- The Zwift Hub Classic Smart Trainer Has Been Discontinued… And Replaced by the Wahoo Kickr Core Bundle Outside Magazine
- Zwift Kills Zwift Hub Classic, Wahoo Further Drops KICKR CORE Prices: Two Companies Increase Partnership DC Rainmaker
- Wahoo cuts price of Kickr Core and Kickr Snap smart trainers – and introduces 12-month Zwift bundles across the entire Kickr range BikeRadar
- Wahoo and Zwift Offer New Membership Bundles — Best Trainers 2023 Bicycling
- Zwift discontinues Hub Classic trainer as Wahoo drops Kickr Core price again Cyclingnews
- View Full Coverage on Google News
Tag Archives: discontinued
The Choco Taco, Ice Cream Snack of American Summers, Is Discontinued
The Choco Taco, a nut-and-chocolate-topped ice cream snack that for decades has been a top choice at the ice cream truck or convenience store freezer, is being discontinued, its creator confirmed this week after weeks of rumors about its impending demise.
Klondike, which is owned by Unilever and makes the Choco Taco along with several other ice cream products, confirmed the discontinuation on Monday on its website and in response to several disappointed questions from fans on Twitter, some of them laced with profanity.
“Unfortunately, the Klondike Choco Taco has been discontinued,” one such response read. “We’ve experienced an unprecedented spike in demand across our portfolio and have had to make very tough decisions to ensure availability of our full portfolio nationwide. We’re very sorry for any disappointment!”
To many of the Choco Taco’s fans, who mourned its loss en masse on social media on Monday, it tasted like summer or childhood or a beloved memory, even if they hadn’t had one in years. And it was in its own way inventive when it was created by Alan Drazen in Philadelphia in 1983, according to a 2016 history of the snack in Eater that referred to it as the “most beloved and innovative of all the American ice cream ‘novelties.’”
“When you eat a sugar cone, you generally eat the nuts, chocolate, and ice cream on the top, and then when you get to the cone, you’re [only] eating ice cream and cone,” Mr. Drazen told Eater. “With the Choco Taco you’re getting the ice cream, cone, nuts and chocolate with just about every bite.”
The company’s confirmation ended what had been confusing times for lovers of the summertime treat. Rumors had swirled throughout the year that the Choco Taco was no more as people reported being unable to find them on their local shelves. But on several occasions from December up through last week, Klondike reassured fans on Twitter that while it had pulled four-packs of the Choco Taco last fall, single servings would still be available in all the usual places.
But on Monday night, the confirmation of its demise was reported by the Takeout, a food-focused publication.
Snopes, the website that aims to debunk baseless myths and rumors, published an article on Monday calling the Choco Taco’s discontinuation “false,” before having to reverse course just hours later after Unilever confirmed it was true.
“When we originally addressed the rumor, we labeled it ‘False,’ in part, because we didn’t want to believe that it was true,” Snopes wrote.
Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit, was among those hoping it could find a way to return.
In one of its responses to disappointed Twitter users on Monday, Klondike did offer some small hope to the writers at Snopes, Mr. Ohanian and other fans.
“We’re working hard to find a way to bring Choco Taco back to ice cream trucks in the coming years,” it said.
iPhone 14 release — which current iPhones will be discontinued?
The new iPhone 14 arrives sometime this fall — iPhone 14 release date speculation suggests that the phones will appear in September — meaning you’ll have a choice of new Apple smartphones in just a few months.
But to make room for the four new models we’re expecting Apple to release, some current iPhones will likely disappear from Apple’s lineup. And that includes some of the best iPhones you can buy right now.
Apple’s playbook in recent years is to keep around a few older models at reduced prices as a way to appeal to shoppers who balk at paying the full cost for a brand new iPhone. That could be especially critical this time around as some new phones, specifically the iPhone 14 Pro models, could see a price hike from their iPhone 13 counterparts.
If you’re familiar with Apple, you know the company doesn’t disclose anything about its future product plans, right up until the moment that it’s ready to announce new phones. That hasn’t changed with the build-up to this year’s iPhone 14 release, and the rumor mill has been quiet about Apple’s planned iPhone lineup beyond the iPhone 14 models. We would expect an uptick in rumors right before the iPhone 14 launch, though.
In the meantime, we can review Apple’s recent history to make some guesses about which phones are likely to stick around at reduced prices and which could be harder to find come the fall. Here’s what we think Apples future iPhone lineup will look like once the iPhone 14 arrives.
Apple’s current iPhone lineup
Before we proceed with what Apple’s post-iPhone 14 launch plans will be, let’s review what Apple’s current phone offerings look like. We’re restricting this to the devices currently on sale at Apple, along with their starting prices. Additional older iPhones may available at select retailers and phone carriers, but we’re only considering what Apple makes available for sale.
That’s eight models in total, with only one — the iPhone SE (2022) having been released in the last calendar year.
iPhone 14: What models are coming in the fall
Rumors have tipped us off about the new models Apple is working on as part of this year’s iPhone release. We’re expecting four new phones — an iPhone 14, an iPhone 14 Pro, an iPhone 14 Pro Max and an iPhone 14 Max. The first three models will have the same screen sizes as their iPhone 13 equivalents, though the Pro versions could ditch the iPhone’s famous notch for cutouts that house the front camera and Face ID sensors.
That fourth phone, the iPhone 14 Max, would be a new model for Apple. It’s expected to include a 6.7-inch display like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, but its other features — the number of cameras, available storage, the design and the processor used — are rumored to mirror the standard iPhone 14. (We’ve got an iPhone 14 vs. iPhone 14 Max comparison that looks at all the potential differences.) Note that one rumor claims the phone will be called the iPhone 14 Plus to avoid confusion with the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
The inclusion of the iPhone 14 Max means the end of the line for the compact mini iPhone, which has been part of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 lineups; both iPhone minis released by Apple remain on sale. While Apple doesn’t break down sales figures by model, it’s reported that the mini is Apple’s least popular iPhone, which might explain why it’s not sticking around for an iPhone 14 version. The reported lack of sales may also influence Apple’s decision on which models will remain part of its phone lineup in a post-iPhone 14 world.
iPhone 14 pricing rumors are also important to keep in mind when trying to figure out which current phones Apple might keep. While it’s possible Apple will try to keep prices the same as they were for the iPhone 13, emerging rumors suggest that only the standard iPhone 14 will retain the price of its iPhone 13 counterpart. The iPhone 14 Max, as a larger phone, could feature an $899 price tag.
That could push the price of the iPhone 14 Pro models up, as Apple looks to keep a gap between the pricing of its standard and Pro models. At the moment, the general assumption is that the iPhone 14 Pro models will see their prices rise by $100 over the current models — $1,099 for the iPhone 14 Pro and $1,1199 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max.
Which current iPhone models could disappear from Apple’s lineup?
Assuming rumors of four new iPhone 14 models pan out, we can expect Apple to thin out the current iPhone lineup to make room for the latest handsets. Any phones that would cannibalize sales of new iPhone 14s would likely be the first to go.
That means the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max are probably living on borrowed time. Since iPhone started with the Pro and Pro Max models in the iPhone lineup back in 2019, it’s never kept either version around for more than a year. The iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max — forerunners to the Pro/Pro Max naming convention — also dropped out of the lineup once the iPhone 11 launched.
Apple also rarely keeps phones longer than three years after their release date. The iPhone 11, unveiled in September 2019, is rapidly approaching its Sell-By date, so it’s a pretty safe bet that it’s getting cycled out of the lineup this fall.
Which current iPhone models is Apple likely to keep?
Apple consistently keeps the standard iPhone it introduced the year before, knocking $100 off its price. That’s what happened to the iPhone 11 when the iPhone 12 debuted, and the iPhone 12 met a similar fate last fall. That’s why we think the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 is almost certain to stay around once the iPhone 14 debuts.
The typical $100 price cut would be especially pertinent for the iPhone 13, as there’s no iPhone 14 mini to take up the $699 pricing slot. So it would make sense for the iPhone 13 to fill that space as the next-best option for shoppers who just can’t swing the $799 price the iPhone 14 is likely to command.
If Apple thinks it can wring another year’s worth of sales from the iPhone 12, it could keep that phone around, too. The iPhone 12 has already seen a drop from its $799 debut price to $699. Should that phone stay — and Apple’s past behavior suggests it will — we would expect a new $599 price for the iPhone 12 in the fall.
That leaves the iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 mini — and some complicated questions about just what Apple does with those phones. If you believe the notion that neither model has sold particularly well, there’s really no incentive for Apple to keep either around, unless it’s to clear up any unsold inventory.
Then again, dropping both minis from the lineup would leave Apple with a sizable gap between the iPhone 12 at its likely $599 price and the $429 iPhone SE, which isn’t going anywhere. If Apple’s keen on offering a $499 phone, either one of the remaining mini models could fill that slot. The iPhone 12 mini would seem like the more natural progression, since $499 is just a $100 drop from its current price. But if mini sales are as tepid as we’ve heard, knocking $200 off the iPhone 13 mini would certainly price that model to move.
The fates of the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 13 mini are probably the biggest lingering question about which current iPhone models are likely to stick around past the fall. If we had to guess, we’d say the more recently released iPhone 13 mini seems like the more obvious candidate to keep around, but it would require a heftier price cut than normal to fit in with Apple’s current pricing structure.
Fall iPhone lineup outlook
It’s a fun guessing game trying to figure out Apple’s fall phone lineup, but there’s a practical reason to figure out which phones will still be around once the iPhone 14 arrives. If you’re currently considering an iPhone purchase with one of the current models has caught your eye, waiting a few months could mean that you’d be able to purchase the same handset, but at a lower price, assuming its part of Apple’s longer-term plans.
Conversely, if that phone’s likely to drop out of the picture, come the fall, you’d be better served making your purchase now, even at the current price. (The best iPhone 13 deals can help you save money on your next phone purchase.)
There’s another advantage to waiting until the fall to buy an iPhone — you can also see if the rumored improvements to the iPhone 14 really are worth it to you. That way, you’ve got an even wider array of iPhone choices, regardless of which phones make up Apple’s fall lineup.
WyzeCam v1 smart security camera to be discontinued February 1st.
The original giant killer in the smart home camera space, the WyzeCam (v1), is saying sayonara just shy of its fifth birthday. The company emailed its customers this week to say it will no longer sell or support its original product, as the camera can’t support a necessary security update.
While the WyzeCam will continue to work, Wyze warns in the email that it will no longer actively monitor or patch new security vulnerabilities for the device and that “your continued use of the WyzeCam after February 1, 2022 carries increased risk, is discouraged by Wyze, and is entirely at your own risk.”
Wyze included a link to a $3 coupon toward the purchase of a new Wyze Cam in the email. It currently offers five different models on its online store, with the flagship model, the Wyze Cam v3, costing $36.
While five years is a relatively short lifespan for a security camera — considering the rock-bottom price of the original WyzeCam (it started out at $20), coupled with high-end features like HD video and sound and motion detection, it’s not a bad run. Even if you purchased one two years ago, $10 or so for each year of coverage is still a good deal, especially as Wyze’s connected cameras don’t require a subscription to review recorded footage.
The WyzeCam also arguably helped encourage other companies to produce lower-priced cameras. But February 1st is less than one week away, so Wyze is leaving many of its users out of luck when it comes to securely monitoring their homes.
The move highlights a need for smart home companies to sell their products with support expiration dates attached, or at least a promise for how long they will provide security and feature updates.
Last year, Google announced it would guarantee at least five years of support and updates for its smart home gear, and while Wyze has an End of Life policy, it’s not well-advertised. For example, when you buy a Wyze Cam v3, there’s no obvious link to the policy on the product page (you have to click through to the Terms & Conditions where it’s right at the bottom), and there is no specific mention of how long it will support its newer products.
While exact dates for when a new product will one day become a paperweight aren’t exactly selling points for a company, transparency and trust are crucial for the future success of the smart home. And this is one place all companies selling these devices could do a lot better.
Wyze didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment from The Verge.
Microsoft has discontinued all Xbox One consoles
Microsoft has stopped manufacturing all Xbox One consoles. The software giant originally discontinued the Xbox One X and digital Xbox One S ahead of the Xbox Series X launch, then quietly stopped manufacturing the Xbox One S at the end of 2020, leaving retailers to sell out their remaining stock.
“To focus on production of Xbox Series X / S, we stopped production for all Xbox One consoles by the end of 2020,” says Cindy Walker, senior director of Xbox console product marketing, in a statement to The Verge.
Microsoft’s confirmation comes just as a Bloomberg report suggested Sony had planned to end PS4 production at the end of 2021, but that the company will now manufacture around a million PS4 consoles in 2022. Sony has confirmed PS4 production is still ongoing, amid struggles by both Microsoft and Sony to meet demand for their latest Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles.
Microsoft seems able to meet demand for the $299 Xbox Series S, though. At the time of publishing, the Xbox Series S is in stock at both Amazon in the UK and Best Buy in the US. Speaking just after the launch of the Xbox Series X / S in 2020, Xbox chief Phil Spencer told The Verge that the company had built more Xbox Series X consoles than Series S, but that ultimately the lower price point of the Series S would win out.
“We can actually build more of the Series S [chips] in the same [chip] die space as we can the Series X,” said Spencer. That’s a key reason for why we’re seeing steady Xbox Series S stock, alongside Microsoft’s decision to quietly discontinue the Xbox One S in favor of its next-gen consoles.
5 Products Discontinued by Apple in 2021
Apple announced several new products this year, ranging from the colorful 24-inch iMac to four iPhone 13 models, but we also said goodbye to some other products. Below, we’ve recapped five products and accessories discontinued by Apple in 2021.
HomePod
In March 2021, Apple announced that it was discontinuing the full-sized HomePod in order to focus its efforts on the HomePod mini. At the time, Apple said it would continue to provide software updates, service, and support for the larger HomePod.
When the HomePod launched in February 2018, reviews praised the speaker for its sound quality, but its original $349 price was significantly more expensive than competing smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and Google Home. Even after Apple lowered the HomePod’s price to $299, sales of the speaker reportedly remained lackluster.
iMac Pro
The full-sized HomePod wasn’t the only Apple product discontinued in March 2021, as the iMac Pro was also axed in the same month. At the time, Apple said the 27-inch iMac was the preferred choice for the vast majority of pro iMac users, and added that customers who needed even more performance and expandability could choose the Mac Pro.
Released in December 2017, the iMac Pro received no substantial hardware refreshes over its lifetime, resulting in the 27-inch iMac eventually becoming faster and more affordable than the standard iMac Pro with a 10-core Xeon W processor.
While the iMac Pro has been discontinued, Apple is expected to release a high-end 27-inch iMac with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips next year.
Space Gray Magic Accessories
A few months after the iMac Pro was discontinued, Apple stopped selling Space Gray versions of the Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and Magic Mouse 2 for the Mac on a standalone basis. Apple continues to sell the accessories in silver.
21.5-Inch iMac
In October 2021, Apple discontinued its final 21.5-inch iMac model, which had remained available as a low-end configuration suitable for educational institutions. The discontinuation came as no surprise, as Apple had introduced an ultra-thin and colorful 24-inch iMac powered by its custom-designed M1 chip six months prior.
Apple only has three Intel-based Macs remaining in its lineup, including the 27-inch iMac, the high-end Mac mini, and the Mac Pro tower.
iPhone XR
After launching the iPhone 13 series in September 2021, Apple discontinued the iPhone XR. The lineup now consists of four iPhone 13 models, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini, the iPhone 11, and the second-generation iPhone SE.
Introduced in September 2018, the iPhone XR features a 6.1-inch LCD display with Face ID, an A12 Bionic chip, and a single rear camera.
Other products discontinued by Apple this year after being refreshed include the iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, Apple Watch Series 6, fifth-generation iPad mini, eighth-generation iPad, and the first-generation Apple TV 4K. Apple also stopped selling the original Powerbeats, Beats Solo Pro, and Beats EP headphones.
Travis Scott’s spiked seltzer has been discontinued
“After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer. We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision,” an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said in a statement to CNN Business.
All press releases related to CACTI and Travis Scott are no longer available on the Anheuser-Busch website.
Nike postponed the launch of the Air Max 1 X Cactus Jack “out of respect for everyone impacted by the tragic events at the Astroworld Festival,” the shoemaker said.
The CACTI deal ending comes after the Astroworld festival tragedy on Nov. 5, in which 10 people died and many more were injured. At least seven of the victims’ families declined Scott’s offer to pay for their funerals, CNN reported. As of November, at least 140 lawsuits have been filed in connection to the festival tragedy.
Scott announced the partnership for the agave-spiked seltzer in December 2020. His other promotions included a McDonald’s meal and a Fortnite concert deal with video game developer Epic Games, which set an all-time concurrent views record for the platform with more than 12.3 million viewers.
Travis Scott’s Cacti Hard Seltzer is Discontinued by Anheuser-Busch
5:39 PM PT — A rep for Travis Scott tells TMZ, “Travis was clear in his interview that he is not focused on business right now and his priority is helping his community and fans heal. CACTI asked AB InBev to inform their wholesalers there will not be product at this time.”
Travis Scott‘s Cacti hard seltzer will have to find a new home if it hopes to continue, because Anheuser-Busch has made the decision to discontinue the beverage.
In an announcement Friday, AB said, “After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of CACTI Agave Spiked Seltzer. We believe brand fans will understand and respect this decision.”
According to a report from AdAge, the company would not specify if the decision came because of what happened at Astroworld.
A source close to Travis, however, tells us the two sides had an agreement that was to end November 30, saying, “this is not a cancelation or creasing of an ongoing agreement.” We’re told the Nov. 30 decision was a mutual one.
BACKGRID
Cacti seemed to be a marketing hit, selling out in stores and even causing a frenzy when TS hit a local grocer in Los Angeles to promote the product.
2/23/21
BACKGRID
It’s currently unclear if Travis will attempt to repurpose the brand elsewhere.
Originally Published — 4:37 PM PT
The Ncase M1, a crowdfunded marvel of a PC case, has been discontinued
In 2012, fed up with the sorry state of small-form-factor (SFF) computer cases, two users on the HardOCP community forum decided to create their own. Wahaha360 and Necere came up with the $200+ Ncase M1, a 12.7-liter marvel designed to put every cubic centimeter of that space to good use. Amazingly, they managed to attract the attention of renowned PC manufacturer Lian-Li to manufacture small batches of their crowdfunded case out of high-quality aluminum, and the result was greeted with rave reviews.
Nine years later, though, Ncase has announced that it’s discontinuing the M1 for good.
It’s a weird situation. Yesterday, the company posted that it had discontinued the M1 entirely — but overnight, the post was updated to read that it’s just the current “classic” design that’s gone for good.
Ncase tells The Verge that’s because there’s a successor on the way. “I can say that what we are working on will follow the formula the M1 pioneered, updated and modernized to better reflect the current hardware market,” Ncase says, adding:
Video cards, especially, have on average grown significantly larger over the past couple of years – a fact that has hurt the M1’s compatibility, which had previously been very good for its size. The M1 was already highly space-optimized, so accommodating such larger cards was not possible within the current design footprint. Hence the need for a more thorough redesign from the ground up, which also allows us the opportunity to explore alternate manufacturing methods, updates to the visual design, and additional features.
That makes some sense: This isn’t a product that’s particularly out of date or where demand has suddenly dried up. While there are many worthy imitators like the Cooler Master NR200 or Lian-Li’s own TU-150 — with a neat integrated carry handle, too — the Ncase M1 is still widely regarded as one of the best cases on the market. Would-be buyers were eagerly awaiting another batch, which was tentatively slated for November.
But it is true that some of the oversized coolers on the most recent generation of graphics cards keeps many of them from fitting well in the M1. (Still, you can easily stuff a RTX 3080 Ti Founder’s Edition in there if you’ve got enough airflow and a potent power supply. I certainly did!)
It’s worth noting that Ncase’s founders do work on other PC cases as well. For example: The 14.7-liter SSUPD Meshlicious, a mass-market case that SFF specialist YouTuber Optimum Tech called “the 2021 ITX case to beat”, is also a Wahaha360 product made by Lian-Li. (So is the 9.5-liter FormD T1, another case that gets produced in small batches.) Ncase also collaborated on a design called the Mach One, too — and if you told me that its LRPC concept inspired Microsoft’s Xbox One S, below, I wouldn’t bat an eye.
It feels premature to pour one out for the best computer case I’ve ever owned, one that I plan to keep using for years and one that’ll likely make a cameo appearance in even more Verge reviews than the ones you might’ve already clocked. But even if we might be getting an Ncase M2 someday, I don’t mind pressing F for the legacy this brand built. Ncase helped change the face of SFF cases, and whether you’re buying your next one from them or someone else, our desks are better for it.
Pixel 5 discontinued a few months ahead of Pixel 6 launch
This year’s Pixel situation is a bit of a weird one with the Pixel 6 technically now officially announced, but with a couple of months between now and the formal launch. Tonight, Google has confirmed that its current flagship, the Pixel 5, will be discontinued alongside the Pixel 4a 5G.
The Pixel 4a 5G being discontinued makes perfect sense following the Pixel 5a’s debut this week. However, the Pixel 5 kicking the bucket this early is certainly out of the ordinary for the smartphone market. Generally, older models aren’t discontinued until the next generation has been released, so Pixel 5 dropping off in August ahead of the Pixel 6’s presumed release in October is certainly well ahead of schedule.
Google says that both Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 will be sold out completely “in the coming weeks.” As it stands today, the Pixel 5 is marked out of stock from the US Google Store and the Pixel 4a 5G is as well. Both phones also recently disappeared from Google Fi. The company confirmed the decision in a statement to The Verge:
With our current forecasts, we expect Google Store in the U.S. to sell out of Pixel 4a (5G) and Pixel 5 in the coming weeks following the launch of Pixel 5a (5G). These products will continue to be available through some partners while supplies last.
Notably, too, Google did the same thing with its previous flagship phone. The Pixel 4 series was discontinued a couple of months ahead of schedule too. In fact, Google pulled the plug on those phones at the beginning of August last year.
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