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Pros Powerful Intel CPU and AMD GPU Excellent new keyboard Gorgeous 16-inch Retina Display Best-in-class speakers and mic Relatively low starting price   Cons Still only four USB-C ports No SD card reader Upgrades can get expensive quickly Summary Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is basically every creative’s dream machine, with a ton of power and a vastly improved keyboard. The larger screen makes it more useful than the 15-inch model it replaces, and it even has decent battery life for a workstation.   The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the closest Apple has come to recreating the glory of that machine. It's incredibly powerful, and the company finally listened to complaints about its shallow butterfly keyboards and equipped this model with more traditional scissor switch keys. While it doesn't address every pro-user issue -- you're still limited to four USB-C ports and there are no card slots -- it's hands down the best MacBook Pro available today for creatives.

Let's get the obvious differences out of the way first: its 16 inch screen is noticeably larger. Like many PC makers, Apple managed to fit a larger display into a similarly sized case by shaving down the bezels around the side and top. The result is a gloriously immersive, 500-nit Retina Display that can finally compete with Dell's Infinity Edge screens. It's a legitimate step up from the previous model, and a reminder of the glory days of Apple's 17-inch notebooks. And then there's the new Magic Keyboard -- which feels more like a miracle keyboard. Mac users have been complaining about the flat Butterfly keyboards ever since they debuted. And, while Apple eventually fixed some sound and reliability issues, they never felt great to type on. It always felt like pretend typing on a pane of glass -- it's not satisfying, and barely functional. The Magic Keyboard fixes that issue by going back to the scissor mechanism Apple has been using in its desktop keyboards for years. There's a millimeter of key travel now, and they aren't wobbly like they used to be on older MacBook Pros. In comparison, the Butterfly keyboards had a mere half-millimeter of travel, and Dell's XPS 15 offer a slightly deeper 1.3 millimeters.

I've almost forgotten what it was like to enjoy typing on a MacBook Pro, but this new keyboard brought me right back to my early days of writing on a second-gen MacBook Air. There's a responsiveness that makes the keyboard feel inviting, like it's a world-class instrument waiting to be played. That millimeter of feedback practically makes the notebook feel like an extension of my body, instead of a tool that annoys me every time I touch it. Even butterfly keyboard defenders will have a hard time denying that the Magic Keyboard simply feels better, and it can't reach other MacBooks soon enough. Apple even compromised a bit with the Touch Bar: the physical Escape key is back! And there's a separate TouchID and power button, which makes it easier to find without looking. I'm still not completely sold on the Touch Bar's usefulness, but at least it feels like less of a hindrance to my workflow.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is a bit taller and wider than the 15-inch model by a few millimeters, and it's marginally thicker at .64-inches, instead of 0.61. It's heftier too at 4.3 pounds, instead of around 4. It definitely weighed down my backpack more, and it's slightly larger dimensions make it a bit of a chore to fit on cramped coffee shop tables. But I think the trade offs are worth it for the sheer power Apple managed to stuff into this machine. It would have been nice to see more of a design refresh, but Apple's unibody aluminum case looks as sleek as ever, so I can't really complain much. Under the hood, you've got Intel's latest six and eight core i7 and i9 processors, the latter of which can reach boost speeds up to 5GHz. You can also choose between AMD's Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M GPUs with 4GB of VRAM. That more powerful GPU can even be configured with 8GB of VRAM for heavy-duty 3D rendering work. Apple claims the 5300M graphics are 2.1 times faster than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, and that makes sense since it's powered by AMD's new rDNA architecture.

Apple is breaking new ground for memory and storage in the MacBook Pro as well, with support for up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and 8 terabytes of fast SSD storage. Notably, Apple says this is the largest SSD ever in a notebook, and we haven't found any evidence out there to prove otherwise. These are fantastic high-end specs for programmers and artists alike. It used to be that you had to settle with a small SSD in a modern laptop and carry around a portable drive for larger files. The 16-inch MacBook Pro gives you the sort of storage flexibility you'd expect from a desktop workstation. Of course, you'll pay dearly for maxing out those specs. Bumping up to 64GB of RAM is an additional $800, while the 8TB of storage is an eye-watering $2,200 extra. These aren't really upgrades meant for average users, but I'd bet huge VFX firms wouldn't think twice about spending $5,899 for a decked out MacBook Pro to speed up their workflows.

Our review unit, which featured an eight-core i9 CPU and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics, tore through whatever I put in front of it. It's clearly more than I needed for my typical workflow, which mostly involves juggling a ton of browsers, light image editing, Evernote, Slack and Spotify. When I gave it a serious job, like transcoding a 4K movie clip, it leaped into action. Handbrake handled a two minute clip in just 52 seconds, whereas it took the new 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 a full minute longer. In the Geekbench 4 Compute benchmark, the new Radeon Pro GPU also scored twice as much as the last-gen AMD hardware. Simply put, this thing screams. As I was benchmarking the 16 inch MacBook Pro, it never felt hot to the touch, and while the fans were noticeable when they spun it, they weren't annoyingly loud. As part of the notebook's revamped cooling setup, the fans can now push out 28 percent more air than before, and the heatsink covers 35 percent more internal space. All of those improvements, and the slightly larger case, means the new MacBook Pro should be able to withstand heat better than any of Apple's previous notebooks. Apple also made a slew of other compelling upgrades to the 16-inch MacBook Pro. A new six speaker setup makes music and movies sound great. It's no replacement for dedicated speakers, but it's impressive for something coming out of a very thin laptop. There's also a 3-microphone array that Apple is putting against standalone mics like the Blue Yeti. That's definitely going a bit too far, but recordings I've made sound good... for a laptop mic at least. And there's very little background hiss. It's more useful for video chats and shouting at Siri, since pro users tend to be pretty religious about their preferred mics.

Unfortunately, you're still stuck with 4 Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports for connectivity. It'd be nice to see Apple bring back an SD card reader, but unlike the keyboard, that's one area where the company is refusing to back down. At least USB-C dongles and accessories are cheaper and better these days, but I've talked to plenty of pro Apple users who still pine for the flexibility of that 2015 MacBook pro. The new 100 watt per hour battery also lived up to Apple's marketing hype. The company claims it'll last up to 11 hours -- during our battery test it survived for 11 hours and 20 minutes. Of course, we were just looping an HD video, you can certainly expect it to drain faster under heavy duty workloads. Apple includes a new 96-watt USB-C power adapter in the box -- the beefiest we've ever seen on a MacBook Pro. It's only a bit larger than the 15-inch notebook's adapter.

Besides the electric Cybertruck, Elon Musk also showed off an apparently Tesla-designed electric ATV. It's not available as part of the pre-orders currently live on Tesla's store, but in the presentation it was used to show off how the Cybertruck's adaptive suspension tilts for easy loading. It can apparently charge directly from Tesla's truck while sitting in the bed, but with production not scheduled to begin until late-2021, there's plenty of time for the company to work out this toy vehicle. Gallery: Tesla Cybertruck

Twitter has finally made a change users have been waiting a long time to see. No, it's not editable tweets, but as of today everyone can enable two-factor authentication on their account without linking a phone number. While SMS-based two-factor can be a fallback for people who lose access to code-generating devices or don't have security keys, it's very vulnerable to SIM-swapping attacks. Twitter added code generator support a while ago, but still asked users to add a phone number if they wanted the extra verification and you couldn't remove the fallback. That's upsetting for those concerned about their privacy, they may not want to link a phone number to their account at all, and Twitter has already admitted that it used phone-numbers to target ads even for users who declined that. Attackers used SIM-swapping to send tweets from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account earlier this year, and while the exploit didn't use two-factor codes, it showed how vulnerable the SMS-based system can be. If you already have a phone number linked in your profile, then you can go ahead and remove it now. However, a security engineer noted that you can't remove the number and rely simply on a security key for access since that's only supported on the website.

Kayvon Beykpour ✔@kayvz Another

update today: you can now use Two Factor Authentication without linking a phone number. If you already have your phone number linked along with App-based 2FA, you can unlink your

Unlucky Trend Micro customers ensnared in the insider hack at the antivirus company are being bombarded with fake tech support calls seeking access to their computers. "The first call seemed very legitimate to me," one customer named Rona told PCMag. "I almost fell for it." Rona, who requested her last name be withheld, was among the estimated 68,000 Trend Micro users who had their names, email addresses, phone numbers, and customer support ticket numbers exposed in the breach. Since August, Trend Micro has been investigating why customers were receiving fake tech support calls and sourced it back to a rogue employee who was selling customer information to an unknown third party.

How the Scam Works

Rona, who is based in Alberta, Canada, said she tried to warn Trend Micro about the potential hack in early October when she received a mysterious call on her cell phone from the scammers. The man, who had an "Indian or Pakistani accent," said he was contacting her on behalf of Trend Micro to report a problem with the company's antivirus software, which she's used for the past decade. The mysterious man knew Rona's name, as well as how she had recently called Trend Micro's help line to install the company's antivirus software on her mother's computer. He then asked Rona to open an email he had sent, which outlined the steps she needed to take to fix the problem. "I asked why they were not sending the fix through normal downloads. They said the servers were also infected and that is why they needed to do the fix via email, Rona said. "Since I was at work we decided that they would call me on Saturday, when I would be at my laptop." If Rona had been at her laptop when the scammer had called, she might have simply followed the man's instructions, assuming the request to be legit. But after the call, she thought the whole story of an infected Trend Micro server was suspicious. "So I phoned Trend Micro (the real company) and they told me it was scam," she said, which caused her to promptly delete the email the mysterious man had sent. According to Trend Micro, the company's technical support never makes unsolicited phone calls to customers. A call will only be made if it's been pre-scheduled. Nevertheless, many Trend Micro customers are probably unaware of the policy.

Red Flag No. 1: A Valid Support Ticket Number

In Rona's case, the calls from the scammers didn't stop. Mere days after the first call, she received another from a man who also had an Indian accent, but sounded different from the first. Knowing that the man was likely part of the same scheme, Rona attempted to tease out details from the caller. "Eventually, he realized that I knew that he was scammer," she said. The man then made an alarming proposal. "He said, 'You have a really nice voice. You can pay me money and I'll sleep with you. How much do you want to pay?' Maybe he was trying to get my bank account number. I don't know." Rona promptly hung up. But the scam calls continued. She remembers receiving a third call from a man who was able to quote a valid Trend Micro customer support ticket number she has received from the company. That's when she began to strongly suspect Trend Micro had a serious breach on its hands. "I phoned them (the real Trend Micro) and I'm like how did they get my valid ticket number? That's not something you guess. And they just said, 'I'm sorry for the inconvenience," she recounted. "It was pretty obvious to me that an employee was behind this, but I didn't think Trend Micro was treating ouit serisly." In the meantime, scammers tried another tactic: bombarding her phone number with robocalls—sometimes three times a day—claiming Trend Micro was going to charge or credit her bank account, and that she need to respond. In all cases, the calls came from different numbers, making them unblockable.

Why No Earlier Warning?

Uh oh. Where's your smartphone? If it's lost or stolen and you need to find it quickly, you have a few options. Apple owners can locate a device with the Find My app (known as Find My iPhone on pre-iOS 13 devices), ping an iPhone via an Apple Watch, or sign into iCloud to track down a phone. Google provides an app and website called Find My Device through which you can seek out your Android phone. If you believe your iPhone or Android phone may have been stolen or you don't want it falling into the wrong hands, you can remotely erase the information on it so no one else can access it. No matter what you own, here's how to locate your missing device.

How to Find a Lost iPhone on iPad Before your device went missing, you should have set up the Find My (iPhone) feature. On iOS 13+, go to Settings > > Find My > Find My iPhone. On an earlier operating system, navigate to Settings > > iCloud > Find My iPhone. Either way, make sure that Find My iPhone and Send Last Location are both turned on. The new Find My app comes with the added bonus of tracking your device's location even if it's offline. If you want this capability, make sure to turn on the switch next to Enable Offline Finding.

Find Your iPhone on the Map Now, let's say your phone is lost. The first trick is to simply call it from another phone, but if that doesn't work, it's time to enlist the aid of another device. If you own an iPad running iPadOS, fire up the Find My app. In the lower-left corner, tap Devices. The app displays a list and a map showing the locations of any of your Apple devices that are currently turned on. If your device is running an older operating system, the Find My iPhone app will automatically show any registered devices on the map and in the list.

Select the iPhone Entry If your iPhone's location is visible, tap the icon on the map or the entry in the list. The app will then display a few options. Tap Play Sound and your iPhone will emit a pinging sonar noise to help you find it. Tap Directions within iPadOS and the app will give you directions to the lost device.

Mark Device as Lost If you can't find your phone, tap Mark as Lost in iPadOS (or Lost Mode in older versions). This mode lets you lock your phone so no one else can access it. If someone finds it, the device will display your contact information.

Erase iPhone If you can't locate your phone and are concerned about it being accessed by the wrong person, you can erase all the information remotely. Once the iPhone has been marked as lost, an option to erase the data becomes available. Tap Erase This Device (or Erase iPhone on older versions) to remove all personal information. The downside here is that an erased phone can no longer be tracked through this app, so only use this option if you have given up all hope of finding your device.

How to Find a Lost iPhone on Mac On a Mac with Catalina, you can use the Find My app to track down a missing iPhone. To get to the app, click Go > Applications > Find My in the top menu. In the Find My app, click the option for Devices. Click the entry for your iPhone from the list or select the icon on the map and click the Info button. From the Info menu, click the Play Sound button to play a pinging sound on your phone. Click the Directions button to view directions to your phone.

How to Find a Lost iPhone with iCloud If you don't have another Apple device handy, you can visit your iCloud website to find your phone. Launch your browser and go to iCloud.com. Sign in with your Apple ID and password. Click the icon for Find iPhone.

Select Your iPhone on the Map At the map, click the heading for All Devices and choose the entry for your iPhone. Click the green dot for your iPhone. From the pop-up menu, you can now play a sound on your device to help locate it, put it in Lost Mode so no one else can access it, or erase all the data.

How to Find a Lost iPhone with Apple Watch If you have an Apple Watch, you can use it to help find your phone. Swipe up from the watch face to display the Control Center. Then tap the icon that looks like a ringing phone. Your iPhone emits the pinging noise to help you locate it. The noise goes off just once, so you'll have to keep tapping the icon to keep the pinging alive.

How to Find an Android Device Google offers an app and web page where you can hunt down your phone. The app, which you can download from Google Play, is helpful if you have more than one Android device, while the web page comes into play if you have just one device. Now let's say your Android phone is missing, and the app is installed on your Android tablet. Fire up the app, and it should pinpoint the location of your lost phone. Select the lost device and ping it by selecting Play Sound.

Secure Device You can lock the device and display a message for anyone who finds it. Tap Secure Device, then type a message to display on the lock screen. Tap Secure Device to finalize and lock the phone.

Erase Device Are you afraid the phone's been stolen or don't want someone to access the data on it? Tap Erase Device, then tap Erase Device again to finalize. Make sure you read the information on what will happen to your phone here because there’s no going back.