Technology

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

During.

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

WHILE

Hurdle Word 2 hint

To entrap.

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

DECOY

Hurdle Word 3 hint

A spectacle.

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

DRAMA

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Slimy.

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

GOOEY

Final Hurdle hint

A rod.

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

REBAR

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

The moon is almost completely out of view, which can only mean one thing: the New Moon is almost here. The New Moon is the start of a new lunar cycle, and we're now on day 26.

But what is the lunar cycle? According to NASA, it's a 29.5-day series of eight unique phases of the moon's visibility. These different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth, so let's see what's happening with the moon tonight, Sept. 18.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Thursday, Sept. 18, the moon phase is Waning Crescent, and it is 11% lit up to us on Earth, according to NASA's Daily Moon Observation.

Visibility is low right now, and there's nothing to see without any visual aids. But if you have binoculars, you'll be able to see the Grimaldi Basin. With a telescope, the Reiner Gamma will also come into view.

When is the next full moon?

The next full moon will be on Oct. 6. The last full moon was on Sept. 7.

What are moon phases?

According to NASA, moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon’s orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle:

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.

Last Quarter (or Third 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.

Pips is the newest game in the New York Times catalogue. Released in August 2025, the new game 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. Like dominoes, the tiles 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 September 17, 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 September 17, 2025 Easy difficulty hints, answers for Sept. 18 Pips

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

Number (0): Everything in this space must add to 0. The answer is 0-0, placed horizontally; 3-0, placed vertically.

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 3-0, placed vertically; 3-6, placed vertically.

Medium difficulty hints, answers for Sept. 18 Pips

Not Equal: Everything in this space must be different. The answer is 0-5, placed horizontally; 0-3, placed vertically.

Number (4): Everything in this space must add to 4. The answer is 0-3, placed vertically; 4-5, placed vertically.

Number (20): Everything in this space must add to 20. The answer is 4-5, placed vertically; 0-5, placed horizontally; 6-2, placed vertically; 4-2, placed vertically.

Less than (3): Everything in this space must be less than 3. The answer is 0-2, placed vertically.

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

Hard difficulty hints, answers for Sept. 18 Pips

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

Greater Than (3): Everything in this space must be greater than 3. The answer is 4-2, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 5-2, placed horizontally; 5-0, placed vertically.

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

Greater Than (4): Everything in this space must be greater than 4. The answer is 1-5, placed horizontally.

Equal (2): Everything in this space must be equal to 2. The answer is 1-2, placed horizontally; 4-2, placed horizontally; 5-2, placed horizontally; 2-2, placed vertically.

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

Equal (3): Everything in this space must be equal to 3. The answer is 5-3, placed vertically; 3-6, placed horizontally.

Number (10): Everything in this space must add to 10. The answer is 3-6, placed horizontally; 0-4, 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.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new 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: NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for September 17, 2025 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: Poker shapes

• Green: Can rely on

• Blue: Same last name

• Purple: Part of the alphabet

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: Card Suits

• Green: Dependable

• Blue: ___Allen

• Purple: Sports Terms...or Words in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

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 #360 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• Card Suits - CLUB, DIAMOND, HEART, SPADE

• Dependable - CONSISTENT, RELIABLE, STEADY, UNFAILING

• ___Allen - DICK, JOSH, PHOG, RAY

• Sports Terms...or Words in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet - GOLF, UNIFORM, VICTOR, YANKEE

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.

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.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday unveiled what he called the company's "first AI glasses with high resolution" — the Meta Ray-Ban Display, coming September 30 for $799. But the unveiling didn't quite go as Zuckerberg hoped.

Zuckerberg's MetaConnect 2025 keynote, held at Meta's California headquarters at the unusually late hour of 5 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Eastern), was expected to reveal a groundbreaking pair of smart glasses, codenamed Hypernova. What we got: An upgrade to the preexisting Ray-Ban Meta frames; a new sports-focused set of Oakleys, the Meta Vanguard; and the new model, confusingly called Meta Ray-Bans.

"This is one of those special moments where we get to show you something we've poured our lives into," Zuckerberg told a packed house and a livestream with 4,000 viewers. The Meta Ray-Bans had a bright, crisp display rated at an impressive 5,000 nits, he said.

Then Zuckerberg revealed not just the Meta Ray-Bans he walked in with (and quickly stashed), but also a companion device called the Meta Neural Band, a light fabric wristband that picks up on small movements in the wrist. This allows you to enter words on the smart glasses display by pretending to handwrite. "I'm up to about 30 words a minute on this," Zuckerberg said.

And then the CEO stood helpless as a repeated WhatsApp video call from Meta CTO Andrew "Boz" Bosworth appeared on his glasses. Zuckerberg's Neural Band interface was apparently unable to pick up the call; Boz had to join him live on stage.

Zuckerberg's demo game had started strong; the keynote opened with a live view through his Meta Ray-Bans, showing Zuckerberg as he fired up a hype song (the Neural Band also allows for volume control) and replied to incoming texts with a muscle-arm emoji.

But then a live demo of the new Ray-Ban Metas (available now for $379) ran aground on the glasses' "LiveAI feature," which was supposed to be instructing one presenter on how to make a sauce with all of the ingredients in front of him.

"Now that you've made your base ..." the glasses began several times, ignoring the presenter's repeated request for instructions on how to make that base: "What do I do first?"

Zuckerberg later blamed that demo failure on the WiFi, but he was unable to explain why his Meta Ray-Bans could not pick up Boz's call. Finally, a non-live non-demo video purported to show the Meta Ray-Bans being used to design a surfboard and order parts.

Zuckerberg explained this was how the glasses would work with agentic AI, brushing past any concerns about whether agentic AI is a thing that works at all — in live demos or otherwise.

In the wake of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s killing, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman James Comer has called on the CEOs of Discord, Reddit, Twitch, and Valve to testify at an Oct. 8 hearing on online radicalization.

The hearing follows claims that the accused shooter — a 22-year-old white man from Utah — may have been influenced by extremist communities online. “Congress has a duty to oversee the online platforms that radicals have used to advance political violence,” Comer said in a press release. “To prevent future radicalization and violence, the CEOs…must appear before the Oversight Committee and explain what actions they will take to ensure their platforms are not exploited for nefarious purposes.”

SEE ALSO: After losing their son, parents urge Senate to take action on AI chatbots

Federal investigators are still working to determine the shooter’s true motivations, though Robinson's mother told police he learned left of center politically, according to USA Today. Bullet casings recovered at the scene carried meme-laden inscriptions referencing Helldivers 2, anti-fascist themes, and furry culture jokes from 4chan. While early theories pointed to online radicalization, leaked Discord logs paint a far murkier picture of a young man whose friends describe as apolitical, more interested in video games and guns than ideology. A Reddit spokesperson told Mashable their internal review has so far turned up no evidence that the suspect was active on the site.

Earlier this week, Utah Governor Spencer Cox reported that the shooter remains uncooperative, but lawmakers are pressing ahead with scrutiny of the platforms. These hearings have become a familiar ritual in the United States, where mass shootings are frequent and tech companies are regularly accused of enabling extremist networks. Discord and Twitch were both investigated by state attorneys general after the 2022 Buffalo shooting at a supermarket.

Discord, for its part, has already signaled it will cooperate. "We have received the Committee’s invitation and welcome the opportunity to testify," a spokesperson told Mashable. "We continuously engage with policymakers on these critical issues and look forward to continuing this important dialogue next month."

SAVE $35.97: As of Sept. 17, Amazon is offering three months of Kindle Unlimited for free to Prime members who have never subscribed previously. Usually $11.99 per month, that's just shy of $36 in savings.

Opens in a new window Credit: Kindle Unlimited Kindle Unlimited free for 3 months (save $35.97) Get Deal

The Libby app is truly a blessing to readers, but the lengthy wait times on popular titles are the pits. If you're an avid reader and like to stay on top of the latest and greatest releases, Kindle Unlimited is the way to go. Sure, it costs a monthly fee, but if you're a new subscriber, you can get three months for free.

As of Sept. 17, Amazon is giving three free months of Kindle Unlimited to Prime members who have never subscribed previously. It's typically $11.99 per month, so that's $35.97 in savings. While Amazon hasn't specified an end date for the promotion, we expect it to last at least until the Prime Big Deal Days event (Oct. 7 and 8).

Kindle Unlimited unlocks instant access to millions of books in nearly every genre imaginable, including the soon-to-be major motion pictures Regretting You by Colleen Hoover and The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, and other popular titles like Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. It even includes thousands of audiobooks and magazine subscriptions. And the best part? You don't even need a Kindle device to access Kindle Unlimited (although we highly suggest grabbing one). Just download the Kindle app and you can read on any device — your laptop, smartphone, iPad, or web browser.

Your subscription will automatically renew at full price — $11.99 per month — once the three-month promotional period ends. So be sure to set a reminder to cancel if you want to avoid those charges. Although, like me, there's a good chance Kindle Unlimited will keep you hooked.

TL;DR: Get Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC as a lifetime license for $169.97 (reg. $249.99) — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote with no recurring fees.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC: Lifetime License $169.97
$249.99 Save $80.02 Get Deal

If you’re tired of paying subscriptions for tools you use every day, here’s some good news: Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business is now available as a lifetime license for Mac or PC. That means one payment and full access — no monthly fees, no recurring charges.

Why upgrade:

• Word — New Focus Mode, Smart Compose, and research tools.

• Excel — Dynamic Arrays, AI-powered insights, and data visualization.

• PowerPoint — Record presentations with video/voice and enhanced storytelling features.

• Outlook — Better search, accessibility tools & stronger security.

• OneNote — Capture, organize & collaborate effortlessly.

• Performance Boosts — Faster, smoother handling of large files.

• Modern Interface — Consistent Fluent Design across all apps.

• Collaboration tools — Real-time co-authoring, Teams integration, version history.

• AI enhancements — Intelligent suggestions, natural language processing, smarter analytics.

• Work offline anytime — Full access without relying on the cloud.

Office 2024 gives you the latest features professionals rely on — with the simplicity of a one-time purchase.

Get lifetime access to Microsoft Office 2024 Home & Business for Mac or PC for just $169.97 (reg. $249.99).

StackSocial prices subject to change.

The Summer I Turned Pretty may have aired its series finale, but there's still more story to tell.

On Wednesday, just hours after The Summer I Turned Pretty's final episode dropped and Belly (Lola Tung) made her final choice between Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), Prime Video announced that The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie is in the works. The movie will serve as the supersized finale for the series. The Summer I Turned Pretty author and showrunner Jenny Han is set to both write and direct.

SEE ALSO: Why Conrad from 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is the internet’s ultimate summer crush

"There is another big milestone left in Belly’s journey, and I thought only a movie could give it its proper due. I’m so grateful to Prime Video for continuing to support my vision for this story and for making it possible to share this final chapter with the fans," said Han in a press release.

What will The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie be about?

Story details for The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie are under wraps for now, but Han's statement gives viewers a clue. She mentioned a "big milestone left in Belly's journey." What could that be?

Well, The Summer I Turned Pretty series closes with — spoiler alert! — Belly choosing her first love, Conrad Fisher. In that way, it follows Han's books, but there is a key element of their ending missing: their wedding!

The final book in the series, We'll Always Have Summer, ends with Belly and Conrad's wedding, and with Belly reading the letter Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) wrote for her to read on her wedding day. However, the wedding is missing from The Summer I Turned Pretty's finale, meaning that Belly and Conrad's wedding is likely going to be the "big milestone" Han mentioned.

When is The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie coming out?

The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie doesn't have a release date yet. However, Lola Tung and Christopher Briney are both confirmed to be reprising their roles as Belly and Conrad.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is now streaming on Prime Video.

Android 16 has been officially available for a few months now, but the beta program is still going strong. The second beta for the upcoming quarterly release (QPR2) has just been released for Pixel phones, and it has some cool goodies.

Your Discover feed always gives you a healthy feed of news and articles—you might've even reached this very post through Discover. Now, though, it's about to get a lot worse.

Sci-fi movies are typically saturated with aliens, space travel, distant galaxies, and other mind-bending science fiction.

Right now, you can get a Lisen retractable USB-C charger for just $10 on Amazon. This is a massive 50% discount off the usual $28 price. You can also save an extra $4.20 with the on-page coupon, making this a shockingly low price for a 45W charger that eliminates cable clutter.

Marketing plays a role in the modern game, pushing a narrative and getting in your face more than others. The same spending on the budget might not be possible from every manufacturer out there. One particular car brand doesn't occupy as much limelight but, however, still continues to deliver rock-solid cars, impressing both those who write about them and those who buy and enjoy them. That brand is Honda.

Upcoming horror film Good Boy takes familiar haunted house tropes and filters them through an unlikely perspective: that of its canine star, Indy.

SEE ALSO: 'Good Boy' review: What if a dog were a horror movie hero?

The film sees Indy (the real-life family pet of Good Boy director Ben Leonberg) and his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), move into a vacant family home in the countryside. The vibes in the house are immediately off. Not only can Indy sense an invisible presence, he also receives haunting visions of the home's previous owner's death. As Todd threatens to succumb to a similar fate, it's up to Indy to thwart the malevolent spirits lurking in the house and save his owner.

Indy the dog has earned rave reviews for his performance ever since Good Boy's world premiere at 2025's SXSW festival. Mashable Entertainment Editor Kristy Puchko singled him out in her review, writing: "Indy is just a star from his first frame. His dark eyes, floppy ears, and sweet expression make him instantly lovable. But more than that, he is so game for whatever Leonberg directs him to do. Staying and staring into an eerie abyss? Jumping into action? Reacting to a burst of blood? Racing to Todd to protect him? Indy is a good boy, through and through."

Indy's star power is on full display in Good Boy's latest trailer, which puts him in all sorts of peril. Of course, seeing a dog in that amount of danger leads to one question: Does the dog die?

You'll have to see Good Boy yourself to discover Indy's fate. (Or you can spoil yourself with our handy guide.)

Good Boy hits theaters Oct. 3.

Don’t miss out on our latest stories: Add Mashable as a trusted news source in Google.

The 8Bitdo 64 Bluetooth Controller is on sale at its lowest price ever, knocking 31% off the price. It's now just $28 on Amazon, down from its usual $40. This controller will remind you of the old days on Nintendo 64 and is great for emulation.

I spent years trying to find the perfect note-taking app and came close with Google Keep. For a while, this app provided everything I was looking for and then some. However, as my needs began to expand, I slowly outgrew it.

Logitech G just revealed two new gaming mice in its PRO Series. The Pro X Superlight 2c is a smaller version of the popular Pro X Superlight 2, while the Pro X2 Superstrike comes with a brand new, industry-first click technology that supposedly will be a game changer for players.

Apple's latest flagship iPhone isn't quite on store shelves yet, but the first reviews are up.

A handful of tech reporters have posted their initial reviews for the iPhone 17 Pro Max, the biggest and most expensive handset in the iPhone 17 lineup. Mashable will also have one up soon, but in the meantime, let's go over what everyone is saying about the beefy new phone. Between its controversial design, battery life, cameras, and more, critics have a lot to say, and very little of it is negative.

SEE ALSO: The iPhone 17 has officially landed. Here's how and when you can preorder all 4 phones. iPhone 17 Pro Max review roundup

Here's what everyone is saying about the new iPhone, which runs the just-released iOS 26.

The new design is winning people over How do you feel about cosmic orange? Credit: CNET

One of the more controversial aspects of the iPhone 17 Pro Max has been the design. Apple re-engineered the phone from previous models, housing many of its components in a new camera plateau that extends horizontally across the phone's rear. It's certainly more bulky-looking than before. The new orange color scheme has also been divisive, as is the lack of a black color option.

That said, the reviews I read indicated that critics more or less came around on the design. Mark Spoonauer of Tom's Guide had kind things to say about it.

"Apple took a risk with the iPhone 17 Pro Max redesign, and I actually think it pays off. What was just a camera bump in the top left corner is now a mammoth camera bar that Apple calls the plateau," Spoonauer wrote. "Some may not like it, but to me, it actually feels more Pro."

Apple also added a new aluminum frame to the phone's exterior, and Cherlynn Low of Engadget noted that this should make the phone more durable. She noted that her iPhone 16 Pro experienced a bad fall with some cracks recently, but the 17 Pro Max is unlikely to suffer the same fate.

"With its aluminum frame protecting the edges of the rear and back, there is little chance the iPhone 17 Pro will break in the way my iPhone 16 Pro did. Its screen is now protected by Ceramic Shield 2, so if it fell flat on its face it should still be able to survive the impact," Low wrote. "The rear is a bit more vulnerable, since the three cameras still protrude slightly from the plateau, but those are covered by the same sapphire crystal that previous models were."

As for the new orange color, that's a matter of personal taste, but it should be noted that critics generally liked that, too.

The selfie camera is the star

Across the board, reviews have been kind to the iPhone 17 Pro Max's trio of 48MP rear cameras. However, that's normal and expected. One thing that really stood out is how much reviewers liked the new Center Stage selfie camera.

Patrick Holland of CNET, which is owned by Mashable publisher Ziff Davis, noted the improvements made to the selfie camera, including the ability for it to zoom out and take bigger group shots.

"There's a new selfie camera on both Pro phones that Apple calls Center Stage. It not only takes 18-megapixel selfies, up from 12 megapixels on the 16 Pro, but you can hold the 17 Pro vertically and take a horizontal selfie thanks to a new square image sensor." Holland wrote. "You can press an onscreen button to change the orientation, and there are even settings that will auto-rotate and auto-zoom out for group shots."

Patrick Holland of CNET takes a selfie with the iPhone 17 Pro. Credit: CNET

Over at Engadget, Low noted that she was skeptical of Center Stage at first, but was quickly won over after using it in a number of different scenarios.

"I was all the more persuaded when I paired Center Stage with a timer or remote control of the selfie camera and placed the iPhone 17 Pro Max on a table," Low wrote. "A group of seven or so friends and I gathered in front of the device and watched it flip into landscape mode as more of us got into the scene. It has been helpful in a number of unexpected ways."

Big battery life

Part of Apple's rationale for the new camera plateau is that it could house more components, such as the phone's upgraded battery. According to the early iPhone 17 Pro reviews, the battery part was not BS.

Take it from Julian Chokkattu of Wired. In that site's review, Chokkattu noted that you can easily get through a day without charging your iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Credit: CNET

"In real-world testing, I haven't worried about battery life on either of these phones. I'm using the Pro Max right now, which has more than 5 hours of screen-on time (SoT) and 55 percent left in the tank. I hit nearly seven hours of SoT on the iPhone 17 Pro, and it still had 30 percent left," Chokkattu wrote. "Much will depend on what you're doing—hours of gaming will deplete the cell much faster—but I think there's a good chance you might not have to charge your iPhone every single day anymore, especially with the Pro Max."

Lance Ulanoff of TechRadar also had very positive experiences with the battery, but cautioned that we might have to wait a while before we have real, detailed metrics on the iPhone 17 Pro Max's battery performance.

"Now, in my experience, I went over 30 hours (it's rated for 39 hours) before I needed to charge the phone. However, I think it's too early to make a final assessment on battery life," Ulanoff wrote. "I know my phone is busy copying 30,000 emails, updating photo libraries, and more background tasks relating to initial setup."

In summary, it sounds like Apple nailed the things it needed to nail with the iPhone 17 Pro Max, at least according to these initial reviews. Mashable will have a review of our own up in due time, so stay tuned for that.

We all have a junk drawer filled with inaccessible cables. Fortunately, you don't need to run out and buy a fancy organizer. The ideal solution may already be lying around in your kitchen.