This week: Apple's prepping to drop an "ambitious deluge" of new hardware, including the return of one of the greatest Apple products of all time...

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This week's stories

Apple Readies iPhone 14 and HomePod Upgrade in Flood of New Products

• Gurman: From what I’ve been told, the company is about to embark on one of the most ambitious periods of new products in its history—with the deluge coming between the fall of 2022 and first half of 2023.

Don’t expect a speed boost in Apple Watch Series 8

• The Apple Watch Series 8 expected this fall won’t have better performance than its recent predecessors, according to a reliable tipster.

Win a 4-in-1 MagSafe charging stand with built-in nightlight [Cult of Mac giveaways]

• This week’s giveaway is a sturdy, MagSafe-compatible, multi-device wireless charger that includes a convenient nightlight.

Apple’s next HomePod could be less mini and more powerful

• Apple is working on a new HomePod that could launch next year with a new S8 chip. The smart speaker reportedly will be similar in size to the original HomePod rather than the HomePod mini.

Entry-level M2 MacBook Pro’s SSD is slower than M1 MacBook Pro

• Apple’s new M2 MacBook Pro ships with a notably slower SSD than its predecessor. Tests show the speed difference is as big as 50% in some scenarios.

M1 MacBook Pro beats the newer M2 model in real-life stress tests

• The slower SSD on the entry-level M2 MacBook Pro has a noticeable impact on its performance in daily use. Tests show the M1 MacBook Pro beating its successor in stress tests that rely heavily on swap memory usage.

‘Severe’ thermal throttling in Apple M2 chip raises questions about MacBook Air performance

• The just-released MacBook Pro running Apple’s new M2 processor offers generally good performance, but its single fan can’t stop it from experiencing ‘severe’ thermal throttling under certain conditions, according to tests done on the device.

AirPods Pro 2 could act as heart monitor and hearing aid

• AirPods Pro 2 will look much like AirPods 3 from 2021, but with the soft tips necessary for ANC, according to information leaked to 52audio. That means the stems aren’t going away, and the buttons will stay, too.

Commercials are coming to Netflix (and other streamers!)

• It’s official: Netflix is adding a cheaper ad-supported tier to its streaming service. The change is apparently intended to reverse a recent drop in subscribers.