CES kicked off Sunday evening with Unveiled, a press-only presentation of a subset of gadgets that I found a little disappointing. It’s not that no interesting technology was announced at the event, but it’s buried under a layer of hype, excessive marketing, and a sea of buzzwords.
But above all, each gadget is heavily obsessed with artificial intelligence. I’ve seen a few interesting use cases of AI so far, but most of what is described as AI simply isn’t. It’s just that in the speed-dating atmosphere between the press and gadget company PRs, companies feel like they need an AI story to get attention. It also doesn’t help that the gadgets are swallowed up by the cavernous, warehouse-sized spaces where they’re on display. The scale of CES (and Las Vegas for that matter) is enormous and makes everything else seem small.
Still, there’s something undeniably fun about CES. The breathless announcements about answering your phone from your washer/dryer deserve the looks they get, but the challenge lies in finding the CES gems. There’s a signal underlying all this marketing noise, and that’s what Brendon and I will be watching for today as the salon opens for the first time. With so many products announced in advance, I thought I’d compile a roundup of what caught my eye and what I’ll be watching for at the CES show.
LG UltraFine 6K Monitor
The bezel-less design of this next one LG 32-inch 6K IPS display is as striking as its specifications. The display is also one of the first to be announced to support Thunderbolt 5, which could make it a great choice for the M4 Mac mini and MacBook Pro. Not all specifications have been announced yet, but I hope to hear more at the show.
Swippitt
On the surface, the Swippitt is intriguing. Using a combination of a dedicated iPhone battery case and a device that vaguely resembles a toaster, the Swippitt replaces the case’s old batteries with new ones when you insert your iPhone. The company claims to have a solution for changes in the design of future iPhones, which I hope it does because otherwise the Swippitt is an expensive charging convenience in the short term.
A robot vacuum cleaner that picks up after you
THE Roborock Saros Z70 has a retractable robotic arm emerging from its center that Roborock says can pick up dirty laundry and other obstacles while it vacuums – provided they weigh less than 300 grams. This seems like a good idea that will be difficult to put into practice, so I’m looking forward to seeing a demo.
OWC USB-4 Optical Fiber Cable
If you heard Federico talk about King Kable he uses to connect an eGPU to his Legion Go, this announcement from OWC This will sound familiar. In fact, OWC’s cable, available in lengths up to 4.5 meters, looks a lot like a rebranded King Kable with its identical design and connectors. Whether this is accurate or not, it’s great to see longer USB-4 cables becoming easier to find.
A more aesthetically pleasing smart lock
I’ve been hesitant to buy a smart home lock for a few years now because I didn’t like the look of any of the models that would work well; I also wanted a lock that would work hands-free. THE Schlage Sense Pro which was announced at CES seems to be what I was looking for. It’s a simple rounded rectangle, with no buttons or other embellishments, which I really like. It also supports Matter-over-Thread and ultra-wideband for hands-free use.
Anker Solar Powered Beach Umbrella
According to TechCrunchAnker will launch a solar-powered beach umbrella later this year that can provide 80W of power. There aren’t many other details about the device yet, but I could see it making Federico’s summer shopping list.
Weird CES
As always, I’m also on the lookout for weird and wonderful gadgets. Here are some of the first competitors I’ll be looking to find at CES:
Acer Nitro Blaze 11
Countless people have sent me this image of Acer’s new Windows 11 “portable” gaming console. This isn’t the first 11-inch gaming tablet I’ve seen, but something about Acer’s promotional photo makes it look particularly huge. I’m desperately hoping I get a photo of Brendon with this thing.
A fluffy robot companion
On the silly side, there’s a little fluffy robot creature that hangs out on a purse and interacts with the people around it. Long-time readers of my CES recaps will know that I love “Weird CES” and Yukai Engineering, the creator of the Mirumi creature, never disappoints, having debuted a headless cat pillow And a stuffed toy that bites your fingers previous years.
You can follow our CES coverage here on MacStories.net under the “CES 2025” tag and this dedicated RSS feed. You will also find two playlists on our YouTube channel:’NPC @ CES‘ for portable gaming news and ‘MacStories at CES” for everything else.
