I’m sure Ed Sheeran has thought about that Anchorman meme quite a bit this week. You know the one, where Ron Burgandy is sitting back with a bottle of beer exclaiming, “boy that escalated quickly”. In true internet fashion, he’s not getting a break either. Nor should he. But a browser game called Super Macklemore 64 has appeared this week to poke fun at the tour controversy, and three of the five acts you rally in it are Irish.
What is Super Macklemore 64?
Super Macklemore 64 is a short browser game where you play as Macklemore, running around while a giant Ed Sheeran chases you and shouts lines about not being complicit and music being for escapism. Tiny versions of billionaire Robert Kraft scurry about trying to catch you too, and you can stomp them for points.
The aim is to find your solidarity crew, then perform a ritual at the stones. That summons a crowd chanting “Free Palestine”, and Ed wobbles and topples over. You get three lives, your score comes from speed and Kraft stomps minus any hits you take, and it runs on WASD with touch controls on mobile. Playing with a touchpad is though, so FYI for all you laptop players.
The Irish acts of Super Macklemore 64?
Irish artists have come to the fore this week. While Sheeran is openly proud of his Irish heritage, this week he arguably slotted in behind the infamous Conor McGregor of people we’re happy to leave off as “oh no, they’re 100% English”. Thankfully, we have some excellent examples of representing Ireland as we would want to be represented through Aaron Rowe, Beoga and Kneecap, making up the crew you rally, alongside Finneas and Lukas Graham.
Rowe, a Dublin singer, and Beoga, the Irish folk band who had been playing a mini set with Sheeran on the Loop Tour, both quit the tour in solidarity with Macklemore. Beoga captioned their announcement in Irish with “Saoirse don Phailistín”. Kneecap publicly posted their love and solidarity for Macklemore and have been long standing supporters of Palestine.
Rowe has also reached achieved social media virality for his video which went beyond the Sheeran tour collapse to take aim at the Irish Government and football team ahead of playing Israel in the Nations League.
What happened between Ed Sheeran and Macklemore?
Macklemore used his opening slot at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to say “Free Palestine” and perform his song Hind’s Hall. He also told Jewish fans that criticism of Israel is not criticism of them. A petition from the Israeli-American Council followed, and Macklemore then said he had been removed from the remaining US dates.
Kraft, whose group owns Gillette Stadium, has said he opposed Macklemore appearing there because of a broader history of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery, rather than because of his support for Palestinians. Sheeran says the call wasn’t his, and that it came from the tour promoter after pressure from venues. All of the remaining opening acts then walked, along with Beoga.
Sheeran had the star power to stand behind a friend of roughly ten years, and he didn’t and he has faced reputational collapse as a result. Don’t get me wrong, Kraft is the real rotten egg here, but they all deserve their fair share of critism.
Why is Ireland so annoyed at Ed Sheeran?
Because Sheeran has spent years leaning into Irishness. His father is from Belfast, he holds an Irish passport, and he told The Louis Theroux Podcast in 2025 that he identifies culturally as Irish.
So plenty of Irish public figures have been giving out about it. Labour TDs Alan Kelly and Ged Nash both criticised him, Classic Hits Radio pulled his music from its playlists, and RTÉ said its threshold for banning artists is very high and it would keep playing him, but whether any DJ would bother remains to be seen. Rowe said that as Irish people we know all too well about genocide, forced famine and violent occupation. Israeli officials have denied genocide allegations.
Who made Super Macklemore 64?
Jonathan Mann, a songwriter who holds the Guinness World Record for most consecutive days writing a song and has been writing one a day since 2009. He isn’t a traditional game developer. He has used the online name GameJew since 2006, and he has been open about vibe coding his games with AI tools, having made a game a day for a month earlier this year.
So no, this isn’t an indie game coded with love and care. But I do love a topical gag built at speed. That said, the joke lands because it arrived while the row is still raw. Mann, speaking to Al Jazeera, said the situation is so absurd that the only way he can process it is by making something equally absurd, and that it’s really about the Palestinian people rather than Macklemore or Sheeran.
Poor mobile signal at home is one of those problems that sounds like it should have a simple fix and rarely does. Before you spend a cent on hardware, it’s worth working out why the signal is bad and what you’re trying to get out of it.
The short version is that Wi-Fi calling is the easiest way to fix poor mobile signal at home in Ireland. It sends your calls and texts over your broadband instead of the nearest mast, so a weak signal indoors stops mattering. Signal boosters exist, but they’re expensive and hit and miss, so I’d treat them as a last resort. Here’s the order I’d try things in.
Why you get poor mobile signal indoors?
It’s usually the building rather than the network. Your home’s building materials matter more than most people expect, and standing in the centre of a granite kitchen will always be a challenge. Thick walls, double and triple glazing and metal-framed windows all make it harder for a signal to get in, and the regulator has found that the materials used to insulate modern homes often limit mobile coverage too. You can read more in ComReg’s advice on getting the most out of your mobile service at home.
There’s no point giving out to your network if the problem is the walls, so it’s worth checking what the signal looks like outside first. ComReg’s outdoor mobile coverage map shows predicted 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G coverage for your Eircode across the Irish operators, including the smaller ones. It’s a prediction and it’s outdoor only, so treat it as a starting point. If coverage is weak outside as well, that’s a network problem and nothing you do indoors will change it.
Is Wi-Fi calling the easiest fix for poor mobile signal at home?
Yes, provided your broadband is decent and your provider and handset support it. Check whether VoWiFi is an option for calls before you consider anything else. Once it’s switched on in your phone settings, your phone uses your home Wi-Fi when the mobile signal is weak, and you keep using your normal number and dialler. There’s no separate app to install.
Clear Mobile is one of the cheapest networks that offers this right now, and it greatly improves call quality. Its SIM-only plan starts at €12.99 a month, it runs on Vodafone’s network, and Clear Mobile’s Wi-Fi calling carries no extra charge. Calls still come out of your allowance, though the plan includes unlimited calls.
That said, there are trade-offs. Support is online only, there’s an activation fee equal to one month’s plan cost, and your handset has to support Wi-Fi calling, so check your model against your provider’s supported phones list. Emergency calls to 999 and 112 also go over the mobile network rather than Wi-Fi on Vodafone’s service, and it’s worth checking that the same applies with whoever you use. Wi-Fi calling fixes the conversation, but it isn’t a substitute for having somewhere in the house where you can get a signal in an emergency.
What are you trying to achieve with better coverage?
Do you need full bars in every room, or do you just want calls to sound decent? For a lot of people it’s the second one. Data is a separate issue, because your phone will happily use your home Wi-Fi anyway.
To be honest, the simplest trick costs nothing. Rather than dialling family, try a WhatsApp call. It often has much better quality than a standard mobile call, and it runs over your Wi-Fi so a weak signal barely comes into it. The catch is that the other person needs WhatsApp too.
Do mobile signal boosters work in Ireland?
Sometimes, but they’re hit and miss and expensive. There is a whole world of signal boosters you could get into, and realistically most people are better off not going there.
The legal side matters here. ComReg’s guidance on legal mobile phone repeaters makes clear that only devices meeting its technical conditions can be sold or used in Ireland, and non-compliant ones can be seized. The cheap boosters that turn up on online marketplaces are the ones to steer clear of.
Even a compliant repeater has limits. It needs an outdoor antenna and some signal outside to amplify, and it has to suit the frequency bands your network uses in your area. Expect to pay several hundred euro for a compliant kit before you think about installation. That’s a lot of money for something that may or may not sort out the one room you care about.
What to do first
Check what the coverage looks like outside, then switch on Wi-Fi calling and see whether your handset and network support it. Use WhatsApp for the calls that matter most, especially family. Only look at a booster if all of that fails and the signal outside is decent enough to be worth amplifying.
Anker SOLIX has launched the XE, an all-in-one home battery system, in Ireland and the UK, selling it through a network of authorised installers. The XE folds the battery, inverter and battery management system into a single unit, a design Anker says removes the external wiring and separate boxes that make conventional split systems bulkier to fit. Each unit holds 7kWh of storage, three inverter sizes are offered at 5kW, 6kW and 8kW, and Anker has not confirmed a UK or Irish price for any of them yet.
Capacity built to stack
A single XE unit can be expanded to 42kWh by adding up to six 7kWh modules in one string, and up to three of those strings can run in parallel for a maximum system capacity of 126kWh, according to Anker. That range is meant to cover everything from a small terraced house to a large detached home on one product line rather than forcing a switch to something bigger as demand grows.
Solar input scales too. Three MPPTs support between 4 and 33 solar panels and up to 15kW of input, which Anker says can generate as much as 15,000kWh a year. The three strings can be angled independently, handy for roofs that do not face one clean direction.
Two cycles a day, on Anker’s own figures
The XE runs on 314Ah LFP cells. Anker rates them for 10,000 charge-discharge cycles and backs the system with a 10-year warranty. The company says the XE completes two full cycles a day rather than the usual one, storing daytime solar for the evening peak and then topping up from the grid on cheap overnight rates for early morning use. On that basis, Anker calculates a single 7kWh unit delivers the equivalent of 14kWh of usable capacity per day.
Backup power and weatherproofing
Both whole-home and partial backup modes are supported, with a maximum of 16kW of backup power when units run in parallel and up to 8kW from a single unit. Paired with the separately sold Anker SOLIX Backup Auto-Switch, due by the end of this year, Anker says switchover during a grid outage happens in 0 milliseconds on the load side, which would mean no interruption for things like fridges or networking gear.
Anker’s backup switch. Image: Marty Meany.
The unit is rated IP66 for water resistance and C5-M for corrosion resistance, with an operating range of minus 20°C to 55°C, so it is positioned for outdoor and coastal installs as well as indoor ones. On the safety side, Anker lists continuous AI fault monitoring alongside physical measures including a pressure release valve and an active fire suppression module.
Smart on board control
An AI energy management system, run through Anker’s PowerOS platform, connects to more than 870 electricity suppliers across Europe and shifts charging and discharging around wholesale price movements automatically. A voice-controlled AI assistant, Anka, is built in, and the system works with Home Assistant for anyone already running a smart home setup.
Anker is not starting from zero in Ireland either. Its separate SOLIX X1 system already reaches Irish installers through a distribution deal with Segen, so the XE arrives into a market where Anker’s battery hardware has some existing footing.
Price and availability
The Anker SOLIX XE is available now through authorised installers in Ireland and the UK, with the separate Backup Auto-Switch expected by the end of the year. Anyone interested will need to go through an installer for a quote and full spec sheet, available via the Anker SOLIX XE product page.
Disclaimer: Anker has sponsored Goosed.ie for the launch of the Anker SOLIX XE in Ireland and the UK. This includes advertising on site and social media posts. However, this article is not included in the sponsorship and is instead published as a regular piece of coverage from a press release.
Ella Flanagan, a recent graduate of Technological University Dublin, has been named the Irish national winner of the James Dyson Award 2026 for Noli, a wristband that lets mental health nurses call for help without reaching for a wall-mounted panic button.
Noli is a currently a prototype where nurses pull and holds the wristband’s strap for three seconds, which sends an alert to the three nearest colleagues. If nobody responds, the alert widens to more staff across the building. Flanagan takes home the €5,800 national prize, and Noli moves on to the international stage alongside Ireland’s two runners-up.
Why a wall alarm can make things worse
In most mental health settings, staff raise the alarm by pressing a fixed button on the wall. According to the award organisers, that visible action can escalate an already tense situation, and some patients associate it with past trauma. Flanagan’s research with nurses also found that building-wide alarms were sometimes delayed, with staff reluctant to trigger a hospital-wide response or assuming someone else would answer.
The idea comes from close to home. Flanagan has family members working as mental health nurses who have been assaulted at work. It isn’t a niche problem in Ireland either, with 6,090 recorded assaults on HSE staff in 2025, 4,369 of them physical.
How the Noli wristband works
The pull-and-hold gesture is designed to look like someone simply adjusting a strap, so a nurse can call for support while still trying to calm a patient. The system runs on a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) mesh network made up of the wristbands themselves, fixed nodes placed roughly every 20 metres around a facility, and a master node. Wristbands broadcast constantly, fixed nodes relay alerts along the network, and the master node uses signal strength to work out which staff are closest.
Noli has entered the patent application process, and Flanagan says she is reaching out to healthcare innovators and Enterprise Ireland about taking it further.
Ireland’s James Dyson Award runners-up
Iris, designed by Abban Moran, is a headset aimed at taking the guesswork out of concussion diagnosis in sport. It records a player’s eye movements before any injury to set a baseline, then repeats the same tests after a suspected knock, with a built-in AI module highlighting differences to support a physio’s assessment. The aim is to reduce the risk of second impact syndrome, where a further blow before the brain has recovered causes far more serious damage.
Life-Boom, from Ruaidhri Sinnott, targets man overboard incidents on fishing vessels. Water-activated trackers worn by crew send location data to an autonomous searchlight, which fixes a red beam on the person in the water and follows them until they’re recovered, so nobody on deck has to keep constant sight of them when such a task is near impossible. Commercial fishing remains one of the most dangerous jobs there is, with research commissioned by Pew estimating more than 100,000 fishing-related deaths worldwide each year.
What happens next for Noli, Iris and Life-Boom
All three Irish entries progress to the international round of the James Dyson Award. Dyson engineers will select a global top 20 shortlist, announced on 14 October, before Sir James Dyson picks the global winners on 4 November. Global winners receive €35,000 to put towards developing their inventions.
I love new technology as much as the next person. Naturally I get to play with a lot of technology and have access that a 13-year-old Marty could only have dreamed of. One of the biggest challenges of running a tech review website is keeping in touch with pricing when products are sent in so willingly for me to test. But following a spate of expensive device launches in recent months and the soaring cost of hardware for PC gamers, I’m left asking: where does it end?
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Duo
I recently saw an article which described the iPhone Duo coming with a €4,000. It was certainly an irresistible headline; however it was relating to the most expensive iPhone duo with the most amount of memory. But I realise this also may not be a hill to die on.
The reason I’m being picky with my hills is because the iPhone Duo 256GB will still cost €2,369. Still making it one of the most expensive smartphones on the market, and just over €300 more expensive than Samsung’s comparative device.
I’ve already gone through in great detail how to get the iPhone 18 Pro as cheap as possible but still it’s not a cheap phone to buy at €1,489. Ultimately I’m left asking: how significant an improvement is the iPhone 18 Pro over the iPhone 17 Pro? The fact that Apple has decided to discontinue the iPhone 17 Pro suggests that they realise the two devices would have been in competition with each other.
So that’s the first point towards not buying the latest tech and perhaps looking for either new devices from resellers like Harvey Norman or going to the secondhand market.
GTA 6 and the soaring cost of consoles
The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are 6 years old, yet the consoles are more expensive today than it was at launch. For example when Sony launched the PlayStation 5 in Ireland, the console without a disc drive would cost you €399.99. Today the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition Slim, which is pound-for-pound the same console, will cost you €599.99 with a small amount of storage.
If you jump up to the PlayStation 5 Pro edition, which does come with 2 TB of storage and a little bit more oomph, it will cost you €899.99. And plenty of people are considering this ahead of the GTA 6 launch even though base-level PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X will be able to play the game, albeit without some graphical benefits.
But again you have to ask yourself: is it all worth it for a computer game which itself costs €100 for the Ultimate Edition this year? An entire games package costing nearly €1,000 is wild compared to PC gaming. Coming out of lockdown I built myself a gaming PC for over €3,000 but it’s an incredibly powerful machine that would leave a PlayStation 5 in the dust. I think I’ll wait for GTA 6 to come out on PC and maybe buy it twice instead of bumping up my PS5.
I admit this may sound like first-world problems. Especially in a world where anybody trying to build a gaming PC now is likely quitting before they even start once they see the cost of parts.
PC parts are more expensive than ever
When I built my PC I went for top-of-the-range parts. Purchasing in Ireland can be difficult at the best of times but in hindsight I realize I somewhat stole some of the parts that I got. That’s because just a couple of months after I finished building, the AI revolution kicked it up a gear and made every single part of a PC more expensive.
AI needs graphics cards and AI needs RAM: two parts for PCs which have become extortionately expensive and also just very difficult to get. Some companies have even decided to stop playing in the consumer space completely, focusing only on business with big AI companies.
I’ve watched with great envy as some YouTubers enjoy Frankensteining some computer together with lots of old secondhand parts. It looks incredibly fun and might be a little bit easier if you’re in the United States or Canada. Unfortunately if you’re in Ireland, when buying new you have to deal with shipping costs, customs, and also just a lack of secondhand parts too.
The result is that building your own gaming PC is now also incredibly expensive unless you make some serious sacrifices and compromises on your parts list. Chances are this will just knock you back down into place where PlayStation 5 becomes an option again.
The Steam Frame
Last year I made the choice to sell my Quest 2 VR headset. I had gotten the PSVR2 to review and figured that would be enough for me. I went on to discover that Sony, inexplicably and quite nicely, started to support connecting the PSVR2 to your gaming PC. As such I had now had the relatively inexpensive PSVR2 as my primary VR headset. Now I fully understand that a VR headset is a novelty to a certain extent, if not completely a novelty.
However my point is that with a PSVR2 headset I want for nothing. So when the until now only leakedSteam Frame VR headset finally appears on the market at €1,049, I realize that this is yet another gadget that I don’t think I’d part with money out of my own pocket.
Added to the list of technology that has become unobtainably expensive.
Ask yourself: Do you need the latest technology?
And that’s why I arrive at the point where you should always ask yourself: “Do you need the latest technology? Do you need the newest thing that’s on the market at the highest price?” Pretty much targeting the people who feel they have to without thinking. Now don’t get me wrong. There’ll always be a good reason for getting the latest version of anything, including mitigating for depreciation.
However we’ve reached the tipping point of diminishing returns, where every purchase should really be thought about before you part with your hard-earned money (to make sure that you’re getting something back that’s actually worth it), before shopping around and picking an older model, a second-hand model, or an alternative model that can do the job just as well.
I will always sing the praises of Revolut for how they pressure traditional banks into innovation. However the world of finance and the world of “move fast and break things” probably shouldn’t meet so often. Revolut has been left with egg on its face after a very serious data breach, resulting in personal data of customers being handed over to bad actors. What’s worse is that, simply put, Revolut was asked for the data and they just obliged. Seems a little too easy, eh?
What is the Revolut data breach?
This week, Revolut confirmed it had disclosed sensitive customer data to an unauthorised third party after receiving a fraudulent information request that arrived from a genuine government agency’s email domain, carrying the authentication credentials that would normally mark it out as legitimate. The popular neo-bank has described the events as a “a sophisticated external impersonation scam” in which someone gained control of an email account operating inside a real government agency’s domain and used it to file bogus requests requests for information.
The request passed the checks Revolut normally relies on to establish that a government or law enforcement enquiry is genuine. The company hasn’t said which agency was impersonated, which country was involved, or how many customers were caught up in it.
What data is involved in the Revolut breach?
The notification sent to affected customers, and corroborated by CyberInsider’s own reporting, breaks the exposure into four categories.
Identity details
Full name
Date of birth
Occupation.
Contact details
Postal address
Email address
Phone number.
Document and verification data
Including a copy of a passport or driving licence
Verification selfie taken at sign up
Financial data
IBANs
Account status
Opening date
Wallet reference number
Withdrawal records
Complete transaction history
Bitcoin activity.
Revolut says no biometric facial telemetry data was involved, but still, this is a treasure trove of personal data to hand over to bad actors.
Because the financial data handed over included full transaction histories, on chain activity is part of what’s exposed for some customers. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT, who first brought the notification to public attention, said the incident appeared to target customers with visible crypto wealth, as reported by Decrypt. The concern isn’t abstract. Once someone’s real name and address are linked to a public wallet, the risk shifts from online fraud to something that can turn up at your front door.
Does this touch Revolut’s Irish customers?
Revolut has around 3.4 million customers in Ireland, a figure that puts it in daily use across most of the country. Sources close to the ongoing investigation say approximately 680 customers have been impacted with 12 of those customers being based in Ireland.
The company hasn’t confirmed which markets were affected by this breach.
There is speculation online that the request Revolut received may have targeted only accounts with high net worth, so for once my crap bank balance might pay off for me here.
What Revolut has done to mitigate risk for customers?
Once the fraud was identified, Revolut blocked the email address, alerted the government agency whose domain had been used, and notified law enforcement, data protection authorities and financial regulators. It says it has contacted affected customers directly and put precautionary protections in place for them.
There are two reliable ways to find out if you’re affected, and everything else is guesswork. The first is the direct notification Revolut sends to anyone it believes was included. The second is a formal subject access request under GDPR Article 15, which any Irish customer can lodge to see exactly what data Revolut holds and has shared, following the Data Protection Commission’s guidance on subject access requests.
Not getting a notification doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. It just means nothing has landed in your inbox yet. Revolut advises that any customer with concerns should reach out to the company directly via their secure in-app chat.
Compromised data is appearing on Telegram
I’m reluctant to use the word hackers given they asked Revolut for data and got it, but will use the term purely because they must have hacked something, like the Government email to spoof Revolut, at some stage.
The “hackers” have apparently started releasing compromised data. They have reportedly said “we’re going to start releasing more and more data everyday until revolut pays for leaking their customers” on Telegram. If genuine, it would appear to support the reports that high value account holders were targeted, with tennis player Alexander Shevchenko and Gamdom CEO Felix Römer, CEO of online crypto casino Gamdom reported to be involved.
Why does Revolut keep all of this data in the first place?
A fair question, but one that has a genuine answer too. Financial instituions in Ireland, and in the UK, operate under a principle of Know Your Customer or KYC. KYC is an anti-money laundering effort where financial instituions must reach a baseline standardised knowledge of their customer. This is why, when creating an account with any instituion, you have to provide photo ID, utility bills and the likes of a verification selfie in a digital world.
When carrying out KYC, companies like Revolut are required to keep data on file for at least 5 years. This explains why they have it, but honestly, doesn’t fully explain how their own processes failed here. All accounts so far suggest that Revolut leaned heavily on automated processes and discovered what had happened when someone rang the Government agency in question. Unfortunately, that call allegedy happened after the data was already sent.
The DPC has responded today today to say there have been “no reports of breach currently”. Upon following up with the DPC later in the day, the DPC said there was still no further update nor was one expected given Revolut is headquartered in Lithuania.
Updated 14 September 2026: Added response from Revolut, updates that alleged customer data is appearing on Telegram and insight into why Revolut has this data in the first place. Added DPC response and follow up and updates on totall affected number of customers and customers in Ireland and guidance on what to do for concerned customers.
Another September means it’s another year of Apple launches. Of course this year is a little bit more exciting because, on top of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, we’re also getting the iPhone Duo for the first time: Apple’s first-ever folding phone.
With the regular iPhone 18 being left off until early next year, that’s going to leave plenty of people thinking it’s time to upgrade to either the 18 Pro or 18 Pro Max. It’s going to leave a smaller core of people thinking about upgrading to the iPhone Duo. So if that sounds like you, let’s find out what the cheapest way for you to get the new iPhone 18 Pro is in Ireland. For the sake of calculations let’s just focus on iPhone 18 Pro.
Where can you buy the iPhone 18 Pro in Ireland?
There are three common places where you can buy an Apple product in Ireland:
Online directly from Apple themselves
You can purchase from an Apple reseller. That means the likes of Select or Harvey Norman.
And finally you can purchase directly from a network, typically on a 24-month contract
But what are the benefits of each route and which is the most cost-effective way to buy the iPhone 18 Pro?
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro directly from Apple or a reseller
We can actually cover off points one and two here in one go. I headed over to apple.com and searched for the iPhone 18 Pro with its 6.3-inch display. The pricing for this one starts at €1,489 and that is for the standard 256 GB model, which most people will typically go for.
Now the benefits of going this route are that you’re not tied into a 24-month contract. You’re dealing directly with the manufacturer and can save quite considerably on the monthly costs to run your phone.
To keep up with accuracy I headed over to Harvey Norman’s website and found the same iPhone 18 Pro. Again this costs €1,489 when you pre-order or purchase directly from Harvey Norman, the exact same price it would cost to purchase from Apple directly.
Again this is a straight-up purchase. You go in on the day, you pay your money, you get handed your phone, and that’s the end of the relationship with you and Harvey Norman, more or lessunless, of course, you arrange some kind of hum payment plan, which they will organize for you. Right now it’s €53.16 per month for 36 months.
Just like when purchasing directly from Apple, when you’ll be offered Apple Care, Harvey Norman will also try and offer you a product care upsell. It’s up to you what you get but remember even if you purchase with Harvey Norman, you will also have the opportunity to purchase Apple Care in the early period of having the phone.
Ultimately with both of these routes, you will get the new iPhone 18 Pro for €1,489 when buying outright, up front, full cost paid on day one. But do remember you will need a network plan to run the phone, and right now here is the best mobile plan in Ireland.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on a network contract
A much different route is to buy the phone on a mobile contract within a network (for example, Three Ireland, Vodafone Ireland, or Eir to name but a few).
When buying with a network you no longer have to worry about the monthly SIM-only plan as part of the overall package of a 24-month contract, you get the phone and your prescribed usage included. But contrary to popular belief you do not get a free phone. You will have to pay a fee up front. Your monthly contract will simply give you a discounted amount off. It’s a much healthier way to look at a mobile phone contract as a hire purchase agreement as it is one and all but name.
I’ve looked at Sky Mobile seperately to the following network providers because they do offer a different approach, but with no greater value unfortunately.
Let’s take a look at Ireland’s mobile providers and what contract options they have for the iPhone 18 Pro. I’m going to look at Vodafone, Eir, and Three, but remember there are other providers too. I’m just, for the sake of brevity, going to focus on these three.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on Three Ireland
Three’s homepage states that you can save up to €600 when you trade in a device towards your iPhone 18 Pro. When you click through to the product page, you will find out that the device starts at the cheapest price of €639. But it’s really important that you look at that as just a from price.
Even more unusual for customers to find is that after you add the iPhone 18 Pro to your basket on Three, you’ll find that you have two plan options. If you choose Three Select Essentials 5G, you’ll start a 24-month contract at €47 per month and have to pay €959 up front for the phone. If you pick Three Select Freedom 5G, again you enter into a 24-month contract and pay €64.99 per month with €839 up front. In order to get the €639 upfront price you have to move a number from another Irish network.
While the pricing is confusing, we have already built a phone contract value calculator to demystify everything and help you choose between the bill pay options and prepay options in front of you (and to see, over the course of a 24-month contract, which is the best value for you).
This calculation is arrived at by simply taking the total contract spend with a network on your plan over 24 months. That’s €64.99 multiplied by 24 months, added to the upfront cost of your phone, which is €639, assuming that you’re bringing a number to the Three network and not getting a new number, which is more expensive. We then compare this to how much the same phone would cost if you bought directly from Apple, for example, and then paid €12.99 per month on the current cheapest monthly SIM-only deal.
To buy the iPhone 18 Pro on Three’s €64.99 monthly plan is considerably more expensive than buying the phone outright and getting one of the cheapest SIM-only plans on the market. In fact it is nearly €400 cheaper, which would let you buy an Apple Watch or AirPods alongside your new phone.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on Vodafone Ireland
Next up I head over to vodafone.ie and see that they are offering the iPhone 18 Pro from €549.99, again like Three seemingly with an extra €100 discount if you switch from another Irish mobile network. But to add to all the confusion there’s €100 off whether you’re getting a new number or bringing a number with you.
Unlike Three, Vodafone has three plans to choose from. All are 24-month contracts starting at €50 per month, where you’ll pay €879.99 up front for the iPhone 18 Pro. On Vodafone’s €65 per month plan you’ll pay €729.99 up front, while on Vodafone’s €75 per month plan you will pay €549.99 upfront.
Now obviously, you should pick the plan which firstly, you can afford but secondly has the usage that you need. For the sake of comparison we’re going to stick with the middle ground here on Vodafone’s unlimited plan, which costs €65 per month, with the iPhone 18 Pro costing €729.99 up front.
Vodafone comes out slightly cheaper than Three, but is still showing as considerably more expensive to buy the iPhone 18 Pro with a network than it would cost directly, in fact costing €488.24 more. That’s nearly the price of a semi-decent mid-range smartphone in the difference.
Buying the iPhone 18 Pro on Eir
Eir is also offering the iPhone 18 Pro across its three plans: Essential Plus for €44.99 per month, Connect Plus for €64.99 per month, and Complete for €74.99 per month.
Again if you want to get a new number, the phones will cost considerably more than if you bring your own number to Eir. In case you’re wondering, networks generally do this to avoid fraud on expensive devices.
That means for €44.99 per month, the iPhone 18 Pro will cost you €1,149 up front if you’re getting a new number, but that same phone will cost you just €849 if you’re bringing your phone to Eir.
Again for the sake of comparison, let’s take the scenario of bringing your number to Eir, choosing their Connect Plus plan for €64.99 per month, where the iPhone 18 Pro will cost you €699 up front.
Eir lands right in the middle between Three and Vodafone in terms of value while still remaining considerably more expensive than buying the phone outright from either Apple or an authorized reseller like Harvey Norman
How can someone afford to buy an iPhone 18 Pro outright?
This is perhaps one of the most important points to discuss as part of your journey towards buying a new iPhone 18 Pro. €1,489 is a lot of money for a new phone. Phones get stolen, lost, and accidents happen. Something that’s in your hand or on your person almost 24/7 is subject to a lot of risk. As such this is a lot of money to spend on something that belongs to you and that is exposed to so much risk.
Do you have to buy the latest iPhone?
I would first ask: do you need to buy the very latest iPhone? And do you need to buy it brand new at all? Apple has decided to discontinue the iPhone 17 Pro completely and as such you can’t buy from them directly anymore. However the likes of Harvey Norman and shops like Select, which are Apple premium partners, still have these products in stock. Better still, they’re typically trying to sell them off at a discount right now because they are discontinued. Harvey Norman is selling the iPhone 17 Pro for €1,229.
That’s nearly €300 off your new iPhone with technology that is seeing the less incremental improvement year on year than ever before.
And on to my second point: do you need to buy a brand-new phone at all? Websites like Refurbed.ie and Backmarket will let you buy pre-owned phones that have been refurbished and typically come with a 12-month warranty. Generally speaking phones have become a lot more robust and trustworthy in recent years, which is why people are typically keeping them a lot longer than they used to. It wouldn’t be unusual for somebody to buy a phone like this and keep it for 3 to 4 years now.
On backmarket.ie I was able to find an iPhone 17 Pro in premium condition with 256 GB of storage for €971; however this was an eSIM-only variant. To get one which works with a physical SIM, an eSIM would cost me €1,074. It’s worth noting that if you are looking for a SIM-only plan in Ireland, your choices will be limited when it comes to eSIM-only options. For example the likes of 48 Mobile and Clear Mobile currently do not support eSIMs; however Sky Mobile, Lyca Mobile and Virgin Media do.
But ultimately what I want to show you here is the sizable saving to be had if you purchase a secondhand device with a warranty versus buying a brand-new device. This iPhone 17 Pro from backmarket.ie in an eSIM-only variant would save me €258 versus a new device and over €500 versus the new iPhone 18 Pro.
If you’re looking for a bargain you found it.
How can you afford the latest iPhone 18 Pro?
Okay but look, maybe you just want the latest iPhone 18 Pro. How can you make sure it’s affordable? First of all I would say, if you’ve read this far, you understand that buying an iPhone with a mobile phone network is cheaper up front or at least it feels cheaper up front. Over 24 months you will pay considerably more. That’s why I say it’s more healthy to look at this as a hire purchase. And if this is the route you want to go down and you can accept that cost, well then fair enough. It’s not a bad way to go.
There are, of course, other options, such as using a credit card or getting a loan. I’m not a financial advisor and we do not give financial advice nor am I qualified to. I cannot speak to how good an idea this is. However I do know myself that in the past I have done calculations where the interest rate on a credit card has been far better for my pocket than buying outright with a mortgage.
Similarly there are options out there, like Humm with Harvey Norman, where they will arrange a monthly payment plan for you. Again it’s very important you look at this with your own financial hat on and look at the interest rates that it costs you. These options are fantastic for empowering a purchase but you should never go beyond your own financial structures and your own ability to repay.
I would hark back to what I said earlier and say it’s much more important that you buy a phone that’s affordable and does everything that you need it to do than getting the latest tech that costs the most. And don’t get me started on the iPhone Duo.
Hopefully you find this useful and if you have any questions, what I would say is you’re welcome to reach out to us on any of our social media whether that be TikTok or Instagram.
Disclaimer: We have provided as much information as possible here to help you make a responsible purchase decision with the new iPhone 18 Pro now on the market, at least for pre-order. However this is not financial advice. Please always make considerations based on your own financial situation and seek advice where need be. All information in this article was correct and accurate at the time of writing. However, pricing changes regularly and we don’t update this article.
I love a good leak. Is it a genuine leak or is it marketing? Nearly impossible to tell these days. Regardless, we learn something every time a leak happens. Valve is set to launch its new VR headset, the Steam Frame, sometime in Summer 2026. That’s all we know. But thanks to Linus Tech Tips (LTT) we now know the launch is imminent. The tech YouTuber’s unboxing account, Short Circuit, accidentally pubished an unboxing video of the Steam Frame. It was quickly removed, but “unfortunately” for Valve and LTT, the Internet Archive operates pretty quickly.
So with this VR headset so eagerly anticipated, what did we learn from this leak?
The bundled 6GHz dongle is optional, not mandatory
The bundled 6GHz dongle
You do not need Valve’s dongle to use Steam Frame wirelessly. The headset ships with a dedicated 6GHz streaming adapter that plugs into your PC and talks directly to the headset, and Valve says that dedicated connection gives the best experience because nothing else is competing for the signal. If your home network already runs a strong 6GHz band, Linus confirmed you can skip the dongle and stream over that instead. Valve has also mentioned a third mode that blends the dongle with your home Wi-Fi for better reliability, though that was not something that got tested in this unboxing.
Foveated streaming is the entire point, and it holds up
The dongle matters because of what it is streaming, foveated video that uses the headset’s built-in eye tracking to render whatever you are looking at in full quality and quietly drop the resolution everywhere else. The feature was toggled on and off during the demo video and Linus could not tell the difference, because his eyes simply cannot move fast enough to catch the drop in quality at the edges. That is the whole promise of wireless PC VR finally being delivered rather than just claimed.
Wireless in play, still wired for charging
Steam Frame does away with the tether during play, but not with cables entirely – somewhat obviously. It charges over USB-C to USB-C like any other modern gadget, and Valve includes a power supply and a cleaning cloth in the box. It is a small detail, but a fair one to flag given how much of the marketing leans on the word wireless. I realise this point might seem laboured, but you can never be too safe.
The IPD slider finally gets a lock
Inter Pupillary Distance (IPD) is the distance between the centers of your pupils measured in millimeter. Anyone who owned an Index, Valve’s first VR headset, will recognise this problem and why a fix was important. The Index IPD slider tended to loosen over time until a firm head shake could pop the in-headset menu up by accident. Steam Frame’s IPD adjuster, which sits along the top of the headset, comes with its own lock this time, along with several other physical locks Linus found while taking the unit apart.
It is a small fix, but it directly answers one of the more common gripes about the outgoing hardware.
What’s packed into the compute module
Under the hood is a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip built on a 4-nanometre process, paired with 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. Storage runs from 256GB up to 1TB, and there is a microSD slot for anyone who wants more, tucked into the face gasket. That same area also houses the eye tracking sensor and a presence sensor, and there is an expansion port on the underside of the headset which remains somewhat mysterious. It’s likely for unnannounced accessories.
The screen is sharp, but not without quirks
Each eye gets a 2160×2160 LCD panel, with a refresh rate anywhere from 72Hz up to an experimental 144Hz, the same range as the original Index. Linus called it sharp without being the sharpest panel he has used, and noted visible colour fringing toward the edges of the lenses as you move your head, orange one way and blue the other. It is a trade-off familiar from other pancake lens headsets rather than a Steam Frame specific flaw, and it did not stop him finishing a full session of Half-Life: Alyx without complaint.
The controllers run on one AA each and double as a proper gamepad
Double double AAs means swaping batteries to keep playing.
Each controller takes a single AA battery, which Valve claims lasts around 40 hours of play. It is a genuinely nice compromise, instant power from a fresh battery if you need it right now, or a rechargeable AA if you would rather not keep buying new ones. I highly recommend getting something like the Linogy charger which will keep you flush with powered AA and AAA batteries forever.
Linus was less impressed with the feel of the ABXY buttons than he had hoped, though he called them fine rather than bad. The bigger point is that these controllers are built to work as a real controller for flat, non-VR games too, with touch sensitive thumbstick tops, not just as motion wands.
There are three distinct ways to play
Steam Frame supports streamed PC VR over that dongle, fully standalone play using the onboard hardware, and a flat desktop mode for 2D games and video projected in front of you. Standalone play is the interesting one, since SteamOS on Steam Frame adds FEX, a translation layer that runs x86 code on the headset’s ARM chip, alongside the existing Proton layer that already handles Windows games on Linux. Linus described the result as “an ARM PC that’s strapped to your face”, which sums up why Valve’s standalone library ambitions here are so much bigger than a typical Android based headset.
Fit is not guaranteed to be one size fits all
Linus wearing the VR headset
Prescription lens support is something Valve is planning but has not confirmed for launch. The small nose adapter that ships as part of the ergonomic accessories kit, itself only confirmed as part of the review unit’s box rather than the standard retail package, still let light leak in around a couple of testers’ noses during fitting, including one with a smaller face and Linus himself with a larger one.
Comfort was not described as perfect by any stretch, but Linus reckoned it already beat the comfort of pricier rivals on the market. There was also no sign of the kind of small head spacer the original Index shipped with, so anyone with a smaller head should treat that as an open question until Valve says otherwise.
Half-Life: Alyx is going standalone, but plenty is still missing
Half-Life: Alyx already works over PC streaming, and Valve is separately building a native version that runs directly on the headset with no PC required at all. So if you’re confident enough to whip this out on a flight, you’re good to go.
Steam Machine streaming, on the other hand, is not supported yet, so anyone hoping to pair Steam Frame with Valve’s other new box will need a Windows PC in the meantime. Range was not an issue in Linus’s testing, he walked well beyond any cable’s realistic length with no drop in quality, and later tested an even longer distance during a multiplayer demo at Valve’s own offices.
None of this answers the two questions everyone still wants settled, price and a release date, and both remain unconfirmed even after this leak went out. There is no Euro pricing anywhere yet either, so Irish buyers are in exactly the same waiting room as everyone else. Given how much of the hardware is already locked down, an official reveal from Valve itself should not be far behind.
Back in 2020 I spoke to RTÉ about electric scooters and the need to legislate. 6 years later and I’m still defending them here and even in my first print publication and speaking with RTÉ again. Am I a campaigner? Maybe. But more importantly, I’m an avid electric scooter rider. It’s my main vehicle for getting around Dublin City. I dread moving my car, but love the electric scooter. But because I use mine regularly, I also know the laws quite well. Which is why I wanted to bring the latest rules of the road for electric scooter riders to you, in one easy to read place.
Irish Electric scooter laws: A quick summary
I took to the streets for a spin to talk you through the latest key electric scooter laws.
After years of inaction, we finally got some laws that made electric scooters legal for Irish roads. I didn’t agree with all of them, but at least we fell on the “legalise” side of electric scooters given the sheer quantity of them in Ireland and the number of honest people depending on them to get to work etc.
Here’s what came about in 2024, creating the category of powered personal transporter, and for the sake of clarity, still in place today.
A law abiding citizen. Image: Marty Meany
Speed and power limits
An electric scooter cannot go faster than 20 kmph and also must have a motor that is limited to no more than 400 watts. In practice, today, when buying an electric scooter from a legitimate source like Loco Scooters, once you tell them you are riding the scooter on public roads, they will know what to offer you.
While moving is important, so to is stopping. An interesting point around braking is that electric scooters must have two braking methods. Naturally the hand brake counts but so too does the regenerative braking system.
The battery on-board must have a CE marking.
Weight and build requirements
Electric scooters can’t weight more than 25kg. One of the more vague elements of the laws are definitions like “it must be road worthy”, but generally speaking look after it. You can use either air-filled or solid tyres, once they are safe and functional, but they must be at least 20cm across. The scooter itself cannot measure more than 200cm in length, 80cm wide and 150 cm in height.
The details of the law also include that steering must not be allowed to overlock. This is not a widespread feature but the Pure Advanced Flex does have it and it makes for a much more comfortable ride, so I get it.
As with bikes, you will have to have a front light and a rear light alongside reflectors. Indicators are not mandatory but allowed, and in my experience if possible, highly recommended. Also it’s important that any lights you have are functional and maintained.
And, believe it or not, a bell or horn is a legal requirement. Given how many people step out in front of me, I can also say this is highly recommended. Less surprising was the fact the 2024 laws banned the fitting of after market seats to electric scooters too.
Usage laws
For now, you must be at least 16 years of age to legally use an electric scooter in public. However, that is about to change in the coming months to limit usage to 18 years of age. Worth keeping in mind if purchasing for someone younger.
It’s illegal to carry goods on an electric scooter, as too is the carriage of a passenger. The carriage of goods, realistically, is a little grey given people wear backpacks all the time. I beleive this is common sense to stop people carrying massive TVs or a week’s worth of shopping in a box.
In an amendment to the Road Traffic Act, it was clarified that electric scooters would take a largely similar role to bicycles. They would be allowed to use bike lanes, bus lanes and not permitted on foothpaths.
There was some level of understanding that many being injured on electric scooters were travelling far too fast and not wearing a helmet. I’m honestly, not sure what the hi vis law is supposed to achieve beyond making it obvious who is trying to obey the rules, but let’s get into it.
What you have to wear on an electric scooter
It’s is now mandatory that electric scooters wear a helmet and a hi vis vest. The helmet must meet the EN 1078:2012+A1:201European Standard with a CE mark too. The hi vis must be on your front and back and meet the standard of EN ISO 20471:2013+A1:2016.
Obeying the new laws with a Loco Motion Pro electric scooter. Image: Marty Meany
The points on the hi vis are really important because initially I had planned to simply wear a hi vis backpack cover on my way to the office. However, this does not meet the legal requirements. I’ve also see lots of people tying the hi vis to their back packs, but the new law states it must cover “at least the front and back of the person’s torso”. Checking that your hi vis meets the given standards is important, in case someone really wants to enforce the rules on you.
Now, my working theory on why the hi vis thing came in is simple. It lets Gardaí see who is obeying the laws. Just yesterday, I walked down the street as a guy pulled a balaclava up over his face before jumping on his overpowered electric scooter, with no helmet or hi vis. He was protecting his identity, not his cranium.
I would say there were several red flags here, but obviously as mentioned above, little appetite from Gardaí to stop someone like him. It’s the commuter that stops they’re after. But I’m just ranting now. The laws are there for you to obey, even if others don’t.
Tax and insurance requirements
I’m mentioning this purely as a point of clarification. Right now, despite individuals in Government saying otherwise, there is no requirement to register your electric scooter, or buy insurance or tax for it. In fact, it’s not possible at all.
This is a whole other article I have to write. Irish law is trying to keep up and arguably, even though I disagree with plenty, our approach is more pragmatic than the UK which is still banning private ownership with shared systems permitted. A wild conclusion to arrive at. But he EU is completely fragmented. Speaking to PURE scooters at IFA in Berlin, I got the sense this is becoming a real headache for manfacturers who have to change settings and builds for different markets.
I called for this year ago. This question should simply be addressed on a European level but I won’t go into it now as it would confuse things to talk about the laws of other countries.
Here in Ireland, it’s massively frustrating that after months of electric scooters being demonised across the country, the laws that would have been most effective in helping police the bad apples, were dropped. Instead, weak changes were introduced which will tackle those that, as the Gardaí are suggesting, are silly enough to stop.
I will caveat this entire article with, I’m not a lawyer or legal expert. I ride an electric scooter and care about doing so legally. So I have read through the details, bypassing the headlines and the hot air. I hope this is useful, but please do your own reading and research and ride safely.
Sony’s two Grand Theft Auto VI-themed DualSense controllers went up for preorder in Ireland this morning through Smyths Toys. Stock is unlikely to hold despite it being a pre-order.
Revealed by Sony at a State of Play on 3 September, the DualSense Wireless Controller – Grand Theft Auto VI Black Limited Edition and its White counterpart are standard DualSense pads with a Vice City makeover: a shimmering, colour-shifting finish, palm tree detailing moulded into the grips, and the GTA VI logo on the touchpad. Both cost €84.99 on Smyths Toys Ireland in s Black edition and White edition, with both ship on 19 November, the same day Grand Theft Auto VI itself launches.
No PlayStation Direct route for Irish buyers
Sony’s own preorder channel, direct.playstation.com, is only taking orders in the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and Austria. Ireland isn’t on that list, and nothing in the announcement mentions Irish availability separately. Sony describes the Black edition as exclusive to PlayStation Direct in the countries it covers, with “select retailers” handling everywhere else. For Irish buyers, that means Smyths isn’t just one option among several, it’s doing the job PlayStation Direct is doing for buyers in the UK and the rest of the EU.
Feature-wise, nothing has actually changed underneath the finish. It’s the same haptic feedback and adaptive triggers as any current DualSense, just with a new paint job and a roughly €15 premium over the standard €69.99 DualSense on the same Smyths site. There’s no Xbox equivalent either, since this is PlayStation hardware tied to a PlayStation marketing push, not a GTA VI accessory in general.
This isn’t the first time this year that Smyths has been the main route into a GTA VI purchase for Irish shoppers. The game’s own physical preorder went live on Smyths back in June and Sony’s last few licensed DualSense editions, Marvel’s Wolverine and 007: First Light among them, have followed a similar pattern of landing at a near-identical price point and moving fast.
If you want one, both editions are currently showing as available again at €84.99 on Smyths’ Irish site. Given how quickly they went this morning, that’s worth treating as temporary rather than guaranteed. But let’s not forget you probably already have two controllers and you don’t really need this to play the game now, do you?
