TechRadar News

• Rockstar Games has been accused of enabling crunch conditions through employee contracts
• Union members say there is a lack of transparency around pay and bonuses at the Grand Theft 6 studio
• The union accuses the studio of scrapping initiatives aimed at addressing gender-based pay inequity

Grand Theft Auto 6 studio and industry giant Rockstar Games has been accused of unfair working conditions that include enabling crunch culture, failing to address gender-based pay inequity, and weaponizing bonuses.

Three members of the Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU) spoke to Game Developer in a huge interview - though they wished to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisals - and claimed that the studio attempts to normalize crunch.

"Crunch is prevalent enough that the company built into our contracts, as standard, an opt out of the Working Time Regulations that stops your employer being able to ask you to do more than about 10 hours extra each week," one source explained, referring to the UK protection that can be voluntarily relinquished by employees.

"The union successfully ran a campaign to inform people they could opt back in to the regulations at any time, which resulted in Rockstar management simplifying the process and removing the obligation to meet with HR," the source added.

"Part of the problem with crunch is that there is not an agreed definition, and now it seems the company thinks that offering specific and limited compensation as an incentive for overtime means it no longer qualifies as crunch."

While some teams at Rockstar never crunch, it's claimed that there are also departments that "seem to never get out of it — and often colleagues do not realize the opposite group exists."

The interview also includes claims that workers were forced to return to the office and relinquish hybrid or remote work benefits, a mandate which allegedly didn't apply to company leaders, and there is a lack of transparency around pay and bonuses.

A "considerable portion" of most employees' compensation packages comes in the form of bonuses that fluctuate, often without obvious justification. It's claimed that the compensation workers receive falls below the market rate when compared to adjacent industry work, with one source saying, "When the bonus is particularly good, it can be a windfall, but often the bonus is disappointing and one can end up being paid considerably less than expected for the year.

"The reasoning given for this is often nebulous, inconsistent between departments, even inconsistent between team members within the same department, and sometimes hinges on completely subjective or retroactive criticisms."

It's said promotions are also hard to secure at the studio because Rockstar regularly shifts the goalposts when career progression is discussed.

"The main problem is that [bonuses and progression are] all completely discretionary for the company, and they are under no obligation to show their working," the source added. "Employees want good pay, and if literally anything they do that year could affect it, they will naturally feel they have to be as pliable as possible to their boss's whims. Imagine [how you might feel if] a fifth of your salary could be withheld without any justification or based on a single surprise factor."

Gender-based pay inequity is another issue that the union members discussed, informing Game Developer that the gap between median wages for different genders has widened at Rockstar and that initiatives aimed to address that imbalance have been scrapped.

Union workers say all these issues have created a sense of imbalance and injustice at the studio and feel that employees are not adequately compensated for GTA 6, which is set to be the biggest game launch of all time.

A Take-Two Interactive spokesperson provided a statement to Game Developer in response to the claims. It reads: "We strive to make the best games possible by giving our talented teams world-class work environments and ongoing career opportunities. We have fostered a culture which is focused on teamwork, excellence, and kindness, and where we support and reward the team across all levels of the business through competitive compensation and benefits policies.

"We are proud that as a result, our employee retention is well above the industry standard. We have received a request from a union seeking to discuss voluntary recognition. We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet."

• Audio Pro has just unveiled the A15 W (yes, late on a Friday afternoon)
• The Danish brand's progeny offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and portability
• Available now, priced at $400 / £299 / around AU$579

If the 2022 Audio Pro A15 was a natural Sonos Move rival, the newly launched 2026 Audio Pro A15 W might happily butt heads with the Sonos Move 2.

It could also compete with a new series of Bluetooth-only 'HYG' speakers from Jamo, the Denon Home 400 (which it resembles rather strongly), something from WiiM's expanding arsenal of products or the new Bose Lifestyle Ultra Speaker — top tip on that one: a review will be going live over the weekend and it's worth a read...

Back to the A15 W, though, and what you've got here is a portable wireless speaker that boasts room-filling sound, flexible streaming options and battery-powered portability that's built for both indoor and outdoor listening.

And that's where it has the edge over some (if not all of the competition), because your average Wi-Fi enabled speaker usually needs to remain hooked up to a power socket within your home.

Not so here — in fact, alongside Bluetooth capability and an 11-hour battery life, you also get a 'water resistant' IPX2 rating, so it'll survive a European shower (if not the deluges we've been seeing during World Cup matches in the US this week).

Audio Pro tells me it can also be used as a multi-room system with other A15 W speakers (or in fact any W series speaker from the Audio Pro range) but because it also supports both Apple AirPlay 2 and Google Cast, it should be easy to welcome it into existing Apple or Android-based multi-room systems.

The (Audio) Pro mindset

(Image credit: Audio Pro)

I've long been a fan of Audio Pro speakers, starting with the Bluetooth only T3+ I listen to every day, but having tested the five-star, Wi-Fi enabled Audio Pro C20, I know very well about the decidedly 'Hygge' adjacent firm's admirable way with HDMI ARC-toting, sub-out sporting, RCA hook-up-able AirPlay and Google Cast speakers.

Interestingly, the grille looks fixed on this model, and I've always been a fan of removing the grilles on my Audio Pro speakers to see the relaxed, rock-chic driver configurations underneath.

The A15 W features a two-way speaker system with a dedicated tweeter alongside a 4.5-inch woofer. You can stream music via Bluetooth too, with better-quality aptX support, and if using Wi-Fi you'll be aided by the latest Audio Pro app, to access compatible music streaming services directly. I've used it before, and I like it a lot.

For instant access to playlists and internet radio stations, six preset buttons across the top plate are there to offer one-touch playback without working out where you've left your phone. A 3.5mm aux input also enables connection to portable music players and compatible turntables or CD players. So, no HDMI ARC, sub-out or RCA this time (its newest rival, the Denon 400 also lacks these things), but there's the same contemporary fabric finish and contrasting aluminium control buttons as I've come to expect from the brand.

The Audio Pro A15 W is available in Dark Grey and Light Grey finishes, and it'll set you back $400 / £299 (which is around AU$579), whichever color you go for.

How good does it sound? I can't vouch for that yet. But I'll be working on it…

• Tesla regains momentum after two years of sales decline
• China and Europe both see an increase in Tesla sales
• Tesla shares still fluctuated, despite the positive news

Tesla’s second-quarter sales results have far exceeded market expectations, with growth in both Europe and China helping to drive a 25% rise compared to the same period last year.

According to The Financial Times, the electric vehicle pioneer delivered 480,126 vehicles in the three months to the end of June, up from 384,122 in the same period last year and well above analysts’ forecasts of 404,000.

Despite shifting its focus to artificial intelligence and robotics in recent years, as well as trimming its model line-up down to just two cars, Tesla has seen huge growth in Europe, aided in part by government EV incentives.

The Guardian reports that the rising cost of fuel and the rapid adoption of electric vehicles on corporate fleets could have also played an important role in boosting sales, while the consumer backlash to CEO Elon Musk’s political statements last year could also have eased.

Despite the vast improvement in sales, BYD once again surpassed Tesla to regain its position as the world’s largest battery-electric vehicle manufacturer.

BYD sold roughly 867,000 electric vehicles in the first six months of the year, compared with 838,149 vehicles for Tesla, according to The Financial Times.

“Tesla has not surprised to the upside to this degree in a while, a healthy sign the auto business is here to stay,” William Blair analyst Jed Dorsheimer told the paper.

Analysis: Demand for EVs booms in Europe

(Image credit: BYD)

Despite the CEO’s questionable political decisions and the company’s reputation for over-promising and often under-delivering, it is still difficult to argue that Tesla’s current crop of electric vehicles is anything short of excellent.

The company’s charging network remains one of the best, even if charging speeds are now being eclipsed by numerous Charge Point Operators, while its latest Model 3 and Model Y are the most comfortable, tech-focussed and luxurious they have ever been.

Thanks to increased competition from both up-and-coming Chinese EV companies and legacy automakers, Tesla has been forced to get competitive with its pricing, offering enticing monthly deals on the Model 3 and Model Y.

It has also recently started to roll-out its Supervised Full Self-Driving system in select European countries for the first time, another factor that could help improve sales further.

• Proton, Windscribe, and PureVPN launched a satirical campaign to make fun of the gaming sector's digital shift
• PlayStation said it will stop releasing games on discs in 2028
• The satirical stunt highlights growing consumer concerns about digital ownership, server shutdowns, and game preservation

The ongoing debate over digital ownership in the gaming industry, which follows Sony's announcement to stop releasing PlayStation games on discs by 2028, has found an unlikely group of critics in VPN firms.

In a coordinated display of industry satire, several of the market's best VPN providers have begun openly trolling the gaming sector's controversial shift away from physical media.

Leading the charge is Swiss privacy company Proton, which first released a parody announcement on Thursday declaring that "in response to the gaming industry removing physical offerings moving forward, we've decided to fill in the gap by making our services entirely physical, starting 1st April 2027."

The stunt took direct aim at the frustrations gamers face as digital storefronts increasingly replace physical discs.

Rival providers quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Both Windscribe and PureVPN also took to X to join the trend, adding their own satirical jabs at the gaming industry's expense.

Earlier this week, Windscribe sparked a different conversation online when it parodied Mullvad's recent political donation crisis.

Encrypted letters and human password managers

Proton's fake announcement outlined a hilarious reverse-digitalization strategy, presenting the idea of making completely physical versions of inherently digital services.

According to the satirical campaign, Proton Mail will soon post "encrypted letters hand-delivered by team," while its passcode service will be replaced by "someone who follows you around and remembers your passwords for you."

The jokes extended to the company's flagship networking and storage products. Proton VPN humorously claimed it would send its clients to one of their 90 plus server locations so they could browse online "like a local." Meanwhile, Proton Drive users were promised a folder would be shipped to them with "an additional folder available on request".

Artificial intelligence wasn't spared from the joke, either. The company announced its AI assistant, Lumo, would become an actual "smart" employee sent to a user's location to "answer questions, help with work, and draw things."

Please note that using the Secure Core option to fly you via Iceland is the most private option, but may cause some latency.https://t.co/qyK4ZJVWXPJuly 2, 2026

Even David Peterson, Proton VPN General Manager, joined in the fun and said that "using the Secure Core option to fly you via Iceland is the most private option, but may cause some latency."

While Proton has no intention of substituting its digital services for physical ones, the broader message resonated strongly with the gaming community.

A joke with a serious message for gamers

Behind the coordinated trolling from Proton, Windscribe, and PureVPN lies a genuine consumer rights issue. The gaming industry has aggressively pivoted toward digital storefronts and subscription models, leaving players increasingly concerned that purchasing digital titles merely grants a license for using games, not owning them.

The problem of game preservation has become a hot-button topic. As noted by the campaign's underlying message, there is a very real danger that digital games could become permanently unavailable in the case of "server shutdowns, changes in licensing agreements, or the publisher removing their products from online stores."

IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING OUR SERVICE pic.twitter.com/Z8O2qR1MnwJuly 3, 2026

Physical media, while fading from retail shelves, offer tangible, long-term ownership, a stark contrast to the volatile nature of digital libraries. Many players argue that physical copies provide much stronger consumer protections.

By playing on the irony of current digitalization trends, Proton and its peers successfully weaponized satire to champion consumer rights.

The campaign aligned perfectly with the VPN companies' overarching aim of protecting users' privacy and giving them more freedom regarding their personal data. Ultimately, it proves that these privacy giants aren't afraid to have a little fun while sparking a crucial conversation around digital ownership.

• Proton, Windscribe, and PureVPN launched a satirical campaign to make fun of the gaming sector's digital shift
• PlayStation said it will stop releasing games on discs in 2028
• The satirical stunt highlights growing consumer concerns about digital ownership, server shutdowns, and game preservation

The ongoing debate over digital ownership in the gaming industry, which follows Sony's announcement to stop releasing PlayStation games on discs by 2028, has found an unlikely group of critics in VPN firms.

In a coordinated display of industry satire, several of the market's best VPN providers have begun openly trolling the gaming sector's controversial shift away from physical media.

Leading the charge is Swiss privacy company Proton, which first released a parody announcement on Thursday declaring that "in response to the gaming industry removing physical offerings moving forward, we've decided to fill in the gap by making our services entirely physical, starting 1st April 2027."

The stunt took direct aim at the frustrations gamers face as digital storefronts increasingly replace physical discs.

Rival providers quickly jumped on the bandwagon. Both Windscribe and PureVPN also took to X to join the trend, adding their own satirical jabs at the gaming industry's expense.

Earlier this week, Windscribe sparked a different conversation online when it parodied Mullvad's recent political donation crisis.

Encrypted letters and human password managers

Proton's fake announcement outlined a hilarious reverse-digitalization strategy, presenting the idea of making completely physical versions of inherently digital services.

According to the satirical campaign, Proton Mail will soon post "encrypted letters hand-delivered by team," while its passcode service will be replaced by "someone who follows you around and remembers your passwords for you."

The jokes extended to the company's flagship networking and storage products. Proton VPN humorously claimed it would send its clients to one of their 90 plus server locations so they could browse online "like a local." Meanwhile, Proton Drive users were promised a folder would be shipped to them with "an additional folder available on request".

Artificial intelligence wasn't spared from the joke, either. The company announced its AI assistant, Lumo, would become an actual "smart" employee sent to a user's location to "answer questions, help with work, and draw things."

Please note that using the Secure Core option to fly you via Iceland is the most private option, but may cause some latency.https://t.co/qyK4ZJVWXPJuly 2, 2026

Even David Peterson, Proton VPN General Manager, joined in the fun and said that "using the Secure Core option to fly you via Iceland is the most private option, but may cause some latency."

While Proton has no intention of substituting its digital services for physical ones, the broader message resonated strongly with the gaming community.

A joke with a serious message for gamers

Behind the coordinated trolling from Proton, Windscribe, and PureVPN lies a genuine consumer rights issue. The gaming industry has aggressively pivoted toward digital storefronts and subscription models, leaving players increasingly concerned that purchasing digital titles merely grants a license for using games, not owning them.

The problem of game preservation has become a hot-button topic. As noted by the campaign's underlying message, there is a very real danger that digital games could become permanently unavailable in the case of "server shutdowns, changes in licensing agreements, or the publisher removing their products from online stores."

IMPORTANT UPDATE REGARDING OUR SERVICE pic.twitter.com/Z8O2qR1MnwJuly 3, 2026

Physical media, while fading from retail shelves, offer tangible, long-term ownership, a stark contrast to the volatile nature of digital libraries. Many players argue that physical copies provide much stronger consumer protections.

By playing on the irony of current digitalization trends, Proton and its peers successfully weaponized satire to champion consumer rights.

The campaign aligned perfectly with the VPN companies' overarching aim of protecting users' privacy and giving them more freedom regarding their personal data. Ultimately, it proves that these privacy giants aren't afraid to have a little fun while sparking a crucial conversation around digital ownership.

We've had a couple of early reports of Steam Machine failures, describing a red light indicator of a problem that means the PC won't turn on, which is something that'll be very familiar to those who've had an Xbox in the past.

A Redditor posted (see below) that their "Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked", detailing how things went wrong, and how the PC ended up displaying a 'Red Line of Death' and not booting – reminiscent of the 'Red Ring of Death' visited upon some unfortunate Xbox 360 owners (myself included).

The Redditor tells us that they played five minutes of No Man's Sky before noticing an update for the Steam Machine, which they installed — and then the device fell over.

Well, the Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked from r/steammachine

Post-update it failed to boot, and the owner was left looking at a red light on the right-hand side of the Steam Machine's light bar. After a bit of digging, it was discovered that this indicates a 'GPU failure', as per Valve's troubleshooting info on the Steam Machine's LED.

The owner has contacted Valve for help, but at the time of writing, support hasn't yet got back to them (or at least they haven't updated the Reddit thread with the details of what's happening).

This isn't quite a sole complaint, as there's another report of a GPU failure with the Steam Machine on the Steam Forums. But clearly, we shouldn't go running for the hills in panic that this is going to be Valve's very own 'red ring' controversy that casts a hellish blight across this hardware launch just yet.

Analysis: faulty KITT

(Image credit: Valve)

While talk of the Redditor's Steam Machine being 'bricked', meaning permanently dead, is premature, it's not clear where things might go from here. Given that in the Redditor's case it happened after an update, perhaps it's reversible (the other post on Valve's forums, where the PC immediately failed on first boot, sounds more definitively terminal).

In both cases, though, a GPU failure doesn't sound good, and while it may be possible to resolve that via poking around and attempting a recovery with the PC, the buyer on Reddit is wisely awaiting instructions from Valve's support team.

I'm betting this will be a return in the end (with both PCs), and I think that's for the best, as I'd be worried if a device I bought had an initial problem like this, as I'd fear that it's something that might resurface later on.

Of course, some point out that the problem is that furnishing the purchaser with a new unit may not be a speedy process, given the limited stock of the Steam Machine so far. But Valve will obviously have some contingency plans in place for potential returns, as they will inevitably happen.

That's another thing to make clear here: just because we've seen a Red Line of Death (well, two) doesn't mean everyone should be panicking about the quality of Valve's hardware. There will be a percentage of faulty devices, that's just reality, and currently, we have just a pair of reports.

If these problems keep on coming, though, that's obviously a different matter, and we could be looking at a more difficult situation for Valve. Time will tell, but for now, let's stay well clear of the mentioned hills.

At any rate, at least the red line looks a lot cooler than the red ring. It reminds me of KITT in Knight Rider, or the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, though the light really should be pulsing from side to side, of course.

We've had a couple of early reports of Steam Machine failures, describing a red light indicator of a problem that means the PC won't turn on, which is something that'll be very familiar to those who've had an Xbox in the past.

A Redditor posted (see below) that their "Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked", detailing how things went wrong, and how the PC ended up displaying a 'Red Line of Death' and not booting – reminiscent of the 'Red Ring of Death' visited upon some unfortunate Xbox 360 owners (myself included).

The Redditor tells us that they played five minutes of No Man's Sky before noticing an update for the Steam Machine, which they installed — and then the device fell over.

Well, the Steam Machine was pretty cool for the 20 minutes that it worked from r/steammachine

Post-update it failed to boot, and the owner was left looking at a red light on the right-hand side of the Steam Machine's light bar. After a bit of digging, it was discovered that this indicates a 'GPU failure', as per Valve's troubleshooting info on the Steam Machine's LED.

The owner has contacted Valve for help, but at the time of writing, support hasn't yet got back to them (or at least they haven't updated the Reddit thread with the details of what's happening).

This isn't quite a sole complaint, as there's another report of a GPU failure with the Steam Machine on the Steam Forums. But clearly, we shouldn't go running for the hills in panic that this is going to be Valve's very own 'red ring' controversy that casts a hellish blight across this hardware launch just yet.

Analysis: faulty KITT

(Image credit: Valve)

While talk of the Redditor's Steam Machine being 'bricked', meaning permanently dead, is premature, it's not clear where things might go from here. Given that in the Redditor's case it happened after an update, perhaps it's reversible (the other post on Valve's forums, where the PC immediately failed on first boot, sounds more definitively terminal).

In both cases, though, a GPU failure doesn't sound good, and while it may be possible to resolve that via poking around and attempting a recovery with the PC, the buyer on Reddit is wisely awaiting instructions from Valve's support team.

I'm betting this will be a return in the end (with both PCs), and I think that's for the best, as I'd be worried if a device I bought had an initial problem like this, as I'd fear that it's something that might resurface later on.

Of course, some point out that the problem is that furnishing the purchaser with a new unit may not be a speedy process, given the limited stock of the Steam Machine so far. But Valve will obviously have some contingency plans in place for potential returns, as they will inevitably happen.

That's another thing to make clear here: just because we've seen a Red Line of Death (well, two) doesn't mean everyone should be panicking about the quality of Valve's hardware. There will be a percentage of faulty devices, that's just reality, and currently, we have just a pair of reports.

If these problems keep on coming, though, that's obviously a different matter, and we could be looking at a more difficult situation for Valve. Time will tell, but for now, let's stay well clear of the mentioned hills.

At any rate, at least the red line looks a lot cooler than the red ring. It reminds me of KITT in Knight Rider, or the Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, though the light really should be pulsing from side to side, of course.

• US Energy Secretary urges data centers to use generators, temporarily turning off grid connections
• Dirty generators risk producing more emissions amid regional heatwave and increased AC demand
• Data centers are clearly putting huge strain on local grids, which are struggling to cope

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has ordered large data centers to switch from grid electricity to on-site backup generators during the ongoing East Coast heatwave, to relieve pressure on the grid.

By using generators, the aim is to free up electricity for residential air conditioning units, with energy demand surging in the region as a result of the excessive heat.

The directive primarily applies to data centers and other major consumers of electricity connected to the PJM Interconnection grid – a major operator in the region.

Data centers told to use generators amid heatwve

High consumers, like data centers, have been given permission to disconnect from the grid and revert to generators running on diesel or natural gas, despite the sustainability concerns.

The PJM notice is one of two relating to this heatwave – the Department of Energy also announced similar measures for Duke Energy in the Carolinas.

"The order authorizes Duke Energy to operate specified units up to their maximum generation output levels, notwithstanding air quality or other permit limitations arising under federal, state, or local law or regulation, or other applicable source of law," the directive reads.

"Maintaining affordable, reliable, and secure power in the Duke Energy service territory is non-negotiable," Wright added, implying that residents shouldn't suffer due to the concentration of data centers in the region.

It's believed that 35GW of backup generation is available nationally, though it's unclear how much grid capacity East Coast measures will free up.

However, what the temporary measures prove is that citizen and commercial demands are too near to generated output, and that there's not enough buffer to allow for surges in demand. Without investment in sustainability electricity, continued data center projects risk more and more scenarios like this, where unsustainable fuels are burned to create power.

• US Energy Secretary urges data centers to use generators, temporarily turning off grid connections
• Dirty generators risk producing more emissions amid regional heatwave and increased AC demand
• Data centers are clearly putting huge strain on local grids, which are struggling to cope

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has ordered large data centers to switch from grid electricity to on-site backup generators during the ongoing East Coast heatwave, to relieve pressure on the grid.

By using generators, the aim is to free up electricity for residential air conditioning units, with energy demand surging in the region as a result of the excessive heat.

The directive primarily applies to data centers and other major consumers of electricity connected to the PJM Interconnection grid – a major operator in the region.

Data centers told to use generators amid heatwve

High consumers, like data centers, have been given permission to disconnect from the grid and revert to generators running on diesel or natural gas, despite the sustainability concerns.

The PJM notice is one of two relating to this heatwave – the Department of Energy also announced similar measures for Duke Energy in the Carolinas.

"The order authorizes Duke Energy to operate specified units up to their maximum generation output levels, notwithstanding air quality or other permit limitations arising under federal, state, or local law or regulation, or other applicable source of law," the directive reads.

"Maintaining affordable, reliable, and secure power in the Duke Energy service territory is non-negotiable," Wright added, implying that residents shouldn't suffer due to the concentration of data centers in the region.

It's believed that 35GW of backup generation is available nationally, though it's unclear how much grid capacity East Coast measures will free up.

However, what the temporary measures prove is that citizen and commercial demands are too near to generated output, and that there's not enough buffer to allow for surges in demand. Without investment in sustainability electricity, continued data center projects risk more and more scenarios like this, where unsustainable fuels are burned to create power.

With the price of some PC components right now, it's arguably better to go for a prebuilt rig. The iBuyPower 4th of July Mega Sale could help with that, as you can get up to $350 off any custom or RDY prebuilt PC over $999 with the coupon code 'JULY4'.

Out of all the options, I think that this RDY Element 9 Pro R08 is the best value prebuilt PC overall at $2,299 (was $2,549). Use the coupon code and it drops even further to $1,949 — a solid price for a mid-to-high-end gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB GPU, and 32GB of DDR5-6000MHz RAM.

Today's best gaming PC deal

This RDY Element 9 Pro R08 is the overall best value option out of the prebuilt gaming PCs in the iBuyPower 4th of July Mega Sale. It features an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB, 32GB of DDR5-6000MHz RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD. These are all reasonable specs for a mid-to-high-end PC, including a graphics card from AMD's latest series and ample storage compared to cheaper alternatives. Remember to use the code 'JULY4' at checkout to get an extra $350 discount.View Deal

Let's get into some of the components. First, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a couple of years old now, so not the newest, but not ancient, and still widely regarded as one of the best gaming CPUs you can buy. The Radeon RX 9070 XT, meanwhile, is the flagship card from AMD's latest graphics card series.

Together, these components can capably run modern and demanding games, as well as popular esports titles like Valorant, Marvel Rivals, and Fortnite above 1080p without dipping below 120fps. Most of them can even support up to 1440p.

As for storage, its 2TB NVMe SSD offers enough space for a variety of games without deleting old files every few months.

RAM is still scarce, so now might not be the best time to build your own gaming PC. If you're curious about other options, I'd recommend browsing our best gaming PCs and best budget gaming PCs.

With the price of some PC components right now, it's arguably better to go for a prebuilt rig. The iBuyPower 4th of July Mega Sale could help with that, as you can get up to $350 off any custom or RDY prebuilt PC over $999 with the coupon code 'JULY4'.

Out of all the options, I think that this RDY Element 9 Pro R08 is the best value prebuilt PC overall at $2,299 (was $2,549). Use the coupon code and it drops even further to $1,949 — a solid price for a mid-to-high-end gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB GPU, and 32GB of DDR5-6000MHz RAM.

Today's best gaming PC deal

This RDY Element 9 Pro R08 is the overall best value option out of the prebuilt gaming PCs in the iBuyPower 4th of July Mega Sale. It features an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D CPU, Radeon RX 9070 XT 16GB, 32GB of DDR5-6000MHz RAM, and a 2TB NVMe SSD. These are all reasonable specs for a mid-to-high-end PC, including a graphics card from AMD's latest series and ample storage compared to cheaper alternatives. Remember to use the code 'JULY4' at checkout to get an extra $350 discount.View Deal

Let's get into some of the components. First, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a couple of years old now, so not the newest, but not ancient, and still widely regarded as one of the best gaming CPUs you can buy. The Radeon RX 9070 XT, meanwhile, is the flagship card from AMD's latest graphics card series.

Together, these components can capably run modern and demanding games, as well as popular esports titles like Valorant, Marvel Rivals, and Fortnite above 1080p without dipping below 120fps. Most of them can even support up to 1440p.

As for storage, its 2TB NVMe SSD offers enough space for a variety of games without deleting old files every few months.

RAM is still scarce, so now might not be the best time to build your own gaming PC. If you're curious about other options, I'd recommend browsing our best gaming PCs and best budget gaming PCs.

• India is reportedly working on new VPN regulations
• Companies could be forced to establish an office in the country
• VPNs found workaround to previous restrictions

India is working on an expansive new legal framework to clamp down on virtual private networks (VPNs), with proposals reportedly including mandatory local offices, designated compliance officers, and even prison terms for non-compliance.

According to The Indian Express, the upcoming rules aim to make VPN providers legally liable when citizens use their tools to circumvent government-mandated content blocks.

"In the last few months, we have been observing that users are able to bypass content, accounts, and online services that have been blocked by the government on various grounds by using VPN services," an anonymous senior government official told reporters.

This new set of rules is also seen as necessary, officials admitted, as the controversial data retention law enforced in 2022 by the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has proved to be unsuccessful.

The directive legally requires VPN firms, data centers, and cloud providers to log sensitive user information — including real names, verified IP addresses, and usage patterns — for up to five years, and surrender it to authorities upon request.

Yet, major VPN companies, including the likes of ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Hide.me, Surfshark, and Proton VPN, found a simple way to avoid compliance — removing their physical servers from the country.

"They have simply refused to comply. So, the need for a full-fledged law is being felt," the senior official told The Indian Express.

What's at stake for India's VPN users?

Beyond encrypting user data to boost privacy and security, virtual private networks (VPNs) spoof IP addresses, allowing users to bypass local, state-enforced geo-restrictions.

This capability has become critical for local internet users. Last month, India experienced a massive spike in VPN downloads after the government temporarily blocked the messaging app Telegram due to concerns over exam fraud.

Just weeks earlier, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) ordered VPN firms to actively block access to the decentralized prediction platform Polymarket, threatening legal repercussions if they refused.

The proposed framework aims to hand New Delhi the necessary legal teeth to force VPN providers into enforcing these content bans on the government's behalf. Digital rights groups frequently criticize India's aggressive approach to censorship; according to data trackers, the country consistently leads the world in government-imposed internet shutdowns.

While specific details of the draft framework remain scarce, leaked proposals suggest that offshore VPN companies will be required to establish a physical corporate presence in India and appoint local compliance officers to act as direct government liaisons.

Criminal penalties for non-compliance are also on the table, including potential prison sentences for local employees if an order is ignored.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

However, serious questions remain over how authorities plan to enforce these rules. For many global VPN providers, simply keeping their physical servers outside of Indian borders has previously been enough to circumvent local jurisdiction.

It is also unlikely that premium, strict no-logs services will fundamentally alter their server infrastructure to comply with New Delhi's demands — especially after resisting a similar ultimatum four years ago.

Dr. Pete Membrey, Chief Research Officer at ExpressVPN, pointed back to the company's 2022 decision to become the first major provider to pull its physical servers from India, confirming that its stance remains.

"We’ll evaluate when a proposal is published," Membrey told TechRadar, adding that "ExpressVPN will continue to work hard to keep users connected to the open and free internet, no matter where they are located."

A Surfshark spokesperson also said that the company remains committed to upholding the privacy of its users.

TechRadar reached out to India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and CERT-In for further clarification on the draft framework and an expected enforcement timeline. Neither agency responded prior to publication.

• Sony is already repurposing its Austrian disc-making factory
• It's the only physical media plant of Sony's that's left
• Existing staff will be retained to work with micro optics

We're still reeling from Sony's announcement earlier this week that it will stop releasing PlayStation games on physical discs from the start of 2028 — and now there's news that Sony's last remaining physical media factory is already being repurposed.

According to ORF Salzburg (via The Verge and Google Translate), production at the Austrian plant is going to drop to around 10% of its current levels by 2028. The factory currently makes 600,000 blank Blu-rays every day (half of which are used for PlayStation games), and Sony has made some 26.4 billion discs in total across its sites.

The existing 300 staff are going to be kept on though, as per Dietmar Tanzer, CEO of Sony DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation). They'll be retrained in micro optics — squeezing optical components into the smallest spaces possible.

Instead of discs, the plant's assembly lines will be producing optical microlenses instead. One of the uses of these elements mentioned in the report is for projecting car turning signals on to the street surface, but there are a multitude of potential applications.

'We own nothing now'

This will become an increasingly rare sight (Image credit: Future)

The report also quotes Markus Streibl, head of Micro Optics at Sony DADC, who says that the company recently invested €30 million (about $34 million / £26 million / AU$49 million) in the tech as it looks to develop this part of its business.

As spotted by The Verge, there's evidence that the plant in Austria has been making microlenses since at least as far back as 2024. These small components are actually produced on discs, so there'll be some crossover in terms of equipment and processes.

While Sony seems immediately ready to move on and look to the future, many of us are having a less easy time moving on: gamers are promising to quit the PlayStation platform over concerns about what these means for game ownership ("we literally own nothing now" was a comment left by one disgruntled user).

The news has tempered some of the excitement around the opening up of GTA 6 pre-orders, and it also means the PlayStation 6 is highly unlikely to have a disc drive built in. Sony has also announced the closure of the PS3 and Vita stores at the same time.

The business case for running things on-premise has always started with control.

Host it yourself, keep the data in your environment, avoid vendor lock-in. It's a reasonable instinct, and for a long time it was a reasonable answer.

The gap between what you could run internally and what was available externally was manageable. On-premise was a defensible choice.

AI is changing that.

The build-it-yourself case ignores almost everything that comes after: the people required to keep things running as AI models evolve, the license fees and compute costs that compound as the landscape shifts, the upgrade cycles that never quite arrive on schedule, and the work required to unpick decisions made against a technology landscape that looked completely different six months ago.

None of these costs are hidden, exactly. They're just easy to ignore when the initial business case is about build cost.

You can run AI on-premise - just not the best AI

The frontier models - the ones getting most of the headlines - can't be self-hosted. Their providers don't make them available for private deployment.

What you can license and run internally is constantly improving, but so is the frontier. Anthropic alone released over a dozen Claude models in under two years, and they're far from the only provider.

Self-hosting means slow release cycles. Upgrades are expensive and disruptive, so firms stay on versions longer than they should. The same is true of the hardware underneath.

Specialized AI chips go out of date fast. New GPU generations arrive every couple of years, each meaningfully better than the last, and each requiring fresh capital investment. Your model is behind, the silicon it's running on is behind, and upgrading either is a major project.

Models, licenses, infrastructure, tooling, people - none of it follows a predictable refresh cycle. In the current environment, "out of date" can mean within months. Each round of investment is made under pressure, with limited time to evaluate options properly.

The talent drain

To build and run AI tools on-premise, you need engineers who aren't working on what actually differentiates your business. They're keeping up with the AI. Tweaking tools as models evolve. Troubleshooting when things break. Managing the infrastructure. Evaluating new model releases as they come out.

When it comes to data processing and reconciliation, these things are required but they're not differentiating. They need to work, but significant engineering time spent on them won't give you an edge. It's expensive maintenance of something that isn't your business.

As the internal environment expands and the technology ages, the headcount required to manage it grows. These are expensive specialists, and most of what they do doesn't move the business forward.

Why AI belongs in a cloud-native world

The argument for cloud-native AI isn't really about cloud computing. It's about whether your architecture can keep pace with a technology that's moving faster than any internal release cycle can match.

In a cloud-native world, new model capabilities arrive as features, not projects. When something better appears at the frontier, the platform absorbs it. The compliance conversation doesn't restart. The security review doesn't go back to zero. The engineering team doesn't have to rebuild anything. The capability lands, and your operations team can use it the same day.

The control argument that drove firms to on-premise in the first place still matters - but it's no longer in tension with cloud-native deployment. Permissions, audit trails, governance, data sovereignty: all of it can be enforced just as rigorously in a properly architected cloud-native platform, often more so. The trade-off has shifted. Control no longer requires standing still.

The firms that recognize this early get a head start. Their engineers focus on what differentiates the business. Their operations teams get better tooling every quarter without a procurement cycle. The question of "are we keeping up?" stops being one anyone has to ask.

What changes when you work with a trusted partner

Shifting the burden of building, maintaining, securing and testing to a specialist partner means your resources stay focused where they should be, and your capability evolves with the market.

Platforms built on infrastructure like AWS Bedrock are designed to absorb new model capabilities as they emerge - including the frontier models that can't be self-hosted at all. The underlying architecture keeps pace so the firms using it don't have to.

When a better model becomes available, the platform adapts. No new project, no additional engineers, no unravelling months of integration work. Operations teams focus on what they're there to do.

Engineers focus on the things that differentiate the firm. And the question of "are we running the right model?" stops being a quarterly investment committee discussion and starts being a setting someone flips.

Use the best business cloud storage to manage your data.

This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.

The views expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily those of TechRadarPro or Future plc. If you are interested in contributing find out more here: https://www.techradar.com/pro/perspectives-how-to-submit

• SAP is cutting travel spend on refocusing on AI-related hiring
• Company shares are down 46% in 12 months over software concerns
• Redeploying existing workers is a priority over laying off more employees

SAP is reportedly revising how it spends money to free up more money for its AI strategy, with a new internal memo seen by Bloomberg seemingly confirming the company's intentions to restrict new hiring, pause internal travel and reduce other spend related to suppliers.

It's believed the company will still continue hiring across certain AI roles, showing a shift toward AI engineers, researchers and other specialists, but other roles will likely see a slowdown or pause.

The company told employees that AI is reshaping enterprise software, so targeting investment to keep it competitive long-term would be crucial.

SAP redirects internal spend to focus on AI

According to the report, citing an internal email, company travel unrelated to AI projects and customer relations has been suspended. The company also wants to redeploy existing workers to plug new gaps, rather than firing and rehiring. SAP laid off around 12,000 workers between 2023 and 2024.

"We are prioritizing investments in AI-related capabilities, talent, and technologies while applying greater discipline to hiring, external spending, and internal travel," a company spokesperson said.

"I don’t expect to operate with a smaller work force, but with a very, very different work force," CEO Christian Klein had previously told the New York Time (via Investing.com), implying that jobs would continue to evolve.

Despite posting a 6% increase in its most recent quarter's revenue, SAP shares have dropped around 46% over the past 12 months amid concerns that its software business might face longevity struggles amid the ongoing AI boom.

We are officially halfway through 2026 — how did that happen??? — but the world's best streaming services aren't letting up on the new movies and TV shows front.

Indeed, this week's selection might be on the smaller side, but every entry we've rounded up below is definitely worthy of your time. Quality over quantity, and all of that jazz. So, what are you waiting for? Read on to find out what your next must-see film or TV series is. — Tom Power, senior entertainment reporter

X-Men 97 season 2 (Disney+)

Get ready to hum and air-drum along to that iconic theme tune, Marvel fans, because X-Men 97 is back for its sophomore season on Disney+.

Picking up directly after X-Men 97 season 1's finale, the highly-rated animated X-Men TV show finds the world-famous mutants scattered across time as they all attempt to avert the same crisis. That being, the world falling under the totalitarian rule of the immortal superhuman known as Apocalypse.

X-Men 97 season 2's first three episodes are out now, and you'll be able to see one new entry of this Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) adjacent project every week for the foreseeable future. So, grab a bowl of cereal, throw on your favorite pajamas, and settle in for some more Saturday morning cartoon-style fun... well, in-between all of the weeping that X-Men 97 season 2 will make you do, anyway. — TP

• Watch X-Men 97 season 2 on Disney+

Enola Holmes 3 (Netflix)

Who's ready for another round of Victorian era whimsy and detectiving (yes, that's a word, look it up)? If you raise your hand, you'll be happy to know that Enola Holmes 3 has made its debut on Netflix.

This time around, a spanner is thrown in the works of the titular character's impending wedding to Lord Tewkesbury. The reason? Her more famous cousin Sherlock has been kidnapped. Way to spoil her upcoming nupitals, Mister World's Greatest Detective...

Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, Helen Bonham Carter, Louis Partridge, and Hamish Patel are among the movie's starry returning ensemble. So, don't delay — load up Netflix because the case is afoot! — TP

• Watch Enola Holmes 3 on Netflix

Elle (Prime Video)

Fictional lawyer Elle Woods is a pop culture sensation and now she's got her own Prime Video series.

Before Legally Blonde comes Elle, a prequel set in 1995 where our upbeat, pink-loving protagonist tries to navigate the tumultuous waters of high school. A tagline for the Amazon TV Original teases that it's even harder than law school was, and we'll soon learn why across this eight-part season.

Here, Lexi Minetree steps into the eponymous character's glamorous shoes, following on from Reece Witherspoon in the original movie. Our entertainment reporter Jasmine Valentine gave Elle a glowing review, but what will you think of the prequel? — Lucy Buglass, senior entertainment writer

• Watch Elle on Prime Video

Lee Cronin's The Mummy (HBO Max)

Not to be confused with the Brendan Fraser-led movie of the same name, Lee Cronin's The Mummy is one of a few new horror movies arriving on HBO Max this month.

In it, we follow a family who is reunited with Katie, their long-missing and now mummified daughter. They soon realize something's wrong with her and what follows is a jump scare heavy, incredibly bloody, and divisive supernatural flick.

You may need to suspend your disbelief for this one, but if you're in need of a good scare this weekend, it definitely does the job. — LB

• Watch Lee Cronin's The Mummy on HBO Max

Ready or Not 2 (Hulu/Disney+)

Ready or Not 2: Here I Come was not a sequel I had anticipated and, in my Ready or Not 2 review, I was certainly on the fence about it.

The sequel, which is out now on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (everywhere else), is fortunately saved by its star power, and it's particularly great to see Sarah Michelle Gellar loving every moment of the character she plays. Here, she's part of an aristocratic group of individuals with murder on their minds, who hunt down Grace (Samara Weaving) and her sister Faith (Kathryn Newton) as part of a high-stakes ritual. — LB

• Watch Ready or Not 2: Here I Come on Hulu (US) and Disney+ (internationally)

Silo season 3 (Apple TV)

It's time to literally unearth more secrets at the heart of this critically-acclaimed Apple TV Original.

Indeed, with Silo back for its third and penultimate episode, the Rebecca Ferguson-led dystopian drama must start giving viewers the answers that they seek. Thankfully, Silo season 3 does just that, with its separate timelines — one of which is set centuries before the Earth's surface became uninhabitable — starting to pull back the curtain on its wider mystery.

This season's first episode has gone live on Apple's streaming platform. New episodes will air weekly, too, so prepare yourself for nine more weeks of twists, turns, betrayals, and other shocks aplenty. — TP

• Watch Silo season 3 on Apple TV

Worst Neighbor Ever (Netflix)

Finally, Netflix has a new spin-off for their Worst Ever documentary series. We've seen worst exes and worst roommates, and now we're taking a look at the neighbors from hell.

There's harassment, paranoia and, even murder across its four episodes, which features insights from local law enforcement and those involved in the neighborly disputes that got way out of hand, often ending in irreparable hurt and damage.

You won't believe some of these stories, but they're 100% true and among the most shocking you'll find in Netflix's true crime library. — LB

• Watch Worst Neighbor Ever on Netflix

Early last month, when I was planning this half-year look at the best laptops that have so far been released in 2026, it was easy for me to pick the number one spot: the MacBook Neo.

Launched in March for $599 / £599 / AU$899, it was a shot across the bows of other laptop and Chromebook makers, as Apple showed that you could have a stylish and well-built budget laptop that didn’t have to feel cheap.

Sure, there were compromises, such as the 8GB of memory and slow USB ports, but those were easily forgiven thanks to such an affordable price — especially when so much of the MacBook Neo puts similarly priced budget laptops to shame.

However, at the end of June, Apple announced a Neo price increase, taking it up to $699 / £699 / AU$1,049. While that’s not the biggest price rise in a world that, at the moment, seems to be full of them, it’s enough to make the MacBook Neo less of an easy recommendation. Suddenly, all those compromises are harder to accept.

The MacBook Neo still earns a spot in this list, however, due to the huge influence it’s had on the laptop market. Since its launch, I’ve seen numerous laptop makers, including Acer and Dell, release products directly aimed at challenging the MacBook Neo; offering slim and stylish designs, strong performance and screens, all for around the Neo's original $599 / £599 / AU$899 price. While Apple has raised the price of the MacBook Neo, many of those new challengers haven’t — yet — done the same, which makes them even better value in comparison.

Now, it’s probably inevitable that those new MacBook Neo rivals will eventually increase in price too (thanks, AI, for gobbling up all the RAM and making price rises an everyday reality for a lot of tech). However, due to the variety of Windows 11 laptops available and where they’re sold compared to MacBooks, if you shop around you should find prices remain relatively competitive.

So, Apple might have just inspired its rivals to make better, and cheaper, alternatives. That might not be great for Apple, but for us consumers, it certainly is. So, as we’re at the halfway point of the year, let’s look at the five best — or most influential — laptops that have been released so far in 2026.

5. HP OmniBook 7 Aero

• Reviewed: February 2026
• Rating: 4.5/5

(Image credit: Future)

The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is a brilliant example of how Windows laptops are looking to beat Apple at its own game. The HP OmniBook 7 Aero is a thin, light and stylish laptop, with a capable AMD AI 5 or AI 7 CPU, integrated graphics, and a starting RAM configuration of 16GB, plus a 512GB SSD.

It launched at $949.99 / £649 (around AU$1,420), undercutting the MacBook Air and even (in the UK) the MacBook Neo after the price rise. For such a nicely designed laptop, this price is incredibly good value.

In our review we were impressed with the clear, bright, and vibrant screen and huge 26 hour battery life. Depending on the tasks you use it for, this laptop could go for multiple work or school days on a single charge, which is seriously impressive. It even manages to play games, such as Cyberpunk 2077, and while you certainly wouldn’t want to buy it as a gaming laptop, it shows how far Windows laptops, and the mobile components they use, have come in recent years.

4. Razer Blade 18 (2026)

• Reviewed: June 2026
• Rating: 4.5/5

(Image credit: Future)

This year’s Razer Blade 18 is another hit from the gaming laptop pros, which my colleague Christian Guyton, in his review, claimed "annihilates the competition". It features cutting edge mobile components such as an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX or Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti – RTX 5090 laptop GPUs, up to 128GB of RAM and a stunning 18-inch Dual UHD+ 240Hz / FHD+ 440Hz screen, which allows you to switch between resolutions to get even higher refresh rates. All of this is packed into a slim and stylish body that once again proves that gaming laptops don’t need to be big and bulky these days.

Gaming-wise, it’s a beast, hitting up to 160fps when playing Cyberpunk 2077, and 218fps with Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Basically, it’ll handle any modern game you throw at it, and allow you to play at 4K resolution and the highest of settings. Its battery life — often the Achilles’ heel of gaming laptops — is pretty impressive, hitting almost eight and a half hours in our tests.

What’s the catch? Well, there’s the price, starting at a whopping $3,499.99 / £3,299.99 (around AU$4,870), but going up to $6,999.99 (around £5,200 / AU$9,735) for the highest specification. Ouch.

Razer’s devices are premium products, and when you combine that with some of the most powerful components you can get, and the ongoing memory crisis driving up prices, you end up with a brilliant laptop that’s wildly expensive. It’s a brilliant investment if you can afford it, it’s just a shame so few of us can.

3. Apple MacBook Neo

• Reviewed: March 2026
• Rating: 4.5/5

(Image credit: Lance Ulanoff / Future)

As I mentioned earlier, if I’d written this article before Apple’s price rises, the MacBook Neo would probably be number one in this list. When it launched, it really was a game-changer. It proved that affordable laptops could still feel premium, with exceptional build quality, modern features and solid performance.

Unlike other recent MacBooks, the Neo is powered by the A18 Pro chip (which powered the iPhone 16 Pro), rather than Apple’s more powerful M-series chips. Compared to chips found in budget Windows 11 laptops and Chromebooks, the A18 Pro proved impressive on test, handling regular macOS apps with ease.

It's possible to use an iPad as a second screen, and see your iPhone’s messages and answer calls all from the desktop — features we’ve come to expect from more expensive MacBooks. The bright and vibrant screen makes a mockery of other cheap laptops that often feature dim, low resolution screens, to keep down prices.

When it first launched, this budget laptop (from a brand that’s more associated with luxury devices), which undercut and outperformed the competition, was a surefire hit. Apple has commented about how well the Neo sold, and even more importantly, it seemed to light a fire underneath many of its competitors. Not only was the MacBook Neo one of the best laptops of 2026, it was one of the most impactful.

What a difference $100 / £100 makes. While the new price doesn’t completely undermine the MacBook Neo’s value proposition, it makes it harder to recommend to everyone.

It makes some of Apple’s compromises to keep the price down, particularly the rather paltry 8GB of memory, slow USB speeds (it has two USB-C ports, but uses older USB 3.0 and the practically ancient USB 2 technology) and lack of a backlit keyboard, much harder to justify as well.

Worse, those competitors that Apple ‘inspired’ are fighting back. Acer’s Swift Air 14 (2026) will launch at the same original price of the Neo, with a great-looking display, and an Intel Core Series 3 processor. An Acer employee I spoke to at Computex 2026 was particularly pleased to point out that the Swift Air has faster USB-C ports than the Neo, an extra USB-A port and is thinner and lighter as well. The fact that it’s also now cheaper spells trouble for Apple, and it’s why the MacBook Neo has slipped down in my ranking.

2. Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

• Rating: 4.5/5
• Reviewed: February 2026

(Image credit: Future)

I’ll be honest: I was torn between putting the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra or the MacBook Air (M5) in this spot. The reason I went for Samsung’s ultrabook in the end is that while the latest MacBook Air is undoubtedly a fantastic device (it sits atop our best laptops list for a reason), it’s also a bit… well… boring. It’s a simple spec update to the M5 chip, with no new design flourishes, but a new, higher price (which has since risen even higher after Apple’s price hikes).

The Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra, on the other hand, feels a lot more ambitious. Samsung's laptops have never particularly impressed me, but with the Galaxy Book series, that’s changed.

As with Samsung's Galaxy phones and tablets, Galaxy Book laptops are high-end, premium devices, and as the name suggests, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is the pinnacle of this. It’s thin, light and powerful (especially if you go for the option with a dedicated Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU), and with a strong battery life of over 15 hours, this is a great choice for anyone seeking a stylish workstation laptop that can handle heavy duty tasks such as 3D modeling.

Its AMOLED screen is also stunning, and easily one of the best displays you can get on a laptop (another category that Apple was once untouchable in).

What I really like about the Galaxy Book6 Ultra is how Samsung has been working on integrating its ecosystem of devices, so its laptops, earbuds, smartphones, and tablets can all work nicely together. It leads to some very Apple-like features, such as the ability to use a Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet as a second screen for the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra, simply by moving the devices close together.

It’s not quite as seamless as Apple’s implementation, mainly because Samsung doesn’t make the software its products run on (Windows and Android), but it’s come a huge way. If you have a few Samsung devices, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra is particularly great, then, but even if you don’t, this is still a brilliant laptop that’s doing new things, not just resting on its laurels.

1. Dell XPS 16 (2026)

• Rating: 4.5/5
• Reviewed: May 2026

(Image credit: Future)

The Dell XPS 16 is a remarkable laptop for many reasons. It’s a beautifully crafted device with a stunning OLED screen, as well as premium — and powerful — components, and it’s a great showcase for how good Windows 11 laptops can be.

It’s also noteworthy for bringing the XPS lineup back with a bang. Last year, Dell made the baffling decision to drop its XPS branding. It was one of the few product names outside of Apple that had mainstream recognition, and had long been associated with Dell’s most premium laptops. Thankfully, Dell realized its mistake and has resurrected the XPS brand for 2026, and the new Dell XPS 16 makes a fantastic statement: XPS is back, and it’s better than ever.

In our review, we gushed over this laptop's slimline design and high resolution OLED display, whilst also praising its performance. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H, which has an Arc B390 integrated GPU, the Dell XPS 16 can handle demanding tasks, and even a spot of gaming. Battery life is also superb, with the Dell XPS 16 (2026) lasting well over 17 hours in our tests.

It’s pricey, but the quality on offer helps justify the investment. Welcome back, XPS. You’ve been missed.

• Reacher season 4 is coming to Prime Video in mid-August
• All episodes of new spin-off show Neagley will drop after the former's finale, too
• Many fans had assumed it would arrive prior to Reacher 4

Reacher season 4 finally has a release date on Prime Video — and we don't have long to wait for its debut. Indeed, the hugely successful Amazon TV Original's next entry will premiere on Wednesday, August 12, which is a little over a month away at the time of publication.

We don't have a trailer for the forthcoming installment yet, but we've received some other exciting news alongside Reacher 4's launch date in the form of new spin-off series Neagley, which is also arriving soon.

Focusing on fan-favorite character Frances Neagley, the off-shoot's story is set after the events of Reacher season 3, so you'd think it would drop prior to Reacher's next season, wouldn't you? Not so, because Neagley won't released until Wednesday, September 16 — i.e. the day that the Reacher season 4 finale also comes out.

We're really jumping around the timeline here, but I'm sure long-time fans of the show will be happy to get a double dose of Reacher goodness anyway.

What do we know about Reacher season 4?

(Image credit: Amazon Prime Video)

Plot-wise, Reacher season 4 adapts the 13th novel in Lee Child's Jack Reacher book series, which is titled Gone Tomorrow. In it, the eponymous all-action hero witnesses a suicide that pulls him into a huge, multi-layered conspiracy. We can expect undercover terrorists, local police, the FBI, and more when the show returns for a gripping new story.

The forthcoming season won't be this series' last, either, because Reacher season 5 was renewed by Prime Video last month. So, we can expect even more from the hugely popular thriller series down the road.

Reacher season 3 became Prime Video's biggest returning show last year and has quite the dedicated fanbase. It will be interesting to see how Neagley performs in comparison, then, especially if Amazon has ambitions on making even more off-shoots.

• A user got bugged to verify their identity on their new iPhone
• They shouldn’t have needed to, as their local laws didn't require this
• The culprit was their iPhone, which was imported from the UK

Apple has just jacked up its prices across the board, and while the iPhone is safe for now, many users are wondering if it’s only a matter of time before Apple’s best iPhones feel the weight of price rises. If that sounds familiar, you might have snapped up a second-hand iPhone in a bid to get ahead of the game — but that could leave you falling foul of an annoying, unforeseen consequence.

That’s exactly what happened to Reddit user, who said that their new iPhone was forcing them to verify their age, despite the fact that they live in Bulgaria, an EU country where age verification is not required by law.

Understandably, they were reluctant to upload their ID documents, describing the process as a “huge privacy black hole.” But due to their refusal to do so, they were unable to access “certain types of content, social apps, GTA games and other things I paid for.” As they put it, “Content and privacy restrictions, scanning my chats, FaceTime calls and photos in gallery are forced upon me without my will and consent.”

The case seems to be a confusing one, as Bulgarian users are not subject to ID verification laws that mandate them to confirm their age before accessing certain apps and services. But there is one nearby country that does have laws like this, and it proved to be the key to unlocking the mystery.

Check the model number

(Image credit: Future | Alex Walker-Todd)

The UK has enacted laws that necessitate users to verify their identities in order to access certain apps and services on their devices, with the stated aim of protecting children from online harms. But the regulations — specifically the Online Safety Act — has caused much controversy among privacy advocates and has resulted in a surge of angry users downloading the best VPNs to protect their identities and sidestep the requirements.

Back on Reddit, the age verification mystery was solved when the Redditor discovered where their iPhone originally came from. This is something you can find in the Settings app by going to General > About and looking in the Model Number section.

The iPhone's model was MFYP4QN/A and this contains several clues about its origin. For example, "MFYP4" refers to the iPhone 17 Pro Max in Deep Blue with 256GB of storage. The “QN” part of the code, meanwhile, relates to the regions where this model is sold: “Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, United Kingdom, Israel.”

In other words, although the Redditor bought their iPhone in Bulgaria, the device was likely imported from the UK. As a fellow Redditor noted, there is no official Apple presence in Bulgaria, making an import the probable answer. As they put it, “If it is a UK model, it will behave like a UK model” — which would explain why the device was asking the user to verify their identity, even though local Bulgarian laws did not require that to be done.

With different regions enforcing different privacy and age verification laws, the risk — as demonstrated on Reddit — is that you can buy a second-hand iPhone in a country that doesn’t compel you to confirm your identity, yet still get forced to do so by an imported iPhone. It’s all a bit of a mess.

If you’re thinking of buying a used iPhone and you’re at all able to check it in person, make sure you note down its model number first in the Settings app. As explained by The Apple Wiki, if the code contains the letters B, KN, QN, Z, ZD, ZF or ZM just before the forward slash — for example, MFYP4ZD/A — then it might be a UK device and therefore might act as if it is governed by UK laws, regardless of where you bought it. And that could have big consequences if you’re not prepared.

Star Wars: Galactic Racer is utter joy in racing game form, and its depth, run-based structure, and deep vehicle customization options are going to keep me occupied for hours on end.

It was the game that made me grin from ear to ear the quickest out of all that I saw at Summer Game Fest 2026, and I am so excited for it. As soon as I took control of a racer and was on the starting grid, I was immediately smiling, and soon after, laughing to (or at?) myself — it really was that quick.

Blending some really excellent Burnout-style racing game features, with a level of depth and customisation that can get frankly mind-boggling, with the excellence that is Star Wars lore and settings, it has all the ingredients to be a hit this year.

Feel the burn

(Image credit: Fuse Games)

At the core of Galactic Racer is its Burnout-inspired racing experience, and let me tell you, this is fantastic.

The racers, be they landspeeders, speeder bikes, or podracers, on offer all have their own style, way of handling, and moves to master, and the team at developer Fuse Games has even added a brand-new vehicle to the roster — a whole new addition to the Star Wars universe — the Skim speeder.

Races feel intense and can get very enjoyable and chaotic very quickly. Collisions are not only a danger to you but can be of great benefit, allowing you to muscle your way through for track position or remove them from the equation entirely, so there’s always a balance to be had between taking evasive action or just going on the charge to create havoc.

The courses I tried were absurdly fun too, full of different routes to take, and plenty of opportunity for overtakes or other ways to try and gain an advantage over your competitors, crashing into your foes, and deploying skills. From inputting a series of button presses to get a bonus off the starting grid, which is a satisfying mini-game, to perhaps what is one of the best in-race features of slow-mo crashes of one of your foes — or yourself, which is amusing every time — each race is filled with moments of fun and a high overall level of sheer excitement.

It’s also incredibly beautifully realized, both on the track and off it: characters and cars look excellent, and the environments and race tracks, even though they’re passing at a high speed, are wonderfully detailed and evoke the style of Star Wars’ planets brilliantly.

The options are endless

(Image credit: Lucasfilm / Secret Mode)

Where Star Wars: Galactic Racer offers depth, however, is in, well, everywhere else: from in-race synergies between your vehicle and the environment, to the narrative, and to the amount of customisation and part combinations you can engage with, the game looks to be as deep as a Sarlacc is long.

The story here is about your racer’s rise through the ranks and is implemented in a runs-based, branching way where you pick the route of your races that are the map of your and the story’s progress. You can pick a route that’s higher risk-reward, or pick something safer to progress.

When it comes to how you can build, craft, augment, and customize your racer, we get into some serious depth. I was told by the devs at SGF that they think there are a number of vehicle part combinations that are in the order of ‘trillions’ in the game simply due to how many different things you can combine with other different things, from durability to boosts, from handling to abilities.

(Image credit: Fuse Games)

This gets further augmented by the fact that you can build specific racers for specific worlds, tracks, and conditions. Need a racer that won’t get slowed down by water? Check. Want to sacrifice durability to perhaps invest in a build which runs extremely hot for speed, but then rely on a racetrack’s water courses to cool it down? Absolutely.

The synergies between a racer’s parts and between a racer and the environments make the build possibilities seemingly endless.

As a result, Star Wars: Galactic Racer has shot up my list of anticipated games for the rest of the year, and I can’t wait for lights out when the game releases on October 6 this year, on PS5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC to dive further into everything it offers.