Apple has demonstrated repeatedly that it does not want owners of its hardware attemptingto fix it themselves. That’s their right, but the 12-inch 2015 MacBook has taken that unrepairablity outside of Apple’s own tech department to a new level.iFixit has carried out its usualteardownof the newestMacBookon the market, and the verdict is basically: don’t even bother trying to repair this laptop yourself. It scored 1 out of 10 on their scale, and is a case filled with proprietary screws and a lot of adhesive.We’ve already seen how theMacBook is mostly batteriesinside the case, but the terraced battery system isn’t just placed snugly, it is firmly glued to the lower casing. The central battery is even placed in a well and glued in place making it very difficult to remove if necessary. The result is batteries that have to be forced out and are left covered in glue.Then we have the new butterfly mechanism keyboard. It has a backing secured with adhesive that once removed reveals two proprietary pentalobe screws per key. That’s 83 screws total just in the keyboard. iFixit also has someconcerns about that butterfly mechanism as it is very thin and uses a plastic hinge. How well willthat hold up over time?Apple has been criticized for only including a single USB port to handle both power and peripheral connections. It is going to get a lot of use and abuse, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to replace if damaged. Apple has secured it underneath the display bracket, meaning a lot of disassembly will be required if it breaks.Then finally, and as expected, the logic board has everything soldered on to it, so no RAM or flash memory upgrades, and if something goes wrong you’ll needa new board.

Samsung, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to remove the microSD card slot from its new flagship smartphone. The Galaxy S6 comes in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB versions, and you must choose carefully because that’s all you get. Well, sort of. There areways to add more storage to your phone that aren’t quite as convenient as dropping in a microSD card, but sometimes using the cloud simply isn’t an option. Here are some of the best options you have.Leef Bridge 3.0Leef’s main focus is on making flash drives that work with smartphones and tablets, so it should come as no surprise its offering is one of the best. TheLeef Bridge 3.0has a regular USB 3.0 port on one end and a microUSB on the other. Simply plug it into your computer to load all the files you want to have access to in your phone. When the time comes to make use of it, just slide the microUSB plug out and plug into your phone.When the Leef is plugged in, the Galaxy S6 will detect that storage has been added and will open the built-in file manager. From here you can open any compatible file and add more files to the drive from your phone. Data throughputis good enough to watch HD videowithout buffering.The Leef has very good build quality and the sliding mechanismclicks solidly into place. That makes it easy to get it slotted into the Galaxy S6’s somewhat finicky USB connector. You will have a flash drive awkwardly sticking out of your phone, though. It comes in16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities priced from $30 to $70.SanDisk Wireless Flash DriveSanDisk has an option to add a lotmore storage to your phone without having a drive sticking outof the bottom. TheWireless Flash Drivecreates its own WiFi access point that you can tether to and stream content to your phone. It has a rechargeable battery that’s good for four hours of continuous video streaming or more if you’re only using it intermittently.There’s a regular USB port on the end which is used for charging and data transfer. Just load it up, then long-press the power button to activate the access point. You’llneed the SanDisk Wireless Flash Drive app to connect, and it can be a little wonky. You also won’t have internet access while connected to the drive unless you set up connection forwarding in the app, but again, it’s a little picky.One particularly cool thing about this drive is that all the storage is in the form of a microSD card in a slot at the end of the stick. You can pop it out and put in a larger one if you want. This device comes pre-loaded with 16, 32, and 64GB cards priced from $35 to $90.

Smartphones are an extremely useful tool to have in your pocket, not only for communication and entertainment, but also for learning, fact checking, and quickly finding answers to questions. And that’s why we don’t let kids take them into exams, or in this case,chessplayers use them during tournaments.Gaioz Nigalidze is the reigning Georgian national chess champion and a chess grandmaster. However, he has been accused of cheating and could now serve a three-year ban depending on the outcome of the claim.The cheating claim was made by his opponent, Tigran Petrosian, during the sixth round of the Dubai Open. Nigalidze had been making very frequent and long trips to the toilet after playing his moves, which made Petrosian suspicious and led to asearch of the bathroom. A smartphone was discovered hidden in some toilet paper in a bin with a chess program loaded on to it. We don’t know which chess app he was using (yet).This could have been someone else’s smartphone, but Nigalidze’sFacebook account was logged in on the handset. He has denied cheating, but the evidence suggests otherwise. It also looks like a very silly thing to risk your chess playing career over considering first prize is only worth $12,000.Gaioz Nigalidze is 26-years-old, ranked 400th in the world, and regarded as a very talented player.Using a chess program on his phone would have allowed him to experiment and look ahead several moves. Being a professional player he would easily be able to memorize those moves before returning to the game with an unfair advantage over his opponent.

As mobile gaming continues to clench its fist around the gaming market, universal apps are becoming more popular — play a universal iPhone game in the bathroom at work, and pick up where you left off on your iPad at home. Sometimes, though — due to screen and control constraints or hardware limitations — a single game can’t be shared between smartphone and tablet. With the introduction of the smartwatches, mobile game developers now have to be aware of a third device with drastically different physical constraints and technical limitations. The solution might be disrupting the smooth transition the mobile market has made toward universal apps and focusing on exclusives, which is exactly what WayForward announced with the first-ever game exclusive to the Apple Watch, Watch Quest.While you might expect the game to be some sort of match-three variation (with light RPG elements,of course, thanks to the Questsuffix), WayForward claims its exclusive game will have more substance than, say, crushing candy does.The free-to-start game — a more honest phrase thatNintendo recently adopted to describe free-to-play games — sounds like some sort of hybrid between a citybuilder and light adventure RPG. The majority of the action — combat, puzzle-solving, and seeking loot — takes place on theApple Watch, but you have to pop into your iPhone to manage your kingdom and replenish supplies.While the depth of the game remains in question until release, there is something appealing about being able to progress while away from your main gaming device. Sega’s Dreamcasttested this theory out with the VMU, or Visual Memory Unit, which was a memory card that doubled as a tiny auxiliary gamingdevice. Many gamers, specifically MMO enthusiasts, would love to make progress in their game of choice while commuting or stuck in line somewhere. The gaming world isn’t quite there yet, but perhaps Watch Questcan prove that a market exists. Some of us would certainly love to lessen the grind ofour favorite MMOs while we’re spending some quality time in the bathroom.

With iOS and Android versions of find-your-device apps either coming stock with your device or being very easy to procure, there’sless of a risk of permanently losing your expensive mobile device than ever before. Sure, when you accidentally leave your WiFi-only iPad in your messenger bag in thebackseat of a cab, the device likely won’t be able to report its location two minutes after the cab drives off and you realize you’re missing something slung around your shoulder. Regardless, the find-your-device apps are easy enough to use, though a bit tedious. Now, Google has made it even easier — and removed the tedium — to find yourdevice: just Google search.If usingAndroidDevice Manager is a bit too tedious — which it certainly can be when the speed of your actions dictates whether or not you’ll see your phone again — you can simply type “find my phone” into a Google search box. If both your Android phone and the browser you’re searching fromare logged into Google, a map with your phone’s location will be returned right in the search results.If your phone is alive and well, Google will not only locate it, but will give you the option to call it. From there, you can also load Android Device Manager for more options, like locking your phone orwiping it clean. Since Google needs a way to pair your instance of its search engine with your phone, the “find my phone” searchquery won’t work if you aren’t logged in, but that’s an easy fix.You’re still subject to the Achilles’heel of lost devices — if the devicecan’t access the internet in any way, then it can’t report its location — but performing a quick Google search is currently the easiest and fastest way to locate a lost device.