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Today's Wordle answer should be easy to solve if you have a farm.

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 August 26, 2026 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 August 26, 2026 Here's a subtle hint for today's Wordle answer:

A castrated rooster.

Does today's Wordle answer have a double letter?

There are no recurring letters.

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

Today's Wordle starts with the letter C.

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...

CAPON

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.

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

Meet The Mashable 101: Our list of the content creators shaping the internet today

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 yesterday's Wordle.

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.

Want more tech and digital culture news delivered to your inbox daily or sent straight to your device? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter or get Mashable push alerts today.

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

Hurled.

Hurdle Word 1 answer

THREW

Hurdle Word 2 hint

Doomed

SEE ALSO: Wordle today: Answer, hints for August 26, 2026 Hurdle Word 2 Answer

GONER

Hurdle Word 3 hint

Belief.

SEE ALSO: NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for August 26, 2026 SEE ALSO: NYT Connections hints today: Meanings for each word for Aug. 26, 2026 Hurdle Word 3 answer

FAITH

Hurdle Word 4 hint

Member of the Catholic Church.

Hurdle Word 4 answer

FRIAR

Final Hurdle hint

A tooth.

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

MOLAR

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: Babbel helps you learn a new language naturally, and lifetime access is just $159 with code LEARN.

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Dolly Parton, the country music legend who somehow felt less like a distant superstar and more like someone America collectively knew, has died, her family announced. She was 80.

Parton's nephew Bryan Seaver announced her death in a video posted to her official social media accounts on Aug. 25. He said Parton died peacefully in Nashville and that "Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus." A cause of death was not announced. A small, private service will be held for her immediate family.

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Almost immediately, social media filled with the usual markers of collective grief: favorite songs, old interviews, movie scenes, personal stories, and declarations that this particular loss felt different. But people were not only mourning the woman who gave the world "Jolene," "9 to 5," and "I Will Always Love You." They were mourning Dolly herself — the rhinestones, the one-liners, the enormous hair, the even bigger heart, and the uncanny ability to make millions of strangers feel as if she were rooting for them personally.

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Parton was one of the rare celebrities whose fame never appeared to place much distance between her and everyone else. She spoke openly about growing up poor in a one-room cabin in Tennessee. She joked about her wigs, her body, and the money it took to achieve her famously over-the-top look. She could deliver a perfectly constructed punchline, then turn around and say something so sincere that it caught people off guard.

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Best of all, her humor made it clear that the "dumb blonde" persona was always a performance, and that she was the person most in on the joke: "I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb," she famously said. "And I also know that I’m not blonde."

The combination of glamour, intelligence, warmth, and self-awareness made her beloved far beyond the country music world. People who had never bought one of her albums still knew Dolly, somehow, someway.

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Parton was musician Miley Cyrus' godmother, and according to Cyrus, "Dolly's been like a mother to me." She guided Cyrus through every stage of her career, and the two performed together many times, including on "Jolene" and a soaring New Year's Eve medley of "Wrecking Ball” and “I Will Always Love You.”

Cyrus once recalled Parton sending her a fax that read, "How much do I love you? As much as my heart can hold and as far as my arms can reach."

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Parton has spent much of her career championing younger female artists, like Cyrus. She joined Kesha on a recording of "Old Flames (Can’t Hold a Candle to You)," and Kesha later called Parton a "guiding light" and said that working with her changed the way she judged her own music. Parton also sang with Bebe Rexha on the 2023 ballad "Seasons" and Sabrina Carpenter for a country-inflected version of "Please, Please, Please." Back in January, she brought Miley Cyrus, Lainey Wilson, Queen Latifah, and Reba McEntire together for a new recording of "Light of a Clear Blue Morning", with proceeds benefiting pediatric cancer research.

She also never prohibited other women from reinterpreting her music. Beyoncé put her own spin on "Jolene." The White Stripes turned it into garage rock. Whitney Houston transformed "I Will Always Love You" into a global phenomenon. Parton seemed genuinely delighted whenever someone found a new way into one of her songs; after all, she always saw herself as a songwriter first and foremost.

"At the end of the day, I hope that I will be remembered as a good songwriter," Parton once wrote. "The songs are my legacy

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Parton reportedly wrote thousands of songs during her life, often drawing from the people, poverty, faith, and complicated emotions of her childhood in the Smoky Mountains: "My Tennessee Mountain Home" captured the place that continued to ground her after she became famous. "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" turned her own hard-won independence into an anthem about believing better days were coming. And in "The Bargain Store," she transformed a secondhand shop into a tender metaphor for a heart that had been hurt but still had something to give.

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The numbers behind that legacy are staggering. Parton sold more than 100 million records worldwide, landed 25 songs at No. 1 on Billboard's country chart, and placed 47 albums in the country Top 10. She earned 10 competitive Grammy Awards, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011, and two Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song. She was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2022.

And music was only one part of what she built. Parton starred in movies including 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and Steel Magnolias; wrote the score for the Broadway adaptation of 9 to 5; and co-founded the production company behind projects including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Father of the Bride. She also turned Dollywood into one of Tennessee’s best-known attractions and, in 2025, received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for using her success to help others.

Her care for people took forms more tangible than a song to play over and over again. Parton founded the Imagination Library in 1995 because her father could not read or write. What began as a program for children in her Tennessee home county grew into an international effort, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, that has sent hundreds of millions of free books to children.

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She also donated $1 million to research at Vanderbilt University, which helped fund the development of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine. She also supported communities affected by wildfires, funded scholarships, and invested in her home state through Dollywood. For Parton, generosity was not a carefully managed addition to her image, but part of what she did with the power that image gave her.

"Don't get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life." - Iconic quote from the late Dolly Parton

Parton's husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died in March 2025. She later postponed and ultimately canceled a planned Las Vegas residency while dealing with health problems. Yet just four days before her death, she was still talking about what she wanted to create next.

"I’ve dreamed myself into a corner, and I still have so many things I want to achieve," she told People on Aug. 21.

Dolly was never simply preserving a legacy. She was always writing another song, planning another project, making another joke, or finding another way to help.

Those wishing to honor Parton are urged by her family to share a message by tagging @DollyParton on social media or leaving one on her official website. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested donations to Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.

Food photos are supposed to make you hungry, but the ones currently haunting social media look more likely to crawl off the menu than end up on a plate.

Over the weekend, tech reporter Sam Biddle shared a deli sign featuring what appears to be a dozen glossy, shrimp-shaped bagels sitting on a pile of noodles. Other dishes on the menu included perfectly round piles of pasta, strangely smooth sandwiches, and ingredients that seemed to melt into one another.

"The death of folk graphic design in favor of AI slop across our country's delis is leading to some incredibly Lovecraftian food horrors," Biddle wrote on X.

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The post struck a nerve. Soon, users were flooding the replies and quote posts with their own equally cursed sightings of apparent AI-generated food ads in delis, restaurants, food trucks, fairs, and even their mailboxes.

Some shared menus filled with suspiciously perfect cheesesteaks and sandwiches whose ingredients seemed to fuse together. Others posted burgers with porous, honeycomb-like buns and fillings resembling mushrooms or tentacles. "More AI flyer slop menus. They’re popping up everywhere and it seems to be getting worse and worse," one user said.

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The conversation was not limited to restaurants. "Quirky, low-budget signage is being replaced by this grotesque, uncanny monoslop," X user Adam Johnson wrote. "Not the biggest injustice in the world, but a small piece of culture is dying."

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That idea — that something small but distinctly human is being lost — appeared repeatedly throughout the conversation.

Communications executive Jules Mossler acknowledged online why a small business with "razor thin" margins might turn to tools promising cheaper, more professional advertising. But she argued that doing so can erase the handmade details people actually like about local businesses. "We want the sign you and your sister made; the misspellings, the chipped paint," Mossler wrote on X.

"I don’t think people know how to articulate why [these AI images] leave you deeply sad," she added.

The internet is already fed up with AI slop

The restaurant backlash is part of a much larger revolt against the synthetic material flooding the internet. "AI slop" generally refers to low-quality, mass-produced generative AI content created to fill feeds, attract clicks, or make a quick buck. It can take the form of generic LinkedIn posts, fake celebrity photos, impossible animal-rescue videos, nonsensical recipes, or advertisements filled with people and products that never existed.

SEE ALSO: The internet is drowning in AI slop. Here's how we got here.

The term has become so inescapable that Merriam-Webster selected "slop" as its 2025 Word of the Year, defining it as "digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence."

People are not simply complaining about it anymore. Platforms are beginning to respond to users who want less AI-generated material in their feeds.

Pinterest introduced controls that let people request fewer generative AI images, eventually expanding the setting to its food and drink category. Snapchat announced that fully AI-generated videos would no longer qualify for recommendations on Spotlight. LinkedIn is introducing a "Seems like AI slop" option that allows users to flag posts they consider generic or machine-made. More than 1 million people reportedly used the button within its first few weeks.

That broader exhaustion helps explain why the restaurant menus struck such a nerve. People are already tired of examining every image and video in their feeds for signs that it is fake. They especially do not want to play detective while deciding what to eat for lunch.

AI food looks like food...until it doesn't

Food photography has always involved a certain amount of fakery. Professional stylists carefully arrange ingredients, manipulate lighting, and edit photos to make dishes look more appealing. But an AI-generated food image introduces a different disconnect — and an uncanny effect.

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The effect is apparently strong enough to provoke a physical response. Reddit threads featuring these images are filled with mentions of trypophobia, an aversion to clusters of small holes or bumps. "Gah it gives me trypophobia — kinda ruins my appetite," one commenter wrote beneath photos of an AI-generated restaurant display in San Francisco.

In a separate r/antiai thread, commenters compared the pictured food to mold, bugs, intestines, brain matter, and diseases. "Everything looks like it was grown into position; nothing prepared or assembled," one user wrote, describing it as "more creature or sentient fungus than food."

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Generated text can make matters even worse. According to a Food & Wine column, an apparent AI-created restaurant menu advertised dishes including "Crslay Fried Mussels Pot Ksascte Barno" and "Homemade ice Croams."

AI is also creating problems before food ever reaches a menu. Social media platforms are filling up with generated recipe videos depicting impossible cheese pulls, contradictory instructions, and finished dishes that cannot be recreated.

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Earlier this year, a writer at The Cut spent a week cooking recipes that appeared to use AI. The results included garlic "breadsticks" that became an eggy sheet and zucchini "crackers" that remained soft in the middle while burning around the edges. One of the few recipes that tasted good appeared to have been copied almost word-for-word from a human food blogger.

Looking gross is only part of the problem. Many people participating in the online conversation said that seeing AI-generated food made them less likely to trust the restaurant.

"Please know that if you’re a restaurant that uses AI slop to sell your food, I automatically do not trust you and will not eat at your establishment," one X user wrote.

Others argued that having no pictures would be preferable to showing a synthetic version of what a dish might look like. Another post contrasted a plain, old-fashioned letterboard menu with a glossy AI-generated sign, asking how to explain to small-business owners that the simple menu was "one billion times more appealing."

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Some restaurants are getting doxxed. Grind & Unwind, a new café and bar in San Francisco's Haight neighborhood, got exposed in the subreddit r/sanfrancisco back in July when commenters compared its AI-generated focaccia to a loofah, said a croissant looked like an alien larva, and described the pulled pork and coleslaw as something straight out of The Last of Us.

The restaurant's owners confirmed to SFGATE that the display used AI-generated images and was intended to be temporary.

"It was kind of a stir on Haight Street, which is good and bad, I guess," co-owner Lyndsey Lozano said. "But the response was not what we were expecting."

The online criticism eventually spilled into the real world when the restaurant's awning was vandalized. The owners have since removed the AI display and replaced it with a window showcasing the restaurant's actual pastries.

The debate moved up North: Posters advertising food at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition recently prompted another online conversation over apparent AI use. Images promoting items, including a "KD Smoothie" and a "Cotton Chick Buldak Ramen Taco," drew as much attention for their strange textures and inconsistent ingredients as for the food concepts themselves. Reddit users were already placing bets on how many AI posters they would find around the fair.

Credit: Screenshot: Reddit, r/toronto

Other restaurants appear to be reading the room. As Rachel Karten, writer of Substack Link In Bio, pointed out, small businesses are now going viral by publicly promising not to use AI-generated advertising.

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The Chugwater Soda Fountain in Chugwater, Wyoming, shared a photo of an employee holding a handwritten cardboard sign reading, "We will not be using AI flyers or photos to promote ourselves."

"From-scratch food and from-scratch marketing," the restaurant wrote in the caption. As of Aug. 25, the post had received more than 71,000 likes. GOAT Nantwich, a bar in the UK, joined the trend with its own handwritten note promising: "We will not be using any AI posters to promote ourselves."

The anti-AI declarations are still marketing, of course. But their popularity shows how quickly the use of AI has gone from a convenient shortcut to something businesses may feel the need to disavow.

Restaurants once tried to make every image look as polished as possible. But now, it seems a piece of cardboard and imperfect handwriting can become their biggest selling point.

Ultimately, the internet's request is not particularly complicated: make the food, put it on a plate, and take a picture. Restaurants, it's OK if it doesn't look perfect. At least it won’t look back at us.

Nintendo is releasing a pair of new Switch 2 bundles later this fall, the company announced Tuesday. Both bundles will include a three-month Nintendo Switch Online Individual membership and a download code for a game.

The timing of this announcement is notable: The Switch 2 is getting $50 more expensive on Sept. 1, jumping from $449.99 to $499.99. These new bundles will be two ways of saving a little money on the popular console following its price hike.

Credit: Nintendo

The first bundle features Mario Kart World and launches sometime in "late September," according to a company press release. It will retail for $549.99, which works out to a $37.98 savings versus buying the system, the game, and the Switch Online membership separately.

The second bundle comes with a copy of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, the latest entry in Nintendo's sports simulation series. It arrives on Oct. 22 — the same day as the game itself — and has a sticker price of $529.99, saving shoppers $27.98. Preorders for the bundle will open "soon," the company said.

Credit: Nintendo

Nintendo used to sell three Switch 2 game bundles (sans memberships) for $499.99, including one with Mario Kart World, but they were out of stock everywhere at the time of writing.

The gaming giant announced its $50 Switch 2 price hike this May "[in] light of changes in market conditions." As Mashable previously reported, that's almost certainly a reference to the global memory shortage stemming from the AI boom, aka "RAMageddon." In recent months, tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Dell, Microsoft, and Sony have increased their own hardware prices due to the same circumstances.

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Imagine opening Instagram and reaching the bottom of your feed. Or having to press play on every Reel yourself. Stories no longer disappear after 24 hours, beauty filters are restricted, and the algorithm has less control over what you see next.

That version of Instagram may sound almost unrecognizable, but it could become a reality if Meta loses a landmark lawsuit brought by California and 28 other states.

The states accuse Meta of deliberately designing Facebook and Instagram to keep children and teenagers online while concealing what it knew about the potential harms. Infinite scrolling, autoplaying videos, disappearing Stories, beauty filters, push notifications, visible "likes," and algorithm-driven feeds are all under scrutiny.

SEE ALSO: Which countries have banned social media for kids?

That means this case isn’t only about whether Meta owes an enormous amount of money, but it could determine whether Instagram and Facebook are allowed to keep working the way we know them.

"Hook, hold, harvest, hide."

The trial began Aug. 18 in Oakland, California, and is expected to last six to eight weeks. California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are leading this phase of the case, with support from 25 other coalition members, including Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, New York, Oregon, and Wisconsin. During opening statements, California Deputy Attorney General Megan O’Neill summed up Meta’s alleged strategy with four words: "hook, hold, harvest, hide."

According to the states, Meta "hooks" young users with psychologically compelling features, "holds" their attention for as long as possible, "harvests" their data, and then "hides" evidence of the resulting harm from the public.

The lawsuit goes beyond the familiar argument that teenagers simply spend too much time on their phones. In their federal complaint, the states allege Meta deliberately designed Facebook and Instagram to exploit young people’s lower impulse control and heightened sensitivity to rewards. They also accuse the company of collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and misleading parents and users about the safety of its platforms.

If the states prevail, Meta may have to do more than write a massive check. The attorneys general are seeking injunctive and monetary relief intended to address Meta’s alleged conduct and break that cycle of compulsive use. That could mean removing or substantially redesigning infinite scroll, autoplay, algorithm-heavy feeds, beauty filters, Stories, and other features accused of keeping young people glued to their screens.

And those changes may not stop at children’s accounts. Maintaining different versions of Instagram and Facebook for different ages and countries would be complicated and expensive, so Meta could end up changing the apps for everyone. Other platforms may follow its lead, too — especially if they think similar lawsuits are headed their way.

"This trial is potentially the end of social media as we know it," Forrester principal analyst Kate Winick told CNBC.

"An outlandish payout"

Of course, Meta is also facing a staggering financial threat. The company has warned that potential damages could reach approximately $1.4 trillion, although state attorneys have reportedly described roughly $200 billion as a more realistic figure. The larger sum is close to Meta’s total market value, while even the lower estimate would rival the company’s annual revenue.

Meta has denied the allegations. "Rather than sticking to the facts or the law, the states have instead decided to chase an outlandish payout," company spokesperson Liza Crenshaw told The Guardian.

During opening statements, Meta attorney Paul Schmidt argued that the company has acknowledged people can struggle with social media use and has developed tools intended to help. He also said Meta does not allow children under 13 to create accounts and has disabled more than 1 million accounts belonging to underage users.

The states, however, are attempting to show that Meta knew its existing safeguards were not enough and failed to act when employees raised concerns. One of their most prominent witnesses is Arturo Béjar, a former Meta safety engineer who worked at the company during two separate periods between 2009 and 2021 and said he briefed Zuckerberg more than 100 times.

Béjar testified Aug. 18 and 19 that the issue became personal after his teenage daughter received unwanted sexual advances, explicit images, and misogynistic insults on Instagram. When she tried to report the abuse, he said, the platform’s existing tools were either ineffective or unavailable. Béjar described Meta’s approach to child safety as a "don’t ask, don’t tell strategy."

During his testimony, attorneys showed the jury a 2021 email Béjar sent to Zuckerberg about Meta’s own internal research. The survey, which questioned nearly 240,000 Instagram users, found that more than half of teenage respondents had encountered at least one harmful experience during the previous seven days. Béjar also testified that content connected to those experiences was removed only 0.02 percent of the time. He said he sent the findings directly to Zuckerberg because he had seen the company move quickly when its CEO made something a priority, but Zuckerberg never responded.

Meta has disputed Béjar’s account and unsuccessfully tried to prevent him from testifying. The company later told The Guardian that he had overstated his role at Meta and taken credit for work he did not perform.

The trial is far from over. Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are both expected to take the stand before it wraps up. The jury will weigh the evidence, but its verdict is only advisory; U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will ultimately decide whether Meta is liable and what it may have to pay.

And Meta isn’t the only platform with reason to pay attention. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has said YouTube and Snap could face similar cases, meaning any changes forced on Facebook and Instagram may eventually spread across the rest of social media.

And for the first time in years, "You’re all caught up" might actually mean it.

If you’ve ever opened the Instagram Reels editor, selected a pile of videos, and immediately decided that posting might not be worth the trouble, Instagram would like to prevent that particular creative crisis.

On Aug. 25, the platform globally launched First Draft, a new one-tap editing tool that turns several videos into a short, fully edited Reel in under 10 seconds.

The process starts the same way as making any other Reel: You select the videos you want to use from your camera roll. But instead of pressing “Next” and manually cutting them down, you can tap the new "First draft" button.

Credit: Instagram

From there, Instagram's model works through three steps: analyzing the clips, identifying their highlights, and trimming them to reduce the overall length. It then delivers a complete cut that users can preview, continue adjusting, add music to, or move directly to Instagram's usual posting screen.

Credit: Instagram

The cuts can be pretty substantial. In an example shared with Mashable, First Draft condensed four minutes and 54 seconds of footage into a 17-second Reel featuring highlights from several rollerblading videos.

The idea isn’t to let Instagram make every creative decision for you. Instead, First Draft handles some of the repetitive work of finding usable moments and cutting them together, while still giving creators the option to change its selections before posting. Basically, it eliminates some of the "staring at your camera roll and questioning your life" portion of the process.

Credit: Instagram

First Draft is also built directly into Instagram’s existing Reels creation flow, so creators won’t have to move their footage into another app to use it. That separates the tool from Edits, Instagram’s standalone video editor, which offers more advanced features, including a frame-accurate timeline, storyboards, effects, and performance insights.

Instagram said it created First Draft because manual clip trimming can be "tedious and frustrating" for creators. "Instead of staring down a collection of clips and figuring out where to start, creators can use First Draft to quickly get to a starting point and then make the edit their own from there," the company told Mashable. They added that the tool is beneficial for creators with accessibility needs.

Credit: Instagram

The launch is the latest example of Instagram trying to make short-form video production require slightly less production. The platform already offers customizable Reel templates, while Edits includes tools such as automatic enhancements, captions, and AI-powered video effects.

First Draft can analyze your footage, find the highlights, and transform nearly five minutes of video into something short enough for the Reels feed. You’ll still need to decide whether the internet actually needs to see it. Instagram has not yet invented a one-tap solution for that.

Do you get carsick while looking at your smartphone while in a moving vehicle? Google wants to help with that.

Motion Assist is a new feature rolling out to Android 17 devices that aims to reduce motion sickness for users. Google's Pixel phones appear to be the first devices receiving it, with other Android devices to follow. 

As Android Authority reports, the feature was first noticed in a beta release way back in December 2024. Nearly two years later, Google is finally rolling it out.

Motion Assist works much like Apple's own Vehicle Motion Cues released for the iPhone in 2024. Animated dots or other shapes appear along the edges of the display and move in response to the motion of the vehicle.

"This may help reduce motion sickness when you're in a moving vehicle," reads the prompt on the Motion Assist settings screen.

To access Motion Assist, head to Google Play Settings on your Android device. Tap your profile, select Settings, then tap All services. Motion Assist can be found under Personal & device safety.

Motion Assist lets users customize the color, shape, and opacity of the motion indicators that appear along the edges of the screen. A randomization option automatically varies those settings.

Users can set Motion Assist to turn on automatically when the device detects that they are traveling in a car, bus, train, or other moving vehicle. They can also add a Motion Assist tile to Quick Settings to manually turn the feature on or off.

Google sends a notification when Motion Assist is activated, and tapping the notification allows users to turn the feature off.

Motion Assist is rolling out gradually to Pixel phones running Android 17, so availability may vary even among eligible devices. If you don't see it yet, it may not have reached your phone.

TL;DR: Watch Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga for free on CazéTV. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

If you're looking for La Liga action, Valencia are hosting Real Betis at the Mestalla.

Both teams got off to a mediocre start last weekend, drawing 0-0 in their respective opening games. The Spanish league also saw further draws yesterday, with Osasuna vs. Levante and Málaga vs. Deportivo failing to deliver a decisive winner. Soccer fans are now hoping for something more exciting from Valencia vs. Real Betis — goals would be nice.

If you're interested in watching Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Valencia vs. Real Betis?

Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Aug. 25. This fixture takes place at the Mestalla.

How to watch Valencia vs. Real Betis for free

Valencia vs. Real Betis in La Liga is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Valencia vs. Real Betis for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Valencia vs. Real Betis for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

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

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Valencia vs. Real Betis for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Valencia vs. Real Betis without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus Premier League action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for La Liga?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including Brazil

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Valencia vs. Real Betis for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

That was fast: A day after rumors broke about Apple preparing new Mac devices for release, the company announced some updated desktop computers. Today, Apple unveiled a portable Mac mini with the new M6 chip and a hulking Mac Studio with new M5 Ultra silicon — its "most powerful chip ever," according to a press release.

These new processors offer "the next giant leap in performance and AI compute," said Sri Santhanam, Apple’s vice president of Silicon Engineering Group. They also bring some higher prices. (Blame RAMageddon.) The M6 Mac mini starts at $899, or $300 more than its M4 predecessor. The M5 Ultra Mac Studio starts at $5,499. That's $200 more than the M3 Ultra model, and more expensive configurations cost up to $18,299.

Both new Macs are available in a second configuration with other existing chips from the M5 series. Their external designs remain unchanged.

SEE ALSO: A maxed-out Mac Studio with the M5 Ultra will set you back $18,299

Preorders for the refreshed Mac mini and Mac Studio are now live in the Apple Store, though they won't start shipping until Sept. 22.

These announcements come ahead of Apple's annual September hardware event, where the company is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 series, a new foldable iPhone, updated smart home devices, and new Apple Watches.

M6 debuts on the Mac mini Credit: Apple

The new Mac mini, Apple's inaugural M6 device, features the company's first-ever processor built using a 2-nanometer manufacturing process, which crams more switches onto a smaller piece of silicon. (Apple's M3, M4, and M5 chips used 3nm technology.) This translates to "a major leap in performance and power efficiency," Apple said.

The M6 chip has two more CPU and GPU cores than the M5 chip for a total of 12 apiece, plus a Dual 16-core Neural Engine. Per Apple, it gives the new Mac mini up to four times faster AI performance up to two times faster graphics than the M4 model. The company recommends it for "everyday users, students, developers, AI hobbyists, and enterprises." It starts at $899 with 16GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

SEE ALSO: New Apple HomePods with AI are coming. Everything we know.

The Mac mini is also now configurable with the M5 Pro chip. That model has up to an 18-core CPU and 20-core GPU with up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage. It starts at $1,699 with 24GB of memory and 512GB of storage. Apple plugs it for "pro users" with "demanding workflows like app development, video rendering, scientific simulations, and more."

Both new Mac mini models support 2.5Gb Ethernet, with a 10Gb upgrade available, as well as WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6, the latest wireless technologies.

This year, Mac mini desktops have become a popular choice for people running AI agents, and some M4 models were hard to find in stock.

M5 Ultra beefs up the Mac Studio Credit: Apple

The M5 Ultra marks another Apple innovation: It's the company's first chip with quad-die architecture, made by fusing two dual-die M5 Max chips together. It has up to a 36-core CPU and 80-core GPU with up to a whopping 512GB of unified memory and 1.2TB/s of unified memory bandwidth. (The M3 Ultra was capped at 32 CPU cores and 96GB of RAM, and it only had 819GB/s of memory bandwidth.)

Compared to its predecessor, the M5 Ultra Mac Studio delivers up to 4.5 times faster AI compute speeds and up to 40 percent faster graphics. Johny Srouji, Apple’s chief hardware officer, called it "the ultimate desktop for on-device AI and the world’s most demanding pro workflows."

The new Mac Studio starts at $5,499 with a 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU, and 36GB of memory plus 512GB of storage. It's also configurable with the M5 Max chip for $2,499 to start. Both support WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini (M6, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $899 at the Apple Store
  Pre-order Here Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac Studio (M5 Ultra, 36GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $5,499 at the Apple Store
  Shop Now

It's a big day for the Apple world. We have new a new M6 Mac mini and M5 Ultra Mac Studio. This should come as great news to those of us who've designed our ideal desktop station. Faster and smarter chips are always warmly welcomed, and Apple delivered.

The new M5 Mac Studio includes two configurations: the M5 Max and M5 Ultra. The Mac Studio with M5 Max is ready for preorder with prices starting at $2,499 or $2,299 for education. The Mac Studio with M5 Ultra starts at $5,499 or $5,099 for education.

In addition to new chips, both models of the new Mac Studio come with enhancements like Thunderbolt 5 ports and support for up to eight displays. You can also utilize the new Apple Upgrade program for either model. Here are some key features to keep in mind before placing a preorder.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Mac Studio M5 Max (18-core CPU, 32-core GPU) $2,499 at Apple
  Pre-order Here Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Mac Studio M5 Ultra (30-core CPU, 64-core GPU) $5,499 at Apple
  Pre-order Here Mac Studio M5 Max

According to Apple's press release, the M5 Max chip can compute on-device AI "with up to 3.9x faster AI performance than the prior generation, speeding up prompt processing." In addition, Apple points out the M5 Max is a great option for those who need performance to match a complex demand but don't want something bulky. That's good news for musicians, videographers, engineers, or those who work with motion graphics.

Mac Studio M5 Ultra

Jumping up in faster AI performance, Apple has introduced the M5 Ultra version of the Mac Studio. The base processor on this model includes 30-core CPU and 64-core GPU for $5,499, or you can go with the boosted 80-core GPU for an additional $1,300.

Apple's most powerful chip yet, the M5 Ultra is meant to keep up with demanding workflows with top-tier performance. In Apple's eye, it's great for those who work with 3D renderings, 8K video editing, intensive gaming, or training AI models, to highlight a few applications. You get dual Thunderbolt 5 ports on the front and an SDXC card slot. On the back, you'll find four Thunderbolt 5 ports, two USB-A ports, an HDMI port, Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.

The back port options on the Mac Studio. In addition, it can support up to eight displays. Credit: Apple How to preorder the Mac Studio M5 Max and Mac Studio M5 Ultra

At the time of writing, both the Mac Studio M5 Max and Mac Studio M5 Ultra are available for preorder at Apple with a launch date set for Sept. 22. Apple also mentions there's a Mac Studio with 512GB of unified memory is coming in late October.

SAVE $164: As of August 25, get the HOVERAir X1 PROMAX Foldable Drone for $925 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,089. That's a discount of 15%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon HOVERAir X1 PROMAX Foldable Drone $925 at Amazon
$1,089 Save $164   Get Deal

Looking for a way to spice up the way you take photos and video? How about switching over to aerial drone photography? You can get some absolutely wild angles and footage when using drones, and whether you're just getting into it or are looking for a significant upgrade for your current equipment, this Amazon deal is one worth checking out.

As of August 25, get the HOVERAir X1 PROMAX Foldable Drone for $925 at Amazon, down from its usual price of $1,089. That's $164 off and a discount of 15%.

SEE ALSO: The best drones for every level of pilot

This drone offers 8K footage at 30 fps, all captured by flying around in the air. It's pocket-sized at that, so you don't have to worry about maneuvering a massive drone around to get the footage you need. It's lightweight enough to get into the air and start flying with multiple smart flight modes so you don't have to waste time navigating and can jump right into creating. Because of its size, it doesn't require FAA registration, either.

It uses a two-axis gimbal with electronic image stabilization to keep things steady, as well as horizon leveling to top things off. It has a 107 FOV lens for even more stunning, crisp moments as well, so no matter whether you're shooting action footage of a jog or other sport or just getting some still aerial video, you're covered. This particular combo is made for cycling, so you can bike around town and then some and get some fantastic footage.

If you're ready to elevate your drone photography significantly or even get started with the format, this is an fantastic deal you'll want to pounce on before it goes out of stock.

TL;DR: Dunkin' is giving away 1 million free espresso drinks. Enter the promo code EASYCHOICE in your app's "Offers & Rewards" section to claim, redeemable through Sunday, Aug. 30.

Dunkin' is kicking off fall in the biggest way possible: with 1 million free drinks.

The coffee chain is giving away free specialty coffees and frozen drinks to the first million people who claim the offer — no purchase necessary. The giveaway comes as Dunkin' rolls out its fall menu, including the new Pumpkin Spice Signature Latte and Pumpkin Spice Cloud Dunkalatte.

How to get a free coffee from Dunkin'

• Make sure you're a Dunkin' Rewards member

• Open the Dunkin' app and go to the "Offers & Rewards" section

• Enter the code EASYCHOICE to claim your free espresso

Once you've claimed the offer, there's no rush to use it. It stays redeemable through Sunday, Aug. 30, so you can cash it in whenever you're on a coffee run.

TL;DR: Watch Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds in the EFL Cup for free on ITVX. Access this free live stream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

As the Premier League kicks off the 2026/27 season, teams across all four tiers of English football are meeting for the second round of the League Cup.

Among the biggest games lined up for this round is Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds, two Premier League sides looking to bounce back after a difficult 2025/26 season that saw them both claw their way out of a relegation battle. This game is actually the second time these teams have faced off in the past few days, as Forest hosted Leeds in the Premier League last weekend, a game Leeds won 1-0.

If you're interested in watching Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds in the EFL Cup from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds?

Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds in the EFL Cup kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Aug. 25. This fixture takes place at the City Ground.

How to watch Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds for free

Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds in the EFL Cup is available to live stream for free on ITVX.

ITVX is geo-restricted to the UK, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the UK, meaning you can live stream Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

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

4. Visit ITVX

5. Watch Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds for free from anywhere in the world

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.99 only at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for ITVX?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on ITVX, for a number of reasons:

• Servers in 105 countries, including the UK

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

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to 10 simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

Live stream Nottingham Forest vs. Leeds for free from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

The most powerful Mac Studio Apple has ever built to date is here. Just be ready to pay up to $18,299 for it.

That's the price tag on Apple's own configurator for a fully maxed-out Mac Studio with the M5 Ultra chip, 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU, 256GB of unified memory, and 16TB of storage.

Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Apple Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Apple

It's a staggering leap from where the line starts. The base M5 Ultra Mac Studio opens at $5,499, with a 30-core CPU, 64-core GPU, 36GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. A separate, less expensive configuration built on the M5 Max chip starts at $2,499. Go from the entry price to the ceiling, though, and you're paying tens of thousands more for memory and storage upgrades that carry steep per-tier costs, like the $7,500 jump from 256GB to 1TB of storage.

Apple unveiled the new Mac Studio this morning alongside a refreshed Mac mini built around the company's new M6 chip, positioning both as major steps forward in on-device AI performance. Johny Srouji, Apple's chief hardware officer, called the M5 Ultra Mac Studio "the ultimate desktop for on-device AI and the world's most demanding pro workflows," per Mashable's report on the announcement.

The eye-watering top-line figure isn't purely a function of more cores and more storage. You can mostly blame the global memory crisis within the tech industry, aka RAMageddon, for the current state of consumer tech affairs.

For context, the crisis has been caused by an unprecedented supply squeeze on memory components, driven largely by the AI data center boom. Hyperscalers building out massive AI infrastructure have been pre-ordering huge volumes of RAM and related silicon for their server farms, tightening the supply available for consumer hardware and pushing up costs for manufacturers.

Knowing that can help explain why maxing out memory and storage on a machine like the Mac Studio costs the same as a starter home in the 1920s.

The new hardware also arrives ahead of Apple's annual September event, where the company is expected to introduce the iPhone 18 lineup, a foldable iPhone, updated smart home devices, and new Apple Watches.

Both the Mac Studio and the M6 Mac mini are open for preorder now, ahead of a Sept. 22 launch.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

Connecting virtually with a therapist went mainstream during the pandemic. The number of U.S. mental health facilities offering telemedicine services grew from 38 percent in 2019 to over 68 percent a year later, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. One of the most prominent companies to benefit from the shift to phone, text, chat, and video therapy remains Talkspace, which bills itself as an "easy-to-use, fully-encrypted web and mobile platform that meets HIPAA, federal, and state regulatory requirements."

This summer, Talkspace entered its AI era, launching Tee. A mental health app created with a specific large language model (LLM), Tee was developed by clinicians and trained with anonymous Talkspace data. The app, available to anyone over 18 for $19.99 per month, is trained to identify extreme distress among patients — and to elevate such cases to human caregivers.

Dr. Nikole Benders-Hadl, a psychiatrist who also serves as Talkspace’s Chief Medical Officer, was among those who helped develop Tee. In Talkspace’s June announcement of the app, Benders-Hadl acknowledged the reality that many people are using products like ChatGPT for mental health needs, even though most LLMs are not created by mental health experts nor informed by therapy sessions. That's what makes Tee different, according to Benders-Hadl.

Mashable recently connected with Benders-Hadl about the app, including how it was trained and whether it can address mental health stigma, especially among minority communities.

For the unfamiliar, what is Talkspace and Tee?

Benders-Hadl: Talkspace was founded in 2012 as a virtual therapy company. We really pioneered the development of asynchronous therapy, meaning the ability to message back and forth with your therapist at any time, whether that's sending texts, video messages, or audio messages. We've since expanded our virtual care offering to include self-guided materials, as well as psychiatry services for medication management.

Over the course of the last 14 years, but really since about 2019, we began the development of various AI tools, really aimed at improving clinical quality and efficiency for our providers, who are all virtual. A lot of that involved things like provider-assist tools; helping document progress, helping providers prepare for sessions better, and helping members.

Tee really was born out of seeing that millions of people were starting to turn to chatbots, or [seeking] health advice and support, through models not designed for that purpose. I'm sure you've heard about some of the really awful outcomes when you're using that kind of wellness support that hasn't been built for mental health and hasn't been built with safety in mind.

So, Tee is Talkspace's new AI-powered mental health support guide. It's really built on the idea of it being a safer, but also clinically grounded, alternative. It's developed by our own clinical team, really trained using evidence-based therapy techniques.

Tee was built to not only be able to recognize risk, but with clinical oversight in place that can escalate users to human care; to a human therapist if that need arises, all while keeping the data within Talkspace secure and safe.

So all of the messages exchanged between therapists and their clients are really the data that have been used to train Tee. How exactly was Tee trained, and how is it different than other AI models?

We consider the vast clinical dataset that Talkspace has at our disposal over the last 14 years as the engine that drives not only Tee, but all of our AI tooling. So all of the messages exchanged between therapists and their clients are really the data that have been used to train Tee.

And so, because our therapists are really engaging with their clients, utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy, utilizing motivational interviewing, we can really rely on that data, as much as clinically sound, to develop [an app] that responds in kind with evidence-supported responses.

One of the things we've seen that can be really dangerous with other models is that they can provide false confidence; they can reinforce harmful thinking, They can fail to recognize crisis situations, and because of Tee's training on clinical data, our model is able to recognize those risks and then point them to human clinicians to determine appropriate next steps at a different level of care.

SEE ALSO: How 3 very different people use AI chatbots Did Talkspace users consent to their conversations being part of Tee's training?

Yeah. So another part I think is important to call out around the history of Talkspace is that we have engaged in research with so many different academic partners; Johns Hopkins, NYU, Stanford, we have been the recipient of four different [National Institute of Health] grants, research grants, totaling about $10 million in grant funding.

[All of the research utilized] our de-identified, protected, encrypted clinical data. So we have made use of this data. We've made clear to all of our users from the beginning of Talkspace that it is possible [for the therapy conversations to be used for training purposes]. But again, [while] keeping [protected health information] protected. And everything that we utilize, even within our research and projects, is all de-identified and encrypted data.

Can Tee potentially address some of the mental health stigma that exists, especially among minority communities?

Sure. One thing I always say is that we have to think about mental healthcare as preventative. People's mental health, their state, whether that's good or bad, doesn't just exist in a vacuum. It's really shaped by your culture, your experiences, and other systemic factors.

Communities of color are really experiencing unique stressors often — discrimination, trauma, inequities, and access to care, in addition to all of the other [typical] barriers to mental healthcare that exist.

Something I'm really passionate about developing is not only a network of providers that are diverse, but also this new use of technology that can build in cultural values, experiences, and design resources with specific communities in mind. I think that makes a tremendous difference in building trust and improving engagement from historically marginalized communities that haven't engaged in care at all.

If someone is using Tee, what can they do to avoid some of the pitfalls that have befallen some people, like AI psychosis?

We have developed Tee [with guidance from] clinicians, with a lot of input on a continuous basis. [Overuse issues are] for sure something that we are looking at. We've developed Tee to really be session-based. We don't want people engaging with Tee 20 hours a day.

We think that it's our responsibility to not only be looking at and measuring those different factors between healthy and unhealthy use, but to build it into the product, so that it's not on the end user to have to figure those things out. We have built different layers within our quality system to detect overuse and misuse if someone attempts to use Tee inappropriately. [Including] benign cases, like ordering a pizza on a Friday night, right? That's not what Tee was intended to do. But we have built in those kinds of guardrails to redirect and to really guide users back to its intended use, which is mental support.

This interview was edited for length and clarity. The information contained in this article is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a qualified professional with questions about a medical or health issue.

So the rumors are definitely true: there's new Mac minis on the market. They're wildly powerful, with M6 and M5 Pro chips on board, which Apple calls "an extraordinary leap in performance and AI capabilities."

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini (M6) starting at $899 at Apple Store Pre-order Here Opens in a new window Credit: Apple Apple Mac mini (M5 Pro) Starting at $1,699 at Apple Store Pre-order Here

Apple not only surprise-announced the new desktop computer today, but it also promptly made it available for pre-order. With many folks using Mac minis to run AI tools like OpenClaw, we expect the tiny new powerhouses to be coveted products. The Mac mini hasn't had an update since the M4 and M4 Pro chips made their debut in a pint-sized package in November 2024, making this updated version with new Apple Silicon even more desired.

As the most powerful products in Apple's lineup, you can expect to pay a pretty penny for both the M6 and M5 Pro Mac minis. Of course, the weight of the global memory shortage certainly doesn't help. The M6 option starts at $899, with maxed out specs running you up to $2,399. Meanwhile, the M5 Pro starts at a jaw-dropping $1,699 and can cost as much as $6,799 with maxed out specs. Education buyers can save $100 on each device by ordering directly through the Apple Store.

Both the M6 Mac mini and M5 Pro Mac mini will start shipping on Sept. 22, but customers can pre-order either device starting today, Aug. 25, at the Apple Store. We'll keep our eyes peeled at Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and other Apple Authorized retailers for pre-order availability in the coming days and update this story with any new details. If you want to ensure you get your hands on one of these small, but mighty desktops, we recommend pre-ordering as soon as your wallet will allow.

For much of the 1990s, Pamela Anderson was sold to us as the ultimate male fantasy. Three decades later, she's showing women a far more seductive proposition: being left alone in a beautiful garden.

The Rosebush Pruning star joined TikTok over the weekend, and so far, that's pretty much where she's stayed. In Anderson's first three videos, she's surrounded by flowers and greenery, wandering through the whimsical garden at her Vancouver Island home like a woman who has successfully escaped whatever algorithm the rest of us are trapped in.

There are no trending dances. No GRWMs. No boyfriend cameos. No desperate attempts to prove that Pamela Anderson, 59, understands what the kids are doing on TikTok. There is just a woman in her garden. As one commenter noted, "This is life without a man."

I want what she has.

SEE ALSO: The 35 best documentaries on Netflix

This isn't to say Anderson has logged on without an agenda. Her bio promotes Sonsie, the vegan skincare brand she co-owns, a fitting bit of self-promotion for the makeup-free era that has become part of her public reinvention for the past several years — one that feels worlds away from the version of Pamela Anderson that dominated pop culture in the '90s and early 2000s.

For decades, Anderson's image was almost impossible to separate from other people's ideas about her.

There was the red Baywatch swimsuit, the platinum blonde hair, the pencil-thin eyebrows, the Playboy covers, and the tabloid obsession with her body and her relationships. She became one of the most recognizable women in the world, but recognition isn't necessarily the same thing as being known.

In recent years, Anderson has been reclaiming that distinction. Her 2023 memoir, Love, Pamela, as well as the Netflix documentary Pamela, a Love Story, introduced the public to a woman who was far more introspective than the bombshell caricature that had followed her for decades. And her awards season run for her stunning performance in 2024's The Last Showgirl forced Hollywood to reconsider an actress it had long underestimated.

Featured Video For You Dua Lipa's lifestyle is building an internet empire.

Offscreen, Anderson has been building an equally compelling second act. She's a voracious reader and writer who has long kept journals and written poetry. She returned to Vancouver Island, where she grew up, and restored her grandmother's six-acre property. She gardens. She cooks, as documented in her plant-based cookbook I Love You: Recipes from the Heart. She has embraced appearing in public without makeup, including on some of fashion's biggest red carpets. Anderson has even extended her romantic, lived-in aesthetic to furniture with The Sentimentalist, a new collection created in collaboration with Los Angeles-based design house Olive Ateliers.

Taken individually, none of those things is particularly revolutionary. Women have been growing tomatoes and reading books for quite some time. But there's something satisfying about watching Pamela Anderson do them.

Here is a woman whose cultural value was once so closely tied to being looked at, now seemingly far more interested in looking around: at her flowers, at her home and her dogs, at the food she's growing, at the life she has built for herself. Now, her TikTok account feels like a tiny window into that world.

The internet is obsessed with finding the perfect way to be a woman

There's another reason Anderson's peaceful garden feels particularly alluring on TikTok.

The platform is overflowing with competing visions of the ideal female life. There are tradwives baking bread in immaculate kitchens and "soft life" influencers preaching the virtues of ease. There are clean girls, cottagecore girls, divine feminine coaches, dating experts, homesteaders, and women documenting their elaborate morning routines before most of us have managed to locate our glasses.

SEE ALSO: What is a "tradwife"? Nara Smith rejects the viral label.

Scroll long enough, and womanhood can start to feel like a series of lifestyle packages you have to choose between. Should you be a girlboss or reject hustle culture? Get married young or embrace being single? Move to the country? Move to Europe? Become a homemaker? Freeze your eggs? Delete the dating apps? Find a provider? Become the provider?

Social media has given us an endless vocabulary for the kind of woman we're supposed to be. And increasingly, even authenticity can feel like another performance. We're encouraged to look effortless while documenting the effort it takes to look that way, to be vulnerable but still aspirational, to somehow build a personal brand around being our most authentic selves.

After years of influencer aesthetics, sponsored vulnerability, and carefully curated "realness," audiences have gotten pretty good at recognizing the act. It's why authenticity has become one of the internet's most coveted — and hardest to manufacture — qualities.

Pamela Anderson, meanwhile, just wants to show you her sunflowers.

The life she's presenting doesn't seem organized around an argument about what women should want. Anderson isn't selling singledom as empowerment or domesticity as virtue. She isn't presenting herself as a blueprint. She's simply living.

And after spending so much of her life being defined through her desirability to men, there's something radical about how little male attention seems to factor into the image she's presenting now.

Pamela Anderson's new fantasy is being interested in your own life

It would be easy to describe Anderson's current era as a rejection of the woman she used to be. But that doesn't quite capture it. She hasn't disowned the bombshell. The makeup-free face doesn't invalidate the smoky eye. The garden doesn't erase Baywatch. If anything, Anderson seems increasingly comfortable allowing all of those versions of herself to coexist.

What has changed is who appears to be in control of the image. Anderson has spoken in recent years about stripping away expectations and rediscovering herself outside the persona constructed around her. "For years, I was acting like these characters: a Playmate, a rockstar's wife," she told Vogue in 2023. "I love that I went through all of it and did all of those things, but I'm also glad I’ve made it to this point and can laugh at it."

"My dogs love me like this, my garden loves me like this," she said of her makeup-free lifestyle. "Taking those chances are what makes life interesting. And if you have an open heart and you are being vulnerable, you can't lose."

Maybe that's the fantasy Anderson represents now. Not eternal youth or effortless beauty. Not finding the perfect relationship. Not becoming the woman everybody wants.

It's having a home you love. A mind that keeps you company. Something growing in the garden. A life interesting enough that you don't need anyone else to make it feel complete.

For decades, people wanted Pamela Anderson. Now, I think a lot of women just want to be her.

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