TechRadar News

• Intel's Battlemage Arc B580 GPU just scored higher than the RTX 4060 in Vulkan testing
• AMD's RX 7600 loses to both Nvidia and Intel GPUs in Vulkan tests
• The new GPU will launch on December 13, for $249 / £249 / around AU$439

It's easy to place AMD and Nvidia as leaders within the GPU market, with the latter's RTX 4000 series currently dominating over the RX 7000 series - but Intel is about to shake things up, with the Arc B580 defeating both the RTX 4060 and RX 7600 GPUs in Vulkan benchmark tests.

According to Tom's Hardware (based on public benchmark tests), the Intel Arc B580 loses out to Nvidia's RTX 4060 in OpenCL API (which is irrelevant for gaming) but successfully defeats Team Green's GPU with a 6% lead in Vulkan (one of the APIs used for most games).

The Battlemage GPU is priced at $249 / £249 / around AU$439 which is cheaper than the RTX 4060 at MSRP ($299 / £289 / AU$545), and it's purported to be the faster GPU (especially equipped with 12GB of VRAM). If there's anything to take from this, it's that Intel is suddenly in pole position to reignite the budget GPU market and take the lead - though doing so will depend on AMD and Nvidia's CES 2025 reveals.

(Image credit: Intel) Say goodbye to 8GB GPUs with Intel...

Team Red has already made it clear that its focus has shifted from high-end GPUs to mid-range options, with a strong emphasis on AI upscaling going forward with FSR 4 (much like Nvidia's continuing focus on AI for DLSS 3's successor). With this in mind, I'm optimistic about what both have to offer at CES in January when it comes to budget options.

The Intel Arc B580 will feature 12GB of VRAM, while the cheaper B570 will utilize 10GB of VRAM - 8GB of VRAM is nowhere near enough to tackle games today, and it's great to see that Intel abandoning this long-standing staple of affordable GPUs. More and more triple-A titles are demanding more VRAM for consistent performance and after Apple's move away from 8GB of unified memory (shared RAM between the CPU and GPU) for Macs, I'm expecting Nvidia and AMD to follow suit.

Spotted by VideoCardz, XeSS Frame Generation has been leaked and is now available for Intel GPU owners to use via Nexus Mods - AI upscaling has been the talk of the town for PC gaming for improved frame rates and image quality, and now that Team Blue has joined the party, there is room for competition in the budget GPUs arena.

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• AMD announces CES 2025 launch event on January 6, 2025 – and drops a heavy hint that new RDNA 4 GPUs will be revealed
• AMD RX 8800 XT could match RTX 4080’s performance – and easily outgun Nvidia’s GPU for ray tracing

A lot can change in three years. Wars can spark off, recessions can bloom, businesses can rise and fall, generative AI can make ‘art’, and some bloke can buy Twitter and all but ruin it. However, in 36 months, it turns out I’ve not changed much.

Specifically, I'm basing this observation on the fact that I’m still using an iPhone as my main phone. Back in December 2021 I made the swap from Android to iOS, ditching a Google Pixel 6 Pro for an iPhone 13 Pro after years of resisting entering Apple’s walled garden.

But the iPhone 13 Pro brought in (finally) a 120Hz OLED display, packed a trio of excellent cameras, and delivered powerful performance, all in a 6.1-inch package that I felt the best Android phones couldn’t match. And I was kinda smitten.

I adored using the 13 Pro; it really did 'just work' for everything I wanted it to do, and when I got my MackBook Air M2, the phone played nice with one of the best laptops I’ve ever used. Heck, I even enjoyed how the stainless steel slowly developed a patina.

Yet, in the back of my head, I had the feeling that I’d return to an Android phone; maybe a new Pixel with its refined smarts and style, or a mighty Galaxy S-series Ultra.

That didn’t happen. And to my surprise I even found myself waxing lyrical about the iPhone 15 Pro Max I’d started using as part of my role heading up TechRadar’s Mobile Computing division. The titanium design made a large phone feel light, and almost and wieldy as its non-Max stable mate.

So when UK carrier Vodafone kindly sent me the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I moved over to it without a moment’s pause.

Living for the ease

(Image credit: Future / Roland Moore-Colyer)

Now the iPhone 16 Pro Max is a disappointment of sorts. It launched without a load of Apple Intelligence features, the cameras didn’t offer much of an uptick over what came before, and the new Camera Control button-meets-slider is borderline a gimmick – at least based on my use of it so far.

But I’m still using the iPhone 16 Pro Max, despite a wonderful Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra giving me ‘use me’ eyes from its spot on my desk – although that could just be my imagination and its rear-camera orientation. More recently, my boss, Global Editor-in-Chief Marc McLaren, expressed surprise that a once dyed-in-the-wool Android fan is still using an iPhone.

The reason for this is simply down to sheer convenience. Now that other phones use titanium, and come with a host of smart features, and that Android continues to evolve, it’s hard for me to lean on my preference for the photos the iPhone’s image processing and computational photography kick out, or the performance the A-series chips offer.

However, iOS just has that magic touch; that way of making everything that bit easier thanks to Apple’s ecosystem. My AirPods Pro seamlessly connect to my iPhone, and when a call pops up on my phone I can take it on my MacBook – handy if I’m wearing headphones. AirPlay still feels like connectivity wizardry in the face of temperamental Bluetooth, and tight integration of apps and tools means you can just get things like two-factor authentication done at speed.

A great example of this was when a group of us London-based TechRadarians were looking to escape the historic city of Bath after a grueling Black Friday at Future Publishing’s HQ. Two of my colleagues, who will remain nameless, lacked the foresight to download their digital train tickets before reaching the station. Thanks to the building’s thick walls and the terrible public Wi-Fi, these two reprobates struggled to get internet access, so had to tether to my iPhone, which was basking in 5G signal.

As they were both using iPhones, rather than try and figure out my Wi-Fi hotspot password, I could simply tap a prompt to share access to it with them. It’s a small thing, but it felt like tech magic in the moment. And on a daily basis, iOS and the wider Apple ecosystem enable such feats of convenience.

Sure, there’s no way even the best iPhone is anywhere as interesting to use as an Android flagship, which means I nearly always have an Android phone within reach. But these phones feel like gadgets that one makes a conscious effort to use, whereas my iPhone feels like a tech tool that I just use to do a task and then pop in my pocket; there’s no soul here to speak of, but for getting stuff done with zero fuss I’ll always reach for Cupertino’s smartphones.

I hope this changes, as I used to love bouncing between Android phones; maybe the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, which we expect to see in January, will tempt me back. But for now, in an increasingly chaotic world, I’ll choose convenience over character when it comes to a smartphone.

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• Creative's Pebble Nova is the latest in the brand's Pebble series
• Coaxial drivers; Bluetooth 5.3; USB audio; Aux-in
• A premium offering, priced £239.99 (so around $305 or AU$478)

Not so hot on the heels of its highly successful Creative Pebble Plus offering (which launched in early 2022), Creative Technology is back with some new desktop speaker Pebbles, with the launch of the Creative Pebble Nova.

What Creative calls a "unique angled design" looks to me for all the world like two lawn bowling balls with RGB halo lighting at their base plus included stands – and I say that as high praise. I want that; I want their coaxial tweeter/woofer drivers either side of my desktop PC… if they sound good.

The new speakers also represent a significant step towards a more premium range from Creative (yes, there's quite a price hike over the 2022 Plus-suffixed model) but if they sound as good as they look, I'm very interested.

The elevated drivers are positioned at 45-degrees to achieve a sweet-spot to each of the listener's ears, and you love to see it.

Pebble Nova is available priced at GBP 239.99 and is available at Creative.com.

Champagne Pebble Nova

To clarify, you get two of them (Image credit: Creative)

According to Creative, that RGB lighting spans 'the full color spectrum', but glows different colors to denote how you're connecting them. On that, your options include Bluetooth 5.3 streaming, USB audio playback, and a universal 3.5 mm AUX input, so they're potentially a good shout for multi-media stereo speakers.

To me, they don't look dissimilar to Cabasse's very high-end Pearl speakers, or even Devialet's also-more-pricey Mania solo speaker option, so despite the new pricing bracket for Creative, there's a very good chance of value-for-money here too.

Its makers tell me the Creative app also unlocks access to the company's proprietary Acoustic Engine audio tech, including Surround, Smart Volume, Bass, Dialog+, and Crystal Voice, enabling users to tweak the audio settings and lighting to suit their preferences.

Pebble Nova is available priced £239.99 (which is approximately $305 or AU$478, although pricing and availability for these regions isn't yet set in concrete).

Are they about to become some of the best computer speakers, the best stereo speakers or indeed among the best Bluetooth speakers we've ever tested? We're working on that. Watch this space.

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• Amazon has revealed Alexa's most asked questions during 2024 in the UK
• Some unexpected entries include Henry VIII and cake pops
• The 'surprise' interactions list has left us deeply concerned

Amazon has just revealed the most popular Alexa questions that UK fans have asked the voice assistant during 2024 – and it's an often unnerving peek inside the strange minds of Alexa users.

The questions, which Amazon's split into categories such as 'people', 'net worth', 'spouses', 'recipes' and more, naturally contain some highly predictable entries that are similar to last year's. No-one will be surprised to hear that Taylor Swift topped the queries list, or that 'happy birthday' was the most popular song request.

But nestled in among the bland entries are some telling and concerning details. For example, the top three entries in the 'surprise' Alexa interactions are 'fart', 'roast me' and 'marry me'. If this is a hint of how we're going to be interacting with the likes of ChatGPT Voice Mode, it points to a dark, troubled future for our poor voice assistants.

On the plus side, the Konami code ('Up up down down left right left right B A') does make the top 10 in its category, so there is hope for us yet. But if we aren't taken down by a toxic, co-dependent relationship with voice assistants, the most popular Alexa recipe questions suggest that calorific intake may yet be our undoing.

This year, pancakes took the number one spot from Yorkshire puddings on the recipe front. But new entries this year are 'cake pops' (a trend we thought had fizzled out in 2023) and 'mango ice cream'. Clearly, 2024 has been a year for comfort food.

Perhaps most concerning, 'scrambled eggs' also makes the list, suggesting that we aren't going to going to be troubling an episode of Chef's Table anytime soon.

An innocent voice assistant age

(Image credit: Amazon)

While there are some strange entries in these Alexa 'most asked' questions, and accepting that they do only reflect the warped minds of UK users, I suspect that these queries will soon seem quaint compared to the conversations we'll soon be having with AI-powered assistants.

Ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently said "that kind of obsession is possible" when asked about the potentially worrying prospect of "perfect" AI girlfriends, and there's very much a dark side to AI friendships that claim to cure loneliness. Perhaps it's a good thing that Alexa AI has been delayed until 2025.

Still, on balance, this year's most-asked Alexa questions show a largely positive relationship with Amazon's voice assistant, with "sing a song about dogs" coming in second on the most-requested songs and "thank you" incredibly topping the 'personality' charts.

Geographical quirks still exist, too, despite our increasingly globalized world, with Henry VIII beating Cat Deeley and Ed Sheeran in the UK to the top of questions about 'spouses' (possibly helped by a new series of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light on BBC iPlayer).

But the biggest takeaway is that Yorkshire puddings, last year's number one most-requested recipe, need to up their game in 2025 is they're to regain the top spot against new upstart queries like 'roasted cauliflower' and 'halloumi stuffed peppers'.

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• TikTok is facing a ban in the US over national security concerns
• TikTok has warned this may have huge consequences for US small businesses
• President-elect Trump may yet reverse the ban, although his position remains unclear

The US’s deadline on the proposed TikTok sell-off is fast approaching, and it looks like there may actually be a possibility the social media giant could disappear from US users' devices in January 2025.

As it stands, TikTok is set to be banned in the US on January 19 2025 - or its Chinese parent company will be forced to sell due to national security concerns. President-elect Trump could reverse the ban, but as his administration doesn't take office until January 20, so there is potential for a pretty disruptive gap.

TikTok insists the US does not face imminent threat of harm in regards to national security, but does point out that many US businesses would be ‘irreparably harmed’ by a loss of audience and advertising opportunities.

De-influenced

With a shocking 12 million full-time ‘influencers’ in the US, many of whom will use TikTok as a large source of income, there could be some massive backlash against the ban.

This could have wider reaching consequences than expected for the US economy. The platform has over 170 million users in the US, and it been estimated that small businesses and content creators could suffer huge losses if the ban is enforced,

"Estimates show that small businesses on TikTok would lose more than $1 billion in revenue and creators would suffer almost $300 million in lost earnings in just one month unless the TikTok Ban is halted," TikTok's spokesperson said.

Previously, Donald Trump has vowed to save the platform in order to ‘preserve competition in a market dominated by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta’, but with Elon Musk, (owner of rival social media company Twitter), by his side during the campaign trail, this may have shifted his view.

Via ArsTechnica

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• God of War Ragnarok's former art director Raf Grassetti has joined Naughty Dog
• Grassetti was at Sony Santa Monica for 10 years before leaving to work at Netflix Games' Team Blue, which shut down in October
• Grassetti will likely be working on Naughty Dog's next, as yet unannounced, game

Ex-Sony Santa Monica developer Raf Grassetti has joined Naughty Dog to presumably work on the studio's new game.

The announcement comes from Grassetti himself over on X / Twitter, where he simply wrote "New chapter" accompanied by an image of the Naughty Dog logo.

Grassetti has previously worked as the principal art director on Sony Santa Monica's God of War and then the art director on God of War Ragnarok.

The developer left the studio in 2023 after 10 years to lead the art department on a AAA game at Netflix Games studio codenamed Team Blue, alongside industry members like Halo Infinite's creative director Joe Staten and Chacko Sonny, who previously worked as an executive producer on Overwatch.

In October, Team Blue was shut down following a wave of layoffs, ultimately killing the mystery AAA project.

It's unclear at this time what game Grassetti will be working on for Naughty Dog, or in what role he will be serving.

Naughty Dog co-president and The Last of Us director Neil Druckmann confirmed earlier this year that there are "multiple single-player" projects in development at the studio.

Development remains quiet, however, new insider information about the secret project was reported by MinnMax founder Ben Hanson in October who claimed that a source "very in the know, who worked on the game" told him that the game will feature "a lot of player freedom".

The studio was also expected to release a new The Last of Us Online game, a multiplayer spin-off that was in development for four years, but it was canceled in December 2023 following concerns that it would impact the studio’s future single-player games.

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It's finally here! I'm so excited about the follow-up to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, which happens to be one of my favorite zombie movies of all time. It joins the likes of Prime Video's number one movie Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End as recent undead tales we've been excited to watch.

It's got everything you could want: an impressively desolate London cityscape, a bit of humor, and plenty of dark moments too, with the always brilliant Cillian Murphy leading the cast. So imagine my surprise when he popped up in the 28 Years Later trailer. Only this time he looks very different.

When we last saw Murphy's Jim character, he had survived to the end of the first movie, 28 Days Later. While he didn't appear in the second, 28 Weeks Later, he's made a surprise cameo appearance in the third movie. And, well, he has certainly seen better days!

Take a look at the trailer for the new movie below.

What do we know about 28 Years Later?

Cillian Murphy makes a surprise return in 28 Years Later. (Image credit: Sony Pictures)

28 Years Later will release in theatres on June 20, 2025, so we've got a bit of a wait! But don't worry, there's plenty coming up and you can check out the most exciting new movies coming to theaters in December 2024 while you wait for the horror movie to arrive.

The plot follows a group of survivors who must navigate the terrifying world that has once again been ravaged by those infected with the now iconic Rage Virus, which spiraled out of control in the first movie and apparently isn't going anywhere.

This time, the cast is led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes, so we've got another star-studded line-up to look forward to. I'm so excited to dive back into this universe again.

While it's too early for a streaming release, in an ideal world the sequel would arrive on Disney Plus alongside 28 Weeks Later, but that's not guaranteed considering the original movie is not available to stream there. So, we'll have to see if it arrives on one of the best streaming services over the coming months.

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• Nvidia’s acquisition of Mellanox Technologies is being investigated by China
• The second-biggest company in the world will cooperate with regulators
• China’s probe comes just days after the US intensifies restrictions

The recent run of high-profile antitrust investigations could be set to intensify even further with the launch of a Chinese-backed anti-monopoly investigation into Nvidia.

The country's probe focuses on alleged violations linked to Nvidia's near-$7 billion acquisition of networking company Mellanox Technologies in 2020.

While tech giants across the globe are all facing regulatory scrutiny, the timing of the investigation handily lines up with tightened US restrictions on China's access to advanced semiconductors, marking the escalation of the ongoing US-China tech war.

China launches its own Nvidia investigation

The news was announced by Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, with Beijing’s State Administration for Market Regulation saying the chipmaker failed to provide new product information to rivals within 90 days of availability to Nvidia, something it was required to do as part of the deal.

The probe comes not long after the US added even more Chinese companies to its entities list. In response, the country has curbed some mineral exports, including antimony, gallium and germanium, which are all used in the production of advanced semiconductors in the US.

Center for Strategic and International Studies researcher James Lewis said (via BBC): “The timing is not a coincidence… It's mainly a message to the US government - the Chinese have decided they're not just going to take sanction after sanction.”

Nvidia has already confirmed it would be “happy to answer any questions regulators may have about our business.”

A company spokesperson added: “Nvidia wins on merit, as reflected in our benchmark results and value to customers, and customers can choose whatever solution is best for them… We work hard to provide the best products we can in every region and honor our commitments everywhere we do business.”

After becoming the world's most valuable company on two separate occasions, Nvidia has slipped back into second place, with a market cap of $3.399 trillion, second only to Apple.

The company’s early entry to the AI chips market has allowed it to benefit from off-the-scale interest in the technology, with Nvidia shares rising from $16.27 prior to ChatGPT’s public preview launch to $138.81 now, marking a colossal 753% increase.

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Like most people I was as little confused when OpenAI announced a $200 (£157, AU$313) ChatGPT Pro tier since its previous paid-for subscription was a comparatively small $20 (£16 AU$30) a month for ChatGPT Plus. You can of course, continue to use ChatGPT for free on the free tier.

$200 was a big jump up and at the time of announcement because it offered only modest advantages over ChatGPT Plus. For your $200 you got access to o1 pro mode, which is a version of the latest o1 LLM from OpenAI that uses more compute to think harder and provide better answers. To me, $200 seems like a lot of extra cash for harder thinking.

Sure, if you’re involved in research-level activities, or need what OpenAI describes as the “more reliably accurate and comprehensive responses, especially in areas like data science, programming, and case law analysis”, then maybe you do need it. To me it seems like that's such a small subset of the ChatGPT user base that it felt that ChatGPT Pro was simply being used a price anchor. A price anchor is essentially a marketing device designed to make your other pricing levels look competitive. Compared to a $200 ChatGPT Pro subscription, a $20 ChatGPT Plus subscription suddenly looks like very good value.

Sora enables you to create video from text prompts with ease. (Image credit: Future)

However, yesterday OpenAI released Sora (or more specifically Sora Turbo, the latest and fastest version so far), its frankly, amazing AI video generation tool, and it’s changed everything. If you haven’t seen Sora before then just look at the videos it's capable of producing, like this foam seahorse:

To use Sora you simply type in what you'd like to see, and it generates the video for you. Sora is only available on a paid ChatGPT subscription and it works on a credit system. On a ChatGPT Plus subscription you get up to 50 priority videos a month. That's 1,000 credits. Your videos are limited to 720p resolution and five seconds in duration. While that’s enough for you to explore video creation it’s nowhere near enough for you to make anything serious.

But once you change to a ChatGPT Pro subscription you get up to 500 priority videos a month (that’s 10,000 credits) with the ability to create unlimited ‘relaxed videos’ at up to 1080p resolution, 20 seconds in duration and with five concurrent generations. You can also download videos without a watermark.

That means that after you use up all your priority generation videos in a given month you can still generate unlimited videos, but you move into ‘relaxed mode’ where you will have to wait longer for video generation.

This is where a ChatGPT Pro subscription suddenly makes sense. Without it you simply can’t use your Sora-created video professionally. Equally, you could argue the fact that ChatGPT Plus users, who are after all paying for the service, don’t get to remove the watermark from their videos, and are limited to 720p and five-second clips, is a bit unfair.

So, while a $200 ChatGPT Pro started off looking like really bad value, the release of Sora has revealed exactly why you'd want to pay that much a month for a subscription. You can call it unfair if you like, but at least it makes sense now.

More excitingly, we're not done yet. OpenAI has another nine days of releases left in its 12 Days of OpenAI event, so it's quite possible that even more value will be added to a ChatGPT Pro subscription before it's over. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

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• Microsoft Edge now loads features like Favorites 40% faster, thanks to the new WebUI 2.0 framework
• Performance improvements make Edge more efficient for low-spec PCs, reducing resource demands compared to Chrome
• Microsoft aims to enhance Edge further, benefiting users with faster browsing, especially on older hardware

Microsoft has just made some important updates to its Edge browser, making it faster, more responsive, and more efficient even if you’re using a less powerful computer. These changes are thanks to Microsoft incorporating a new system, called the WebUI 2.0 framework, which will help the browser load things like buttons, menus, and settings much more quickly.

Here’s what that means for the latest versions of Edge in Windows 11.

When you use the browser after these changes, things like the ‘Favorites’ bar and the ‘Browser Essentials’ section will open much faster. These reduced loading times are due to the new framework, with Microsoft claiming that

the ‘Favorites’ bar opens 40% faster and the ‘Browser Essentials’ loads 42% faster than before, as reported by PCWorld.

If you’re using a PC with lower specs, such as one with less RAM or with an older hard drive instead of a modern SSD, you’ll also see performance improvements. This could give people using a budget PC that may be classed as ‘lower performance’ or an older device an extra reason to consider using Edge over other browsers like Google Chrome - which has become infamous because of its high RAM demands.

(Image credit: Microsoft) Credit where credit is due for Microsoft

That’s not all the good news, as Microsoft has plans to keep improving parts of Edge by incorporating the WebUI 2.0 framework. In the next few months, you can expect to have a faster, smoother loading experience in Edge overall as Microsoft.

This will make Edge a more appealing choice, especially for everyday users and people who don’t have the most powerful PCs. As tech companies push ahead to offer novelties like AI-powered features, I want to give Microsoft credit for improvements like this that will improve the user experience of people who continue to use older or lower-end hardware.

Using fewer resources and still delivering a solid browser experience might make someone think twice about using Edge as their browser of choice. I think improvements like this are what can convince someone to convert, and hopefully a more popular Edge inspires Google’s Chrome team to also continue improving its rival browser, especially when it comes to how it uses your PC’s resources. That could lead to better browser choices overall which benefits users in the end whether they choose Edge or something else.

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• A leaked roadmap says Apple will ditch the MacBook Pro’s notch in 2026
• The 2026 MacBook Pro will also get an OLED screen, multiple sources claim
• The roadmap leaks data for many other upcoming Apple products

The MacBook Pro’s notch – the black pill-shaped cutout at the top of the laptop’s screen – is a necessary annoyance that houses the cameras and sensors that are required for the device’s webcam. But it looks like it’s on the way out, with a leaked roadmap suggesting that Apple will replace it with a circular holepunch-style silhouette as soon as 2026.

That information comes from leaker Jukanlosreve on X, who claims to have sourced the detail from industry analysts Omdia. It was revealed as part of a product roadmap that predicts a range of changes coming to Apple’s best MacBooks and iPads over the next few years.

When it comes to the MacBook Pro, the roadmap predicts it will offer options with 14.3-inch and 16.3-inch displays (up from the current 14.2-inch and 16.2-inch sizes). These screens will apparently have rounded corners and a “Hole Cut.”

That might seem like a mysterious detail, but it makes a lot more sense when you compare it to the MacBook Air, which the roadmap says will have a “Notch Cut” on its display.

In other words, the “Hole Cut” reference is talking about the notch – which will seemingly be replaced by a hole-shaped cutout in the future.

Exciting changes on the horizon

(Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

This MacBook Pro depicted in the roadmap will reportedly arrive in 2026 and will also feature a Tandem OLED display, much like the current iPad Pro. The use of this panel type in the iPad Pro allowed Apple to offer better screen performance and slim down the device at the same time, so there’s hope that Apple might be able to bring similar changes to the MacBook Pro.

In fact, that idea mirrors reports from elsewhere (including from Omdia), which have claimed that the OLED MacBook Pro will see a significant redesign when it lands in 2026. Apple hasn’t overhauled the MacBook Pro’s aesthetic since 2021 and typically waits four or five years between redesigns, so the MacBook Pro is due for a new look.

The roadmap leaked by Jukanlosreve contained some other interesting tidbits. It alleges that an iPad Air with OLED display will launch in 2027, for example, and that Apple will release its long-awaited foldable device the following year. If the roadmap is to be believed, there are a lot of enticing Apple products just over the horizon.

That said, we have to take Jukanlosreve’s word that this roadmap is genuine and accurate. But some of the details have been backed up by other reliable sources. Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has also touted 2026 for the launch of the redesigned OLED MacBook Pro, while display industry analyst Ross Young agreed with almost all of the roadmap’s details.

Both Gurman and Young have very strong track records when it comes to Apple leaks and predictions, which lends weight to Omdia’s roadmap. Nothing is guaranteed, but if you’ve been waiting to finally be rid of the MacBook Pro’s notch, 2026 could be the date to mark in your calendar.

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• Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country could receive new trailers at The Game Awards 2024
• Borderlands 4 will showcase new gameplay and a cinematic sequence
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2K has announced that Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country will be at The Game Awards 2024 on December 13.

The annual awards ceremony is just days away and, like every year, fans can expect some of the biggest reveals for future game releases. However, ahead of the event, we now have official confirmation that Borderlands 4 and Mafia: The Old Country will receive new trailers.

"Prepare yourselves! We’re about to crank things up to the next f**king level at The Game Awards. Who's ready to get their first look at the most ambitious Borderlands yet?!" Gearbox said on X / Twitter.

Borderlands 4 was announced this summer during Gamescom Opening Night Live with a short teaser trailer and is expected to launch in 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford also shared a post confirming that the upcoming trailer will feature gameplay, as well as "a sick, never-before-seen original cinematic sequence depicting a moment that occurs about halfway between the end of Borderlands 3 and the beginning of Borderlands 4."

With an appearance guaranteed at The Game Awards, we could also potentially receive a release date alongside the gameplay.

As for Mafia: The Old Country, developer Hangar 13 shared a post confirming its attendance, suggesting we can also expect its first gameplay trailer following its August announcement.

The Old Country is also set to launch in 2025 for PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC.

The Game Awards nominees were announced last month with Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree being the first ever downloadable content (DLC) to be up for a Game of the Year award.

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Marvel Rivals codes can be used to redeem exclusive rewards like costumes and Chromium. Currently, there's a handful of rewards to earn, some of which require you to be playing on a specific platform. Even so, there's likely to be more Marvel Rivals codes in the future, so you'll want to keep up to date with every active code currently live in the game.

In terms of Heroes, Marvel Rivals is absolutely full to the brim. There are 33 Heroes to choose from, each having their own play style, abilities and look. There are alternate costumes for characters like Iron Man and Peni Parker, with great nods to iconic comic runs. Collecting these alternate costumes is part of Marvel Rivals' appeal, making it a new contender for our best crossplay games list.

Here are all of the active Marvel Rivals codes for December 2024. As more codes are released, we'll be sure to add them to this page. For now, there's an awesome Iron Man costume to pick up, alongside some info on how to redeem codes in-game.

Marvel Rivals codes for December 2024

(Image credit: Marvel Games)

Below, you'll find a list of the active Marvel Rivals codes for December 2024:

• Iron Man: Armor Model 42 - nwarh4k3xqy (expires: 5/3/2025 at 23:59 UTC)
• Spider-Man: Scarlet Spider - free for PlayStation players
• Marvel Rivals S0 Bundle - free PlayStation Plus exclusive

As new Marvel Rivals codes come out, we'll add them to the list above. To stay up to date, we recommend following the Marvel Rivals Twitter account.

Marvel Rivals Scarlet Spider skin - how to redeem

(Image credit: Marvel Games)

To redeem the Scarlet Spider costume in Marvel Rivals, you will need to be playing on PlayStation:

• Head to the PS Store
• Search for "Marvel Rivals"
• Open the game's page, and scroll down to "add-ons"
• You can then scroll to the right to find the free Scarlet Spider costume

(Image credit: Marvel Games) Marvel Rivals S0 Bundle - how to redeem

(Image credit: Marvel Games)

If you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can pick up the S0 Bundle at no extra cost. It contains the following:

• Peni Parker VEN#m: Costume
• Peni Parker VEN#m: MVP
• Peni Parker VEN#m: Spray
• Peni Parker VEN#m: Nameplate
• 300 Chrono Tokens

To redeem this bundle, just head to the PlayStation Store, search for Marvel Rivals, and scroll through the add-on content.

How to redeem Marvel Rivals codes

(Image credit: Marvel Games)

To redeem a code in Marvel Rivals, you just need to do the following:

• Load up the game, and head into the settings menu
• Select "Bundle Code"
• Enter your bundle code, and press "USE"
• This will redeem your rewards

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• Oracle Cloud reveals new deal to train Meta’s AI models on its services
• Oracle Cloud will look to enhance the training and deployment of Llama LLM family
• Partnership comes as revenue growth fails to meet targets

Oracle has signed a deal with Meta that will see the latter use Oracle Cloud to enhance the training and deployment of its Llama LLM family.

"We just signed an agreement with Meta – for them to use Oracle's AI Cloud Infrastructure – and collaborate with Oracle on the development of AI Agents based on Meta's Llama models," CTO Larry Ellison confirmed.

"Oracle Cloud Infrastructure trains several of the world's most important generative AI models because we are faster and less expensive than other clouds...Oracle trained AI models and AI Agents will improve the rate of scientific discovery, economic development and corporate growth throughout the world. The scale of the opportunity is unimaginable."

Oracle to support Meta’s AI efforts

Meta’s decision to use Oracle Cloud comes as Oracle CEO Safra Catz praised the company’s record-breaking cloud infrastructure growth, driven by continued demand for AI, which requires large amounts of computing power.

Despite announcing a healthy 9% year-over-year increase in quarterly revenue, shares in Oracle are down, marking a lack of investor confidence.

On the whole, Oracle’s second-quarter results were a mixed bag. Quarterly revenue rose 9% year-over-year to $14.06 billion, however analysts had previously anticipated this figure would stand at $14.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share also fell short of the anticipated $1.48 by one cent.

Making up more than three-quarters (77%) of the company’s entire revenue was its cloud business, which saw revenue rise by 12% to $10.81 billion.

Catz boasted: “Record level AI demand drove Oracle Cloud Infrastructure revenue up 52% in Q2, a much higher growth rate than any of our hyperscale cloud infrastructure competitors.” She added that GPU consumption was up 336% in the three-month period.

However, the outlook remains precarious, with the company forecasting revenue growth of 7% to 9% in the current quarter, falling short once again of analysts’ expectations.

TechRadar Pro has asked Oracle and Meta for more details on the deal, but neither company immediately responded to our email.

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Jeremy Allen White is swapping the kitchen for Tatooine as Disney casts him in the upcoming Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu. Directed by Jon Favreau and co-written with Lucasfilm creative director Dave Filoni, the movie will bring the characters of one of the best Disney Plus shows - The Mandalorian - to the big screen on May 22, 2026.

Following the success of his role in FX’s The Bear, White will be making his feature franchise debut in The Mandalorian and Grogu as the son of intergalactic crime boss Jabba the Hut. But whether or not he’ll be in human-form or voicing a CGI reptilian-like creature like his father is still in question.

According to Deadline, his role appears to be integral to the plot, starring alongside core cast members Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, The Last of Us) and Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Ghostbusters).

(Image credit: Disney)

When it comes to the movie's plot, details are still under wraps, however, Variety's report of White’s casting states that it “provides the first real glimpse for what could be in store for the titular bounty hunter”. In The Mandalorian series, its events take place following Jabba the Hut’s demise in The Return of the Jedi (1983) while miniseries The Book of Boba Fett delves into the underworld where its titular character fights for Jabba’s old territory. From Variety’s point of view, it hints at a possible return of Boba Fett in Favreau’s upcoming feature.

As it stands, neither Lucasfilm nor White have provided comment on the latest casting addition, nor have they spared any details regarding plot - despite the movie being announced at the D23 Expo 2024 back in August. If anything, we should give White the benefit of the doubt as he has been working non-stop since his Emmy win for his role as Carmy in one of the best Hulu shows, The Bear. Just yesterday (December 9) he received another acting nomination for the 2025 Golden Globes, all while filming for the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere where he’s playing the role of Springsteen.

Since Disney Plus became the home of all things Star Wars, the franchise has been enriched with spin-off series one after the other – more recently Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. However The Mandalorian and Grogu marks the first feature movie in the franchise since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 2019, which wasn’t a particularly well-received final insert to the franchise. Hopefully, Favreau and Filoni’s experience with creating successful Disney Plus series will be an advantage to the movie franchise’s next steps.

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The last Meta Quest 3 and Quest 3S software update of 2024 is here, and this one is a doozy. Update v72 promises a suite of improvements to various features of your VR headset, as well as a massive upgrade to the Windows remote desktop feature that should make it easier than ever to bring your PC desktop to VR.

Let’s start with that headline feature: easier Windows 11 PC connections. Once you’ve followed the setup steps (we’ll run you through those in a second) Meta says you’ll just have to look at your Windows 11 PC and you’ll get a prompt to pair with your VR headset so you can more seamlessly start a virtual desktop session.

Now for the setup. To get started, boot up your PC running Windows 11 22H2 or later (after checking it meets the hardware requirements) and visit the Microsoft Store to download the Mixed Reality Link app, then set it up.

(Image credit: Meta)

Keeping your PC unlocked, boot up your Meta Quest 3 or 3S headset, open the Settings menu and look for Advanced settings; within this submenu, find and enable the 'Pair to PC with Microsoft Mixed Reality Link' experimental feature.

Your headset should then detect your PC automatically and show you a pairing prompt, but if it doesn’t you can pair the devices manually by opening your Quest headset’s Remote Desktop app and selecting 'Add a new device'. Once you’ve followed the prompts you’ll be paired – and in future you can pair your headset with this PC simply by looking at your PC and tapping the 'Connect' button above the keyboard, or using the Remote Desktop app.

I was put off the idea of working in VR after trying it back in 2023, but this update, and the improvements the Meta Quest 3 affords in terms of comfort and image quality over the Quest Pro, might convince we to give it another try.

Making your virtual life easier

Update v72’s other improvements aren’t as stand-out, but they will make various features more reliable or easier to use.

Helping with the improved productivity tool we highlighted above, v72 has made your Quest headset better at recognizing keyboards so you can use them in VR with the help of a 'dynamic passthrough window.'

Hand tracking 2.3 is rolling out as well; Meta promises it is more stable, accurate and easier to use than version 2.2, with it highlighting some of the improvements in a comparison video it has released:

Following the Instagram app for Meta Quest launch in October, Meta has now released Instagram Direct Messenger support for Quest – so you can access the Instagram messaging service within the VR app.

And if you’re looking for a VR post to share on Instagram, the new and improved Media Gallery app for Horizon OS promises to make it easier to browse your virtual snaps and screen recordings so you can find something to post.

Last but not least, live captions are coming to calls made via the People app, so people with hearing loss or who are hard of hearing can more easily communicate with friends via their Quest headset. To turn it on you can find it in either the Accessibility tab of the Horizon OS Settings menu, or in the Settings menu for the People app.

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• The long-rumored iPhone SE 4 could launch soon, according to new rumors
• LG Innotek has reportedly began production of camera modules for the new phone, which normally occurs three months before launch
• The new SE is also tipped to borrow the display from the iPhone 13

The long-rumored iPhone SE 4 may be right around the corner and pack a previously unexpected camera upgrade, if a new crop of rumors are to be believed.

According to Korean news outlet ETNEWS (via Google Translate), LG Innotek will supply both the rear single-lens camera module and front-facing selfie camera for the upcoming phone, and make use of previously used components to keep costs down.

The new SE having just one rear camera would be nothing new, but the report also suggests that this rear snapper will be a 48MP lens, in line with the main camera on the iPhone 14 Pro models and the entire iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 lineups. Should the report prove correct about the use of previously used components, this would likely be the exact same camera as found on these earlier phones.

We had previously expected the rumored new iPhone SE to ship with a 12MP single-lens rear camera, in line with the current third-generation model. However, the ETNEWS report suggests the new iPhone SE will feature the same 12MP selfie camera as the current model.

As BGR notes, a prior report from Korean news outlet Aju News suggests that LG typically supplies camera modules for phones around three months before release.

This would suggest a release date of March 2025 for the iPhone SE 4, which fits with the previous releases in the series, all of which were unveiled in March or April of their respective years.

The report also corroborates prior rumors concerning the display the iPhone SE 4 could ship with by suggesting the new phone will borrow the 6.1-inch LTPS OLED panel from the iPhone 13. This probably means a resolution of 1170 x 2532 and a refresh rate of 60Hz – pleasantly sharp, though most budget phones come with a 90Hz or even 120Hz refresh rate these days.

Apple has reportedly divided its orders for the new display between LG Innotek and Chinese manufacturer BOE, and the use of a previously-developed panel tracks with the component cost-cutting strategy suggested by ETNEWS.

Incidentally, the use of this display would almost definitely result in an iPhone 14-style form factor for the new phone, as has been previously suggested.

Apple has yet to reveal any official information about the iPhone SE 4, and likely won’t until the phone is ready for release.

My analysis

Hype for the iPhone SE 4 is heating up, and for good reason – if these types of rumors continue, we could be looking at one of the best cheap phones (and more importantly best-value phones) Apple has ever produced.

Apple's mobile camera systems are famous for their quality and point-and-shoot reliability, so fitting the cheapest phone in the lineup with a modernized 48MP camera would be a pro-consumer move by any measure.

For most people, this would offer more than enough photography capability – I mean, how many people really use their phone's ultra-wide camera anyway?

And even I, as a noted lover of ridiculously large phone camera systems, reckon I'd be happy with a single 48MP snapper in most situations.

As well as the iPhone 13's display, we expect to see the iPhone SE 4 ship with essentially identical specs to the iPhone 16, in order to support Apple Intelligence.

Think about it – a compact AI phone with a great camera looped into the Apple ecosystem, likely for less than $500 / £500 / AU$900? This coming year could see the iPhone SE become a real competitor, rather than just a blast of nostalgia.

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One of AMD’s incoming Strix Halo chips has been spotted in a benchmark for the first time, and this is the flagship APU in fact, indicating that as rumors suggest, these Ryzen laptop processors are nearing release.

VideoCardz noticed the Geekbench result for a 16-core (Zen 5) Strix Halo chip with Radeon 8060S integrated graphics.

The APU – which is AMD’s fancy name for an all-in-one processor with an integrated GPU and NPU – is called the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395, and is shown as boosting up to 5.1GHz.

As for the actual benchmark result, the test run is Vulkan performance, which interestingly is a graphics metric. However, the score of 67,004 is slower than expected – but there’s a reason for that, which I’ll discuss next.

(Image credit: Canva) Analysis: GPU performance and workstation-only worries

That’s a relatively disappointing score, because as VideoCardz points out, the RX 7600 desktop graphics card hits about 90,000 in that test. The hope is that the Radeon 8060S integrated GPU in the Strix Halo flagship will be able to get a lot closer to the RX 7600 than this, based on prerelease hype – which has compared it to an Nvidia RTX 4070 discrete mobile GPU in the past – and it might well do, in the end.

Remember, this is still an early sample chip, so the finished Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 will undoubtedly run faster. It’s too soon to make judgments, especially based on just a single leak (from Geekbench – which is hardly the first pick for graphics benchmarks, of course).

This leak is more about the fact that the Strix Halo flagship is floating around being tested, rather than the actual result itself. It’s another hefty hint that the rumors of AMD launching the new range of APUs at CES 2025 are correct.

However, perhaps everyone should temper their expectations a little in some respects. Yes, the Strix Halo flagship’s Radeon GPU has 40 CUs and is based on a refreshed take of RDNA 3 (dubbed RDNA 3.5) – compared to 32 CUs and vanilla RDNA 3 in the RX 7600 – but the latter is still a discrete desktop GPU, and integrated solutions are clearly more limited in terms of design and thermals.

We will just have to see how performance shakes out when it comes to reviews, of course, or indeed further leaks. What I’m betting we can all agree on, most likely, is that name, which seems very clunky – but it also carries another worrying hint.

The ‘Pro’ in the name (Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395) indicates that this is a workstation part. Now, there could be a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (non-Pro) counterpart for thin-and-light gaming laptops that come with the same CPU and GPU configuration – or, as previous chatter on the grapevine has suggested, AMD might reserve this flagship APU for workstations only.

Gaming notebooks may only get a lesser Ryzen AI Max+ chip, and this is a hint that this is the case, albeit an admittedly thin one. Again, all we can do is keep watching the leaks, but we’ll likely find out at CES 2025 with that big Strix Halo reveal: will it be workstation-only, or not, for the flagship?

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• Amazon and Intuit team up to integrate sales data directly into QuickBooks
• Mid-2025 launch will initially only be available to US sellers
• The company claims to have supported millions of independent sellers

Amazon has announced plans to team up with accounting software giant Intuit to make it even easier for sellers on its platform to keep track of their finances thanks to some handy integrations between the two services.

From the middle of 2025, sellers in the US will be able to integrate their sales and inventory data straight into Intuit QuickBooks through Amazon Seller Central in order to simplify and streamline their bookkeeping.

The partnership between the two companies will also give Amazon sellers access to QuickBooks’ accounting tools in order to share real-time insights into profitability, cash flow and tax estimates.

Amazon chooses QuickBooks as its preferred partner

The ecommerce giant shared: “The expanded Amazon-Intuit partnership will give sellers the ability to bring their existing Amazon data into Intuit products and experiences—ultimately making it easier for sellers to understand and optimize profitability, manage cash flow, access capital, and simplify taxes with confidence.”

Amazon acknowledged that Intuit has been an important customer of its cloud business, AWS, since 2013.

“Together with Intuit, we’re working to equip our selling partners with additional financial tools and access to capital to help them scale efficiently," AWS VP of Worldwide Selling Partner Services Dharmesh Mehta added.

Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi boasted “businesses that use Intuit’s QuickBooks platform have a nearly 20-point higher success rate than those who don’t.” AI enhancements to its platform have also helped to improve the experience.

The financial impact of the collaboration remains undisclosed, however given the companies’ histories, it’s possible that a two-way deal will see both Amazon and Intuit benefit from the collaboration.

More broadly, the company claims to have contributed more than $1 trillion to the entire US GDP since 2010, including supporting 1.8 million jobs exclusively for independent sellers using the platform.

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• Electrica Group said it recently discovered, and remedied, a cyberattack
• Romanian Energy Ministry confirms ransomware attack
• No groups have yet claimed responsibility for the attack

Romanian energy supplier Electrica Group has confirmed suffering a cyberattack in the latest incident to hit major institutions in the country.

In a press announcement, the company said it was investigating an “ongoing cyberattack” together with the local law enforcement.

The news comes days after Romania's government was forced to cancel elections after its systems were allegedly targeted over 85,000 times by cyberattacks.

Confirmation from the Energy Ministry

"We want to emphasize that the Group's critical systems have not been affected, and any disruptions in interaction with our consumers are the result of protective measures for internal infrastructure," Electrica CEO Alexandru Aurelian Chirita was cited saying.

"These measures are temporary and are designed to ensure the security of the entire system. Our primary priority remains maintaining continuity in the distribution and supply of electricity, as well as protecting the managed personal data and the operational data of all entities within Electrica Group."

The company did not detail the attack, its nature, goal, or the identity of the threat actors, however media were notified by the country’s Ministry of Energy that this was most likely, a ransomware attack.

"Initial investigations show that it was a ransomware attack. The network equipment has been removed and is not affected," Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja allegedly said. "The SCADA systems of Distributie Electric Power Romania are fully functional and insulated, and our technical teams, together with our security partners, are already on the ground to eliminate any risk."

Electrica Group is one of Romania's largest energy companies, focusing on electricity distribution, supply, and renewable energy production. It serves approximately 3.93 million households across 18 counties, covering about 40.7% of Romania's territory.

In 2023, the company reported revenues of RON 13.33 billion ($2.93 billion), slightly lower than the previous year due to decreased electricity consumption nationally. The group is actively investing in modernizing its network, integrating renewable energy, and improving operational efficiency, with projects worth over 777 million RON completed last year.

Via BleepingComputer

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