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• ST32000NM003K is part of the Exos M range and uses SMR which is more complex to run and manage
• Reveal comes weeks after Western Digital launched its own 32TB HDD
• And almost a year after Seagate debuted its next-largest drive, a 30TB model

Seagate has launched its largest-ever hard drive, a 32TB model in the Exos M series, just weeks after Western Digital unveiled its own 32TB HDD.

The new Exos M is available in two capacities, a 30TB, model ST30000NM004K, which uses Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR), and a 32TB, model ST32000NM003K, which uses Shingled Magnetic Recording (SMR). The latter's overlapped write tracks are the reason for the increased capacity and WD's drive employs the same recording technology.

This release comes nearly a year after Seagate introduced its previous largest drive, a 30TB model in the Exos range.

Stop, HAMR time!

The drives, which feature a SATA III interface with data transfer rates of up to 6 Gbps, are built on Seagate’s slightly controversial Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) platform combined with Mozaic 3+ technology.

This combo allows the drive to deliver 3TB per platter, maximizing storage density while maintaining the industry-standard 3.5-inch form factor for seamless integration into existing server setups.

Seagate says the new drive offers three times the power efficiency per terabyte compared to typical models, reducing operational costs and supporting the company’s sustainability goals. The Exos M series is also constructed using more renewable energy and recycled materials than any previous Seagate product.

The drive blends what the company calls proven components from previous generations with next-generation enhancements. Approximately 90% of the components are carried over from earlier models.

There has long been skepticism surrounding HAMR technology, which Seagate took over a decade to perfect, with concerns about its readiness, quality, reliability, and compatibility.

However, Seagate insists that these concerns are unfounded. The rated mean time between failures (MTBF) for Seagate Mozaic 3+ hard drives and Exos enterprise hard drives is reported to be 2.5 million hours.

While development experienced numerous delays, Seagate states it has now passed qualification testing for its HAMR-based Mozaic drives and remains on track to ramp up production in 2025.

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Time to ditch your past life as a night owl and embrace the morning light.

Almost every year, we get a report telling us that something in the PC industry is dying, or fading away, or the days of some aspect of computer technology are numbered.

So, when I saw an article about Micron not selling enough memory chips for AI PCs and smartphones, which meant the company downgraded its revenue forecasts for the coming quarters, and so some folks are panicking that ‘AI is dying’ – well, it did not surprise me in the slightest.

This industry does love a bit of doom and gloom at times, but much of this errant noise is purely down to public understanding of modern-day AI as a whole – certainly in the enthusiast sector.

Let me be clear here: AI isn't dying – we know that. Hell, all you have to do is look at how well Nvidia is doing to get a good grasp of just how wrong that assertion is. The thing is, out of all the numerous AI laptops and phones, or other gadgets, out there – everything that's currently being marketed with the AI tagline (I go on another long rant about that here) – the fact is that the vast bulk of AI processing doesn't come from your tiny laptop. It just doesn't.

Even the best custom-built gaming PC right now barely has the capability of running ChatGPT at 10% of its total capacity. And that is even if you could do so, as it's not an open source program that anyone can just go and download.

Sadly, it requires far too much data and processing power to fully simulate that kind of program locally on the desktop. There are workarounds and alternative apps, but they generally pale in comparison to the likes of Gemini or GPT in both depth of knowledge and response times. Not exactly surprising given you're trying to compete with multiple server blades operating in real-time. I'm sorry, your RTX 4090 just ain't going to cut it, my friend.

(Image credit: SvedOliver / Shutterstock)

And that's another important point here – even looking at your custom PC, anyone that tells you that a CPU with a built-in NPU can outgun something like an aging RTX 3080 in AI workloads is pulling the wool over your eyes. Use something like UL's Procyon benchmark suite with its AI Computer Vision test, and you'll see that the results for a desktop RTX 4080 versus an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H-powered laptop are around 700% to 800% higher. That's not a small margin, and that's giving the Intel chip the benefit of the doubt and not using the Nvidia TensorRT API too, where the results are even better for Team Green.

The thing is, the companies, tools, and techniques that are doing well in the AI ecosystem are already well-established. If you have an RTX graphics card, the likelihood is you've already got plenty of performance to run rings around most modern-day 'AI' CPUs with an NPU built in. Secondly, pretty much every AI program worth running utilizes server blades to deliver that performance – there's very little that runs locally or doesn't have some form of hookup with the cloud.

Google has now pretty much rolled out Gemini to the bulk of its Android OS devices, and it'll be landing on its Nest speakers as well in the coming months (with a beta version technically already being available, thanks to some fun Google Home Public Preview skullduggery). And to be clear, that's a four-year-old speaker at this point, not exactly cutting-edge tech.

(Image credit: Future) This is just the beginning

Many years back, I had a discussion with Roy Taylor, who at the time was at AMD as Corporate Vice President of Media & Entertainment, specializing in VR and the advancements in that field.

My memory is a little hazy, but the long and short of the conversation was that as far as graphics card performance was concerned, to get a true-to-life experience in VR, with a high enough pixel density and sufficient frame rate to ensure a human couldn't tell the difference, we'd need GPUs capable of driving petaflops of performance. I think the exact figure was around the 90 PFLOPs mark (for reference, an RTX 4090 is still well over 100x less potent than that).

In my mind, local AI feels like it falls very much in the same camp as that. It's a realm of apps, utilities and tools that won't likely ever inhabit your local gaming PC, but will instead reside solely on server blades and supercomputers. There's just no way an isolated computer system can compete – even if we were to halt all AI development at its current state, it would take us years to catch up in terms of overall performance. That's not necessarily a bad thing or the end of the world either.

There is a silver lining for us off-the-grid folk, and it all hinges on GPU manufacturers. Naturally, AI programming, particularly machine learning, predominantly operates through parallel computing. This is something that GPUs are wildly good at doing, far better than CPUs, and particularly Nvidia GPUs utilizing Tensor cores. It's the tech behind all those DLSS and FSR models we know and love, driving up frame rates without sacrificing in-game graphical fidelity.

However, developing a GPU from the ground up takes time – a long time. For a brand-new architecture, we're talking several years. That means the RTX 40 series was likely in development in 2020/2021, at a guess, and similarly, the RTX 50 series (when the next-gen arrives, supposedly imminently) probably began life in 2022/2023, with different teams shuffling about from task to task as and when they became available. All of that prior to the thawing of the most recent AI winter and the arrival of ChatGPT.

What that tells us is that unless Nvidia can radically pivot its designs on the fly, it's likely that the RTX 50 series will still continue on from Lovelace's (RTX 40 series) success, giving us even better AI performance, for sure. But it won't be until the RTX 60 series that we really see AI capacity and performance supercharged in a way that we've not seen before with these GPUs. That may be the generation of graphics cards that could make localized LLMs a reality rather than a pipe dream.

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Your messages going back years are likely still lurking online, potentially exposing sensitive information you forgot existed. But there's no time like the present to do some digital decluttering.

• The iPhone SE 4 might be rebranded
• A new iPhone 16E name has been rumored
• Expect a launch around March time

The next iPhone announced by Apple is expected to be the iPhone SE 4, probably around March time – but the latest rumors suggest the handset will go by another name when it's officially introduced into the world.

Tipsters Majin Bu and FIxed Focus Digital both say that the phone will be called the iPhone 16E, which of course ties in with the naming of the four iPhone 16 handsets already available, having been launched by Apple in September.

Neither of these sources have perfect track records, and rumors are by their very nature not guaranteed to be true, so bear that in mind. However, it's a naming scheme move that doesn't seem to be beyond the bounds of plausibility for Apple.

Majin Bu has also posted a rendering of a case that's supposedly for the iPhone SE 4 (or iPhone 16E), though it doesn't really tell us anything more than previous leaks have: that the phone's design will be largely based on the iPhone 14 from 2022.

What's in a name?

Based on what my source has reported, it seems that the new iPhone that Apple will unveil in 2025 will not be called iPhone SE4, but iPhone 16E. It should feature a design similar to the iPhone 14, with an OLED display and an action button. The available colors will be white and… pic.twitter.com/Vm8DCh1Xo0December 31, 2024

We've had three iPhone SE handsets so far – the SE stands for Special Edition – and the most recent was the iPhone SE 3 launched in 2022. Apple has simply called all these handsets the iPhone SE, without attaching numbers to them.

What makes this rumor more likely is that Apple hasn't been afraid to change up the monikers it gives to its iPhones down the years. In previous years we've had the iPhone X, the iPhone XS, and the iPhone XR, for example.

Have a read through our iPhone SE (2022) to get up to speed with what the latest version of this handset offers. The idea is that you get some key iPhone components, plus the latest iOS software updates, for a more mid-range price.

The next version of the device should bring with it some noticeable upgrades, including an OLED screen, the introduction of Face ID for the first time on an SE handset, and a bump up to 8GB of RAM – meaning the phone will be able to support Apple Intelligence features.

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Last year, as the winter months rolled in here in the UK, and in the US, I gave you my list of seven board games that were guaranteed to help you survive the long, dark evenings without needing to reach for your phone, boot up your PC, or turn to a screen of any kind.

It proved super-popular with TechRadar readers, so I’m back this year with six new board game recommendations – and one returning entry that’s so good I had to give it another shout-out – for you to sink your teeth into.

As before, my suggestions take into account a range of group sizes, play styles, and experience levels, so you can be sure that you’ll find something that will entertain you and your friends, family, or flatmates this January. If you’re looking for more recommendations than you can also read through the seven games I recommended last year.

You'll find links under each entry to online stores where you can buy these games, though if you have an independent board game shop local to you, I’d recommend that you shop there. These stores are an excellent resource for finding games in a way a faceless monolith like Amazon never can be, and if they have an in-store play space you might be able to try a game before you buy it – and the staff can also usually help you parse any rules you might be unsure about.

Arcs

(Image credit: Future / Leder Games)

For Black Friday the TechRadar team in the UK congregate in Bath in south-west England so we can all work together to coordinate our coverage of the event, and while I’m there I always try to make the short train journey to Bristol so I can visit Excelsior, a comic and board game store.

While browsing its shelves, searching for a new game to take home, I asked a couple of the assistants for a recommendation, and no sooner had the words left my lips than they replied “Arcs” – and I think their enthusiasm convinced a few other patrons to buy the game too.

From the team behind Root – the hit cutesy woodland fantasy game – Arcs takes us to the stars with a sci-fi strategy game for two to four players that’s probably the most complex title on this list, but which is well worth your time.

Using Arcs’ variation of typical playing cards you simultaneously take actions, vie for ‘Initiative’ (going first, which is very important tactically) and declare ambitions (how you score points). The result is that this chunky game is filled with variety and a little controlled luck courtesy of the battle dice, and it feels like every action really counts – either because you're claiming domination, or positioning yourself to blow your foes away in a round or two provided your opponents don't scupper your plans.

There are also additional Lore and Leaders cards which add new mechanics to the base game if you’re looking to spice things up once you're used to Arcs’ challenges.

It's not a game for 5pm on Christmas Day when everyone is a little tipsy or falling asleep in front of the TV, but Arcs is sure to excite board game aficionados looking to devour a new game that will easily make an evening fly by.

• Check out Arcs on Amazon

Railroad Ink

(Image credit: Future)

Yes, I recommended this game last year, but as I said then, “if I could only play one board game for the rest of my life I’d pick Railroad Ink.”

Starting with identical blank boards ready to be filled in with dry-erase markers, players are tasked with creating the best network of roads and railway tracks they can to score the most points at the end of seven rounds (six if you use bonus dice).

The design and shape of the railroads you can draw is determined by dice; one player rolls the four (or six) of them at the beginning of each round, but everyone shares their results to draw the same pieces of road or railway. Theoretically this means every player could score an identical amount of points if they draw the same pattern, but in all my games I’ve never seen this happen. And it becomes even harder to just copy everyone when you use optional bonus dice or the limited-use four-way junctions players can rely on at any time.

Railroad Ink is easy to learn, games are fairly quick, and with its many expansions you can mix things up with rivers, forests, and meteor strikes (to name a few) in a package that I simply adore.

When it comes to which base game box to buy, the Deep Blue or Blazing Red editions are best because they can support six players, while Yellow and Green only support four (though they do include extra rules and bits to make up for it). Each box includes custom dice, which makes purchasing all four worthwhile, but the best standalone option is the Underground expansion pack, which adds a whole extra network of tunnels to work around – if you have enough boards you can play using the underground and overground layers simultaneously, bringing a level of complexity that’s perfect for players who’ve spent a lot of hours with this game.

• Check out Railroad Ink on Amazon

Carcassonne

(Image credit: Future / Klaus-Jürgen Wrede)

This year’s oldie-but-goodie is Carcassonne (named after the medieval fortified town from which the game also draws some stylistic inspiration in its setting), which I affectionately describe as a competitive jigsaw puzzle. It’s an excellent option for newcomers to the world of ‘proper’ board games, yet still a delight for veterans, making it an excellent alternative to the (let’s face it) drab games of Monopoly some families will force themselves to endure over the holidays.

Players take it in turns to draw tiles from a randomized stack, with each one featuring some combination of city walls, roads, fields or other structures (if you’re playing with expansions), and place them into the map of Carcassonne that you’re collectively creating. When you place a tile you can choose to also place one of your Meeple (a wooden cutout in a humanoid shape) onto a feature shown on the tile, and once the feature is complete – say your road has a start and an end, or your city wall completes an unbroken loop (and the space inside is filled in) – you collect your Meeple and score points.

When you run out of tiles the player with the most points wins.

By carefully placing tiles in tactical ways you can attempt to steal features, and their associated points, from another player, or you can form alliances by working with your opponents to inflate the size of a feature, so that you can claim an equal share of the massive point total it amasses.

This relaxed friction between players leads to some light-hearted competition that doesn’t feel quite as cut-throat as other games out there – though if you prefer that more cut throat edge, or simply want to expand your Carcassonne experience, I’d highly recommend The Princess & The Dragon, The Tower, and the Traders & Builders expansions from the game’s long list of options.

The Princess can distract your opponent’s Meeples and remove them from a feature, while the Dragon can eat them, making it easy to yoink unfinished features from your foes; similarly, the Tower lets you arrest Meeples with the goal of ruining your opponents’ plans. Traders & Builders invites a little more cooperation, with Goods that you can earn for completing a city (even if another player owns it), or a Builder who lets you take a second turn if you add a tile to the feature they are scoring on.

• Check out Carcassonne on Amazon

Magic: The Gathering

(Image credit: Future / Wizards of the Coast)

The first of two suggestions on this list which push the concept of ‘board game’, Magic: The Gathering is far and away my favorite TCG (trading card game), and its recently launched Foundations set has made it much more accessible for newcomers.

Magic pits you against other players in a battle of spell-casting where you hurl bolts of lightning, summon powerful creatures, and wield incredible artifacts – all represented by cards you draw from your deck, or library as the game calls it. If you can make your opponent run out of life, run out of cards in their library, or achieve one of a few other more niche win conditions, you emerge victorious.

While Magic has a consistent set of underlying rules, it has different ‘formats’ which mix up the card pool and impose different deck-building restrictions. The main one I play is Commander, Magic’s most popular and casual format. Instead of a one-on-one match it’s a three-or-more-player free-for-all (four is the ideal amount, five is doable, six or more is too chaotic). Commander players each rely on a 99-card deck of unique cards, ignoring Basic Lands (Magic’s resource system, kinda like Energy in Pokemon). Your 100th card is your Commander, a Legendary creature who you can always call upon to aid you, and who defines the theme and colors of your deck.

Wizards of the Coast has made preconstructed Commander decks for several years that you can play with right out of the box, and some of its 2023 and 2024 releases are actually quite powerful – I’ve even seen someone open one of these premade decks, shuffle it up, and then run away with a game against decks which cost several times more. Now, Foundations is bringing some newfound accessibility to Magic’s more competitive formats with a Beginner Box designed to teach players the game, and a 350-card Starter Collection which will give you an excellent starting point for a Standard deck (60 cards, four copies of a spell maximum), a Pauper deck (like Standard but with only ‘Common’ cards), or your own custom Commander deck.

That’s not to mention Magic’s Universes Beyond sets – decks and packs containing cards from non-Magic IP like Assassin's Creed, Fallout, Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, and in 2025 Spider-Man and Final Fantasy – which you might find make the game more enjoyable, as you’re getting to play as Edward Kenway or Frodo Baggins or The Tenth Doctor rather than someone from Magic’s unfamiliar cast.

Grabbing the Beginner Box as an entry point to play with your partner, or a handful of Commander decks and learning to play with a group of friends, will be an excellent way to spend the winter months. And if you do want to venture outside I’m sure your local game shop will be able to help you get to grips with the game, and they’ll likely host regular events at which you can meet other players – if you ever attend an event at Brighton’s Dice Saloon you might even play a game against me.

• Check out the Magic The Gathering store at Amazon

Dungeons & Dragons

(Image credit: Future / Wizards of the Coast)

My second pick for a ‘board game’ which slightly bends the definition, Dungeons & Dragons is excellent every year, but in 2024 its latest book releases make it a better time than ever to finally try the legendary tabletop RPG.

If you’ve somehow never heard of this game, Dungeons & Dragons is the fantasy tabletop game, and sees players take on the role of elvish warriors, dwarven spell casters, and human rogues (or whatever class and species combination you want) to face off against monsters in an adventure controlled by a Dungeon Master (DM).

What is so special about 2024 though? Well, the new Player’s Handbook and Dungeon Master’s Guide have been released. I have both, and while they don’t change a massive amount rules-wise (but what they do tweak does seem to be for the better based on my experience from my campaign so far) they boast clearer and more beginner-friendly explanations of Fifth-Editon’s core rules and concepts. Whether you’re a new player or a new DM, these books are a more solid foundation to build your knowledge on compared to the 2014 releases.

Additionally, one of my favorite adventure books ever has been released this year: Quests from the Infinite Staircase. Not only is it a love letter to D&D’s history, with a collection of adventures inspired by classic books released in the 80s; I feel it’s perfect for so many different kinds of campaigns, which makes it an easy pick up for any kind of DM.

I’m using the Infinite Staircase as inspiration for my current game – relying on this sprawling mass of doorways to other worlds as the glue for a collection of loosely connected one-shots, as I’ve found my group’s session cadence doesn’t suit a more typical campaign adventure.

That said, it could also slot into a more grand narrative which develops over time – perhaps one arc of your campaign has your heroes accidentally end up on the staircase and face one of the book’s adventures – or maybe you could build upon an adventure to craft a campaign – as while the main quests are aimed at levels 1 to 13, their conclusions and some additional details pave the way for quests and combats that would better suit more seasoned heroes.

Or if you’re new and just want a simple place to start, the book’s stories work as phenomenal one-shots – short one or two session-long games that are ideal for new DMs and players who want to get a taste of D&D without over committing right away.

I could write so much more, but know that over this holiday period, whether you’re gathering together in-person or online over Discord to play a game, you couldn’t do much better than Dungeons & Dragons.

• Check out the Dungeons and Dragons store at Amazon

13 Beavers

(Image credit: Future / Format Games)

I always like to recommend a more dedicated family-friendly game on this annual list, one that’s easy to grasp for younger players, or inebriated adults who’ve enjoyed a bit too much mulled wine (remember folks, drink responsibly).

This year I’m recommending 13 Beavers.

You are in a race to reach Beaver Paradise, and to move forward you must correctly guess if the next card in the deck is higher or lower than the last card revealed (with numbers ranging from 1 to 13). Guess correctly and you take a step forward; guess incorrectly and you must float all the way back to your dam. You can reposition your dam by choosing to end your turn early before drawing the next card, or if the card is the same as the previous one (i.e., you draw a five and the card before that was also a five) your turn ends and you build a dam where you are.

@norollsbarred

♬ original sound - NoRollsBarred

There are a few luck-based twists and challenges you’ll face along the way, but by far my favorite is the Tempting Tunnel (which is highlighted in the No Rolls Barred clip above). Found near the beginning of the board’s map, this shortcut takes you to practically the end of the river, mere spaces from Beaver Paradise. All you need to do to pass through is correctly guess the exact number on the next card (a roughly 1-in-13 chance), but if you’re incorrect not only is your turn over, but your dam breaks and you return to square one.

Is 13 Beavers the world’s perfect board game? Nope. But it is ridiculously fun and silly, and sometimes that’s all you need from a game to have a great time.

• Check out 13 Beavers on Amazon

Sheriff of Nottingham

(Image credit: Future / CMON)

Last but by no means least is Sheriff of Nottingham. You and your fellow players are all merchants of Nottingham, attempting to bring your wares into the city in order to sell them and make the most money. However the Sheriff (who players take it in turns to take the role of) is keeping a close eye on everyone to make sure they aren’t smuggling any contraband amongst their apples or wheels of cheese.

Each round has the merchants stashing cards in their pouches, which the Sheriff can choose to inspect or let through unchallenged. If they search the bags and find anything they shouldn't, the Sheriff discards any contraband and collects a fine, but they must pay a fine if the merchant was telling the truth. Merchants can try to convince the Sheriff to leave them alone in exchange for money, or offers to be more lenient when they're the Sheriff in a few turns.

This game is at its best when players lean into the role-play aspect, and offer more interesting bribes than merely “I’ll give you two coins to leave my produce alone.” Instead, try offering the Sheriff a bribe to open someone else’s pack to spoil their game plan (or trick the Sheriff into paying a hefty fine), or blatantly admit that you have contraband, but offer the Sheriff their pick of something you’ve smuggled in exchange for them turning a blind eye. Heck, even double-cross the sheriff to up the stakes.

If you always think hyper-tactically and take the risk-averse or non-emotional approach it can sap the enjoyment out of the Sheriff of Nottingham experience. Instead, lean into your Sheriff and Merchant persona, and see how your gameplan fares – you might not end up winning, but you’ll have a much more enjoyable time.

• Check out Sheriff of Nottingham on Amazon