Month: May 2022

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  Sony’s WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-canceling headphones. They cost $399. [credit:
  Jeff Dunn ]

Sony’s WH-1000XM4 has been widely regarded as one of the best pairs of noise-canceling headphones for most people since launching in August 2020, and we at Ars have recommended them in various buying guides over that time. On Thursday, Sony is announcing the next iteration of those flagship wireless headphones: the WH-1000XM5. They’ll arrive on May 20 for $400, which is a $50 increase over the existing XM4.

An updated design

In general, the WH-1000XM5—which remains a mouthful of a name—aren’t a massive shift from their predecessor, and interestingly, Sony will continue to sell the prior XM4 alongside this new pair. Still, there are a few changes of note. The most immediately noticeable tweaks are in the design department: Compared to the XM4, the XM5 has a thinner headband and wider earcups that should better fit those with larger ears. The earcups use a softer synthetic leather material, and the slider used to adjust the headband’s fit now has a smoother, notchless action.

I’ve only had the XM5 on hand for about a day as of this writing, which unfortunately isn’t enough time for me to give more definitive impressions. At first blush, though, the fit feels roomier and lighter on the head, despite only weighing 4 grams less than the XM4 (at 250 g, compared to 254 g before). The XM4 were already comfortable, but the XM5 appears to distribute its weight a bit more evenly, putting less pressure on the sides of your head without letting in a ton of outside noise. They’re closer to Bose’s QuietComfort 45 in that regard, albeit not quite as spacious-feeling.

Enlarge / This promotional image for the June 12 Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase now looks a bit like an eclipse of bad news about Starfield‘s delay into 2023. (credit: Xbox)

Last year, Microsoft and Bethesda made a surprising announcement: Its upcoming open-world space-exploration game Starfield would launch on November 22, 2022. While the resulting “11-22-22” release date looked nifty at the time, it wasn’t meant to be.

On Thursday, Bethesda announced via social media that Starfield would be delayed to the “first half of 2023,” and it would be joined by Redfall, a vampire-themed co-op shooter that was previously pegged to a “summer 2022” launch window.

30-day countdown begins

There has been no new footage of either upcoming game since the last time Xbox hosted a lengthy first-party game-preview presentation… all the way back in June 2021. Starfield, developed by the core Bethesda Game Studios team, has received a few peeks into its behind-the-scenes process, but they have been limited to concept art and developer interviews. Arkane Austin’s Redfall, meanwhile, has been even more mysterious, with only a single alpha test leak from September 2021 showing anything resembling real gameplay.

Enlarge / DisplayPort cable. (credit: Getty)

Pixel and speed enthusiasts have anticipated DisplayPort 2.0 products since the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA), which makes the spec, announced its incoming in 2019. While the pandemic inhibited the ability to test products for supporting the video protocol and slowed its release, we’ve inched closer to seeing monitors, PCs, and other devices earn DisplayPort 2.0 certification.

VESA on Monday announced certification for AMD’s Ryzen 6000 laptop CPUs to support DisplayPort 2.0 at up to one of its highest data link rates, Ultra-high Bit Rate 10 (UHBR10), which has a 10Gbps link rate and max throughput of 40 Gbps across four lanes.

VESA introduced UHBR labels to DisplayPort 2.0 in February. Once DisplayPort 2.0 products are readily available, it’ll be easier to determine which products support the higher bandwidth capabilities of the backward-compatible spec. The move came after the HDMI Licensing Administrator, which makes the HDMI spec, received backlash for not clarifying which HDMI 2.1-certified products support the max capabilities.