Picks & Reviews • 11 min read

Does the iPhone Duo Need a Screen Protector?

Not on the inner screen: it already has Apple's replaceable cover layer, and Apple's Duo accessories page lists no protector. The outer screen is optional, especially in a case. If you want glass on it, buy one made for the Duo's 5.4-inch outer screen and match it to your case.

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Two folded iPhone Duo phones in Apple's sand-colored case, one from the back and one showing its outer screen inside the case's rim

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The pages readers come back to: answer-first guides on the things you own or are about to buy, built from spec sheets and filings, with the date we last checked them.

  1. EVs & Mobility Tesla 2026 Guide: Interest & Referrals
  2. EVs & Mobility Tesla's Low Power Mode: The Science of Long-Term Parking
  3. Tech & Innovation Starlink Mini: Buy It, Rent It, or Keep It on Standby?
  4. EVs & Mobility Is There a Tesla Tax Credit in 2026? What Ended, What's Left
  5. EVs & Mobility Charge Your Tesla to 80, 90 or 100? The Real Answer
  6. Tech & Innovation What Size Power Station Do You Need? The Honest Math
  7. Tech & Innovation Which Solar Panel Works With Your Power Station?
  8. EVs & Mobility New Electric Cars: Every 2026 Model Unveiled So Far
  9. Tech & Innovation Smartwatch Pros and Cons: Do You Actually Need One?
  10. Picks & Reviews Best Wireless Earbuds Under $100: What Actually Matters
  11. EVs & Mobility Tesla Model 3 by Year: What Changed and Which to Avoid
  12. Tech & Innovation Every Starlink Dish Decoded: Gen 3, Gen 4, V5, Mini X
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Tech & Innovation

The iPhone Duo, folded and unfolded in two hands, beside the iPhone 18 Pro line-up in black, silver, glacier blue and burgundy

iPhone Duo or iPhone 18 Pro Max? What $700 More Buys

The iPhone Duo costs $700 more than the iPhone 18 Pro Max at every storage size: $1,999 against $1,299 with 256GB. The extra money buys a 7.6-inch screen that folds to about the size of a passport, with Apple Pencil support due later this year. It gives up the telephoto camera, Face ID and about four hours on Tom's Guide's battery test. Specs, same-lab battery tests, cameras, repair costs and who should buy which.

An unfolded iPhone Duo showing a movie across its 7.6-inch inner display

iPhone Duo Repair Cost: Is AppleCare+ Worth It?

Out of warranty, Apple charges $999 to fix the iPhone Duo's folding inner screen and $379 for the outer one. AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss costs $199.99 a year and cuts those fees to $99 and $29, so one inner-screen repair is worth four and a half years of the plan. Every repair price, the break-even, AppleCare One, and how Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile compare.

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AI & Automation

Night-vision doorbell camera view of a suburban driveway with a tall thin figure in an oversized striped stovepipe hat standing at the far end while a sheriff's deputy walks up the drive from a cruiser with its door open

Kids Are Getting Felonies Over a Cat in the Hat Meme

The creepy AI Cat in the Hat stalking driveways on TikTok has never been found in real life. The kids who post him with a school's name attached are being found fast. At least 15 minors in 10 states have been arrested or face charges in two weeks, several with felonies, under school-threat laws written after real shootings that do not care whether it was a joke.

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EVs & Mobility

A Tesla Plaid dual-motor drive unit on a display stand: two bare aluminum motor housings joined by a gearbox, with coolant fittings and an inverter on the side

Tesla Drive Unit Failure: Signs, Warranty and Repair Cost

A Tesla drive unit (the motor, gearbox and inverter in one housing) is covered for 8 years. On current terms the mileage cap is 100,000 to 150,000 miles, depending on the model and trim; the older Model S and Model X booklets read here set no mileage cap. After that, a Model 3 or Model Y can be covered for up to 2 more years or 30,000 miles with Tesla's one-time extension, if Tesla offers it for your car, 2,000 dollars plus 500 per repair visit in the US, but only if you buy it before the factory coverage ends. Here are the alerts that point to the drive unit, what owners have filed with NHTSA, and what repairs cost outside the warranty.

In a garage with rain leaking through the roof, a man in a hoodie gets wet while holding an umbrella over a workbench of car parts: a dashboard touchscreen, a door handle and an air-conditioning compressor

Tesla Extended Warranty: Is the Monthly Plan Worth It?

Tesla's US Extended Service Agreement costs $50 a month on a Model 3, $60 on a Model Y, $125 on a Model S and $150 on a Model X, before tax, plus a $100 deductible per repair visit ($200 on some older Model S and Model X). It starts when the 4-year or 50,000-mile basic warranty ends and can run up to 4 more years or 50,000 more miles, but never past 8 years or 100,000 miles on the car, so at the July 2026 price the most a Model Y owner pays in fees is $2,880. It excludes the battery and drive unit, which every Tesla factory warranty edition read for this page, back to 2017, covers at least that long. It pays off only if covered repairs cost more than the fees plus deductibles, and a car whose plan is cancelled can't be enrolled again.

A white Tesla Model 3 Performance on a showroom floor

Which Tesla Model 3 Should You Buy? Each Trim Compared

In October 2026 Tesla sold four versions of the Model 3 in the US, from the $36,990 rear-wheel drive to the $54,990 Performance. The $5,500 step to the Premium rear-wheel drive buys 42 more miles of EPA range, ventilated front seats, heated rear seats and a rear touchscreen. Here is what every trim costs, how far it goes and who it suits.

View all EV posts → New interactive: Which EV is right for you? 9 questions, 2 minutes — your top 3 matches, new or used, ranked and explained. Plus an honest call on whether you should buy an EV at all. Find my EV →

Money & Power

A snow-covered house at night in a blizzard, its electric meter on the side wall glowing red-hot and throwing sparks as the icicles around it melt into steam

Why Your Electric Bill Spikes in Winter, and How to Cut It

The average US home paid about $133 for electricity in October 2025 and about $175 in January 2026, by a calculation from EIA utility data, and the price per kilowatt-hour fell in most states over those months. On average the jump is usage, not price: homes that heat with electricity, space heaters and longer nights of lighting, with the furnace's blower fan and electric water heaters as other winter loads. EIA's October 2026 forecast has homes that heat with electricity paying about 4% more this winter than last. Here are the state numbers, the forecast by region, what the common plug-in culprits cost a month, and the cheap ways to stay warm: blankets and layers, heating only the rooms you use, thermostat setbacks, finding drafts with a borrowed thermal camera and sealing them, wood heat done safely, frozen-pipe prevention, and help paying the bill.

A silver-haired man in a suit sits aghast in a barber chair as the barber, who was asked for a trim, calmly combs his hair up into an absurd two-foot pompadour instead.

Trump Picked Warsh to Cut Rates. Warsh Raised Them Instead

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate a quarter point on September 16 to a range of 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since 2023, in a unanimous vote under the chair Trump chose to bring rates down. Credit cards and home equity lines reprice within a billing cycle. The Fed did it with core CPI at its lowest since 2021, and its own forecast pencils in one more hike this year.

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Picks & Reviews

The new black Fire TV Stick 4K with a 4K label beside the redesigned Fire TV Remote with its orange home button

Which Fire TV Stick Should You Buy? HD, 4K or 4K Max

For most 4K TVs, the Fire TV Stick 4K at a $59.99 list price is the one to buy, as long as the apps you use are the big ones. It runs Amazon's new Vega operating system, which blocks sideloaded apps, and it lacks Dolby Vision. Pay $84.99 for the Fire TV Stick 4K Max if you want Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos decoding or Android apps, and $39.99 for the Fire TV Stick HD on a 1080p TV.

Four close-up strips of faces wearing different Ray-Ban Meta frames, from a browline Clubmaster to cat-eye and rectangular styles

Which Meta Glasses Should You Buy? Ray-Ban, Oakley, Display

For most people, Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 3) at $449 is the pair to buy. Gen 2 at $379 saves $70 for an hour less battery. The camera-free Ray-Ban Meta Audio costs $349, the $249 Meta Adventurer is the cheapest new current-generation pair, the $499 Oakley Meta Vanguard is for hard training, and the $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display is the only one with a screen. Check the prescription limits before you buy, because they differ by model.

A pair of white AirPods 5 earbuds rising out of their open white charging case, with a green status light on the front

Which AirPods Should You Buy? Every Model Compared

Apple sells four AirPods in October 2026. The $129 AirPods 5 suit most people and now cancel noise. Pay $149 for the Wireless Charging Case if you want volume swipes and an extra hour per charge. The $249 AirPods Pro 3 add stronger noise cancelling, ear tips, heart rate and Apple's hearing aid feature. The $549 AirPods Max 2 are the over-ear choice. Live Translation needs an iPhone 15 Pro or newer.

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