7 Tech & Science News Stories for Wednesday, September 23, 2026: Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Extreme Gen 6

Here are today’s 7 verified tech & science stories, covering Tech & Apps, AI Tools and Science & Space.

Table of Contents

Every item below links to its original source.

The TLDR

Tech & Apps: Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Extreme Gen 6 Chips Bring Heavier On-Device AI
AI Tools: OpenAI’s GPT-6 Sol and Luna, Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 Cut AI Prices
Science & Space: Chile’s Atacama Desert Bursts Into Bloom After Record El Niño Rain

Tech & Apps

Qualcomm’s New Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and Extreme Gen 6 Chips Bring Heavier On-Device AI

Qualcomm announced two new flagship mobile chips at its annual Snapdragon Summit: the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6 and a higher-end Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6, according to The Verge. The two chips share most specs, but the Extreme model adds extra AI processing, gaming, and video capture headroom, including the ability to run a 30-billion-parameter AI model directly on the phone, per TechCrunch. Qualcomm says the extra power is aimed at on-device AI agents — if you’d rather dial back a phone-maker’s built-in AI assistant instead, you can also remove the Gemini icon from Chrome on your own device.

Adobe Premiere Launches Free on Android, No Creative Cloud Login Needed

Adobe has released a free version of Premiere for Android, letting anyone edit multi-track video, add layered clips, and export up to 4K without a watermark — no Creative Cloud subscription or login required, according to Ars Technica. The app requires Android 13 or newer and at least 5GB of RAM. Extra AI-powered editing tools and additional cloud storage remain optional paid add-ons.

iPadOS 27.2 Public Beta Adds Apple TV Profiles and More Siri Languages

Apple opened the public beta for iPadOS 27.2, alongside watchOS 27.2 and related updates, according to 9to5Mac. The beta brings Apple TV-style viewer profiles to iPad and iPhone and expands Siri’s AI features to French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish. Anyone enrolled in Apple’s public beta program can install it now, ahead of the full public release.

Apple Pay Gets a Redesigned Checkout and Amex Rewards as Walmart Rollout Expands

Apple Pay is rolling out a redesigned checkout screen that makes it easier to swipe between saved cards, along with a new option to redeem American Express Membership Rewards points directly at checkout, according to 9to5Mac. The updates arrive as Walmart expands in-store Apple Pay acceptance, including Sam’s Club, with the retailer aiming to reach all U.S. locations by the end of 2026.

PS5 Pro Owners Now Get Sharper PSSR 2.0 Upscaling by Default

Sony’s latest PS5 system update turned on the newer PSSR 2.0 upscaler by default for PS5 Pro owners, automatically applying sharper, steadier image reconstruction in games that already supported the earlier version, according to Engadget. The change only affects PS5 Pro consoles and games with existing PSSR support — it doesn’t add AI upscaling to titles that never had it.

AI Tools

OpenAI’s GPT-6 Sol and Luna, Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 Cut AI Prices

OpenAI and Anthropic each released cheaper AI models within about two hours of one another, both promising better performance for less money, according to Ars Technica. OpenAI’s new GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna models cut API prices in half compared to their predecessors, with Sol built for complex work like coding and Luna aimed at high-volume tasks like summarizing documents, per TechCrunch. Anthropic’s new Claude Opus 5.5 costs roughly 40% less to run than the previous Opus model while matching its performance on most tasks. If you’d rather skip AI-generated results in search entirely, our guide shows how to turn off AI Mode in Google Search.

Science & Space

Chile’s Atacama Desert Bursts Into Bloom After Record El Niño Rain

Record El Niño rainfall has triggered a mass wildflower bloom across Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, according to Phys.org. Some areas received more than 180 millimeters of rain, a record for the region, prompting dormant seeds to sprout. Chile’s national forestry agency expects the bloom to peak in October and could eventually cover around 15,000 hectares.

Explore more: remove the Gemini icon from Chrome, turn off AI Mode in Google Search.

Make Your Digital Life Better

More practical tech how-tos, tool picks, and guides to upgrade your everyday digital life. More on GTWebs.

Want web tips in your inbox? Subscribe to the free newsletter.

Originally published at gtwebs.com.