If you’re a fan of taking to the skies in titles like Microsoft Flight Sim or Elite Dangerous, then ditch the mouse and keyboard combo and opt for a proper set of flight sticks. Thrustmaster just announced the new Sol-R 1 and Sol-R 2 series, designed specifically with space-oriented flight in mind. The sticks are available for preorder now and launch officially on April 16, 2025.
Both sticks place ergonomics front and center, with a palm rest on one side and a thumb rest on the other. Even better, the rests can swap sides to better accommodate both right- and left-handed players. There are two triggers, two hat switches, a thumbwheel, and a miniature stick for more granular control, as well as a base with 44 different buttons.
Three axes of movement — X, Y, and Z, of course — provide precise controls for dogfights or just maneuvering through dodgy environments. There are also 11 different RGB zones for players who want to customize the look of their flight sticks.
The Sol-R 1 flight stick works with Thrustmaster’s Viper and Hornet grips, too, and the company says it will be compatible with future grips.
The Sol-R 2 HOSAS combo gives an even more immersive experience with two fully-featured sticks that have a grand total of 88 different buttons.
The Sol-R 1 goes for $220, while the Sol-R 2 combo setup goes for $400. It’s an expensive investment, but far from the most expensive flight sticks on the market. Thrustmaster’s offerings are a slightly higher-end product, especially when budget flight sticks can be had for as little as $50, but they do offer a lot of bells and whistles that help to justify the price.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.