Did you notice MKBHD said this kind of embargo is a "red flag". Well, he already knows any issues that may exist, so it's very interesting that he chose to say this.

There's a good video he's featured in discussing this issue

https://youtu.be/9V0lXIK9DZQ

Funny to see him in that video, with him getting begged by his viewers to cover the CSAM scanning controversy on every video for weeks - but he ignored it. Wonder why.

I don't think there's anything nefarious going on. MKBHD is a "cool tech bro", and he knows that, and that is what he excels in. He isn't particularly great at talking about more niche, meta topics, until they hit the mainstream. His recent Right to Repair video shows this, and it took him YEARS to make that video - but it's also one of the best.

FWIW, he does talk about CSAM and is definitely aware of its pitfalls on his podcast, so it's not like he's blindly banging the drums.

In which episode(s) did he talk about it? I checked 2 or 3 episodes around that time and it did not come up. We are talking about the Waveform podcast, right?

Besides that, I'm sure his reach on Social Media & Youtube is quite a bit larger than on his podcast. And I guess, the reason he had those comments under his videos was, because those people don't listen to his podcast either.

I did notice that - even though I'm using a pixel 3a now I'm waiting for full reviews and some understanding of why they embargoed the phone reviews before deciding to buy.

Same here. Still rocking my Pixel 3 even though the USB C port is hosed and I can only wirelessly charge. :/

This might be a long shot, but I once thought my USB-C port was broken but it turned out that all that happened was that fluff and dust/dirt was lodged inside and the cable no longer went in all the way.

The fix was to slowly scrape all the fluff out with a needle (I am sure there are better ways).

This is of course assuming your issue isn't anything electronic.

don't use metal to do that! use compressed air

I've done it carefully a few times using the sim card slot tool that comes with the phone. When it gets crusted in there not sure compressed air will do it.

Just use a toothpick

even paperclips are way too large for usb-c slots; toothpicks are even bigger than that, even if you consider their conical shaped tips, so there's absolutely no chance a toothpick will work. The only thing that worked for me was a bent staple.

i have a pixel 3 and exact same thing happened to me. a bent staple worked perfectly for me in scraping out the dust. paperclips are way too large.

Thank you! I had been using a paperclip, but I guess it was too large. Staple worked a treat. I may never buy a new phone again! :D

What that really means is that the software has bugs and there's a hope that these will get fixed before they begin to be distributed. Note that there's more software in it than just Android.

Wait for a full review before hitting that buy button.

And we should appreciate journalists who disclose what Embargo is enforced on them.

The embargo is imposed until Monday 25th October 2021 [1]. I will be staying away from that pre-order button until then.

[1] https://twitter.com/jon_prosser/status/1450215058269773832

I'm curious how exactly this is any different from any "hands on" embargo? I guess the software feature one is a bit weird, especially since they kinda announced most of them today, but generally you can never show photos before the full review embargo.

It could be that they are a bit late on the software update and want that before reviews start? The fact that android 12 only came out today kinda points towards that.

If it were the case that they were late with the software update, it would make more sense to impose the embargo along with an explanation so that everyone could better understand why it's there.

Interesting. Wasn't it the same for the last pixel? And also, MKBHD still made a video about them, why? Wouldn't it hurt Google more if he would just not cover them?

Also, he regularly has Apple devices that he also has similar embargoes for and is not allowed to release stuff until the products are on the street or shortly before that - as for this Pixel. Does he always call it a red flag there too?

I think there is a difference between a general embargo not to show anything and an embargo that allows to show a few very specific things. The latter being a "show it but not really" vibe. Did Apple do that in the past? Or is it rather nothing and then everything?

Don't think he has an interest in hurting Google. But he has an interest to have some level of transparency.

There might be a difference, but there isn't for the consumer in this case, if that is what he really cares about.

They are allowed to publish everything on the 25th, that is still in the pre-order window, and everybody can cancel their pre-orders or wait until then to pre-order in the first place.

Also, not being mentioned here is, that another advantage of that staggered approach is that smaller reviewers get the phones right now and have a chance to publish their reviews at the same time as the big boys. And the big boys also had the option to opt-out of the early units, if they disagree with Google's way of handling it - and get it now, like the smaller guys.

I also think MKBHD did do similar stuff with Apple in the past, was it the new Mac Pro by chance, where he was one of the chosen ones who got one really early but couldn't show everything? I vaguely remember something like that.