Gamers Nexus (2.46M subscribers)

June 7, 2025

Video length: 30m 53s

In this hardware news episode, we talk about the AMD RX 9060 XT launch embargo issues, ASUS' router vulnerabilities and malware, the RTX 5050 rumors, and Lian Li's new Vector V100 case. We also cover GPU market share of AMD, NVIDIA, and Intel, per a new Jon Peddie Research (JPR) report, plus the Unreal Engine 5.6 updates.

00:00 - Recap for the Week 

01:07 - AMD RX 9060 XT Post-Mortem 

11:49 - AMD RX 9070 Falls in Price in Europe 

15:52 - NVIDIA RTX 5050, Which is Probably 5030, Rumored 

17:46 - Lian Li Vector V100 Case Launches at $60 

19:58 - AMD GPU Market Share Continues to Dwindle 

24:05 - ASUS Routers Compromised with Botnet 

28:04 - Unreal Engine 5.6 Update for RT

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The Summer Game Fest showcase today ended with a bang as Capcom delivered the announcement trailer for its next mainline Resident Evil game, finally showing off what it has in store for the ninth entry. Aptly dubbed Resident Evil Requiem, the game is described as a "heart-stopping experience that will chill you to your core." Watch the newly revealed announcement trailer above.

The single-player horror game will follow Grace Ashcroft as a protagonist, an FBI agent investigating a series of unusual murders at a hotel named the Remnant Hotel, all linked to her mother's mysterious death. While a new face to the series, she may be related to a character from another Resident Evil game, Outbreak, from back in the day, though Capcom is yet to confirm any ties just yet.

Rumors have suggested that Leon is returning in this entry as a playable character too, but the debut trailer did not drop any hints about this project being a dual-protagonist adventure.

"A new era of survival horror begins in 2026," says Capcom regarding its latest Resident Evil experience. "Technological advancements combined with the development team's depth of experience combine in a story with rich characters and gameplay that's more immersive than ever before."

It looks like the title is returning to its survival horror roots after going for more action-orientated entries in recent times. The original Raccoon City seems to be the setting again too, letting players return to ground zero of the virus outbreak, just in time for the series to hit its 30th anniversary.

Resident Evil Requiem is launching across PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 on February 27, 2026.

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As consumers around the world have gotten their hands on the Switch 2 in the last day or so, we're still working hard to fully test the system here at the Ars Orbiting HQ. As we do, we thought we'd share some initial impressions after having Nintendo's new console in hand for 48 hours or so. Consider these first thoughts an extended version of our notes from a review in progress and a starting point for discussion of the first completely new Nintendo platform in over eight years.

The Switch 2 Joy-Cons feel great

There's something incredibly satisfying about the magnetic "snap" when you plug the new Joy-Cons into the Switch 2 horizontally, and the handy release lever makes it much easier to disconnect the controllers from the tablet with one hand. Even without a physical rail holding the Joy-Cons to the system (as on the Switch), the magnetic connection feels remarkably sturdy in portable mode.

The Switch 2 Joy-Con (left) and a right-side original Switch Joy-Con.

Though the Switch 2's expanded Joy-Cons generally feel more comfortable for adult hands, I have noticed that the analog stick encroaches a little more on the space for the face buttons on the right Joy-Con. I've found myself accidentally nudging that analog stick with the bottom of my thumb when pressing the lower "B" button on the Joy-Con, a problem I never recall encountering on the original Switch.

The system is a little less comfortable in portable mode

The additional quarter-pound of weight on the Switch 2 over the original Switch (with the Joy-Cons attached) might not sound like much, but I've already started to notice the extra heft during extended portable play sessions. And because the Switch 2 is a lot thinner than heavier systems like the Steam Deck, the added weight ends up digging more into your palms when supporting the system from the (pleasantly rounded) corners.

Better start working our those wrist muscles if you want to lift the Switch 2.

Credit: Kyle Orland

I've already found myself subconsciously hooking my pinkies under the bottom of the Switch 2 tablet to help relieve the pressure on my hands at points. That's not a great sign for a system designed to be held for hours at a time.

Mouse mode can be awkward

The most amazing thing about the Joy-Con mouse mode is how it manages to be functional on so many different surfaces. We've tested it on a thigh (both cloth-covered and bare), couch upholstery, a mattress, a lapdesk, and the back of a hardcover book and gotten a usable mouse sensor signal out of each. The only test that failed completely was a glass-covered tabletop, since the clear surface gives the digital camera nothing to pick up. That said, using the mouse on softer and more rounded surfaces leaves something to be desired when it comes to accuracy, especially in games that require quick movements.

There's just not enough surface to support your entire palm for comfortable mousing.

Credit: Kyle Orland

Mouse mode also tends to get a bit uncomfortable during extended play sessions. The thin side of a Joy-Con is just not wide enough to support your entire palm, meaning you have to force your hand into a claw-like horizontal grip just to get a good hold on the "mouse." While some enterprising users are already 3D printing solutions to this problem, Nintendo or some smart accessory maker should make a more official mouse holster to support this unique control scheme.

Switch 2 Welcome Tour is quite tedious

Imagine a hybrid Switch 2 sales brochure and detailed manual stretched into a lightly interactive five-hour slog and you'll have something approaching Switch 2 Welcome Tour. While there are a few interesting tidbits buried in its plethora of informational slides and quizzes—did you know the Switch 2 touchscreen can detect 10 fingers at once?—they're buried in an ocean of self-congratulatory PR speak and technical discussions aimed at people who have never even heard of a CPU.

Running around this giant replica hardware is more annoying than revelatory.

Credit: Nintendo

There are a few engaging minigames buried in there as well, including an especially fun one that asks you to mimic on-screen faces in front of an optional webcam. But unlocking those games means going on an especially annoying scavenger hunt for hidden stamps identifying every last little piece of the Switch 2 hardware, which gets incredibly annoying after a while.

As an included freebie with the Switch 2 system, this would merely be tedious. As a game with a $10 asking price, it's a little insulting.

GameChat is cute, but screen-sharing is rough

After a lengthy initial setup, starting a casual GameChat session with people on your Switch 2 friends list is pretty simple (though, oddly, there seems to be no way to add new people to a GameChat after it starts). The system's internal microphone does a pretty good job picking up your voice even across a big room, and the head-tracking feature for the camera does a good job keeping you in frame even as you move.

The frame rate on those shared screens is rough.

Credit: Kyle Orland

GameChat struggles a bit when it comes to screen sharing, though, sending a grainy video of your gameplay at a rough-to-watch rate of about 10 or 15 fps. This is fine if you're just glancing at what your chatmate is doing occasionally to offer some hints or support. Just don't expect it to replicate the experience of watching your favorite streamer on Twitch or anything of the like.

The internal storage doesn’t go very far

The Switch 2's 256GB of built-in storage is plenty if you're mainly using it to play upgraded old Switch games; even an epic like Tears of the Kingdom is only about 20GB with the upgrade pack. But high-end games designed specifically for the Switch 2 can be a lot bigger: 48GB for Street Fighter 6, nearly 60GB for Cyberpunk 2077, and a whopping 69.2GB for Split Fiction, to cite a few examples. If you plan to download games like these, you'll need to invest in a MicroSD Express card before too long.

Switch games run a lot better

We'll have more in-depth coverage of this in the near future, but for now, suffice it to say that Switch 2 upgrades make a lot of the less performant Switch games much more bearable. This can be especially true for late-era Switch software that pushed the old hardware to its limits; after seeing Tears of the Kingdom running at a silky smooth 60 fps on the Switch 2, it will be hard to go back to playing the original version ever again.

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Google wasn't around for the advent of the World Wide Web, but it successfully remade the web on its own terms. Today, any website that wants to be findable has to play by Google's rules, and after years of search dominance, the company has lost a major antitrust case that could reshape both it and the web.

The closing arguments in the case just wrapped up last week, and Google could be facing serious consequences when the ruling comes down in August. Losing Chrome would certainly change things for Google, but the Department of Justice is pursuing other remedies that could have even more lasting impacts. During his testimony, Google CEO Sundar Pichai seemed genuinely alarmed at the prospect of being forced to license Google's search index and algorithm, the so-called data remedies in the case. He claimed this would be no better than a spinoff of Google Search. The company's statements have sometimes derisively referred to this process as "white labeling" Google Search.

But does a white label Google Search sound so bad? Google has built an unrivaled index of the web, but the way it shows results has become increasingly frustrating. A handful of smaller players in search have tried to offer alternatives to Google's search tools. They all have different approaches to retrieving information for you, but they agree that spinning off Google Search could change the web again. Whether or not those changes are positive depends on who you ask.

The Internet is big and noisy

As Google's search results have changed over the years, more people have been open to other options. Some have simply moved to AI chatbots to answer their questions, hallucinations be damned. But for most people, it's still about the 10 blue links (for now).

Because of the scale of the Internet, there are only three general web search indexes: Google, Bing, and Brave. Every search product (including AI tools) relies on one or more of these indexes to probe the web. But what does that mean?

"Generally, a search index is a service that, when given a query, is able to find relevant documents published on the Internet," said Brave's search head Josep Pujol.

A search index is essentially a big database, and that's not the same as search results. According to JP Schmetz, Brave's chief of ads, it's entirely possible to have the best and most complete search index in the world and still show poor results for a given query. Sound like anyone you know?

Google's technological lead has allowed it to crawl more websites than anyone else. It has all the important parts of the web, plus niche sites, abandoned blogs, sketchy copies of legitimate websites, copies of those copies, and AI-rephrased copies of the copied copies—basically everything. And the result of this Herculean digital inventory is a search experience that feels increasingly discombobulated.

"Google is running large-scale experiments in ways that no rival can because we’re effectively blinded," said Kamyl Bazbaz, head of public affairs at DuckDuckGo, which uses the Bing index. "Google’s scale advantage fuels a powerful feedback loop of different network effects that ensure a perpetual scale and quality deficit for rivals that locks in Google’s advantage."

The size of the index may not be the only factor that matters, though. Brave, which is perhaps best known for its browser, also has a search engine. Brave Search is the default in its browser, but you can also just go to the URL in your current browser. Unlike most other search engines, Brave doesn't need to go to anyone else for results. Pujol suggested that Brave doesn't need the scale of Google's index to find what you need. And admittedly, Brave's search results don't feel meaningfully worse than Google's—they may even be better when you consider the way that Google tries to keep you from clicking.

Brave's index spans around 25 billion pages, but it leaves plenty of the web uncrawled. "We could be indexing five to 10 times more pages, but we choose not to because not all the web has signal. Most web pages are basically noise," said Pujol.

The freemium search engine Kagi isn't worried about having the most comprehensive index. Kagi is a meta search engine. It pulls in data from multiple indexes, like Bing and Brave, but it has a custom index of what founder and CEO Vladimir Prelovac calls the "non-commercial web."

When you search with Kagi, some of the results (it tells you the proportion) come from its custom index of personal blogs, hobbyist sites, and other content that is poorly represented on other search engines. It's reminiscent of the days when huge brands weren't always clustered at the top of Google—but even these results are being pushed out of reach in favor of AI, ads, Knowledge Graph content, and other Google widgets. That's a big part of why Kagi exists, according to Prelovac.

A Google spinoff could change everything

We've all noticed the changes in Google's approach to search, and most would agree that they have made finding reliable and accurate information harder. Regardless, Google's incredibly deep and broad index of the Internet is in demand.

Even with Bing and Brave available, companies are going to extremes to syndicate Google Search results. A cottage industry has emerged to scrape Google searches as a stand-in for an official index. These companies are violating Google's terms, yet they appear in Google Search results themselves. Google could surely do something about this if it wanted to.

The DOJ calls Google's mountain of data the "essential raw material" for building a general search engine, and it believes forcing the firm to license that material is key to breaking its monopoly. The sketchy syndication firms will evaporate if the DOJ's data remedies are implemented, which would give competitors an official way to utilize Google's index. And utilize it they will.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai decried the court's efforts to force a "de facto divestiture" of Google's search tech.

Credit: Ryan Whitwam

According to Prelovac, this could lead to an explosion in search choices. "The whole purpose of the Sherman Act is to proliferate a healthy, competitive marketplace. Once you have access to a search index, then you can have thousands of search startups," said Prelovac.

The Kagi founder suggested that licensing Google Search could allow entities of all sizes to have genuinely useful custom search tools. Cities could use the data to create deep, hyper-local search, and people who love cats could make a cat-specific search engine, in both cases pulling what they want from the most complete database of online content. And, of course, general search products like Kagi would be able to license Google's tech for a "nominal fee," as the DOJ puts it.

Prelovac didn't hesitate when asked if Kagi, which offers a limited number of free searches before asking users to subscribe, would integrate Google's index. "Yes, that is something we would do," he said. "And that's what I believe should happen."

There may be some drawbacks to unleashing Google's search services. Judge Amit Mehta has expressed concern that blocking Google's search placement deals could reduce browser choice, and there is a similar issue with the data remedies. If Google is forced to license search as an API, its few competitors in web indexing could struggle to remain afloat. In a roundabout way, giving away Google's search tech could actually increase its influence.

The Brave team worries about how open access to Google's search technology could impact diversity on the web. "If implemented naively, it's a big problem," said Brave's ad chief JP Schmetz, "If the court forces Google to provide search at a marginal cost, it will not be possible for Bing or Brave to survive until the remedy ends."

The landscape of AI-based search could also change. We know from testimony given during the remedy trial by OpenAI's Nick Turley that the ChatGPT maker tried and failed to get access to Google Search to ground its AI models—it currently uses Bing. If Google were suddenly an option, you can be sure OpenAI and others would rush to connect Google's web data to their large language models (LLMs).

The attempt to reduce Google's power could actually grant it new monopolies in AI, according to Brave Chief Business Officer Brian Brown. "All of a sudden, you would have a single monolithic voice of truth across all the LLMs, across all the web," Brown said.

What if you weren’t the product?

If white labeling Google does expand choice, even at the expense of other indexes, it will give more kinds of search products a chance in the market—maybe even some that shun Google's focus on advertising. You don't see much of that right now.

For most people, web search is and always has been a free service supported by ads. Google, Brave, DuckDuckGo, and Bing offer all the search queries you want for free because they want eyeballs. It's been said often, but it's true: If you're not paying for it, you're the product. This is an arrangement that bothers Kagi's founder.

"For something as important as information consumption, there should not be an intermediary between me and the information, especially one that is trying to sell me something," said Prelovac.

Kagi search results acknowledge the negative impact of today's advertising regime. Kagi users see a warning next to results with a high number of ads and trackers. According to Prelovac, that is by far the strongest indication that a result is of low quality. That icon also lets you adjust the prevalence of such sites in your personal results. You can demote a site or completely hide it, which is a valuable option in the age of clickbait.

Kagi search gives you a lot of control.

Credit: Ryan Whitwam

Kagi's paid approach to search changes its relationship with your data. "We literally don't need user data," Prelovac said. "But it's not only that we don't need it. It's a liability."

Prelovac admitted that getting people to pay for search is "really hard." Nevertheless, he believes ad-supported search is a dead end. So Kagi is planning for a future in five or 10 years when more people have realized they're still "paying" for ad-based search with lost productivity time and personal data, he said.

We know how Google handles user data (it collects a lot of it), but what does that mean for smaller search engines like Brave and DuckDuckGo that rely on ads?

"I'm sure they mean well," said Prelovac.

Brave said that it shields user data from advertisers, relying on first-party tracking to attribute clicks to Brave without touching the user. "They cannot retarget people later; none of that is happening," said Brave's JP Schmetz.

DuckDuckGo is a bit of an odd duck—it relies on Bing's general search index, but it adds a layer of privacy tools on top. It's free and ad-supported like Google and Brave, but the company says it takes user privacy seriously.

"Viewing ads is privacy protected by DuckDuckGo, and most ad clicks are managed by Microsoft’s ad network," DuckDuckGo's Kamyl Bazbaz said. He explained that DuckDuckGo has worked with Microsoft to ensure its network does not track users or create any profiles based on clicks. He added that the company has a similar privacy arrangement with TripAdvisor for travel-related ads.

It’s AI all the way down

We can't talk about the future of search without acknowledging the artificially intelligent elephant in the room. As Google continues its shift to AI-based search, it's tempting to think of the potential search spin-off as a way to escape that trend. However, you may find few refuges in the coming years. There's a real possibility that search is evolving beyond the 10 blue links and toward an AI assistant model.

All non-Google search engines have AI integrations, with the most prominent being Microsoft Bing, which has a partnership with OpenAI. But smaller players have AI search features, too. The folks working on these products agree with Microsoft and Google on one important point: They see AI as inevitable.

Today's Google alternatives all have their own take on AI Overviews, which generates responses to queries based on search results. They're generally not as in-your-face as Google AI, though. While Google and Microsoft are intensely focused on increasing the usage of AI search, other search operators aren't pushing for that future. They are along for the ride, though.

AI Overviews are integrated with Google's search results, and most other players have their own version.

Credit: Google

"We’re finding that some people prefer to start in chat mode and then jump into more traditional search results when needed, while others prefer the opposite," Bazbaz said. "So we thought the best thing to do was offer both. We made it easy to move between them, and we included an off switch for those who’d like to avoid AI altogether."

The team at Brave views AI as a core means of accessing search and one that will continue to grow. Brave generates AI answers for many searches and prominently cites sources. You can also disable Brave's AI if you prefer. But according to search chief Josep Pujol, the move to AI search is inevitable for a pretty simple reason: It's convenient, and people will always choose convenience. So AI is changing the web as we know it, for better or worse, because LLMs can save a smidge of time, especially for more detailed "long-tail" queries. These AI features may give you false information while they do it, but that's not always apparent.

This is very similar to the language Google uses when discussing agentic search, although it expresses it in a more nuanced way. By understanding the task behind a query, Google hopes to provide AI answers that save people time, even if the model needs a few ticks to fan out and run multiple searches to generate a more comprehensive report on a topic. That's probably still faster than running multiple searches and manually reviewing the results, and it could leave traditional search as an increasingly niche service, even in a world with more choices.

"Will the 10 blue links continue to exist in 10 years?" Pujol asked. "Actually, one question would be, does it even exist now? In 10 years, [search] will have evolved into more of an AI conversation behavior or even agentic. That is probably the case. What, for sure, will continue to exist is the need to search. Search is a verb, an action that you do, and whether you will do it directly or whether it will be done through an agent, it's a search engine."

Vlad from Kagi sees AI becoming the default way we access information in the long term, but his search engine doesn't force you to use it. On Kagi, you can expand the AI box for your searches and ask follow-ups, and the AI will open automatically if you use a question mark in your search. But that's just the start.

"You watch Star Trek, nobody's clicking on links there—I do believe in that vision in science fiction movies," Prelovac said. "I don't think my daughter will be clicking links in 10 years. The only question is if the current technology will be the one that gets us there. LLMs have inherent flaws. I would even tend to say it's likely not going to get us to Star Trek."

If we think of AI mainly as a way to search for information, the future becomes murky. With generative AI in the driver's seat, questions of authority and accuracy may be left to language models that often behave in unpredictable and difficult-to-understand ways. Whether we're headed for an AI boom or bust—for continued Google dominance or a new era of choice—we're facing fundamental changes to how we access information.

Maybe if we get those thousands of search startups, there will be a few that specialize in 10 blue links. We can only hope.

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The latest Intel Arc graphics driver for desktops, laptops, and gaming handhelds, version 32.0.101.6877 (non-WHQL), was released on June 5, 2025, and is now .

It's one of the smallest GPU driver updates I've seen, but it contains a critical fix for PC handhelds that use Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 mobile processors, like the previously reviewed MSI Claw 8 AI+ and its sibling, the MSI Claw 7 AI+.

If you've experienced glitches with stuttering audio or any other unusual behaviour from your Claw handheld, then Intel is pushing this driver specifically to remedy the problem. Otherwise, if you're playing on a previous-generation MSI Claw 7 (A1M), then you shouldn't necessarily need to apply this update.

Patch notes

Fixed Issues:

Intel Core Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel Arc GPUs:

• Certain handheld devices may experience audio glitches and lower than expected performance while audio is playing.

The same advice goes for those running Intel Arc hardware on desktops, like the B-Series "Battlemage" B570 and B580 graphics cards; you likely wouldn't notice any difference here, so you might as well wait for the next GPU driver update.

Any laptops using Core Ultra Series 2 chips, like the Core Ultra 7 256V in Lenovo's Yoga 7i 2-in-1 that I just tested, are technically using the same graphics architecture as the handhelds targeted by the fix, so it wouldn't hurt to apply this update if you're experiencing similar audio oddities.

So, you got (or are soon getting) a Nintendo Switch 2. You’re probably ready to throw your original Switch into storage, but before that, you should transfer all of your data to the new console.

Good news: it’s easy for those who have a Switch 2. Not only that, it’s easy even if you don’t yet have the new console. Nintendo developed a clever solution for those who haven’t upgrade yet, letting original Switch owners back up their entire account to a remote server, where it will be stored for one year.

No matter your situation, here’s a step-by-step guide to transferring all of your data to the new console.

This section assumes that you are in possession of a Switch 2. On the Switch 2, proceed with the initial setup dialog options until you get to the System Transfer screen. Select Start System Transfer, then note that you’ll need to connect to the internet, and sign in to your Nintendo Account.

On your original Switch, make sure it’s updated to the latest software version, then open the Settings app. From there, scroll to System, then select System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2. Make sure your consoles are nearby.

At this point, you’ll be able to hit Start Download on the Switch 2. Once the data will be passed along, the Switch 2 will restart.

Note: All users will be transferred from your Switch to the Switch 2. If you have users on your system that aren’t linked to a Nintendo Account, and/or games that don’t support cloud save backups, they’ll transfer to the Switch 2, but cannot be transferred back to an original Switch.

If you don’t yet have a Switch 2, this option is great because it lets you give away or sell your Switch before getting your hands on the new console. It’s equally simple to the method above (but it removes all of your Switch data upon completion, so keep that in mind). Navigate to the Settings app, then find System Transfer to Nintendo Switch 2, but select the I don’t have a Nintendo Switch 2 yet prompt when it appears.

After you click that, you’ll be presented with a Download Deadline, which is the last day your data will be available to be pulled down from the server into a Nintendo Switch 2 before it’s deleted permanently.

Select Upload Data, and follow along with the prompts, eventually leading to the point where you’re finished, and your original Switch will wipe itself, removing all data and users.

If you backed up your original Switch data to the cloud and now have a Switch 2, it’s easy to grab it from the remote server.

For those who have just turned on their Switch 2, follow the on-screen prompts until you see Start System Transfer. Connect to the internet, and so long as you’re signed in with the same Nintendo Account that transferred the original Switch data, that backup will show up.

If you got a little excited and already completed the initial Switch 2 setup, in order to retrieve everything you backed up, you’ll need to completely reset the console again and retrieve the backup with the steps above.

Great question, one that Nintendo has answered in great detail on this support page. In short, everything important, aside from custom controller button mappings and settings for Bluetooth, time, time zone, region, and language.

All users will be transferred from your Switch to the Switch 2. If you have users on your system that aren’t linked to a Nintendo Account (from kids to friends and significant others) and/or games that don’t support cloud save backups, they’ll transfer to the Switch 2, but they cannot be transferred back to an original Switch.

Lastly, if you have a ton of games installed on your original Switch when you transfer data to the new console, it’s worth knowing that all of those games will attempt to download on the Switch 2 (that may not be what you want if you’re trying to download Mario Kart World or some other launch game first).

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However, the iPhone maker has a slew of unannounced products for the rest of the year. Most of these products will be unveiled in September and October. Here's every product Apple will unveil in the rest of 2025.

iPhone 17 Series

Apple's September event will feature the iPhone 17 series as the torchbearer. The lineup includes iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and Pro Max. The new Air model will replace Plus models in the iPhone lineup, focusing on slim design and portability. Apple is expected to change the camera layout design in the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max variants.

New Apple Watch models for the year

As is customary every year, Apple will roll out a new Watch device in 2025. In September, we'll get our hands on the Apple Watch Series 11. The wearable is expected to launch with a faster processor, 5G RedCap support, satellite connectivity, and blood pressure monitoring.

At the September event, Apple will also reveal the next-gen Apple Watch Ultra 3 and a new, cheaper SE Watch with a plastic body. All new Apple Watch devices get the revamped WatchOS.

M5 MacBook Pro

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman already reported that Apple plans to release MacBook Pros with M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chips this fall. This model is expected to be released sometime in October. However, the biggest MacBook Pro refresh is planned for 2026, when it will get an OLED display and a makeover.

Mac Pro with upgraded chip

Apple Mac Pro got its latest update in 2023 with an Apple M2 Ultra chip. While there is no confirmation yet about a new Mac Pro in the works with an M4 Ultra chip for 2025, Mark Gurman said Apple could release Mac Studio and Mac Pro with an upgraded chip in mid-2025.

32-inch iMac

Back in 2023, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said Apple plans to launch a 32-inch variant of the iMac in 2025 with a mini LED display. He also predicted a 24-inch iMac refresh in 2024, which happened to be true. So, if you're looking for a bigger iMac and can't afford the 32-inch Pro Display XDR, it'd be better to wait for the iMac refresh in 2025.

iPad Pro with M5 chip

In 2024, the iPad Pro received a slew of upgrades, including a new chip, OLED display, and slimmer design. According to Mark Gurman, Apple is also expected to release an M5-powered model in 2025, codenamed J817, J818, J820, and J821.

Alongside these products, Apple might reveal several other devices in 2025, including Apple TV 4K, AirTag 2, HomePod mini, and AirPods Pro 3.

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AMD is set to launch its Radeon RX 9060 XT on June 6, and the reviews are live one day early.

Despite some trepidation regarding AMD's decision to follow NVIDIA's move with 8GB and 16GB versions of the same mid-range card, reviews so far are looking very positive for the RX 9060 XT.

It appears that the majority of reviewers received a 16GB version of the 9060 XT to review, which is set to launch with a $349 MSRP. That's considerably cheaper than the 16GB NVIDIA RTX 5060 Ti, which debuted with a $429 MSRP. It's also not much more expensive than the 8GB RTX 5060's $299 MSRP.

I expect that reviews for the RX 9060 XT with 8GB of VRAM won't be nearly as kind when they do arrive, as seen with the 8GB 5060 Ti.

I've put together this roundup of AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT reviews from major outlets to give you a better idea of what to expect come official launch.

• KitGuru (85%): "The bottom line – AMD has a very good thing on its hands with the RX 9060 XT 16GB. Simply offering 16GB of VRAM at this price point is enough to give it a huge advantage over the competition, not to mention its solid gaming performance, much improved ray tracing and FSR 4 support. We'd expect this to sell very well indeed at the £315 MSRP."
• PCGamer (84%): "When it comes to the entry-level GPU market, pricing is everything. And while the RX 9060 XT isn't quite capable of outright beating Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti, it often comes within touching distance of it—all for an $80 lower MSRP. That makes it the budget card to beat right now, if you ask me."
• PCGamesN (80%): "At MSRP, the Radeon RX 9060 XT is a fantastic buy. It's quicker than the RTX 5060, while the 16GB version costs $80 less than the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB and isn't far off its pace. The lack of widespread game support for FSR 4 dents its appeal, though, as does the potential for price rises beyond its MSRP."
• IGN (80%): "The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT is an awesome 1080p graphics card. It can handle pretty much anything at that resolution, and even in extremely demanding games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Black Myth: Wukong, you can still get excellent framerates, provided you tweak with upscaling a bit more. Assuming the price doesn’t move too much, the 9060 XT is going to be the card to beat at 1080p this year."
• Engadget: "The Radeon RX 9060 XT is a reminder of a world where we didn’t have to pay more than $400 to get a capable GPU. We already know more than 80 percent of PC gamers play at 1440p or lower resolutions, according to Steam’s data. So for the vast majority of players out there — the ones who aren’t using monitors with crazy high refresh rates or 4K+ resolutions — it’s all the GPU you really need."
• OC3D: "Checking through our graphs we were impressed at how tightly matched this card is to Nvidia’s RTX 5060 Ti. Naturally, both companies have games that are stronger on one than the other. As a general rule though when the AMD Radeon tech is the right one for a particular game, it really spanks the Nvidia card. As a quick example, Call of Duty with FSR on the XFX RX 9060 XT ends up giving us the same score as the RTX 5080. Even without the FSR tech it’s beating RTX 3080 Tis. No slouch."
• Guru3D: "Direct competing cards are the 7700 XT and the 5060 and 5060 Ti series from NVIDIA. It isn't a clear win for AMD as with some titles performance drop to 5060 levels. But most of the time it's on the heels of the 400+ USD GeForce 5060 Ti. Whether you’re building a powerhouse workstation or upgrading your living-room PC, this card delivers reliable, efficient performance at a reasonable price point."
• Eurogamer: "Re-focusing on the RX 9060 XT, the 16GB model is recommended at that price - assuming that the price is actually "real". It does for the 60-class cards what MSRP-level 70 class offerings from AMD did to the RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti. We'll see how real world pricing pans out, but for now at least, based on the costing info we have from AMD along with the performance delivered by the card itself, it's a highly compelling offering."
• TechPowerUp: "While I would definitely say that this is a 1080p card, 1440p is definitely in reach, certainly in older games, and also once you enable performance enhancing features like FSR upscaling and frame generation. Some of the most demanding titles, or when RT is enabled will require you to use FSR, too, to get a good gaming experience."

• Hardware Canucks: "So basically, what AMD has done here is make NVIDIA's entire RTX 5060 Ti lineup — yes, even the 16GB model — look completely and positively overpriced by comparison."

• Gamers Nexus: "As far as performance versus the RTX 5060, if we come back to that, it's at least better in nearly all instances. It's often around the levels of the 3070 Ti, tends to be between the 3070 and 3070 Ti."

• Hardware Unboxed: "So, for me, the 9060 XT 16GB really does tick all the boxes. That is assuming AMD can supply enough product to meet the demand, which might not be the case for the first few months."

• Digital Foundry: "Kind of slots into a market defined by three NVIDIA GPUs, only one of which has enough memory in my opinion. Based on my tests, you're getting the lion's share of 5060 Ti 16GB performance while being cheaper than the 8GB model."

Should you buy the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT?

Space-faring players can now be the overseers of four settlements across the universe, with the job being offered to them after completing a unique objective.

"Govern your settlers wisely and invest in their infrastructure to enable each settlement to flourish, producing lucrative resources, and becoming an invaluable base of operations throughout your journey," explains the studio.

Settlement management has also been completely reworked with this update. Hello Games says that players will now have more important construction and upgrade choices, as each building has its own calculated contribution to the happiness, population, and productivity of its settlement. These can benefit the player via a wide range of resource production options.

Not only that, each settler will even have their own personalities, strengths, weaknesses, and skills that will change how they work in their community. Players can find these by simply talking to any settler they meet on a planet. When a citizen dispute comes up, the number of choices offered to the overseer has been increased as well.

As for the robotic settlements, they can only be found by scanning planets with specialist technology. Once found, these Autophage settlements can be taken over as well, letting players be the overseer and take care of the scrap metal-built locals.

Other additions to this update include Intel Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) upscaling tech support on PC, more voice types for player characters, better snapping when building structures, and cross-save support across all platforms.

Don't forget that No Man's Sky will soon be arriving on a brand-new platform too. The title will be a day-one launch on the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5.

Find the complete patch notes for No Man's Sky 5.7 Beacon Update over here.

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Warhorse Studios — the Czech Republic game development studio behind 2018's Kingdom Come: Deliverance and its highly popular 2025 sequel Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 — has announced that it's expanding with a brand new office this July.

The news came on Wednesday morning, with Warhorse revealing the news in a social media post. "We're growing! Warhorse Studios is opening a new office in Brno (CZ) on July 1," it wrote. "This expansion boosts our development capacity and supports both KCD2 and future DLCs — while laying the groundwork for what the future holds for us and for you."

Further information then came in a GamesIndustry.biz article about the expansion in which the Prague-based Warhorse said the Brno office will be led by Petr Kolář, the previous managing director at Ashborne Games (known for the acclaimed 2023 RTS Last Train Home). Notably, Warhorse worked with Ashborne on KCD2's recent Brushes With Death DLC that released in May.

In 1979, Atari released the Atari 400 and 800, groundbreaking home computers that included custom graphics and sound chips, four joystick ports, and the ability to run the most advanced home video games of their era. These machines, which retailed for $549 and $999, respectively, represented a leap in consumer-friendly personal computing, with their modular design and serial I/O bus that presaged USB. Now, 46 years later, a hobbyist has shrunk down the system hardware to a size that would have seemed like science fiction in the 1970s.

Polish engineer Piotr "Osa" Ostapowicz recently unveiled "Atarino," which may be the world's smallest 8-bit Atari computer re-creation, according to retro computing site Atariteca. The entire system—processor, graphics chips, sound hardware, and memory controllers—fits on a module measuring just 2×1.5 centimeters (about 0.79×0.59 inches), which is roughly the size of a postage stamp.

Ostapowicz's creation reimplements the classic Atari XL/XE architecture using modern FPGA (field-programmable gate array) technology. Unlike software emulators that simulate old hardware (and modern recreations that run them, like the Atari 400 Mini console) on a complete computer system of another architecture, Atarino reproduces the original Atari components faithfully at the logic level, allowing it to run vintage software while maintaining compatibility with original peripherals.

"The current project is not strictly a clone of Atari but basically, well, I'm forming a machine that is compatible with the Atari 8-bit computer itself, but it was created on the basis of the framework that I created some time ago," Ostapowicz told Atari Online PL in a January 2024 YouTube interview.

The project, which began over a decade ago and was first publicly demonstrated in December 2023, includes a 6502C processor, ANTIC and GTIA graphics chips, POKEY sound chip, and memory controllers onto a single Lattice UP5K FPGA chip. Despite its tiny size, the system can run at clock speeds up to 31 MHz—far faster than the original hardware's 1.79 MHz.

Smaller, faster, and positioned for future projects

While Atarino maintains broad compatibility with classic Atari software, Ostapowicz says he has enhanced the original design in several ways. For example, the 6502 processor core follows the physical chip specifications but adds new instructions. The memory system uses independent channels rather than the original's "cycle stealing" approach (where the graphics chip temporarily halts the CPU to access memory), improving performance.

The graphics capabilities of the Atarino also extend beyond the original's limitations. Ostapowicz implemented functional clones of the ANTIC and GTIA chips with extended resolution modes. And the system outputs video through both VGA at 60 Hz and HDMI.

The modular design allows hobbyists to integrate Atarino into custom keyboards, miniaturized cases, or development boards. Ostapowicz has created multiple keyboard variants, including one based on the 65XE layout and another using a UART interface with microcontroller-based scanning. The system also supports connections to modern peripherals through Wi-Fi or Ethernet modules.

Development continues on the project, with Ostapowicz currently refining the POKEY sound chip emulation to match the original's asynchronous behavior. He's also working on simplifying development tools for users, with the environment already compatible with CC65 and Visual Studio Code. He plans to release complete kits with documentation, inviting the retrocomputing community to experiment with the hardware.

The European Atari connection

The Atari 8-bit platform holds particular significance in Poland and Europe in general, where these computers performed well on the home market throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. While most American consumers had moved on to newer systems, Polish users in particular embraced Atari's affordable computers during the country's economic transition away from communism, creating a vibrant community that persists today. This nostalgic connection has made Poland a global hub for Atari 8-bit development and preservation.

In communist Poland, Western computers were primarily available through Pewex, a chain of hard-currency shops that accepted only US dollars. Despite COCOM embargoes on Western technology, Atari computers became generally available at these stores, partly thanks to efforts by Jack Tramiel, the Polish-born Atari owner who ensured his computers reached his homeland. This nostalgic connection has made Poland a global hub for Atari 8-bit development and preservation.

For Atarino creator Ostapowicz, his Atari miniaturization project is more than a nostalgic exercise or a mere technical challenge; it stems from a desire to create a tiny platform that applies 8-bit computing to new applications. He also saw an opportunity to build something fun and useful for today's hobbyists and developers, bridging the past with future possibilities.

"I just came to the conclusion that we can build something that is compatible with Atari, give it a miniature form, and then it will happen," he said in the Atari Online interview. "As I mentioned, if someone wants to make a portable console, he has an open road. If someone wants to make an IoT system out of it, here you go."

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Seen below, the tech demo of the hugely anticipated RPG features the new trilogy's protagonist, Ciri, as she explores Kovir, the new mainland that CD Projekt is letting players explore. Following a monster trail, Ciri and her horse Kelpie go through mountains and forests before reaching the town of Valdrest.

Surprisingly, the demo is said to be running on a base PlayStation 5, and it even manages to stay at 60 frames per second despite the stunning visuals. The studio said that the technologies it is using will benefit all platforms that it is targeting for the RPG. The Witcher 4 is coming to PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 consoles, though a release date has not been revealed yet.

"We started our partnership with Epic Games to push open-world game technology forward. To show this early look at the work we’ve been doing using Unreal Engine running at 60 FPS on PlayStation 5, is a significant milestone — and a testament of the great cooperation between our teams," said joint CEO of CD Projekt RED Michał Nowakowski. "But we're far from finished. I look forward to seeing more advancements and inspiring technology from this partnership as development of The Witcher 4 on Unreal Engine 5 continues."

The demo showcases tech like Unreal Animation Framework, Nanite Foliage rendering, MetaHuman technology with Mass AI crowd scaling, and more from Epic Games' latest engine developments. Unreal Engine 5.6 is said to include many of these improvements, letting any developer use the tools on their games for better visuals and optimizations.

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Eight years ago, just before the release of the Nintendo Switch, we provided an in-depth review of the hardware thanks to early production units provided by Nintendo. This year, Nintendo has opted not to provide such unrestricted early press access to the Switch 2 hardware, citing a "day-one update" to the system software and some launch games that would supposedly make pre-release evaluation more difficult.

As such, we won't be able to provide our full thoughts on the Switch 2 until well after the system is in players' hands. While that's not an ideal situation for readers looking to make an early purchase decision, we'll do our best to give you our hands-on impressions as soon as possible after launch day.

In lieu of review access, though, we were able to get some extended hands-on time with the final Switch 2 hardware at a daylong preview event held by Nintendo last week. This event provided our first look at the console's system-level menu and settings, as well as features like GameChat (which was hard to fully evaluate in an extremely controlled environment).

While this access was far from sufficient for a full review, it did let us discover a few interesting features that we weren't aware of beforehand. Here are some of the new tidbits we stumbled across during our day with the Switch 2 hardware.

GameChat can generate captions for live speech

One of the most unexpected accessibility features of the Switch 2 is the system's ability to automatically generate on-screen captions for what friends are saying during a GameChat session. These captions appear in their own box that can be set to the side of the main gameplay. The captioning system seemed pretty fast and accurate in our test and could even update captions from multiple speakers at the same time.

GameChat can automatically update captions for multiple speakers at once.

Credit: Kyle Orland

While this is obviously useful for hard-of-hearing players, we could also see the feature being a boon for managing crosstalk among rowdy GameChat parties or for quickly referring back to something someone said a few seconds ago.

You can generate spoken speech from text messages

In a reverse of the auto-captioning system discussed above, GameChat also has a feature buried deep in its menus that lets you type a message on the on-screen keyboard and have it spoken aloud to the other participants in a slightly robotic voice. This could come in handy when you're playing in an environment where you have to be quiet but still want to quickly convey detailed information to your fellow players.

The camera has built-in head-tracking

During GameChat sessions, you can make the connected camera show only your face instead of your entire body and/or the background behind it. This mode keeps your face centered in a small, circular frame even as you move around during gameplay, though there is a slight delay in the tracking if you move your head too quickly.

While you can also activate a similar face display during local multiplayer sessions of Mario Kart World, the game doesn't seem to track your movements, meaning you can easily fall out of frame if you don't hold your body still.

The system can detect the angle of the kickstand

Wonderful!

This was a cute little surprise I discovered in a Switch 2 Welcome Tour mini-game that asks you to set the kickstand as close as possible to a given angle. This mini-game works even if the Joy-Cons are not attached, suggesting that there is a sensor in the kickstand or tablet itself that measures the angle. It did take a few seconds of stillness for the game to fully confirm the system's resting angle, though, so don't expect to be tilting the kickstand rapidly to control action games or anything.

You can use mouse mode to navigate system menus

I stumbled on this feature when I was holding the Joy-Cons normally and one of my fingers accidentally passed over the mouse sensor, activating a mouse pointer on the system menu screen. When I put the controller down on its edge, I found that the pointer could scroll and click through those menus, often much more quickly than flicking a joystick.

Mouse mode also lets you zoom in on specific areas of the screen with a quick double-click, which should be useful for both vision-impaired players and those playing on tiny and/or far-off screens.

You can adjust the mouse mode sensitivity

The system menu lets you adjust the mouse sensor's sensitivity between "low," "medium," and "high." While that's a lot less precise than the fully adjustable DPI settings you might be used to with a computer mouse, it's still a welcome option.

In some quick testing, I found the high-sensitivity mode to be especially useful when using the mouse on a small surface, such as the top of my thigh. At this setting, the pointer could move from one end of the screen to the other with the slightest wrist adjustment. Low sensitivity mode, on the other hand, proved useful in more precise situations, such as in a Welcome Tour mini-game where I had to move a ball quickly and precisely through a large, electrified maze.

You can play sounds to find lost controllers

Find lost controllers easily with this menu option.

Lose a Joy-Con somewhere in the depths of your couch? Not to worry—a new menu option on the Switch 2 lets you play a distinctive sound through that Joy-Con's improved HD Rumble 2 motor to help you find its precise location. While we confirmed that this feature also works with the new Pro Controller 2, we were unable to determine whether it can be used for original Switch controllers that are synced with a Switch 2.

You can set a system-wide security PIN

Your unique PIN code must be entered any time the system comes out of sleep mode, making the hardware functionally useless to anyone who doesn't have the PIN. This should be great for kids who want to keep siblings away and parents who are worried about their kids sneaking in extra Switch 2 time when they shouldn't be.

You can limit the battery charging level

A new system-level option will prevent the Switch 2 from charging as soon as it hits 90 percent of capacity, a move intended to increase the longevity of the internal battery. This is already a common feature on many smartphones and portable gaming devices, so it's nice to see Nintendo joining the bandwagon here. Thus far, though, it appears that the 90 percent battery capacity is the only cutoff point available, with no further options for customization.

You can adjust the size of menu text

MAXIMUM TEXT SIZE.

Credit: Kyle Orland

As you can see in the photo above, setting the system text size to "MAXIMUM" lets menu options be seen easily from roughly the moon. You can set the system text to bold and high-contrast for even more legibility, and there's also an option to make the system menu text smaller than the default, for whatever reason.

You can swap the A and B buttons at the system level

With this menu option activated, the B button is used to "confirm" and the A button is used to "cancel" in system menus. This should be welcome news for players more used to the button layout on Xbox, PlayStation, and Steam Deck controllers, which all have the "confirm" and "cancel" options in reversed positions from the Nintendo default.

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Sometimes we can lose ourselves in our professions, especially if we really like our job. It can become a labor of love, not just a source of monetary benefits. In a recent episode of the "Acquired" podcast, former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed that he had a difficult time emotionally detaching from the company he'd helped build from the ground up (via ).

Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 as the company's first business manager. Fast forward to the early millennium, and he took over from Bill Gates and became the company's CEO through 2014.

Spending most of his professional life at Microsoft, Ballmer admits in this podcast that he had a difficult time letting go of the company:

"It was my baby. I was there so early, and I hired basically everybody."

Even after Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft CEO, Ballmer remained proactive in the company's affairs as an ultra-engaged investor. reading everything and attending shareholder meetings. He indicated that he was "kind of a dick" for it.

In the end, Ballmer indicated that it took him a little over a year to emotionally detach from Microsoft. He even considered selling his Microsoft stocks to expedite the detachment process. "It was nothing to do with money," he added. "My only thought process was emotional detachment."

However, he says a former colleague managed to discourage him from making the move. Ballmer indicated that his loyalty to Microsoft trumps emotional attachment. Luckily, the executive managed to strike a balance, retaining his loyalty to Microsoft but emotionally detached from its highs and lows.

Microsoft will lay off 305 Washington-based employees, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing this week. Employers must give notice before mass layoffs so affected workers can seek new jobs or prepare for the transition.

While this round affects less than 1% of Microsoft's workforce, it comes just weeks after the company laid off 3% of its staff. That earlier wave impacted 1,985 Washington-based employees. Around 6,000 total workers were affected by the May layoffs.

Microsoft had 228,000 employees as of last year, according to the company.

“We continue to implement organizational changes necessary to best position the company for success in a dynamic marketplace,” said a Microsoft spokesperson in a statement to The Seattle Times.

Mass layoffs are relatively common at Microsoft and other large tech companies, though they are often met with criticism.

Microsoft is one of the world's most valuable companies and is often the most valuable company on earth. The tech giant also beat expectations in FY25 Q3, reporting a net income of $25.8 billion.

With a workforce measured in hundreds of thousands, Microsoft is a complex company that adjusts its employee count regularly. Global economic trends and the rise of AI tools have also affected staffing around the world.

It has become a common refrain during Google's antitrust saga: What happened to "don't be evil?" Google's unofficial motto has haunted it as it has grown ever larger, but a shareholder lawsuit sought to rein in some of the company's excesses. And it might be working. The plaintiffs in the case have reached a settlement with Google parent company Alphabet, which will spend a boatload of cash on "comprehensive" reforms. The goal is to steer Google away from the kind of anticompetitive practices that got it in hot water.

Under the terms of the settlement, obtained by Bloomberg Law, Alphabet will spend $500 million over the next 10 years on systematic reforms. The company will have to form a board-level committee devoted to overseeing the company's regulatory compliance and antitrust risk, a rarity for US firms. This group will report directly to CEO Sundar Pichai. There will also be reforms at other levels of the company that allow employees to identify potential legal pitfalls before they affect the company. Google has also agreed to preserve communications. Google's propensity to use auto-deleting chats drew condemnation from several judges overseeing its antitrust cases.

The agreement still needs approval from US District Judge Rita Lin in San Francisco, but that's mainly a formality at this point. Naturally, Alphabet does not admit to any wrongdoing under the terms of the settlement, but it may have to pay tens of millions in legal fees on top of the promised $500 million investment.

"Over the years, we have devoted substantial resources to building robust compliance processes," a Google spokesperson said. "To avoid protracted litigation we're happy to make these commitments."

This case is what's known as a consolidated derivative litigation, where multiple shareholder lawsuits are combined into a single action. The litigation stretches back to 2021, when a Michigan pension fund accused Google of harming the company's future by triggering widespread antitrust and regulatory actions with "prolonged and ongoing monopolistic and anticompetitive business practices." That accusation has only gained more weight in the years since it was made.

Today, Google is coming off three major antitrust losses. In 2023, Google lost an antitrust case brought by Epic Games that accused it of anticompetitive practices in app distribution. In 2024, the US Department of Justice successfully showed that Google has illegally maintained a search monopoly. Finally, Google lost the advertising antitrust case earlier this year, putting its primary revenue driver at risk.

These legal salvos could cost the company billions in fines and force major changes to its business. Google is facing a world in which it might need to open Google Play to other app stores, hand over advertising data to competitors, license its search index, and even sell the Chrome browser. Perhaps the reforms will lead to a changed company, but that won't undo the damage from the current spate of antitrust actions.

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We recently wrapped up our review of the AMD Radeon 9070 series with the RX 9070 scoring a 9 out of 10 for AI testing and 7.5 out of 10 in gaming. If you read our reviews you will see that the performance of the is decent for the price but it is definitely more efficient than its XT counterpart. Thus we already have a fairly good idea of how it performs.

With the RX 9060 XT launch scheduled for June 5 later this week, reviewers are starting to test the GPU. As such, one such review has accidentally leaked early and it has revealed the performance of the RX 9060 XT variant against the likes of AMD's own 9070 series, 7700 XT, 7600 XT, as well as Nvidia's RTX 5060 Ti, 5060, and more.

On average at 1440p, the 9060 XT 16 GB model appears to be a bit slower than the 7700 XT as well as Nvidia's 5060 Ti 16GB. Interestingly though the Radeon GPU does seem to be offering better minimums so maybe we could see a smoother gaming experience overall despite a lower average.

AMD says that it is expecting better than 5060 Ti 8GB performance with the 9060 XT 16 GB. The former has an MSRP of $379 while the latter is priced $349.

Versus the $299 GeForce 5060 (8GB), the 9060 XT 16 GB is about 10% better but the minimums are a whopping 43% higher.

AMD's 9060 XT is also showing excellent performance in case of ray tracing (RT) as you can see in Cyberpunk 2077 above where it is giving comparable throughput as the 7800 XT and is miles better than its preceeding 7600 XT with 63% boost.

We see a similar situation in Black Myth: Wukong as well which is another RT heavy game. To understand how AMD achieved the ray tracing gains on RDNA 4, you can read our architecture overview article here.

Source and images: BasedDaemonTargaryen (Reddit)

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USB-C ports are the most common physical connection on modern Windows laptops, but that doesn't mean the ports all perform at the same level.

USB-C is made up of several different standards, with the most recent being USB4. And in that case, USB4 also has a couple of performance tiers to contend with.

Despite reviewing and using many different laptops every month, I often get confused about the specific capabilities of a particular USB port. So, how does a regular user expect to avoid confusion?

Microsoft has recognized the issue and plans to fix it with a new initiative.

Microsoft is 'ending USB-C port confusion'

As our mobile tech gets thinner and more powerful, the need for advanced cooling solutions becomes increasingly important.

xMEMS, a company founded in 2018 that discovered success with its novel microspeaker technology, wants to provide that solution.

Announced in 2024, the XMEMS µCooling XMC-2400 is a tiny active fan that is expected to begin showing up in consumer mobile electronics in 2026.

How tiny, you ask? It's small enough to fit on your fingertip with plenty of space to spare.

As it stands now, with more traditional capabilities, manufacturers of mobile tech usually have to decide between active and passive cooling.

Passive cooling involves things like heatsinks, heatspreaders, and vapor chambers, depending on how much space can be spared inside a device.

These solutions are unpowered, and the devices that house them often don't require any venting. Think of your phone or the SSD in your laptop as examples of passive cooling.

Quick links:

1. Windows 10 and 11
2. Windows Insider Program
3. Updates are available
4. Reviews are in
5. Gaming news

Windows 11 and Windows 10

Here, we talk about everything happening around Microsoft's latest operating system in the Stable channel and preview builds: new features, removed features, controversies, bugs, interesting findings, and more. And, of course, you may find a word or two about older versions.

Microsoft released a bunch of quality updates for Windows 10 and 11 this week. It all started with Windows 11 version 24H2 getting an emergency update with fixes for the Hyper-V platform. That patch arrived with KB5058502.

Next, we have several non-security updates. On May 27, Microsoft dropped KB5058502 for Windows 11 versions 23H2 and 22H2. The update introduced new features for the Settings app, taskbar improvements, Copilot changes, and more. Windows 11 version 24H2 later got KB5058499 with a long list of new features and improvements for HDR, Settings, Copilot, Click to Do, etc. Finally, Windows 10 received KB5058481, a small but important update that brought back some of the features Microsoft removed before for some unknown reason.

Besides releasing new updates, Microsoft acknowledged another issue in Windows 11. KB5058405 might fail to install with recovery error 0xc0000098 in ACPI.sys. However, do not panic—this bug has only been observed on devices running virtual environments, such as Azure Virtual Machines, Azure Virtual Desktop, etc. It does not affect Home and Pro editions.

The software giant also announced a new tool to help business customers leave Windows 10 behind. Windows Backup for Organizations helps companies reset their devices and recover new ones with reduced troubleshooting and minimized downtime. It also makes it easier to transition from Windows 10 to 11. New devices can be deployed faster, with a familiar environment and Windows settings pre-applied.

Microsoft also outlined its plans to rework Windows Update so that it can handle not only system updates but app updates as well. The new tools for this are currently in private preview, and developers can sign up by emailing Microsoft. Finally, the company published new USB-C requirements to improve the standard support in its operating system.

Windows Insider Program

Here is what Microsoft released for Windows Insiders this week:

Microsoft also shipped a quite significant update for Notepad. Windows 11's built-in text editor now supports basic text formatting, allowing you to have headlines, bold, italics, and bullet lists. However, if you want to keep it simple, like in the good old days, you can turn text formatting on in settings.

Updates are available

This section covers software, firmware, and other notable updates (released and coming soon) from Microsoft and third parties, delivering new features, security fixes, improvements, patches, and more.

This week, Mozilla released Firefox 139, a major browser update. The release introduced the ability to translate extension pages, preview links with AI-generated key points, new customization options for the new tab page, and more. Later on, Mozilla also pushed Firefox 140 to the Beta Channel and Firefox 139.0.1 with a single fix for systems with Nvidia graphics cards.

In addition to releasing Firefox 139 and 140, Mozilla published a blog post about the recent improvements it had made to the browser's address bar.

Opera also dropped a big announcement, unveiling Opera Neon, the first "AI agentic browser." Neon is designed to "rethink the role of the browser" in the agentic web. Developers claim Neon understands users' intent and turns it into action using AI-powered capabilities. It is not publicly available yet, though.

Finally, Microsoft Edge. Version 137 arrived in the Stable Channel with a few important changes. Picture-in-picture now has more features, but the update also removed quite a lot of existing capabilities that Microsoft is no longer developing. In addition, Microsoft released Edge Game Bar to all Windows 11 users.

This week's Office updates include some improvements for Teams. Now, users can have a chat window when sharing their screen so that they can see messages from other participants and react to them. The chat box stays invisible to viewers, so it does not obstruct the content of your presentation. Also, Microsoft brought anonymous file sharing to Office apps on Android.

By the way, we brought back our weekly Microsoft 365 Roadmap recaps, so check out the latest edition here.

Here are other updates and releases you may find interesting:

• Notion is now available in the Microsoft Store.
• Stardock released Fences 6 with tab support, dynamic coloring, and more.
• Microsoft Authenticator is now showing users how to turn on autofill in Microsoft Edge.

• DirectX Raytracing received a performance boost with Opacity Micromaps in Agility SDK 1.616.

   

Here are the latest drivers and firmware updates released this week:

• AMD Radeon 25.5.2 with optimizations for F1 25 and more.

Reviews are in

Here is the hardware and software we reviewed this week

This week, I checked out the GameSir X5 Lite, an excellent yet affordable gamepad for your mobile device or tablet. At just $34.99, the X5 Lite offers Hall Effect sticks, a lightweight build, lively color, and decent ergonomics. It is not flawless, though, so check out our review here.

Steven Parker reviewed the TerraMaster D9-320, a 9-bay storage with 10 Gbps connection and up to 198TB of space. This NAS offers a premium build, good energy efficiency, and hot-swap capabilities. It is a bit pricey, though.

Robbie Khan published a review of the K2 HE Special Edition, Keychron's new keyboard with magnetic Hall Effect switches, comfortable typing, and high-quality craftsmanship overall.

Also, we now have a review of the Danbei Freedo, a smart Google TV projector that you can take anywhere, thanks to a built-in battery and speakers. It is an interesting device for entertainment, and you can learn more about it here.

On the gaming side

Learn about upcoming game releases, Xbox rumors, new hardware, software updates, freebies, deals, discounts, and more.

Colossal Order has been struggling with new content for Cities: Skylines II so far, and now there is more bad news. The developer revealed that the Bridges & Ports expansion has been delayed again. The expansion is now scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Nvidia has some good news for Steam Deck owners: the GeForce NOW app is now available on Valve's handheld, allowing you to play AAA games on the go. Speaking of games, the service received a fresh batch of supported games, which includes Nice Day for Fishing, Cash Cleaner Simulator, Tokyo Xtreme Racer, The Last Spell, and more.

Speaking of handheld consoles, Microsoft reportedly hit the pause button on Xbox handheld to focus on Windows 11 gaming and improve its current form.

Microsoft has kicked off the first beta of Copilot for Gaming, a new second-screen experience that allows you to ask AI for help when facing a challenging situation in games. It is currently available on mobile devices, but Microsoft is also working on bringing Copilot for Gaming to the Game Bar on Windows.

Finally, Pulasthi Ariyasinghe reviewed Elden Ring Nightreign, a streamlined roguelike with some serious action, impressive bosses, good gameplay, and a surprisingly decent price. It is not a perfect game, but for $39.99, it is a great title for fans of the genre.

Deals and freebies

The Epic Games Store is giving away two games this week: LIMBO and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands. More deals are available in this week's Weekend PC Game Deals series.

Other gaming news includes the following:

• EA reportedly canceled Marvel's Black Panther game and shut down the developer.

• The Witcher 3 is getting its final update with mod support on consoles.

• Elden Ring Nightreign sold two million copies, and its first update is coming soon.

   

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Paul's Hardware (1.52M subscribers)

June 1, 2025

Video length: 12m 24s

0:00 Welcome to Paul’s Tech News - June 1, 2025 

1:31 Steam OS is way better for game performance compared to Windows 

4:04 RTX 5060 8GB Reviews - just what we expected 

6:04 Nvidia Q1 2026 Financial Results; 5090 below MSRP in Europe 

7:40 Intel Battlemage B770 rumors 

8:55 Intel Arrow Lake Refresh “Confirmed 

TECH BRIEFS 

9:22 New 80 Plus Power Supply Rating: 80 Plus Ruby 

10:16 AsRock confirms Ryzen 9000 Failures caused by BIOS settings 

11:05 Seagate warns of data center carbon crisis as AI storage demands triple

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PC gamers have already had a great first half of 2025 — did you beat DOOM: The Dark Ages yet? — and there are many more games expected or rumored to launch in the second half.

That's perfect for me, as I usually fall right back into my gaming seat as soon as the summer weather cools off. And with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 5070 Ti now in my system, I'm set up for everything that game developers can throw my way.

Here are my top five most anticipated PC games that I hope to play in the second half of 2025.

5. The Outer Worlds 2

The Outer Worlds felt like a return to RPGs of old when I played it, which makes sense since it was developed by Fallout: New Vegas and KOTOR II superstars Obsidian Entertainment.

I adore the tongue-in-cheek humor, the wacky storyline, rewarding exploration, and the first-person shooter gameplay that these types of games offer, and The Outer Worlds 2 should give me exactly what I want: A modern sci-fi RPG set in space that isn't Starfield.

This time, you're sent to a new colony as an Earth Directorate agent to uncover a mystery involving unnatural rifts that want to end humankind.

There's no concrete release date yet, but rumors continue to point to a 2025 launch on PC, Xbox, and PS5.

It's certainly been a week for me. My PC woes began almost immediately after trying to make DOOM: The Dark Ages work at all, then work without crashing.

The end result was a PC that would not boot. The first warning sign that something was wrong was when the Windows 11 Start Menu wouldn't open, an inconvenience to shutting down said PC.

But the following morning it wouldn't boot at all, and through everything I spent about 5 days on and off trying various tactics to get back up and running, and running stable.

In that time, so I could actually get some work done, I reached for my (not that) old trusty Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming Chromebook. Once again, with a newfound appreciation for the simplicity of ChromeOS in a world where Windows 11 is full of potential pain points.

A week where my PC nearly beat me

Gamers Nexus (2.45M subscribers)

May 31, 2025

Video length: 35m 47s

This special episode of HW News features a collection of show floor reports on the ground at Computex, closing out the remainder of our (non-interview, non-special-feature) coverage. We talk about our upcoming tour around all of Taiwan to visit different computer recycling places, stores, second hand shops, and more. We also cover AI sucking up all the storage, potentially creating shortages in the future between AI use cases and data centers for more 'traditional' storage use. Further, NVIDIA's AI obsession dominates 98% of its keynote from Computex 2025 (and we recap the NVIDIA keynote announcements). be quiet! has new liquid coolers, Arctic has its first case in years, MSI responds to ASUS' Apex with the new MPOWER, and more.

00:00 - Recapping the Week 

01:45 - Computex Recap and Upcoming Content 

05:20 - NVIDIA AI Takes Most of Keynote 

11:42 - AI Sucking Up All the Storage 

12:52 - In Win's Artsy PC Cases 

19:34 - be quiet!'s liquid coolers 

21:53 - Arctic's First Case in Years 

23:07 - MSI's Response to the ASUS Apex 

28:43 - Mini Round-Up: FSP Fan, Zalman Cooler, Colorful Case

29:44 - Sparkle Intel B60 and B580 Tear Down

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With the Switch 2 launch days away, analysts and consumers are watching to see how well Nintendo can follow-up the best selling home console in its history. Judging from the pain of trying to secure a Switch 2 pre-order, it seems like Nintendo has nothing to worry about – at least at launch.

Down the line, however, concerns about tariffs, a steadily rising cost of living, and a saturated market might cast a shadow on the Switch 2. The Verge talked to analysts, journalists, and normal video game playing people to put the Switch 2 launch in perspective. The key takeaway? While the console will assuredly have another blockbuster debut, its future looks much less certain.

The Wii U gets brought up a lot in the conversation surrounding the Switch 2, as it’s the most famous example of a Nintendo failure. “The Wii U, with its confusing controller-screen gimmick, sluggish user interface, and lack of a great Custom Robo game, was one of Nintendo’s worst flops,” GameFile author Stephen Totilo explained in an email to The Verge.

It sold less than 14 million units, a dramatic drop from the Wii, which sold over 100 million. And while Nintendo expects to sell one million more Switch 2 units in its first year than the Wii U sold in its life, that’s not necessarily indicative of long-term success. “The Wii U nevertheless sold out at launch back in November 2012,” Totilo said, “pulling in sales that reportedly topped the US launch sales of the Xbox 360 and PS3.”

The OLED version of the original Nintendo Switch.

Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge

When looking at launch sales projections and predictions, Mat Piscatella, video game analyst for Circana, warned that what a console does during its launch period is no indication of what it’ll do overall.

“Sales around the launch period are more reflection of available supply than anything,” Piscatella said. Another, more important factor for a console launch is the audience. “With anything regarding gaming right now, we have to separate the enthusiast market from the mass market, because they’re behaving very differently,” Piscatella added.

According to Piscatella, it’s the enthusiasts driving most of the Switch 2 hype we’re seeing, particularly since the last major console launches – the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S – happened five years ago. “We haven’t had new hardware designed for the masses in a long time,” he said. “So we have a big pent up demand just for something new.”

We’re seeing part of that demand satisfied by the Switch 2 pre-order frenzy. The day pre-orders opened in the US (after a few weeks’ delay because of President Donald Trump’s tariff chicanery) they sold out within hours. GameStop held in-store pre order events that saw people lining up outside storefronts for hours to secure one.

But what will really determine the success of the console is how the bigger, mass market reacts, the same one that made devices like the Wii and original Switch such hits. Piscatella says this group is biding its time right now, “leaning into free-to-play and the content they already have.”

It’s a tricky time for the industry. New blockbuster titles are getting ever more expensive to make. Consumers, in turn, are buying fewer of them in favor of spending their time and money in established games, all while persistent layoffs three years running are making it harder for new games to come out on time. Add that to 2025’s unique and volatile US tariff situation and the associated price increases, and now is one hell of a time to launch a video game console.

“A games console is for a lot of people [...] an unaffordable luxury, especially for families,” said Keza MacDonald, video game editor at The Guardian and author of a forthcoming book about Nintendo’s history. MacDonald believes that most people who want a Switch 2 will have already pre-ordered one and that Nintendo’s real work will be to convince everyone else they want one too – a job the company doesn’t seem to be doing that well.

The Nintendo Switch Lite.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

 

Silvie Krekow, a gamer who works at Vox Media as a creative director, says she knows “almost nothing” about the Switch 2. She doesn’t frequent gaming websites or consume gaming media, but she noted it was odd that “a 33-year-old gamer with disposable income who owns a Switch, PS4, and Xbox One” didn’t casually come across at least some Switch 2 information.

Other colleagues and self-described “gaming casuals” I spoke to expressed similar sentiments. According to MacDonald, Nintendo is handling this launch period very conservatively. “It’s like, ‘We know everyone’s going to buy this anyway. We don’t have to sell you on it,’” she said. “But I’m not sure if that’s true.”

At the Switch 2 Direct in April, Nintendo showed off a console with some slight quality-of-life and performance upgrades. That may work for the enthusiasts – they get more of what they already liked about the original. But without something more to entice consumers beyond the diehards, the Switch 2 may struggle to find its audience.

“As for the [Switch 2 features] I’m not particularly excited,” said Kushal Raval, an operations manager at Vox Media. “The rolling controller sounds interesting, but the voice chat feature seems a bit pointless.”

Kushal owns a Switch, which he said didn’t run games like Fortnite as well as he wanted. And while the Switch 2’s technical upgrades will likely improve this, Kushal said, “With a $450–$500 price tag, I’m leaning much more toward getting a Steam Deck.”

The Switch 2 also has to compete against people content with its predecessor. “I have a Switch Lite that I bought during the pandemic,” said Jackie Noack, a video producer at Vox Media. “My husband has the Switch 1, and I don’t think we use them quite enough to justify replacing them.” For Noack, the console’s price is also a major factor. “$500 does seem steep to me!”

The Switch 2 will not be a dud like the Wii U, but it likely will not reach the heights of the original Switch. The price and lack of defining new features are two reasons, but perhaps the biggest is that the circumstances that fostered the OG Switch’s success were incredibly unique.

“The Switch really picked up during the pandemic with Animal Crossing. That was an enormous hit,” MacDonald said. “And obviously that was such a unique combination of circumstances, I’m not sure that could happen again.” Piscatella agrees: “The Switch is an outlier success. I think [the Switch 2] is unlikely to do Switch numbers in the long term.”

The lead up to the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 has been filled with so much built-up pressure from the anticipation of hungry gamers eager for any news, which was exacerbated by prolific leaks and Nintendo’s typical propensity for silence. With the console’s official reveal and the enthusiastic response from dedicated fans, that pressure could not be higher – and with launch coming next week, the release valve is finally about to open.

“Simply because of the logo on the box, it’s safe to say that the Switch 2 is too Nintendo to fail,” said Totilo. “At least in the early going.”

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News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of May): 2,377

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