Summary
Written by a model from the transcript; not yet reviewed.
The hosts reunite in the studio to kick off Techtember and the autumn gadget season, diving into early hands-on impressions of the Pixel 11 lineup, newly leaked details about the upcoming Galaxy S27 Ultra, and Apple's surprise announcements for the M6 chip and M5 Ultra Mac Studio. The team heavily critiques Google's new Gemini Intelligence proactive assistance and the phone's highlight notification feature, arguing that they lack basic customization and real-world utility compared to community-made alternatives. Later, they analyze YouTube's viewflation metrics and close out the episode with their usual tech trivia segment.
- The Pixel 11 base model is the only phone in the lineup that offers a strong relative value, as the Pro versions add little tangible value for a significant price bump. 10:25
- Google's new Gemini Intelligence proactive assistance requires very specific, strict phrasing and multiple manual permissions to function correctly. 13:14
- The highlight notification feature on the new Pixel is severely limited out of the box, supporting only five colors and phone calls only. 31:52
- Apple's newly announced M5 Ultra Mac Studio is built for extreme workloads like running local LLMs and heavy 3D rendering rather than standard video editing. 54:59
Chapters
- 0:00Podcast Intro and Host Introductions
The hosts kick off the episode with a brief intro, introducing themselves and setting the stage for a deep dive into the latest gadget season.
- 1:40Techtember Overview and Gadget Highlights
The hosts outline the key announcements for the month, including the Pixel 11s, Apple M6 chip, and the Galaxy S27 Ultra leak, framing the episode’s focus on upcoming releases.
- 4:00Pixel 11 Pro Review and Recommendation Debate
The hosts debate the merits of the Pixel 11 Pro versus the base Pixel 11, covering camera quality, RAM, price, and whether the Pro line is worth the extra cost.
- 8:19Gemini Intelligence Proactive Assistance Deep Dive
An in‑depth look at Gemini Intelligence, its integration points, setup steps, and the limitations the hosts encountered during testing.
- 12:30Highlight LED Feature Critique
The team critiques the new Highlight LED, discussing its limited color palette, lack of customization, and the perceived mismatch with user expectations.
- 20:00Galaxy S27 Ultra Leak and Design Analysis
The hosts analyze the leaked design of the Galaxy S27 Ultra, noting changes to the camera layout and comparing it to previous Samsung models.
- 24:00Future of Pixel and AI Integration Speculation
Speculation about how Google may evolve Pixel hardware to better support Gemini and other AI features, including potential future updates and community involvement.
- 28:00Wrap‑Up and Final Thoughts on Pixel 11
The episode concludes with final thoughts on the Pixel 11 lineup, trade‑in offers, and a call to action for listeners to subscribe and stay tuned for more reviews.
- 42:33Pixel 11 Pro Camera Praise
Hosts discuss the Pixel 11 Pro’s selfie and 5X lenses, debating whether to stick with Pixel or switch to OnePlus.
- 43:30Break and Trivia Teaser
The group announces a quick break and introduces a trivia segment about phone camera placement.
Highlights
- 1:46
Kicking Off Gadget Seasoninsight
The hosts return to the studio together just in time for Techtember, previewing upcoming tech launches like the Pixel 11, Nintendo Switch 2, and Galaxy S27 Ultra leaks.
- 10:25
Pixel 11 Pricing Strategyinsight
The guest argues that while the base Pixel 11 is a decent value at $900, the Pro and Pro XL models are hard to recommend due to minimal upgrades over last year's hardware.
- 12:20
Convoluted AI Assistance Restrictionsstrategy
The guest breaks down how Gemini Intelligence proactive assistance requires obscure settings to be toggled manually and demands exact phrasing in texts to trigger correctly.
- 31:52
Disappointing Highlight Limitationsdebate
The hosts discuss how the new Pixel highlight feature is overly restricted to five colors and phone calls only, noting that a user was able to unlock full RGB and messaging support with community code in a single day.
- 48:39
YouTube Viewflation Reality Checkdata
The host reveals that on a recent 2.39-million-view video, the new engaged view metric only added about 50,000 views compared to the public counter, showing minimal discrepancy.
- 50:01
Apple's M6 and M5 Ultra Dropsdata
The hosts cover Apple's surprise morning announcements, which include the 2-nanometer base M6 chip in the Mac Mini and the fused M5 Ultra chip driving the new Mac Studio.
Quotes
“If you want to keep up with all this stuff, I would highly suggest hitting the little subscribe button.”
Unnamed speaker · 2:38 “The Pro phones have less RAM than last year's Pro phones.”
Unnamed speaker · 8:51 “Google doesn't tell you what you need to have these chips pop up.”
David Imel · 13:20 “The Pixel 11 is now eight. It's $900 now.”
Unnamed speaker · 10:25 “The base Mac Mini was one of the best deals in the tech world.”
Unnamed speaker · 51:10 “I think the most interesting one is probably the base M6 Mac Mini.”
Unnamed speaker · 50:59 “The M6 chip is out already, just the base M6.”
Unnamed speaker · 50:01 “The 5X lens is way better than it was last year. Yeah.”
David Imel · 42:45
Sponsored segments
- Google Gemini 0:00–0:30
- Anthropic 0:41–0:57
- Home Depot 45:23–45:54
- Anthropic 45:57–46:12
- SAP Concur 46:18–46:49
- Waveform Fantasy League 1:15:30–1:15:54
About this episode
A lot happened this week! First, Marques, Andrew, and David give final thoughts for the Pixel 11 series before getting into the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra. Then it's all about the new Apple chips and Mac computers. We wrap it up with anew Google Fitbit x Pokemon band and the Nothing OS 5.0 launch. It's a fun one! Join the Fantasy Premiere League! https://fantasy.premierleague.com/leagues/auto-join/gigg8r Links: Android Headlines x @Onleaks - S27 Ultra Leak Google - Fitbit Air x Pokemon Sleep News.com.au: Robot fails Nothing - Nothing OS 5.0 This episode brought to you by: Granola AI: https://www.granola.ai/waveform Airbnb: https://www.airbnb.com Framer: https://www.framer.com/wave Shopify: https://www.shopify.com/waveform Follow us on socials: Marques: https://www.threads.net/@mkbhd Andrew: https://www.threads.net/@andrew_manganelli David: https://www.threads.net/@davidimel Adam: https://www.threads.net/@parmesanpapi17 Ellis: https://twitter.com/EllisRovin Waveform Threads: https://www.threads.net/@waveformpodcast Waveform Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/waveformpodcast/?hl=en Waveform TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@waveformpodcast Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/mkbhd Intro/Outro music by 20syl: https://bit.ly/2S53xlC Waveform is part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
17,238 words · 8 speakers
Speaker names marked are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.
Topics
- Apple
- Mac Mini
- M5 Ultra
- Mac Studio
- Pixel 4
- WD-40
- Pixel 5A
- OnePlus 15
- M6 chip
- Pixel 4A
Page updated · transcript and summary are machine-generated