadokawa / Kobal / Shutterstock

What's it about?

A journalist attempts to get to the bottom of a cursed video tape, which supposedly kills the viewer a week after they've watched it.

Why's it so scary?

Hideo Nakata's 1998 horror classic not only kick-started a global franchise, but it also proved you don't necessarily need high-tech special effects and intense music to generate scares. By today's standards, Ring may not provide as many jump-scares as some as the other films on this list, but there are still plenty of nightmare-inducing scenes and images (and you probably won't ever look at a well, or a grainy TV set, in quite the same way again).

How to watch: Ring is streaming now on Shudder.

The Dark and the Wicked

What's it about?

A brother and sister return to their parents' farmhouse to help their mother care for their dying father. But after things take a sudden, tragic turn, they realise something more sinister is going on.

Why’s it so scary?

Creaky old remote farmhouses are already the ideal setting for jumps, but Bryan Bertino's chiller is extra effective because of its use of sound — whether it's jangling horseshoes placed to ward off evil, a jagged background score or simply yawning, empty silence. The jumps in this one are unexpected and genuinely terrifying, and the story is unremittingly bleak.

How to watch: The Dark and the Wicked is streaming now on Shudder.

Host

What's it about?

Unable to meet in person due to the coronavirus lockdown, a group of friends decide to try out a seance over Zoom.

Why's it so scary?

One word: realism. The premise of the story, its Zoom setting, and the very natural dialogue all conspire to make Host feel horribly realistic. It's like you're watching the recording of an actual Zoom call between friends, and that makes it all the more unnerving when things begin to go really, really wrong.

Oh, and if you're worried that the movie's set-up might be limiting in terms of scares, don't be: the jumps in this one are frequent, and — thanks to the creativity of director Rob Savage — always inventive.

How to watch: Host is streaming now on Shudder.

SEE ALSO: How 'Host' director Rob Savage went from viral tweet to 3-movie deal Terrified

What's it about?

A group of paranormal investigators examines some disturbing goings-on in a neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Why's it so scary?

Rather than just having one scary monster or theme, Demián Rugna's Terrified has a whole bunch of them — from IT-style voices gurgling away in the drain to the unmoving corpse of a dead child, returned home from the grave to sit stiffly at the dinner table.

Basically, the film is a trick box full of scares, and if one thing doesn't get to you, chances are something else certainly will.

How to watch: Terrified is now streaming on Shudder.

Featured Video For You Elvira on drag queens, Vincent Price, and her new cookbook — from hell! Hell House LLC

What's it about?

After the opening of a haunted house tourist attraction results in death, a fictional documentary crew tries to uncover what really happened.

Why's it so scary?

Like all the best found-footage horror movies, Stephen Cognetti's Hell House LLC uses realism to amp up its fear factor, splicing shaky camera shots with moving mannequins and half-glimpsed figures in the night. The tourist attraction setting could easily have come across as cheesy in this one, but luckily the movie's prop department sourced some genuinely creepy-looking clowns for the occasion (one of which provides more than a few nasty jumps).

How to watch: Hell House LLC is streaming now on Shudder.

Z

What's it about?

A mother grows increasingly worried about her eight-year-old son after he gets a new imaginary friend called "Z."

Why's it so scary?

If the likes of The Babadook and Hide and Seek have taught us anything, it's that children having imaginary friends (at least in the context of a horror movie) is never a great thing. Brandon Christensen's Z takes this concept and gives it a fresh twist, putting us in the shoes of Beth (Keegan Connor Tracy) as she grows increasingly disturbed by her son's behaviour.

The thing that makes Z so unnerving isn't so much the creepy child aspect as it is the unknowable monster — the lingering idea of "Z," this unseen creature that dominates every scene with its absence. The fear of seeing something is often more disturbing than the thing itself, and this is an idea that the movie understands perfectly well — and uses to nail-biting effect.

How to watch: Z is streaming now on Shudder.

*This blurb appeared on a previous Mashable list.

UPDATE: Oct. 16, 2025, 12:52 p.m. EDT This list was first published on Sept. 15. 2023. It has since been updated to reflect current streaming options.

Do you like scary movies? Peruse our editor-chosen list of 100 of the best horror films and use the filters to narrow down your picks for which to watch tonight.

On the first day of TwitchCon 2025, popular cosplayer, YouTuber, and Twitch streamer Emiru — who has nearly two million followers — was seemingly assaulted during a meet-and-greet event on Friday, Oct. 17.

In a video posted to X, an individual can be seen approaching Emiru, grabbing her, and appearing to lean in for a kiss. Emiru pushed the person away before security intervened, pulling the individual away by the arm. According to reports on X, Emiru returned to the meet-and-greet and completed the event. The video, which was posted at 8:21 p.m. EST, already has nearly 400,000 views.

SEE ALSO: Streamer Emiru accuses Twitch of mishandling her assault at TwitchCon

"So some freak just assaulted Emiru at @TwitchCon. This behavior is fucking disgusting. I'm amazed that she still came back to finish the meet-and-greet line — honestly, she deserves the utmost respect. THIS HAS TO STOP!!!" the original post reads.

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Twitch responded to the incident with a statement to Mashable, emphasizing its commitment to attendee safety:

"The safety and security of all those attending TwitchCon is our highest priority," a Twitch spokesperson said. "The behavior displayed by the individual involved in this incident was completely unacceptable and deeply upsetting. We immediately removed this individual from TwitchCon premises, and they are banned indefinitely from Twitch, both online and in-person events. Twitch has zero tolerance for harassment."

SEE ALSO: Twitch unveils its next era: dual-format streaming, AI clips, and new sponsorship tools

Just hours before the incident, Mary Kish, the head of community at Twitch, told Mashable that "it's important to educate all streamers" about the pervasiveness of harassment, particularly against women. She said it's essential to "make these spaces safe."

"I wouldn't encourage women to be streamers if I felt like it wasn't safe for us. We have to continue to be really aggressive in that space and be at the forefront of it," she said, adding that safety measures like connecting phones to accounts to ward off online harassment and ensuring that banned accounts can't watch a stream have helped to "prevent someone who's aggressively following someone from just straight-up making another account."

This isn't the first time TwitchCon has faced criticism over attendee safety. Streamers Valkyrae and QTCinderella notably pulled out of this year's event, expressing deep anxiety about the risks female streamers face in public spaces like TwitchCon. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has repeatedly promised improved safety protocols, stating that "we take security at our events, like TwitchCon, extremely seriously." Still, in 2024, Kick-affiliated streamers disrupted the event, harassing Twitch streamers on-site.

For Emiru, this is the second high-profile harassment incident in recent months. In March, while livestreaming in Santa Monica with streamers Cinna and Valkyrae, a man reportedly threatened to kill them, according to a report from the BBC.

Additional reporting by Crystal Bell.

If you like playing daily word games like Wordle, then Hurdle is a great game to add to your routine.

There are five rounds to the game. The first round sees you trying to guess the word, with correct, misplaced, and incorrect letters shown in each guess. If you guess the correct answer, it'll take you to the next hurdle, providing the answer to the last hurdle as your first guess. This can give you several clues or none, depending on the words. For the final hurdle, every correct answer from previous hurdles is shown, with correct and misplaced letters clearly shown.

An important note is that the number of times a letter is highlighted from previous guesses does necessarily indicate the number of times that letter appears in the final hurdle.

If you find yourself stuck at any step of today's Hurdle, don't worry! We have you covered.

SEE ALSO: Hurdle: Everything you need to know to find the answers Hurdle Word 1 hint

Not a hater.

SEE ALSO: Apple’s new M3 MacBook Air is $300 off at Amazon. And yes, I’m tempted. Hurdle Word 1 answer

LOVER

Hurdle Word 2 hint

A sleeping disorder.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

APNEA

Hurdle Word 3 hint

ET.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 4 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for August 4, 2025 Hurdle Word 3 answer

ALIEN

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Captures a moment.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for August 4 Hurdle Word 4 answer

PHOTO

Final Hurdle hint

Knocked over.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Games available on Mashable Hurdle Word 5 answer

SPILT

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

TL;DR: Live stream the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia for free on ServusTV. Access this free streaming platform from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

Marc Márquez sealed the 2025 title at the Japanese Grand Prix, but there's no reason to stop tuning into the remainder of 2025 MotoGP season. There'a a lot of racing left to enjoy, with scores to settle and rankings to climb. Next, the action heads to Phillip Island.

If you're interested in watching the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia for free from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia?

The MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia takes place at Phillip Island. The 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia race starts at 11 p.m. ET on Oct. 18.

How to watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia for free

The MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia is available to live stream for free on ServusTV.

ServusTV is geo-restricted to Austria, but anyone can access this free streaming platform with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Austria, meaning you can bypass geo-restrictions to access ServusTV from anywhere in the world.

Unblock ServusTV by following this simple process:

1. Sign up for a VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Austria

4. Connect to ServusTV

5. Watch MotoGP for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer free-trial periods or money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can access MotoGP live streams without fully committing with your cash. This clearly isn't a long-term solution, but it does mean you can watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia before recovering your investment.

If you want to retain permanent access to free streaming sites from around the world, you'll need a subscription. Fortunately, the best VPN for live streaming is on sale for a limited time.

What is the best VPN for MotoGP?

ExpressVPN is the top choice for unblocking ServusTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries including Austria

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is protected

• Fast streaming speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $139 and includes an extra four months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan also includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (including money-back guarantee).

Watch the 2025 MotoGP Grand Prix of Australia for free with ExpressVPN.

There's only a small crescent of moon visible tonight, so there's not a whole lot to see. This will be the case for the next few days as we approach, and pass, the New Moon.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Saturday, Oct. 18, the moon phase is Waning Crescent. Tonight, only 8% will be lit up, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

There's not much to see tonight, however if you have a pair of binoculars or a telescope you'll be able to catch a glimpse of the Grimaldi Basin, an impact basin 124 miles in diameter.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Nov. 5.

What are moon phases?

The Moon follows a continuous cycle that lasts about 29.5 days as it travels around Earth. These shifts occur because the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon are always changing relative to one another. From Earth, we might see the Moon as full, partly lit, or completely dark, but the same side always faces us. What varies each night is how much sunlight reaches and reflects off its surface.

The eight main moon phases are:

New Moon - The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it's invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent - A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter - Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon.

Waxing Gibbous - More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon - The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous - The moon starts losing light on the right side. (Northern Hemisphere)

Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) - Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent - A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

The NYT Connections puzzle today is not too difficult to solve if you're a cinephile.

Connections is the one of the most popular New York Times word games that's captured the public's attention. The game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for today's Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections?

The NYT's latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications' Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for October 17, 2025 Here's a hint for today's Connections categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: To sail

• Green: Types of games

• Blue: Famous Hollywood stars

• Purple: To barter

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Glide

• Green: Words before "Ball" in sports

• Blue: Prolific actors

• Purple: Homophones of synonyms for "Vend"

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections #860 is...

What is the answer to Connections today

• Glide: BREEZE, COAST, FLOAT, SKATE

• Words before "Ball" in sports: DODGE, HAND, PICKLE, RACQUET

• Prolific actors: BACON, CAGE, CRUISE, FORD

• Homophones of synonyms for "Vend": CELL, HOCK, PEDAL, TRAYED

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for October 17, 2025

Are you also playing NYT Strands? Get all the Strands hints you need for today's puzzle.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Today's NYT Strands hints are easy if you're never on time.

Strands, the New York Times' elevated word-search game, requires the player to perform a twist on the classic word search. Words can be made from linked letters — up, down, left, right, or diagonal, but words can also change direction, resulting in quirky shapes and patterns. Every single letter in the grid will be part of an answer. There's always a theme linking every solution, along with the "spangram," a special, word or phrase that sums up that day's theme, and spans the entire grid horizontally or vertically.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable

By providing an opaque hint and not providing the word list, Strands creates a brain-teasing game that takes a little longer to play than its other games, like Wordle and Connections.

If you're feeling stuck or just don't have 10 or more minutes to figure out today's puzzle, we've got all the NYT Strands hints for today's puzzle you need to progress at your preferred pace.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for October 17, 2025 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for October 17, 2025 NYT Strands hint for today’s theme: Get to work...

The words are related to time.

Today’s NYT Strands theme plainly explained

These words describe things that cause delays.

NYT Strands spangram hint: Is it vertical or horizontal?

Today's NYT Strands spangram is horizontal.

NYT Strands spangram answer today

Today's spangram is Running Late.

Featured Video For You Strands 101: How to win NYT’s latest word game NYT Strands word list for October 18

• Detour

• Closure

• Running Late

• Construction

• Weather

• Alarm

Looking for other daily online games? Mashable's Games page has more hints, and if you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now!

Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Strands.

Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you're seeking shelter.

If you just want to be told today's word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for today's Wordle solution revealed. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Clues, answers for October 17, 2025 Where did Wordle come from?

Originally created by engineer Josh Wardle as a gift for his partner, Wordle rapidly spread to become an international phenomenon, with thousands of people around the globe playing every day. Alternate Wordle versions created by fans also sprang up, including battle royale Squabble, music identification game Heardle, and variations like Dordle and Quordle that make you guess multiple words at once. 

Wordle eventually became so popular that it was purchased by the New York Times, and TikTok creators even livestream themselves playing.

What's the best Wordle starting word?

The best Wordle starting word is the one that speaks to you. But if you prefer to be strategic in your approach, we have a few ideas to help you pick a word that might help you find the solution faster. One tip is to select a word that includes at least two different vowels, plus some common consonants like S, T, R, or N.

What happened to the Wordle archive?

The entire archive of past Wordle puzzles was originally available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it, but it was later taken down, with the website's creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times. However, the New York Times then rolled out its own Wordle Archive, available only to NYT Games subscribers.

Is Wordle getting harder?

It might feel like Wordle is getting harder, but it actually isn't any more difficult than when it first began. You can turn on Wordle's Hard Mode if you're after more of a challenge, though.

SEE ALSO: NYT Pips hints, answers for October 17, 2025 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A retreat.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

Today's Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with...

Today's Wordle starts with the letter H.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. The Wordle answer today is...

Get your last guesses in now, because it's your final chance to solve today's Wordle before we reveal the solution.

Drumroll please!

The solution to today's Wordle is...

HAVEN

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be a new Wordle for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for October 17, 2025

Reporting by Chance Townsend, Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Wordle.

Today's Connections: Sports Edition requires expertise in women's tennis.

As we've shared in previous hints stories, this is a version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier — so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections: Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake — players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: Wordle-obsessed? These are the best word games to play IRL. Here's a hint for today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Tools for the links

• Green: Dial-in

• Blue: Football players

• Purple: Film-related

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections: Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Golf clubs

• Green: Fine-tune

• Blue: QBs named Joe

• Purple: Last words of the basketball movies

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections: Sports Edition #390 is...

What is the answer to Connections: Sports Edition today?

• Golf clubs - DRIVER, IRON, PUTTER, WEDGE

• Fine-tune - BETTER, IMPROVE, POLISH, SHARPEN

• QBs named Joe - BURROW, FLACCO, MONTANA, NAMATH

• Last words of basketball movies - CARTER, CHIPS, JUMP, MIKE

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new sports Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

Happy Thursday and welcome to your guide to Pips, the latest game in the New York Times catalogue.

Released in August 2025, the Pips puts a unique spin on dominoes, creating a fun single-player experience that could become your next daily gaming habit.

Currently, if you're stuck, the game only offers to reveal the entire puzzle, forcing you to move onto the next difficulty level and start over. However, we have you covered! Below are piecemeal answers that will serve as hints so that you can find your way through each difficulty level.

How to play Pips

If you've ever played dominoes, you'll have a passing familiarity for how Pips is played. As we've shared in our previous hints stories for Pips, the tiles, like dominoes, are placed vertically or horizontally and connect with each other. The main difference between a traditional game of dominoes and Pips is the color-coded conditions you have to address. The touching tiles don't necessarily have to match.

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for October 18, 2025

The conditions you have to meet are specific to the color-coded spaces. For example, if it provides a single number, every side of a tile in that space must add up to the number provided. It is possible – and common – for only half a tile to be within a color-coded space.

Here are common examples you'll run into across the difficulty levels:

• Number: All the pips in this space must add up to the number.

• Equal: Every domino half in this space must be the same number of pips.

• Not Equal: Every domino half in this space must have a completely different number of pips.

• Less than: Every domino half in this space must add up to less than the number.

• Greater than: Every domino half in this space must add up to more than the number.

If an area does not have any color coding, it means there are no conditions on the portions of dominoes within those spaces.

SEE ALSO: NYT Strands hints, answers for October 18, 2025 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 18 Pips

Greater Than (5): Everything in this orange space must be greater than 5. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally.

Number (9): Everything in this red space must add to 9. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally.

Less Than (3): Everything in this orange space must be less than 3. The answer is 3-3, placed horizontally.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 5-3, placed horizontally; 3-3, placed horizontally; 3-2, placed vertically; 3-4, placed vertically.

Less Than (3): Everything in this orange space must be less than 3. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 18 Pips

Greater Than (4): Everything in this orange space must be greater than 4. The answer is 5-2, placed horizontally.

Number (12): Everything in this space must add to 12. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-3, placed vertically; 3-6, placed horizontally; 1-3, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed horizontally.

Less Than (4): Everything in this orange space must be less than 4. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add to 0. The answer is 0-4, placed vertically; 0-0, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 0-6, placed vertically; 4-1, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 10-10, placed horizontally.

Number (2): Everything in this space must add to 2. The answer is 4-1, placed horizontally; 6-1, placed horizontally..

Number (5): Everything in this space must add to 5. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed horizontally.

Less Than (1): Everything in this orange space must be less than 1. The answer is 3-1, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed horizontally.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add to 0. The answer is 0-4, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed horizontally.

Equal (4): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 4. The answer is 0-4, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically; 4-2, placed vertically.

Equal (5): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 5. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 4-5, placed vertically; 6-5, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed vertically.

Less Than (5): Everything in this orange space must be less than 5. The answer is 3-2, placed vertically; 1-1, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed vertically.

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Oct. 18 Pips

Number (8): Everything in this space must add to 8. The answer is 6-2, placed horizontally.

Not Equal: Everything in this purple space must be different. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally; 0-5, placed vertically; 6-6, placed vertically; 0-1, placed horizontally.

Number (29): Everything in this space must add to 29. The answer is 6-6, placed vertically; 6-5, placed horizontally; 6-1, placed vertically; 6-4, placed vertically.

Number (0): Everything in this space must add to 0. The answer is 0-1, placed horizontally.

Number (3): Everything in this space must add to 3. The answer is 2-5, placed vertically; 6-1, placed vertically.

Greater Than (3): Everything in this orange space must be greater than 3. The answer is 6-4, placed vertically.

Number (7): Everything in this space must add to 7. The answer is 0-6, placed horizontally; 1-4, placed vertically..

Equal (4): Everything in this purple space must be equal to 4. The answer is 4-4, placed horizontally.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

TwitchCon 2025 kicked off with a massive celebration of its 10th Anniversary, including a whole host of new announcements about changes coming to the social media platform.

"As we head into 2025, our goal continues to be to make Twitch the absolute best place for our streamers, and also, an exciting place for new creators and viewers to build and find their communities," Dan Clancy, the CEO of Twitch, said in a press release about the new changes.

"We’ll continue to focus on expanding our user base and introducing more people to livestreaming, as well as the critical and important work of supporting those who have already found a home here."

Dual-format streaming

One way Twitch is planning to do that is through dual-format streaming, which lets streamers go live in vertical and horizontal formats simultaneously — pretty ideal if you don't want to choose between your laptop viewers or phone viewers.

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Twitch began testing this in August, so it shouldn't come as a huge surprise.

AI AI AI AI AI

If it feels like every social media platform is leaning into AI, that's probably because every social media platform is leaning into AI — and Twitch is a part of that.

During TwitchCon 2025, the company announced its partnership with Meta's AI glasses, which allow streamers to go live directly from the glasses. Twitch is still working to update its mobile app to support this.

Beyond Meta's AI glasses, Twitch is also using AI to automatically create clips from a previous stream so viewers can catch up on good moments they might have missed.

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"We want to give streamers something to do on Twitch even if one of their favorite streamers is not live," Twitch wrote in a press release. "We want to make it easy for them to dive into your content and catch up on the best moments they missed from your previous streams, so they’re ready for your next one."

New sponsorship tools

Five months ago, Twitch let streamers run their own promotions, leading medium-sized creators to increase their gifting revenue by an average of 30 to 45 percent. This year, Twitch also launched other updates to help streamers get sponsorships in the Creator Dashboard. The company plans to roll out those sponsorship offers to all monetizing streamers, including Affiliates, in the coming months.

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The company also announced updates to how it enforces community guidelines, expansions to the Creator Clubs Program, and two new roles: a lead moderator and a role for agents, managers, or other representatives.

Microsoft Excel's UNIQUE function does exactly as its name suggests—it extracts unique values from an array. In other words, you'll only see each value once in the result, even if it appears multiple times in the source. Let's look at how it works, how to use it, and how to avoid certain pitfalls.

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SEE ALSO: What's new to streaming this week? (Oct. 17, 2025)

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Horror and comedy are sometimes thought of as being at opposing ends of the genre spectrum — but it doesn't have to be that way.

Alongside its original movies and truly scary movies, horror streaming platform Shudder has a nice little section reserved for horror comedy. Think parodies, tongue-in-cheek gore fests, and the type of films that can make you laugh even while they're grossing you out or putting your nerves on edge.

SEE ALSO: The scariest horror movies on Shudder to keep you up at night

I've combed through the archives to track down the best horror comedies on Shudder, from Josh Ruben's highly entertaining Scare Me to Lee Min-jae's very silly Zombie for Sale...

Zombie for Sale Credit: Christine Rampage / AMC Networks

What's it about?

A family finds a way to profit from a zombie.

Why should you watch it?

What if zombie bites weren’t all bad? More specifically, what if a nip from the undead would give the impotent new life below the belt? That’s the preposterous premise that kicks off this gleefully bonkers South Korean comedy. The Park family is scraping by running a battered gas station when their fortunes are turned by a zombie (Jung Ga-ram) with a rejuvenating bite. That’s just the first act of director Lee Min-jae’s playful horror-comedy. Family hijinks, ghoulish action, gross-out gags, and absurdly earnest romance also pop up, making for a movie that is chaotically charming and pleasantly unpredictable.* — Kristy Puchko, Entertainment Editor

How to watch: Zombie for Sale is now streaming on Shudder.

Nina Forever

What's it about?

A grief-stricken man starts up a relationship with his colleague only to be haunted by his dead ex-girlfriend whenever they have sex.

Why should you watch it?

Yearning for a dark comedy that’s bloody fun? You’ll fall hard for Nina Forever. Co-writers/co-directors Ben and Chris Blaine have dreamed up a truly deranged tale of love and letting go, and it all begins with a macabre crush. Grocery clerk Holly (Abigail Hardingham) hopes she can help mournful motorcyclist Rob (Cian Barry) forget his last girlfriend, who died in a grisly accident. But every time these new lovers crawl into bed, Nina (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) intrudes. Or more specifically, her broken and bloody corpse crashes the party with snarky one-liners and withering eye-rolls. Full of gore, sex, and jaw-droppingly outrageous gags, this horror-comedy earns its hard-R, yet delivers a surprisingly tender tale.* — K.P.

How to watch: Nina Forever is now streaming on Shudder.

Deadstream Credit: Shudder

What's it about?

A "cancelled" YouTube prankster livestreams a tour of a haunted house in an attempt to redeem himself.

Why should you watch it?

"Full of sick thrills and dark humor, it feels like a real find," wrote Mashable's Kristy Puchko in her review. "It doesn't need a big budget, an established horror franchise, or big names to stand out. Briskly paced, wildly fun, and surprisingly smart, Deadstream is a bloody terrific good time. So, keep an eye out for it."

How to watch: Deadstream is now streaming on Shudder.

Scare Me

What's it about?

Two writers take turns telling each other scary stories after the cabins they're staying in lose power.

Why should you watch it?

Scare Me is a great example of a very simple premise being executed perfectly. Josh Ruben's tale of an amateur writer growing increasingly jealous of his professional author cabin neighbor is brilliantly written and directed, splicing witty exchanges with cleverly conjured campfire vignettes that take on a life of their own when they're performed. And this one really is all about the performances — as well as writing and directing, Ruben also stars in Scare Me alongside The Boys' Aya Cash and Saturday Night Live's Chris Redd, and the focus on storytelling means the trio have to break out their full range of (very impressive) acting talents.

There's laughter, there's tension, and although the actual scares are few, there's a creeping sense of unease that twists into something more in the film's final act.

How to watch: Scare Me is now streaming on Shudder.

One Cut of the Dead

What's it about?

A film crew attempts to shoot a low-budget zombie movie in an abandoned factory.

Why should you watch it?

I can safely say that I've never seen a film quite like One Cut of the Dead. Shin'ichirô Ueda's (recently remade) comedy horror (which is far more heavy on the comedy than the horror) is essentially a movie within a movie within a movie — a Russian doll-style story about a crew making a shoestring zombie flick.

We spend the first half of the run time watching the zombie film itself, but things really get interesting in the movie's second half, when we zoom out (and back in time) to watch the director and the production crew putting the whole thing together.

If that explanation has left you feeling slightly confused, it might be for the best — One Cut of the Dead is the sort of film that's hard to explain in words, but is probably more entertaining the less you know going in.

How to watch: One Cut of the Dead is now streaming on Shudder.

Boar

What's it about?

A small town in Australia is stalked by a man-eating boar.

Why should you watch it?

Boar may not appear in the comedy category on Shudder, but let's be honest here — any film that features a hippo-sized monster pig going up against a former WWE wrestler has to be a little bit tongue-in-cheek.

Fortunately, Chris Sun's Boar is exactly that: a lighthearted popcorn-muncher that mixes some entertainingly crude dialogue with some truly ridiculous fight sequences.

The perfect film to watch with a group of friends and a few beers.

How to watch: Boar is now streaming on Shudder.

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Scare Package

What's it about?

A video store owner takes on a new staffer, who quickly gets an education in the fine art of horror movies.

Why should you watch it?

Scare Package is essentially seven miniature horror films for the price of one, an entertaining anthology from seven different directors that parodies every horror movie stereotype you can possibly imagine. Ridiculous gory deaths? Cheesy one-liners? The serial killer who won't stay dead? Each trope gets its own moment to shine in this delightful mishmash, which is as much Cabin in the Woods-style satire as it is a love letter to the genre.

How to watch: Scare Package is now streaming on Shudder.

Glorious Credit: Shudder

What's it about?

After separating from his partner, a troubled man stops at a rest stop and strikes up a conversation with an unseen figure in a bathroom stall who claims to be a god.

Why should you watch it?

You might think a movie set almost entirely in a rest-stop bathroom would be a hard sell, but the combination of a well-written script, Rebekah McKendry's creative direction and some top acting from Ryan Kwanten, J.K. Simmons, and André Lamar helps keep the pace of this one going. Extra points for the creativeness of the idea and the weird genre mishmash, which combines silly humour, tension, and Lovecraftian horror.

How to watch: Glorious is now streaming on Shudder.

*This blurb appeared on a previous Mashable list.

UPDATE: Oct. 16, 2025, 2:30 p.m. UTC This list was first published on Sept. 7. 2023. It has since been updated to reflect current streaming options.

Do you like scary movies? Peruse our editor-chosen list of 100 of the best horror films and use the filters to narrow down your picks for which to watch tonight.

Apple just unveiled the next generation of M-series chips, which will power the new MacBook Pro as well as the latest generation of the iPad Pro. And it's pretty good. So good, in fact, that it appears to even outperform Apple's very best chips from last generation.

When someone asks what the most reliable Japanese car is, most people instantly say “Toyota.” Fair enough—they’ve earned that rep.

If you haven't been following international news too closely, you might not be aware that our friends down-under have a massive housing crisis. Then again, who doesn't? However, what makes the Australian story a little different from the rest of the world is how one company aims to solve the issue—spiders.

If there’s one brand that all long-time Android users know, it’s HTC. Technically, HTC never went away, but most people have forgotten about it. Seemingly out of nowhere, a whole new line of HTC Wildfire phones was just shown off.

A lot of high-powered mini PCs out there are powered by Intel chips. And while I'm not an Intel hater, I'm more of an AMD guy. Which is why I'm particularly happy to see that ASUS is launching a brand new ROG tiny PC—powered by one of the best mobile AMD chips out there.

Apple’s iPhone lineup has never been this diverse. You have four new phones on offer — iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max — with very different designs, dimensions, colors, battery sizes, and camera systems.

And yet, it feels like the iPhone 17 has been upgraded to the point of being a very good option for a lot of buyers; it finally has a 120Hz display, its battery life has been significantly improved, and, just like the other devices, it starts with 256GB of storage. The iPhone Air, on the other hand, has the same chip and display size as the iPhone 17 Pro, but only one camera on the back.

This is why, for a lot of potential buyers, the choice will fall down to the cameras. Apple hyped up the iPhone Air’s single camera as a many-cameras-in-one system, but is it really up to par with the other iPhones, let alone camera powerhouses like the Google Pixel 10 Pro? And is the iPhone 17’s camera system just as good as the one on the Pro models, only without the zoom, or is it noticeably weaker in other areas, too?

Let's go hands-on and compare some photos to answer all of your questions.

Camera shootout: Daylight Left to right: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, iPhone Air. In daylight, at maxed out resolution, the differences between the three phones are almost non-existent. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

I'm happy to report that all three cameras take wonderfully detailed daylight shots with accurate colors. Turn up the megapixel count to 48 if you want more details, but only do so when the light conditions are just right.

TL:DR: A three-way tie.

Camera shootout: Zoom Left to right: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, iPhone Air. Again, without zooming in, you'll get very similar photos across the three devices. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

There’s no real competition here: The iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max have a telephoto camera capable of 4x optical zoom, while the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air simply do not have that lens. Still, you can zoom in on all three phones (yes, even past the default 2x) as Apple will take the zoomed-out photo out of the larger, 48-megapixel capture.

Left to right: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, iPhone Air. The level of detail and sharpness you get on the Pro Max is vastly better than the digital zoom on the other two phones. Still, the iPhone Air consistently performed a little better than the iPhone 17. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

As you can see above, the photos without the dedicated telephoto camera simply cannot measure up to the level of detail you get on the iPhone 17 Pro Max, especially at 8x magnification. Interestingly, I’ve gotten slightly better results with the iPhone Air than with the iPhone 17. This was quite consistent over various set-ups and zoom levels, indicating that the Air has a better overall main camera than the iPhone 17.

TL;DR: The iPhone 17 Pro Max wins in this category, which is no surprise. What is a surprise? The iPhone Air beat the iPhone 17.

Camera shootout: Ultra-wide Left: Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable Right: Left: iPhone 17 Pro Max, Right: iPhone 17. Sometimes the scenery demands an ultra-wide photo, and the iPhone Air just doesn't have the option. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

Only the iPhone 17 Pro Max and the iPhone 17 have the ultra-wide camera; the iPhone Air doesn’t even have the option to zoom out past the default, 1x setting. On both the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the ultra-wide yields significantly blurrier photos than the wonderfully sharp main shooter, so I recommend avoiding it. However, sometimes you just have to use it — typically, when you need to place a large group of people within the frame — and that’s where the option is great to have, photo quality be damned.

TL;DR: The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Max have a decent but not great ultra-wide camera; the Air lacks this altogether.

Camera shootout: Low light Left to right: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, iPhone Air. This nocturnal scene was captured beautifully by all three phones. The one taken with the iPhone Air has the most accurate colors, but differences are minute. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

I was particularly interested in low-light performance, as this is where you really see whether the iPhone 17 and iPhone Air can hold their own against the Pro Max's powerful main camera. I'm happy to report that nighttime photos turned out roughly the same, no matter if I used the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, or iPhone 17 Pro Max.

TL;DR: All three phones took low-light photos of roughly the same quality.

Camera shootout: Macro Left to right: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, iPhone Air. The photos taken by the iPhone 17 and 17 Pro Max are almost identical. The iPhone Air simply cannot capture as many details up close. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

This test is perhaps unfair towards the iPhone Air, which doesn’t have a dedicated macro mode. But it’s still worth comparing the results, just to show how better the other two phones are when it comes to this specific photography type.

The iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max automatically switched to macro mode when I came in close to the flower, and both took a beautiful, detailed macro photo with vivid colors. With the iPhone Air, going in this close would only yield a blurry photo, so I used the 2x zoom option to get a bit more detail out of the flower. It’s not bad, but it's also nowhere near the quality of the other two photos when it comes to details. Also, the iPhone Air decided to blur the background, leaving me with a portrait photo; it’s not bad, but not exactly what I needed here.

TL;DR: The iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Max excel at macro photography; the iPhone Air doesn't even have a macro mode.

Camera shootout: Selfie Left to right: iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17, iPhone Air. In Croatia, we do not smile. Apparently. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

On paper, all three cameras should be the same, and judging by the selfies I took, they pretty much are. I've taken a number of selfies with all three phones and they're always true-to-life with accurate colors and tons of detail. Here, I've chosen a portrait selfie which turned out very similar across all three phones.

TL;DR: A three-way tie.

The iPhone 17 vs. the iPhone Air vs. the iPhone 17 Pro Max: Which is best for photography? They're all pretty good, but the iPhone 17 Pro Max has the most versatile camera. Credit: Stan Schroeder/Mashable

The good news is that the main camera appears to be very similar across all three phones, and the iPhone Air performed much better than I expected. For your bread-and-butter daylight photos, as well as low-light shots, nature shots, and selfies, you can choose any of these phones and be happy.

Being able to zoom out and in (especially in) does make a difference in photography. Also, the video capabilities of the iPhone 17 Pro Max are truly pro-grade, compared to the more basic (yet still very good) video shooting you get on the other two phones. If you like to tinker with settings, need tons of storage for videos (the iPhone 17 Pro Max goes up to 2TB), and use zoom a lot, then the iPhone 17 Pro Max is a must.

How we tested

The rules of this contest were simple. I took photos in a multitude of scenarios with all three phones, doing my best to use similar settings and take the photo from the exact same position. Then, I uploaded the photos to my computer to see just how different they looked. In this article I’ve used cropped up details from each set of photos to highlight the differences between each phone.

This is not a perfect test. Sometimes you’ll get a bad (or a surprisingly good) photo for no apparent reason. I did take several sets of photos in each scenario to confirm the differences I saw were real, but I’ve only used a single set of photos for each scenario for the purposes of this article.