TL;DR: Through April 30, save a little money by getting the 2019 version of Microsoft Office Professional Plus for Windows. It’s on sale for just $29.97.
If you could use some productivity support, a tried-and-true suite of apps from a big name in software could help. Create, organize, and more with the assistance of Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows, and you can get it on sale for just $29.97 through April 30.
Get access to tools to help you perform your best, whether professionally or personally. This 2019 version of Office might be slightly older than the most current version on the market, but it still features most of what many expect from Office.
You’ll get the 2019 version of Word for document creation, Excel to access spreadsheets, PowerPoint to make killer slides, Outlook for email and calendar management, Access to build databases, OneNote to take digital notes, and Publisher for personal publications.
All of these apps combine to help keep you moving more efficiently. However, it should be noted that it does not include Teams. You will need to be running Windows 10 or 11 to use this software.
Because you only pay a one-time price for this license, you won’t need to worry about any recurring fees like you would with Microsoft 365. This license is good on one PC for life.
Office Professional Plus 2019 is tailored for enhanced productivity with rich features that provide business users, professionals, and home users alike with most of the functions they need to work at their best.
Don’t miss this opportunity to own Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 at this reduced price.
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows is on sale for just $29.97 (reg. $229) until April 30 at 11:59 p.m. PT.
StackSocial prices subject to change.
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Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2019 for Windows
Oh hey there! If you’re here, it must be time for Wordle. As always, we’re serving up our daily hints and tips to help you figure out today’s answer.
If you just want to be told today’s word, you can jump to the bottom of this article for April 27’s Wordle solution revealed. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
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.
Not the day you’re after? Here’s the solution to yesterday’s Wordle.
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 used to be available for anyone to enjoy whenever they felt like it. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, with the website’s creator stating it was done at the request of the New York Times.
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.
Here’s a subtle hint for today’s Wordle answer:
A plum.
Does today’s Wordle answer have a double letter?
There are no letters that appear twice.
Today’s Wordle is a 5-letter word that starts with…
Today’s Wordle starts with the letter P.
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 Wordle #1044 is…
PRUNE.
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.
Reporting by Caitlin Welsh, Sam Haysom, Amanda Yeo, Shannon Connellan, Cecily Mauran, Mike Pearl, and Adam Rosenberg contributed to this article.
Connections is the latest New York Times word game that’s captured the public’s attention. The game is all about finding the “common threads between words.” And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we’ve served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.
If you just want to be told today’s puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for April 28’s Connections solution. But if you’d rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.
What is Connections?
The NYT‘s latest daily word game has become a social media hit. The Times credits associate puzzle editor Wyna Liu with helping to create the new word game and bringing it to the publications’ Games section. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.
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Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there’s only one correct answer. If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.
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Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.
Here’s a hint for today’s Connections categories
Want a hit about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:
Yellow: Similar to limerance
Green: How a cheesy romcom starts
Blue: Old TV problems
Purple: Types of Mary’s
Featured Video For You
Connections: How to play and how to win
Here are today’s Connections categories
Need a little extra help? Today’s connections fall into the following categories:
Yellow: Passionate, as a Feeling
Green: Bang Into
Blue: Analog TV Interference
Purple: ___Mary
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 Connections #322 is…
What is the answer to Connections today
Passionate, as a Feeling: DEEP, EXTREME, FIERCE, INTENSE
Bang Into: BUMP, BUTT, KNOCK, RAM
Analog TV interference: FUZZ, NOISE, SNOW, STATIC
___Mary: BLOODY, HAIL, PROUD, VIRGIN
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.
Is this not the Connections game you were looking for? Here are the hints and answers to yesterday’s Connections.
For years, Signal has been the go-to messaging app for private communications. The federal government now believes Amazon was using that power inappropriately.
According to the Washington Post, the Federal Trade Commission accused top Amazon executives, including former CEO Jeff Bezos, of using Signal’s automatic message deletion feature to hide communications, even after the FTC ordered it to keep those messages around. Amazon was apparently supposed to stop deleting messages after it was notified that the FTC was investigating it for antitrust violations.
SEE ALSO:
What is Signal? The basics of the most secure messaging app.
The FTC’s allegation centers around the fact that these deleted messages are indeed gone forever, even if it’s possible to see when a user did or didn’t turn on the message deletion feature.
“From the messages that were not deleted, it is apparent that Amazon executives used Signal to talk about competition-related business issues,” the court document read, per Engadget.
Signal has been widely used by activists and data security enthusiasts to conceal communications from prying eyes for years now. Messages benefit from end-to-end encryption on the app, meaning that only the users in the chat room can see them. Disappearing messages are set to automatically go away after a certain amount of time, in the event that the device with the messages on them is taken or compromised.
From a purely self-serving point of view, Bezos and company did the smart thing. In terms of cooperating with the FTC, however, they may have messed up a bit.
Apple got the weekend off to a weird start for some of its users.
As has been reported at 9to5Mac and The Verge, a strange problem is occurring for some users of Apple devices. Namely, folks are finding that their Apple ID accounts have been logged out and they need to log back in. For at least some of these users, logging back in with the original password actually locks you out of the account until you change the password to something else.
SEE ALSO:
iPhone password reset attacks are real – how to protect yourself
The especially unusual part is that Apple’s system status webpage doesn’t show anything wrong with its services, and the company hasn’t said anything about this publicly yet. But something is clearly wrong if this many people on social media are complaining about it.
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All of this is to say: Don’t be surprised if your Apple device starts acting funky this weekend.
The Mini is a bite-sized version of The New York Times‘ revered daily crossword. While the crossword is a lengthier experience that requires both knowledge and patience to complete, The Mini is an entirely different vibe.
With only a handful of clues to answer, the daily puzzle doubles as a speed-running test for many who play it.
So, when a tricky clue disrupts a player’s flow, it can be frustrating! If you find yourself stumped playing The Mini — much like with Wordle and Connections — we have you covered.
SEE ALSO:
NYT Connections today: See hints and answers for April 27
SEE ALSO:
Wordle today: Here’s the answer and hints for April 27
Here are the clues and answers to NYT’s The Mini for Saturday, April 27, 2024:
It took less than a week for NASA Administrator Bill Nelson’s gaffe to make it to social media.
Over an hour into a budget hearing for the U.S. space agency, a congressman asked Nelson why China is sending spacecraft to the “backside” of the moon.
“They are going to have a lander on the far side of the moon, which is the side that’s always in dark,” said Nelson, a former senator and astronaut, during the April 17 hearing. “We’re not planning to go there.”
He proceeded to tell the lawmaker that “We don’t know what’s on the backside of the moon.”
On two counts, that was untrue: The so-called far side of the moon is not dark, despite popular belief, nor is it completely unknown to American scientists.
SEE ALSO:
NASA is back in the moon business. Here’s what that means.
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What is the dark side of the moon?
The far side is the hemisphere of the moon facing away from Earth. Because people never see it, that portion was once dubbed “the dark side.” The confusing misnomer has led many to incorrectly assume the far side is shrouded in darkness. In reality, it receives just as much light as the near side.
Perhaps the actual “dark” location on the moon is where NASA plans to send Artemis astronauts in the coming years: the polar south region, where scientists believe ice water is buried. The south is pockmarked with frigid craters cloaked in shadow.
The far side is the hemisphere of the moon facing away from Earth. Credit: NASA / NOAA
Why do we only see one side of the moon?
It takes about a month for the moon, some 250,000 miles away, to orbit Earth. It also takes the same amount of time for the moon to make one full rotation on its axis. This coincidence is why Earthlings always see the same lunar side.
Prior to space exploration, many speculated the far side was a frozen and ominous region, a myth perpetuated by Pink Floyd’s trippy “Dark Side of the Moon” album in 1973.
Indeed the far side remained an enigma to humans, but only until October 1959. That’s when the Soviet space program swung the Luna 3 probe around the moon. The spacecraft returned several grainy images that revealed a curiously different surface than that on the familiar near side.
About a half-century later, NASA launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to explore the region from space. Since then, the spacecraft has sent home loads of data, allowing scientists to map the far side in detail.
The Soviet space program swung the Luna 3 probe around the moon in October 1959. Credit: Luna 3 / Russian Space Agency / NSSDCA
What does the far side look like?
What scientists have learned is that the side humans can’t see is vastly different.
Though the near side has large dark patches that together resemble a face, known as the “man in the moon,” the far side has few of these spots. The spots are called maria, dark areas formed when meteoroids slammed into the moon, causing lava to emerge. Not only did the lava make the surface darker, but it erased previous craters that recorded some of the moon’s geological history.
The far side, on the other hand, is blanketed in more craters of various sizes and depths, including the enormous South Pole-Aitken basin.
During the NASA and Soviet space race era, spacecraft never landed on the unseen side. Part of that was because of how difficult it is. The moon itself blocks communication between mission controllers on Earth and the far side. But in 2018, China put a communication relay satellite in space about 40,000 miles beyond the moon that could exchange the signals.
The far side of the moon receives just as much light as the near side. Credit: NASA / USRA / GSFC visualization
Why is China going to the far side of the moon?
Getting back to that House Appropriations Committee hearing on April 17: U.S. Rep. David Trone asked Nelson what made China so interested in the far side, rather than the south pole.
“I have no idea,” Nelson said. He did, however, explain that the U.S. is going to the moon’s south pole because that’s where NASA suspects water is preserved in dark craters. It’s a vital economic resource for future lunar endeavors.
But scientists say there’s actually a lot that could be gained from studying the far side, which seems to have a more pristine record of earlier cosmic collisions and impacts.
NASA’s Moonkam viewing the far side of the moon. Credit: NASA / Caltech-JPL / MIT / SRS
On Dec. 8, 2018, China launched the Chang’e-4 mission and became the first nation to land on the reverse side of the moon. It touched down at the Von Karman crater, a site within the South Pole-Aitken basin.
The basin is a depression probably formed by an ancient asteroid collision so cataclysmic that it excavated some of the lunar mantle — material between the core and the crust — and brought it to the surface. The advantage of going to this location is the potential to learn more about the interior composition of the moon.
What China found, according to a paper published in the journal Science Advances, is that the layer of soil there is much thicker than on the near side. It was about 130 feet deep.
If the crust were a lot thinner on the side facing Earth, that might explain why lava was able to break through and form the maria spots. But why one hemisphere’s crust would be so drastically different in thickness from the other is unclear. China’s future missions may help answer that question.
Solving such mysteries could not only tell us more about the moon’s evolution, but provide further insight into the history of the solar system.
A spacecraft has carefully approached and imaged a large hunk of metal orbiting Earth — a step in tackling humanity’s mounting space junk woes.
The delicate space mission, undertaken by the Japanese satellite technology company Astroscale, used its ADRAS-J satellite to travel within several hundred meters of an abandoned section of a noncommunicative, derelict rocket, proving it could safely observe in such close proximity.
“Pics or it didn’t happen,” the company posted on X (formerly Twitter). “Behold, the world’s first image of space debris captured through rendezvous and proximity operations during our ADRAS-J mission.”
SEE ALSO:
NASA scientist viewed first Voyager images. What he saw gave him chills.
The mission is part of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA, which is Japan’s NASA counterpart) “Commercial Removal of Debris Demonstration” project, which seeks a proven way to remove problematic space junk from Earth’s orbit. A collision involving a large object can create thousands more pieces of debris, stoking a domino effect of future impacts.
The experimental spacecraft will now continue to closely approach the rocket, which Japan launched in 2009, gathering more data on the rocket’s condition and motion. The following mission, with this information in hand, will “then remove and deorbit the rocket body using in-house robotic arm technologies,” the company said in a statement.
“We selected this target because it is a large piece of space debris and there are many similarly shaped (cylindrical) pieces on the [space debris] list,” Yamamoto Toru, who leads Japan’s commercial removal mission, said in a statement. “If we are successful, we expect to be able to apply these techniques to the removal of similarly shaped space debris.”
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A rendering of the ADRAS-J spacecraft approaching its large space junk target. Credit: Astroscale
Space junk is a serious problem. The unregulated orbital trash now permeates a region of space around Earth called low Earth orbit, or LEO.
“LEO is an orbital space junk yard,” NASA explained. “There are millions of pieces of space junk flying in LEO. Most orbital debris comprises human-generated objects, such as pieces of spacecraft, tiny flecks of paint from a spacecraft, parts of rockets, satellites that are no longer working, or explosions of objects in orbit flying around in space at high speeds.”
Unintentional collisions can happen. But intentional actions have dramatically degraded the LEO environment. “For instance, the deliberate destruction of the Chinese Fengyun-1C spacecraft in 2007 and the accidental collision of an American and a Russian spacecraft in 2009 alone have increased the large orbital debris population in LEO by approximately 70 percent, posing greater collision risks for spacecraft operating in low Earth orbit,” NASA noted.
The International Space Station has needed to maneuver multiple times to avoid close impacts from speeding debris.
Somewhat recently, during a problematic 2021 test, Russia fired a missile at its 4,850-pound satellite Cosmos 1408, creating a cloud of fragments that triggered an emergency response on the relatively nearby space station.
“We’re going to see consequences from this particular event for the next few decades,” Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronautics at the University of Southampton who researches space debris, told Mashable at the time. “It wasn’t a good outcome. It was never going to be a good outcome.”
“There wasn’t a worse target to aim for with respect for human spaceflight,” he added.
On Wednesday, President Joe Biden signed a bill into law that could effectively ban TikTok in the U.S. — but it’s not going to be that easy.
The bill requires ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to sell its shares in the app to a buyer that meets U.S. government requirements within 270 days. Failure to do so would result in cloud providers and app stores being banned from distributing the app. (Existing users might be able to retain the app on their phones, but access to its content could be restricted, akin to a show available in one country but not another on Netflix.) The deadline for compliance is Jan. 19, one day before Biden’s term is set to expire. The legislation was connected to a foreign aid package that included support for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.
SEE ALSO:
President Biden will continue to use TikTok to campaign even after banning it in the U.S.
If implemented, the ban would affect the approximately 170 million monthly active TikTok users in the U.S., 42 percent of whom are between the ages of 18 and 24. The app is particularly popular among younger users who use it to organize, communicate, educate, and entertain.
Lawmakers who voted in support of the divest or ban legislation cited concerns about data privacy, national security, surveillance, and propaganda, primarily due to ByteDance’s Chinese ownership. TikTok has routinely denied allegations that it shares U.S. users’ data with the Chinese government.
“We don’t want to see a ban,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. President Joe Biden’s campaign, however, will still be using it to reach young voters. “This is about PRC ownership,” she emphasized, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
TikTok does see it as a ban, though.
“Make no mistake, this is a ban — a ban on TikTok, and a ban on you, and your voice,” CEO Shou Zi Chew said, in a video posted on TikTok.
The American public’s stance on the ban is divided. About half of American adults — 49 percent, according to YouGov data from last month — said they’d support a ban. Approximately a third of Americans believe TikTok poses a national security threat while another third disagreed. At least half of all TikTok users say they strongly or somewhat oppose a ban. This debate comes at a critical time when many lawmakers are facing reelection.
So, what happens now? “It almost seems certain that we’ll see legal challenges, and there do seem to be precedents that raise significant First Amendment concerns about this approach,” explained Jennifer Huddleston, a senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute, to Mashable.
What might TikTok do?
TikTok is likely gearing up for a legal battle to challenge any divestment or outright ban. That means suing the government, most likely on constitutional grounds, in federal court.
“This unconstitutional law is a TikTok ban, and we will challenge it in court,” TikTok stated after Biden signed the bill. “We believe the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and we will ultimately prevail. The fact is, we have invested billions of dollars to keep U.S. data safe and our platform free from outside influence and manipulation.”
SEE ALSO:
Which countries have banned TikTok?
TikTok’s constitutional argument will presumably focus on the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of speech and expression, arguing that banning the app or forcing divestment violates these rights. On this basis, TikTok would be seeking to have the law declared unconstitutional, or at least asking for an injunction blocking it from being enforced. The U.S. government’s position is expected to emphasize that any restriction on TikTok is necessary to safeguard Americans against surveillance, data privacy breaches, propaganda, and national security threats. Both sides have previously made similar arguments, with TikTok winning that argument in the courts before, notably in Montana last year.
“I expect there will be at least one legal challenge to the law. And I think the U.S. government will be hard-pressed to show that the law satisfies the appropriate First Amendment scrutiny,” Electronic Frontier Foundation Civil Liberties Director David Greene told Mashable, adding that “there is no First Amendment exception for national security.”
TikTok has strong legal allies and precedents supporting its case. “This legislation would set a terrible precedent for excessive U.S. government control over social media and Americans’ speech,” Ashley Gorski, senior staff attorney in the ACLU’s National Security Project, told Mashable. Jenna Ruddock, policy counsel for Free Press, stated that a law targeting one platform like this violates the First Amendment and limits “essential spaces for people to connect and communicate.”
TikTok might also argue due process violations, claiming the U.S. failed to explain why its mitigation measures were insufficient. Additionally, TikTok could cite the bill of attainder, alleging that the legislature specifically targets them unfairly.
Depending on how the lower court rules, and on TikTok’s desire to keep fighting, there’s a possibility that this case could be decided by the Supreme Court.
Beyond legal challenges, TikTok is expected to launch an aggressive PR campaign. When the ban was looming, TikTok urged its U.S. users to call lawmakers, resulting in a flood of calls to Congress. As Mashable’s Tim Marcin wrote, “You can expect more messaging from the company as it fights to stay in the U.S.”
But TikTok hasn’t filed yet — and the U.S. government will likely respond in kind.
How might the U.S. government respond?
“The government will argue that this law is addressing conduct, not speech, and therefore, outside First Amendment protections,” Anupam Chander, a Scott K. Ginsburg professor of law and technology and a visiting scholar at the Institute for Rebooting Social Media at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, told Mashable. He noted two instances of conduct could be alleged: “The conduct at issue would be surveillance, and the other would be propaganda — that it is manipulating the American people on behalf of a foreign government.” However, the propaganda claim involves speech because it centers on “the editorial selection of particular topics, rather than others.”
The U.S. government could also claim that TikTok infringes on Americans’ data privacy and poses a national security risk.
Yet, the data-gathering argument also raises free speech concerns. “Even in the context of personal data, [that is], the surveillance prong of the government’s claims, there is an important First Amendment constraint,” Chander explained.
SEE ALSO:
The TikTok ban is law. Here’s what happens next.
The court might argue that this infringes on the right to expression, but Chander expressed uncertainty over “whether or not [the courts] will feel that impingement is justified.”
“And that’s really where the big question mark in my mind is,” Chander said. “Will the court be persuaded that the government has demonstrated […] a compelling interest in preventing this app from operating with ownership that traces back to China?”
And the U.S. will likely have to supply more evidence to support its claims.
“We don’t have any public evidence of why TikTok is a national security threat,” Chander said. “We saw that members of the House and the Senate were given secret intelligence briefings by the U.S. government. Some of those senators and congressmen walked out and said, ‘Oh my God, this is a national security threat, and we should ban it.’ While others said it was all conjecture.”
That lack of transparency raises concerns about banning a platform without clear justification, especially one used by millions.
As journalist and commentator Casey Newton pointed out in Platformer, “The government will likely struggle to make a convincing argument that banning TikTok is necessary for protecting Americans.”
“If the Chinese government wants data on Americans, they don’t need TikTok to get it,” Alan Z. Rozenshtein, an associate professor of law at the University of Minnesota, wrote in a piece for Lawfare on Monday. “They don’t even need to steal it. The United States is a notorious outlier among developed nations for its lack of a national data privacy law. This means that the Chinese can just buy from data brokers and other third-party aggregators much of the same information that they would get from having access to TikTok user data.”
Is there precedent?
Two legal cases suggest that TikTok’s arguments may hold weight. One is Lamont v. Postmaster General, a Supreme Court case from the 1960s. This case addressed the propaganda argument, similar to what the U.S. government might make against TikTok. In Lamont v. the Postmaster General, the court ruled that blocking mail from communist China infringed upon recipients’ First Amendment rights to receive information.
The other case involves Montana’s failed attempt to ban TikTok. However, winning one case in court does not guarantee TikTok’s victory in this case. The government’s arguments will likely focus on the severity of national security risks, justifying any limitations on free expression.
SEE ALSO:
U.S. judge blocks Montana’s TikTok ban
What happens if TikTok wins in the courts?
TikTok could pursue several paths, but it would likely need to make operational changes to comply with U.S. government expectations, even if the law is deemed unconstitutional.
What happens if the U.S. wins in the courts?
If the U.S. government prevails, TikTok will be forced to sell its shares to a U.S.-approved buyer or withdraw from cloud providers and app stores.
“[TikTok] really has one shot, which is in the courts,” Chander said. “The alternate Hail Mary strategy is to withdraw from the U.S. market and hope to return when there is a thaw in China-U.S. relations.”
Even if the legislation is upheld, ByteDance has at least nine months to decide if it will sell the app in the U.S. The timeline can be extended to a year if the president feels there is progress on a deal.
SEE ALSO:
A TikTok ban would probably also take down CapCut, Lemon8, and more
Who is likely to win?
The outcome is uncertain, as both Democrats and Republicans support action against TikTok. Many legal experts, like Chander, aren’t making any assumptions on how this might turn out. “This is a question of what level of trust you place in the government to make national security determinations, even if those determinations impinge on your personal freedoms,” he said.
Regardless of the outcome, the debate over technology, especially tech predominantly used by young people, will continue. New technologies often spark moral panic due to three main factors. According to Andrew Przybylski, a professor of human behavior and technology at Oxford University, these include “a new popular thing that young people are doing, a reason to think that these young people are vulnerable, and then some secret ingredient about what makes this technology different than all of the other technologies that we panicked about before.”
Fears over TikTok’s algorithm and China’s involvement in the app may persist as issues for U.S. legislators even if TikTok wins.
“We’ve already seen things like preventing TikTok from being used on government-owned devices or government-owned networks [and] ideas like Project Texas, that create some sort of data localization in the U.S.,” Huddleston said. “You could also see some form of disclosure requirements.”
How long will this take?
The short answer is that we don’t know. A quick resolution could bring an answer in a few months, but for now, TikTok is acting like it’s here to stay.
Shopping for a new laptop is a tough task as it is. With the sheer number of options, it’s easier than ever to fall into a cycle of choice paralysis, where making a final decision feels literally impossible. If you’re a creative type who needs a laptop for a very specific purpose — in this case, video editing — the pressure can be even more intense because the wrong choice can really come back to bite you. So it’s better that you get it right the first time. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself with a laptop that doesn’t perform the way you need it to and end up in a deep financial hole.
To aid us in our search for the best video editing laptops, we reached out to Denver McQuaid, a creative marketing strategist who is also a seasoned VFX artist and video editor with a large following on Instagram and TikTok.
In an email conversation with Mashable, McQuaid walked us through the process of shopping for a great laptop for video editing, from the necessary specs, to budgeting, and beyond. And after surveying the top laptops available in 2024, there was one clear winner — the new MacBook Pro. Still, it’s not the only laptop we have to recommend. Here’s what McQuaid told us about picking the right device.
What makes a video editing laptop “good”?
With so many laptops offering wildly different features, it’s important to narrow down which ones matter the most. In McQuaid’s opinion, there are three qualities that a good video editing laptop absolutely needs: Speed, solid battery life, and a good display size.
Having a laptop that can process tasks quickly and efficiently is paramount for video editing. “[Speed] can be achieved in many ways,” said McQuaid, “including RAM, hard drive write speeds, processor clock speed, and graphics rendering.” Battery life is pretty self-explanatory — the less time you spend charging, the more time you’ll have to actually work on your projects. When it comes to display size, McQuaid said the more you can see, the better. “I edit on a 13-inch [laptop], but often with an external monitor.” He travels for work, so he uses a more lightweight laptop with a smaller screen, though he recommends newer editors go bigger. “I don’t regret it, but more screen space is always nice to have.”
SEE ALSO:
The best laptops for college students in 2024
What specs do I need in a laptop for video editing?
Your laptop’s processor, RAM, and storage space are the specs you’ll want to pay the most attention to when shopping for a video editing machine, according to McQuaid. “More RAM means faster video playback and preview times, and file caching,” he said. A higher amount of RAM is also essential for multitasking. “It’s ideal when working in multiple programs at once, like Premiere, Photoshop, After Effects, Final Cut, etcetera. This happens more often than people realize, especially on professional projects.”
When it comes to picking out a processor, it’s a little more of a dealer’s choice, although McQuaid called out Apple’s latest M3 chip as a top contender. “Typically, the number of cores is more important than processor clock speeds, as more cores at a slightly lower speed outperform fewer cores with faster speed,” he said. But McQuaid also told us that it’ll really come down to what programs you’re using to determine the processor specs that you need. “A lot of Adobe editing software and effects aren’t fully optimized for multi-core rendering and processing,” he told Mashable. “Knowing your editing workflow can help you decide what processor specs will actually be best for you.”
Perhaps the most important spec to shell out for when picking out a laptop is storage, says McQuaid. “Do not skimp on storage,” he said in our conversation. “As video files grow ever larger and get more high res, your drives will fill up faster than you expect!” He recommended that you go for at least 1TB of space and pick SSD storage over HDD because it’s faster and more reliable (although he also says it’s smart to have an external HDD on standby for long-term storage). More storage will come with a higher price tag, but it’s worth the cost, said McQuaid. “Saving a little bit of money on smaller and slower hard drives now will cause ongoing and evergrowing file management headaches indefinitely…I have personal experience with this mistake, and refuse to make it again.”
Don’t sleep on the display
We already talked about screen size being an important factor when choosing a laptop for video editing, but that’s not the only reason the display you ultimately choose matters. “The display is crucial in a few ways,” McQuaid told us. “One element people don’t often think about is the color science of different displays,” he said, mentioning that final cuts of videos will look a lot different depending on what the viewer is watching them on. That’s why making sure that your laptop can produce an accurate range of colors is a big deal. “[It] gives you the best chance at making content that will look amazing across the board,” McQuaid concluded. Though, he also added that most laptop displays today are up to snuff in that regard, so unless you’re shopping for an external monitor, you won’t have to stress too much over this.
Are cheap laptops worth it for video editing?
McQuaid warned against going too cheap when picking up a new laptop for video editing, because you’ll most likely have to pick up a new one earlier than you planned. A lot of cheap laptops won’t be able to handle serious video editing at all. You should still stay within your budget, but it’s better to invest as much as you feasibly can now so your laptop will last as long as possible, because upgrading certain laptops down the line may not be achievable (that’s why the top picks in this guide are on the expensive side). “Saving a few hundred dollars now will cost more if you have to buy a whole new laptop two to three years sooner because of outdated specs,” McQuaid said.
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What are the best laptops for video editing?
Like we already said at the top, the MacBook Pro was the clear winner as the best video editing laptop for most people. (Are you surprised? Probably not.) While the latest MacBook Pro with the M3 chip is your best bet, McQuaid told us that even older MacBook Pro models will do the trick. He uses a 2019-era MacBook Pro that predates even the M1 chip, and it still works just fine for his needs. “MacBooks have some drawbacks, but the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion,” McQuaid told Mashable. “The MacBook OS is more user-friendly and ideal for transferring files from computer to phone, or vice versa, especially iPhones.” So, if you’re looking for the intersection of power, quality, and convenience, the MacBook Pro is the way to go.
Of course, we realize that not everyone wants to jump into the Apple ecosystem, so we have more recommendations for you that fall outside of the famous fruit company. Check out more of our picks below, which we’ve chosen by way of vigorous hands-on testing and expert recommendation.
