The Surface Laptop 5G will be available starting on August 26, with a starting price of $1,800 for an Intel Core Ultra 5, 16 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of storage. —Luke Larsen
Would You Buy a US-Made Laptop?
That’s the question posed by Palmer Luckey this week. The pro-Trump tech entrepreneur has already stamped his footprint in the worlds of virtual reality through Oculus and military tech through Anduril, but a more conventional computer would be new ground for Luckey. He raised the provocative question at the Reindustrialize 2025 Summit earlier this week.
“I actually think Anduril could build computers in the United States,” he stated. “I’ve looked into it very, very deeply. I’ve had conversations with everyone you would need to do this. On the chip side, on the assembly side, on the manufacturing side. I know exactly how to do it, what it would cost, how long it would take.”
Luckey goes on to say that the only thing holding him back is that he hopes someone else does it first. He later posted the following question on X: “Would you buy a Made In America computer from Anduril for 20% more than Chinese-manufactured options from Apple?” At the time of writing, 64 percent of the over 77,000 responses said yes, while the rest said no.
Whether or not there will be Anduril laptops in the future isn’t so interesting as the larger question of how much it would cost to build technology from the ground up without relying on foreign production. The way his question is stated implies that he doesn’t just mean laptops that are assembled in the US, but actually devices where every component is made in the US. If we trust Luckey in his price estimation, that would mean a MacBook Air–like device would cost an extra $200. That’s less than what analysts have said in the past, including one approximation that stated iPhones would cost at least 25 percent more due to increased labor costs alone. Others have put that estimate much higher—as high as $3,500 for an iPhone, or stated that it’s altogether impossible due to supply chain limitations. —Luke Larsen
Google Lets You Convert Images to Videos
Google’s Wear OS 6 update started rolling out this week—it’s the latest version of the smartwatch operating system, introducing a more colorful interface, widgets that are even more glanceable, alongside power efficiency improvements for better battery life. One of the oldest watch face apps, Facer—which has hundreds of themed watch face designs across various platforms—has announced an update adding compatibility with Wear OS 6. That’s big news, considering that the app lost compatibility after Wear OS 5 rolled out in 2024.
Facer didn’t support Google’s Watch Face Format (WFF) when Wear OS 5 launched, which was mandatory to access watch face complications. The company had to work with Google to bring back full functionality of its watch faces to Wear OS 6, and the it even says Facer will deliver “significantly improved battery life” on all faces.
The Facer update also adds new collaborations, like a SpongeBob SquarePants watch face, as well as a social component called “Looks.” It’s a tab in the app that lets you show off your favorite watch faces. Think of it as a new way to discover watch faces outside of the app’s general explore page. If you like a look, you can find out what watch face they’re using and download it, and if you like their watch strap, Facer will point you to its own strap store so you can nab it.
VSCO Launches a New App Called Capture
Photo filter and editing app VSCO—yes, the very same that popularized the “VSCO girl”—has been around since 2012, but the company just launched a stand-alone mobile app after a decade. Capture is an iPhone-only camera app that has more than 50 “live presets” with real-time film effects and manual camera settings for better control over the final image. It essentially lets you preview the final look of your photo before you even hit the shutter button.
These presets are non-destructive, so you can still edit the original captured image later on if you decide to change things up. It supports RAW and ProRAW formats, has real-time effects like bloom, and can instantly sync with the VSCO app for additional edits or sharing. It’s free to download now, and there’s no word if an Android app will be available in the future.
