Answering your tech questions again

Spring tech Q&A

Plus: AT&T’s mysterious internet plan, vertical tab tips, and new Mac discounts

Jared Newman   |   April 14, 2026

Before we get to the free newsletter, quick sales pitch on what I’ve got for Advisorator’s paying members this week:

  • A new monthly “Ask Me Anything” thread in my Tech Buds forum, where you can post your most pressing tech questions.
  • Highlights of all the great questions I’ve gotten lately, including: What to do with an old Mac, whether the latest phones are worth buying, making a party photo album that anyone can add to, and some easy ways to free up storage space on your computer.

I launched the Tech Buds forum last summer, and I’m really pleased with how it’s going, especially with these Q&A threads. We’ve even had some instances of folks jumping in to answer questions from fellow members, as in this thread about doorbell cameras and this one about logging into government websites.

Advisorator memberships are just $5 per month or $50 per year, prices I’ve proudly stuck with for more than seven years even as everything else goes up. The more folks who support my work, the more time I can put into things like the forum, my online tech tutorials, and my weekly in-depth feature stories. Thanks for considering it!

News in brief

AT&T’s mysterious internet plan: AT&T is launching a new “OneConnect” plan that bundles gigabit home internet with wireless service. It starts at $90 per month for one person (including a phone and up to two other devices, such as watches and tablets), $120 for two people, and $225 for up to 10 people.

But as Rob Pegoraro points out, there’s no discount for new phones—you have to bring your own unlocked phone instead—and AT&T isn’t answering basic questions about how much high-speed wireless data or hotspot use you get. The company says it’s still “testing and refining” the service, which probably means you should avoid being its guinea pig for now.

YouTube Premium price hikes: YouTube is raising prices on all of its ad-free plans:

  • Individual: $14 → $16/mo. 5.99/month, up from $13.99
  • Family: $23 → $27/mo.
  • Music Premium: $11 → $12/mo.
  • Lite: $8 → $9/mo.

Note that the Lite plan recently became a lot more useful with background play and download support, so that’s worth considering if you don’t need the streaming music element. (Alternatively, there are unofficial ways to avoid the ads as well.)

End of life for old Kindles: On May 20, Amazon will stop supporting Kindles from 2012 and earlier. They’ll continue to function, but you won’t be able to download any more books onto them. If you’re feeling brave, David Gewirtz has an extensive jailbreak guide that could give an old Kindle new life.

More notable news and reads:

Tip of the week

Vertical tab tips: Google Chrome has finally joined nearly every other browser in supporting vertical tabs on laptops and desktops. That means you can view your tabs in a left-hand column instead of a strip at the top.

I’ve been a vertical tab evangelist for more than five years now. It’s just so much easier to switch between lots of tabs when the page titles aren’t all smooshed together horizontally. You lose some room on the left side of the screen, but most web pages don’t use that space anyway.

  • To enable vertical tabs in Chrome, right-click on the tap strip and select “Show tabs vertically.”
  • If you don’t see this option yet, head to chrome://flags/#vertical-tabs, then change the setting from “Default” to “Enabled.”
  • Click and drag the edge of the tab row to make it narrower or wider.
  • Use the collapse button in the top-left corner to shrink the tab row down to just a narrow strip of icons.
  • Enjoy the more prominent Tab Search feature, which now lives at the top of the vertical tab menu.

If you’ve never tried vertical tabs before, my advice is to stick with it for at least a week. It might seem weird at first, but before long you’ll never want to go back.

(Want to try some more forward-looking browsers that have done vertical tab support for years already? Check out my web browser field guide.)

Try these apps

Interesting feeds to follow: Surf is a neat new way to follow publications, social media feeds, YouTube channels, podcasts, and more. While many modern RSS readers can do the same, I appreciate being able to browse (and create) ready-made feeds to get started, like this Indie Tech feed from Hiro and this feed of late-night clips.

Retro forecasts: The Weather Channel’s RetroCast site recently went viral for its 90s local forecast vibes, and while I appreciate the idea, I’m mildly annoyed that its smooth jazz soundtrack is exactly the same every time.

For the tens of us who can discern Jeff Lorber and Joyce Cooling from the royalty-free bin, there’s always the more authentic WeatherStar 4000+ site instead.

Correction: Last week’s coverage of Parachute Backup mentioned that the Mac version costs $5. I’m not sure if that was a sale price or a typo, but it actually costs $15 now.

Spend wisely

This section of the newsletter may include affiliate links, which earn me a commission if you wind up purchasing something.

I’m fond of saying that before buying a new Mac, you should wait for the inevitable price drops from third-party retailers. And here we are, with the 2026 M5 MacBook Air now on sale for $949 (13-inch) or $1,149 (15-inch), both $150 off the regular price. Models with more storage and RAM are also available with the same discounts, as are the new M5 Pro MacBook Pros.

Want to save even more? Check out Best Buy’s open-box options, as low as $920 for the base model in like-new condition.

Other notable deals:

  • Google’s Pixel 10 drops to a record-low $549 unlocked, while the Pixel 10a gets its first price drop to $449.
  • Good price on Hisense’s 55-inch entry-level Mini-LED TV, on sale for $298.
  • Or get a 75-inch Mini-LED TV for $500.
  • Nice deal on Samsung’s high-end surround system too, at $848 new from Woot. (I have a previous model of this in my basement.)
  • Mint Mobile takes $500 off the Galaxy S26 Ultra for new customers, plus half-off unlimited data plans for a year.
  • New Visible wireless customers: Half-off a year of the Pro plan with code SLAMDUNK.
  • Costco bundles the third-gen AirPods Pro with two years of AppleCare+ for $200. (Amazon has the same price without the AppleCare.)
  • Select Amazon customers: 60 AAA batteries for $10. (Must select “Subscribe & Save” on the product page to reveal the on-page coupon. Then cancel the subscription after purchase.)

Thanks for reading!

And thanks for considering an Advisorator membership. While forum access is for paying members only, I do try to answer questions from everyone when time allows, so feel free to reply to this email if you have any.

Until next week,
Jared

Did someone share this newsletter with you? Sign up to get it every Tuesday.

Thanks for subscribing.