Jay Peters | The Verge

Nvidia’s controversial DLSS 5 arrives September 3rd and requires serious GPU horsepower

2026-09-01T09:21:12-04:00

Nvidia is officially launching DLSS 5 this week, following a divisive announcement in March where we likened the AI upscaling tech to a “real-time generative AI filter for video games” and “motion smoothing for video games, but worse.” DLSS 5 will officially be available on RTX 50-series desktop and laptop GPUs and through GeForce Now cloud gaming, though the only game with the tech so far is NBA 2K27 — which is launching September 3rd at 9PM PT on PC.

When it was announced, Nvidia lauded DLSS 5 as “the company’s most significant breakthrough in computer graphics since the debut of real-time ray tracing in 2018,” and highlighted how the tech uses AI to make games look more realistic by enhancing a game based on its source content. Nvidia also stressed that DLSS 5 gave developers controls that let them decide how changes from DLSS 5 appeared in their games.

Image compare: drag the handle to see the difference Nvidia says it can provide in NBA 2K27. Tap here for full-res with DLSS 5 off, and with DLSS 5 on.

But accompanying examples shared by Nvidia were widely criticized and meme’d on for significantly changing how characters looked, such as the “yassification” of Resident Evil Requiem protagonist Grace Ashcroft. With the official launch, Requiem still doesn’t support DLSS 5, and neither do other games shown in the March reveal, including EA Sports FC, Starfield, and Hogwarts Legacy, so we don’t know how the final version of the tech might now appear in those titles.

Nvidia did not answer our questions about when DLSS 5 might come to any game beyond NBA 2K27, nor reconfirm that previously confirmed titles will still include the tech.

Tap, twice, for higher res versions. | Image: Nvidia" data-portal-copyright="Image: Nvidia" />Tap, twice, for higher res versions. | Image: Nvidia" data-portal-copyright="Image: Nvidia" />

In examples from NBA 2K27 we saw in a press briefing, though, changes from DLSS 5 don’t appear to be quite as dramatic as the types of adjustments shown in the initial reveal. The shadows and textures added by DLSS 5 generally made the players in the game look more realistic instead of turning them into AI caricatures. You can see more in our deeper dive here.

In briefings, Nvidia showed how developers will have many sliders at their disposal to determine exactly how much DLSS 5 changes things, and that developers can choose to amp up whichever parts of the scene they prefer. They can even leave characters’ faces alone and just enhance silverware or food or foliage, Nvidia says.

Image slider: drag the handle to make bacon look more real by giving it shadows.

While Nvidia’s original DLSS 5 demos required a pair of RTX 5090 gaming graphics cards, the company claims even a single midrange RTX 5060 can manage to play NBA 2K27 at 1080p with ray tracing and DLSS 5 at ultra spec — if you have one of he fastest gaming CPUs and enable 6x frame generation (meaning the game is only producing one “real” frame for every six frames you see).

DLSS 5 is still a huge performance hit. Nvidia estimates it at 50 to 60 percent, and we saw performance cut in half when we tried an unofficial DLSS5 mod in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

So far, Nvidia has shown us examples that demonstrate the ideal version of what’s possible with DLSS 5 (and promote NBA 2K27). We haven’t yet tested an official build of DLSS 5 ourselves to get an idea of how the tech might look, but we have tried the unofficial version that modders are using to mess with older games like Control and Skyrim. With older games, it seems, a little sprinkle of DLSS 5 goes a long way.

Two new small, powerful Macs

2026-08-28T15:21:40-04:00

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 142, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome, how is it almost September already, and also you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.)

This week, I’ve been remembering Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen, absorbing everything in Rockstar’s big GTA VI preview, wondering if Apple will announce a foldable iPhone at its September event, getting sucked into Summoning Salt’s latest speedrunning documentary about competitive Tetris, listening to Weird Al’s new Tiny Desk concert (“The Saga Begins!”), and getting a Reuben from my favorite local spot after thinking about it for months.

This week, I also have for you new Macs, a Nokia phone that can charge your phone, a Wyze cam with a great privacy feature, and more.

Programming note: Installer is off next week. I’ll be on vacation. See you next month for Techtember!

(As always, the best part of Installer is your ideas and tips. What do you want to know more about? What are your favorite things you’ve watched / seen / listened to / eaten recently? Drop a line to installer@theverge.com. And if you know someone else who might enjoy Installer, forward it to them and tell them to subscribe here.)

The Drop

The M6 and M5 Pro Mac Mini. Apple updated its tiny computer this week, and you can preorder it with a new M6 chip or an M5 Pro. Unfortunately, they have starting prices that are $100 more expensive than the previous generation, and the new model won’t be released until September 22nd. The company also refreshed the Mac Studio, and you can preorder it with a new M5 Ultra chip.
Star Wars: Zero Company. This strategy game set in the Star Wars universe has been getting rave reviews. Gotta find some time to squeeze this in with all of the other big games coming out soon.
HMD’s Nokia 300 Charge. HMD made an old-school, candybar-style Nokia dumbphone that doubles as a power bank. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack. Who needs a foldable iPhone when you can have this?
Wyze’s Indoor Cam Pan. This new $39.98 security camera can tilt 360 degrees around and 103 degrees vertically, but it also has a privacy mode that tilts the lens fully downward into the body of the camera so that it can’t see anything. Great feature.
Garmin’s Fenix 9 smartwatches. The Fenix 9 and 9 Pro have OLED screens, 64GB of storage, and for the two bigger sizes of the 9 Pro, the option to get solar-charging displays. The watches aren’t cheap, though: The Fenix 9 starts at $999.99, while the Pro starts at $1,099.99.
Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition. The Switch 2 version of FromSoftware’s all-time classic is apparently worth the wait after a big delay. Do I need yet another excuse to get lost in The Lands Between? Probably not, but I’m tempted.
Whoop’s Meridian Band. This $149 band is made from Milanese mesh, comes in gold, rose gold, silver, and black, and makes your fifth-gen Whoop tracker look super fancy. But one part isn’t so fancy: You can’t charge your Whoop while it’s in the Meridian Band.

Screen Share

Today I’m featuring John Gruber of Daring Fireball. If you follow Apple and are a regular Verge reader (which, as an Installer subscriber, I assume you are), you’re probably well aware of Gruber and his work as a writer, podcaster, friend of the site, and as a general tech person on the internet.

Ahead of Apple’s big launch event coming up on September 9th, I thought it would be fun to feature the homescreen of one of the most well-known people in the Apple universe.

The phone: iPhone 17 Pro, deep blue, 1 TB (of which only 200 GB is used, but that won’t stop me from wasting money on a 1 TB model this year too).

The wallpaper: My wallpaper is a subtle gradient from very dark gray to black. For years I just stuck with a flat black wallpaper, as god and Steve Jobs intended. (You couldn’t change your homescreen wallpaper until iOS 4, and I remain unconvinced that was a good idea.) I like the subtle gradient now because it lets the dynamic island have a little visual contrast from the wallpaper background.

The apps: I’ve currently got three todo/task apps on the homescreen, which I can’t recommend, but it’s currently working for me: Unforgetful, Finalist, and Due. (The red “1” badge on Unforgetful is for a reminder to send you this email and the screenshot of my homescreen.) I’ve also arguably got three notes apps, if you count Journal (in addition to Tot and Apple Notes). Mosaic is a TestFlight-only alternative to the official MLB app, which has a great story behind it. Rather than shutting it down, MLB hired its developer, Jason Weingardt, because Mosaic is so awesome. If I took the screenshot later tonight, you’d see a Live Activity from Mosaic of the Yankees game in the Dynamic Island.

Kotoba is also TestFlight-only. It is, in my humble opinion, the best dictionary app for iOS, but because it uses the system-provided dictionaries and thesauruses to act as a dictionary app, it’s not permitted in the App Store. I look up words with it almost every single day. I wrote about it on Daring Fireball a while ago.

The Siri app shows that I’m testing the iOS 27 betas. It’s good. I tend to use it side by side with ChatGPT for now, to compare responses, but going forward, I’ll use both. So having that alongside ChatGPT is in line with my having multiple todo apps and multiple note apps (and multiple messaging apps).

I keep the badge on Mail counting my unread messages to remind myself that the heat death of the universe is inevitable.

Oh, and my App Store app icon isn’t the actual App Store app, but instead a shortcut that jumps me right to the list of apps with pending updates to install.

I also asked John to share a few things he’s into right now. Here’s what he sent back:

One show whose second season just finished: The Agency, on Paramount+. I think it’s probably the best spy series ever made.
One show whose sixth season is about to begin: Slow Horses, on Apple TV. I think it’s probably the most amusing spy series ever made.
Third, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, whose 18th season just started; it’s the best and most realistic show set in Philadelphia ever made.

Crowdsourced

Here’s what the Installer community is into this week. I want to know what you’re into right now as well! Email installer@theverge.com with your recommendations for anything and everything, and we’ll feature some of our favorites here every week. For even more great recommendations, check out the replies to this post on Bluesky.

“Feels like this week is all Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and now Transformers for Peter Cullen in terms of what people are watching and listening to!” — Carli

“I’ve been playing A la Card and REALLY enjoying my time with it. It’s an indie roguelike deck builder game that feels like Slay the Spire and Balatro said ‘Let’s go out for food from a food truck.’ All cards can be mutated and changed via the events — their values, their effect, what triggers them. Great art and music, solid design, and it’s scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. Awesome game from a 2-person indie dev team.” — Tom

“My preorder shipped early so I’ve been reading Emo Revival by Andrew Sacher and it’s a 10/10 so far.” — @thoughtlesskyle.bsky.social

“Empire of AI, Karen Hao. Recently translated to PT-BR :)” — Milena

“Tonight I’m going to finish House of Guinness. It’s a fine show but even better if you drink when watching it.” — Nick

“I’ve been on a kick reading older sci-fi novels recently and came across Berserker by Fred Saberhagen (1967). Fantastic book but surprisingly hard to find a physical copy. Ended up purchasing an ePub. Highly recommend!” — Nathan

Signing off

I got a few good screentime reduction tips following last week’s issue. One person said they don’t install apps with an infinite scroll, which I thought was a good idea. They also have Screen Time enabled to block various things, but their partner holds the password to unlock Screen Time if needed. Clever! Another reader suggested zipping up their phone in a phone pocket.

On my vacation next week, to make sure I actually unplug, I plan to deploy my favorite hack: hiding every gadget with a browser in my daughter’s closet. My only free time where I could potentially slip into mindless scrolling would be when she’s sleeping, but there’s no way I’m risking waking her up just to get out the laptop. More time for the important stuff — like playing Switch 2.

See you in two weeks!

Google further buries search results under AI mode

2026-08-28T18:48:11-04:00

Google is now automatically expanding its AI search summaries at the top of the results page for some searches, as reported by Search Engine Roundtable. The change, when it kicks in, pushes the typical list of links from a search much farther down Google’s results page; instead of seeing part of an AI Overview with a “Show more” button you can click, you’ll Google will show a full AI Overview at the top of your search, an “Ask anything” box under that, and then the list of links. It can lead to a lot of scrolling.

It’s unclear exactly what Google’s criteria is for the auto-expanding AI Overviews. Before writing this story, I was seeing them with most of my test searches. But now, AI Overviews usually just show the initial part of the response and the “Show more” button. My most consistent query to get the auto-expanding AI Overview is “what is the best game on switch 2”, but even that hasn’t been consistent across searches and browsers.

“For some queries, AI Overviews may dynamically expand for topics where our systems determine it’s most useful for people,” Google spokesperson Jennifer Kutz says in a statement to The Verge. “Our research has shown that with this dynamic experience, users find Search more helpful and engage deeper in follow-up exploration.” Kutz also says that “If users have already begun scrolling to view content below the AI Overview, we cancel expansion so that the user doesn’t lose their reading position.”

Xbox CEO calls Project Helix a ‘family of devices’

2026-08-28T18:39:11-04:00

Asha Sharma. | Image: The Verge, Microsoft

According to Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Project Helix, which she announced in March as a codename for Microsoft’s “next generation console” — phrasing that seemingly implied a singular device — will actually be a “family” of devices.”

“We’ve been hard at work on a great next generation and a great family of devices for Helix, and we’ll share more soon,” Sharma told BBC News. She shared the answer after being asked if Helix will be a discless console. She didn’t answer that, but this week Microsoft announced a program for digitizing your physical games.

In 2025, Microsoft and AMD announced a “strategic multi-year partnership” to work together on “a portfolio of devices,” including Microsoft’s next-generation console, so it seems likely the two companies are also partnering on this family of Helix devices in some way. It’s been rumored that third parties will be able to sell Project Helix devices of their own — a rumor that Xbox’s VP of next generation, Jason Ronald, didn’t exactly deny when he wrote that: “Project Helix will be available as a 1st party Xbox console.”

It’s unclear when Project Helix, which will be able to play PC games, might actually launch. In February, shortly before Sharma’s surprise appointment to the top job at Xbox, AMD hinted that it would be ready to support a launch of Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox in 2027, and at a conference in March, Ronald said that Helix wouldn’t reach alpha until 2027.

The GTA VI ‘extended look’ is now streaming on YouTube

2026-08-27T21:09:23-04:00

Rockstar has officially published its “extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI on YouTube and on its website, as promised. The in-depth preview, which “entirely” features footage captured from the PS5 version of the game, initially premiered on Netflix at 3PM ET. But because Rockstar allowed creators to post reaction videos, you’ve technically been able to watch the video on YouTube before the studio’s official upload.

The nearly 27-minute preview largely focuses more on atmosphere, protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos, and highlighting locations in the game instead of diving deep on specific game mechanics. It feels more like slices of a movie than a video game trailer. But there are a few sections showing off playable shootouts and police car chases as well as activities like shooting a basketball and scuba diving. Other outlets that got previews from Rockstar have more details on gameplay that weren’t included in the video.

GTA VI is set to release on November 19th at a starting price of $79.99.

The biggest video game of all time looks like a movie

2026-08-28T07:45:53-04:00

I think I know why Rockstar Games debuted its “extended look” of Grand Theft Auto VI on Netflix instead of immediately dropping it for free on YouTube. Unlike most video game trailers, the almost 27-minute preview of GTA VI felt more like a slice of a prestige crime drama than any video game trailer that I’ve ever seen. To make a new game that lasts another decade or more and potentially rivals the success of its predecessor, Rockstar is clearly trying to further blur the lines between Hollywood and video games.

The line between games and movies has been getting consistently fuzzier. Look no further than this year’s James Bond game, 007 First Light, which has the snappy pacing, acting, and cinematography of a great action film. And TV shows and movies are increasingly pulling from video games for inspiration, to say nothing of entire TV and movie franchises being built around successful video games. Now, a video game trailer has wedged between prestige TV and streaming hit movies — after watching the GTA VI preview, Netflix is suggesting I watch Breaking Bad next.

Rockstar is keeping GTA VI’s plot details close to its chest, but the video gives the broad strokes: GTA VI is about protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos working together in Vice City. Across the tightly edited video, which jumps between cutscenes and moments of actual gameplay, Jason and Lucia do a lot of GTA-style crimes: they evade cops in gunfights, pull off high-stakes robberies, and shoot a lot of people. But they also have moments of chatting leisurely in the car or even bickering about what clothes to wear.

The video also isn’t just an uninterrupted vertical section of gameplay, like video game deep dives often are. Instead, it artistically cuts between different sections, storylines, and characters to paint a picture of what to expect. I didn’t always know what was going on, but by the end of the video, I had a sense of who these people were and the city that they live in. It felt, well, like parts of a movie.

GTA VI will still be very much a video game. Rockstar invited a handful of outlets to preview GTA VI, and their coverage dives into things like the expansive map, the six-star Wanted system, escalating requirements to steal cars, and reactive NPCs. Those will almost certainly make for a vast sandbox to play in, building on the already immersive worlds of previous Rockstar games like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. For GTA VI’s extended look, Rockstar instead opted to show setup, action, and dialogue scenes, leaning on story and atmosphere over gameplay mechanics. It’s a cinematic choice.

Maybe I’m thinking too deeply about a video game trailer. Yes, I know that part of this Netflix video is all just marketing hype — and Netflix probably saw it as a way to get new subscribers. And the trailer isn’t only available on Netflix; Rockstar let creators share reaction videos and is publishing the extended look on its YouTube channel and its own website at 9PM ET.

But expectations are high for GTA VI. Thirteen-year-old GTA V has sold more than 230 million copies, making it one of the top-selling games of all time. Rockstar’s previous two trailers for GTA VI have racked up hundreds of millions of views. GTA Online is a big cash cow in its own right, too. But Rockstar can always do more with a game many years in the making that might be fighting for time with the Netflix library. If Thursday’s preview was any indication, all those titles might get real competition when GTA VI launches on November 19th.

GTA VI looks just as great as we could hope for

2026-08-28T08:21:57-04:00

Netflix and Rockstar Games finally debuted their “extended look” at Grand Theft Auto VI. It showed that the new game looks to keep much of the spirit of GTA — exploration, driving, crimes, shooting, and cinematic story scenes. But everything just looks much better than previous entries, with impressive graphics, densely packed rooms, and detailed environments. The footage was captured on PS5, according to the end of the video.

A key focus of the game seems to be how protagonists Jason Duval and Lucia Caminos work together. In one scene, it appears you play as Duval as he hangs out of the window of a car that Caminos is driving so he can shoot at police chasing after them. Later, though, it looks like the player controls Caminos as the driver while Duval and another character keep shooting the police.

Another part of the video shows a mission where Duval and Caminos are split up. As enemies barge into an upper floor of a building, Duval, who is a security detail for the mission, takes them on by hiding behind cover and shooting at them. Caminos, who is on a different floor, sneaks around on foot to try and evade detection. At one point, while she is struggling on the ground against an enemy, you can see button prompts to press to escape their grasp.

Much of the video included tightly edited scenes and cutscenes from the game, but there were a few other brief glimpses of gameplay, like a weapon wheel menu and activities driving a boat, playing basketball, underwater diving, racing on a track, and parachuting.

The game appears to be quite large. As part of a preview by The New York Times, Rockstar North co-studio head Rob Nelson said that a February playthrough of the game took 80 hours, including both the main story and some optional content. The map is three times as big as the playable map of Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar tells the NYT.

You’ll be able to switch between the two protagonists at “any time,” though you can also choose to have one character tag along while you’re running around the world or experience things as just one of them, according to IGN, which also got a preview of the game. Duval and Caminos also don’t necessarily have to be a romantic couple; that’s up to the player. (There’s a specific mechanic for holding hands.)

Snapmatic, GTA’s take on Instagram, returns in GTA VI, though you can’t actually post on it “due to Jason and Lucia being a couple on the run and not wanting to leave a digital footprint,” according to IGN.

The six-star wanted system is also officially back, and police can remember what you look like, meaning you may need to change outfits to lose them, IGN says. If you want to steal a parked car to get away from a sticky situation, you might want to look for an older car: More expensive cars will be harder to steal and you may need certain equipment to break into certain cars.

The deep dive follows several apparent video leaks of the game from a person or group identifying themselves as “CyberLeek,” which Rockstar said were “heartbreaking.”

Thursday’s extended look will be available on Rockstar’s YouTube channel and the GTA VI website at 9PM ET. The game is scheduled to release on November 19th at a starting price of $79.99, but you won’t be able to buy it on a physical disc.

Update, August 27th: Added details from IGN and the NYT’s previews.

Apple announces September iPhone launch event

2026-08-26T12:20:36-04:00

A screenshot from Apple’s events website.

Apple’s next launch event will take place on September 9th at 1PM ET. Invites to the event, which has a “Surprise and shine” tagline, were sent out on Wednesday. The event will take place at the Steve Jobs Theater in Apple Park, but there will also be a livestream on Apple’s website.

September’s show could be a big one, as Apple may finally announce the long-rumored foldable iPhone. A photo of an apparent dummy unit indicates the foldable may have a wide form factor that’s similar to what Samsung used with the Galaxy Z Fold 8, a phone that our reviewer Dominic Preston said “feels like the future.”

Apple is also expected to refresh its Pro and Pro Max phones, but those are rumored to be iterative upgrades and not a big redesign like Apple announced last year. Should past trends continue, they’ll likely be called the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.

Surprise and shine! It’s almost time for the #AppleEvent, on Wednesday, September 9! pic.twitter.com/SLkIcNmLwP
— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz) August 26, 2026

However Apple reportedly won’t announce the base model iPhone 18 at the event and instead introduce it next year. In 2027, Apple is also rumored to be launching an iPhone 18e and a second-generation iPhone Air.

This event will also be the first with John Ternus as Apple’s CEO. Formerly the company’s hardware chief, Ternus is set to take over from Tim Cook on September 1st.

The Witcher 3 is getting a remaster

2026-08-25T18:05:52-04:00

CD Projekt Red is remastering The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the hit RPG that first launched in 2015, and the updated game will be available starting September 29th. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered will bring improvements to visuals and combat, a “reimagined” skill tree, and more, and it also includes the first two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.

Remastered will be a free upgrade for players who own the base game on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X / S. With the launch of Remastered, The Witcher 3 will also be coming to the Nintendo Switch 2.

This remastered version of The Witcher 3 (which follows a next-gen upgrade released in 2022) is the start of a big push for the franchise over the next few years. CDPR is set to launch a brand new Witcher 3 expansion, titled Songs of the Past, in 2027, and it’s aiming to release its next mainline Witcher game, The Witcher 4, in 2028.

GeForce Now is getting support for the Steam Controller

2026-08-25T13:28:02-04:00

Nvidia’s GeForce Now cloud gaming service will officially support Valve’s Steam Controller and Steam Machine starting later this year. With Steam Controller support, you’ll be able to play games with Valve’s great new gamepad when using the GeForce Now app on your Steam Deck or Steam Machine. If you’re using GeForce Now on Windows or macOS, support for the Steam Controller is coming “later,” Nvidia says.

GeForce Now is getting a few other upgrades, too. Nvidia will soon add new DLSS 4.5 controls for DLSS Super Resolution, Dynamic Frame Generation, and Ray Reconstruction. (Ray Reconstruction is also officially launching for RTX GPUs in early access.) The previously-announced GOG single sign on is now available. The service will come to more of Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks “later this year,” and you’ll be able to buy a subscription through Amazon. And as of last week, you can officially use GeForce Now on Firefox.

Nvidia’s Gamescom announcements also include news for its upcoming RTX Spark chip family: EA, Embark, and Ubisoft are planning to support the chip, which is set to launch this fall, with games like EA Sports F1 25, Apex Legends, Arc Raiders, and Anno 117: Pax Romana. EA is also working on native support for its Javelin Anticheat technology for the company’s “biggest multiplayer games.”

Nvidia also shared details about 007 First Light’s path tracing update launching in September, upgrades to RTX Remix, and more, and you can read about everything that’s new in the company’s blog post.