Why did Xbox just close down 3 studios? The reason is a combination of economics and strategic trajectory.

Days ago, Xbox surprised fans by closing down numerous first-party studios. Tango Gameworks, who had just released the mega-popular Hi-Fi Rush, was shut down alongside Arkane Austin, the team behind Dishonored and Prey. Alpha Dog, the team behind the Doom mobile game, was also shut down. The news comes 3 years after Microsoft purchased ZeniMax for $7.5 billion.

So, why would Microsoft eliminate these teams? The decision is a combination of many factors, but it mostly comes down to money. More specifically the game development budgets for new projects. Xbox wanted to re-allocate the budgets of these studios to other "high-impact" and "priority" games under the ZeniMax umbrella--your Elder Scrolls and Fallouts and Dooms, in other words. IGN recently posted the full internal memo from Xbox content and studios president Matt Booty, who describes the move as a "reprioritization of titles and resources."

Intel's Panther Lake is still a good way off - if the rumor-mongers are right, Arrow Lake might even be further off than we hoped - but that hasn't stopped the leak machine churning out speculation about Panther Lake CPUs.

Mind you, this latest Panther Lake leak, which comes from X (formerly Twitter) as flagged up by VideoCardz, should be treated with more skepticism than normal, as we're not familiar with the source - a certain Prakhar Verma.

So, fistfuls of salt in hand, the contention is that Panther Lake will be mobile chips only - with no desktop offerings. Theoretically we will get Panther Lake U series CPUs, efficient variants to follow Lunar Lake (which should debut late this year), and Panther Lake H chips to succeed Arrow Lake high-end mobile processors.

If you're an Apple TV Plus subscriber on the lookout for their next binge-worthy show, the streamer has confirmed that a new drama starring Natalie Portman will premiere on July 19. The Lady in the Lake will premiere with two episodes available on that date and then a new one will arrive every Friday through to the season's conclusion on August 23.

The show, which will run for seven episodes and stars Academy Award and Golden Globe Award winner Natalie Portman, also features Emmy Award nominee Moses Ingram. Portman also serves as executive producer on the project.

Starring alongside Portman and Ingram in the series are Y'lan Noel, Brett Gelman, Byron Bowers, Noah Jupe, Josiah Cross, Mikey Madison, and Pruitt Taylor Vince.

AMD's Zen 5 desktop processors - which should be Ryzen 9000, based on previous leaks - might end up with a generational increase in performance that'll disappoint many folks, or that's the conclusion some are drawing given fresh chatter from the grapevine.

Wccftech flagged up this rumor which comes from Weibo - add extra seasoning because of that, but then again, we are told that this is a post from Lenovo China's manager.

According to that manager, we can expect Ryzen 9000 desktop to bring forth an IPC increase of 10% compared to Ryzen 7000 chips - and that's a much lower figure than we've heard from other sources. Although it's worth noting that the source does observe that gains are higher than this in Cinebench single-threaded benchmarks (without mentioning any exact figure).

If you're a Spanish-speaking Apple TV Plus subscriber you can look forward to a new crime drama TV show hitting your screen on July 31. The show will debut globally and will carry the Spanish title Las Azules.

Apple offered a first look at the new show via a press release today, setting the premiere date and confirming that the upcoming 10-episode show features an entirely Hispanic cast and crew. That cast will be led by Ariel Award nominee Bárbara Mori. Apple also confirmed that the first two episodes of the show will be available to stream on July 31 while a new episode will then debut weekly through to the season's conclusion on September 25.

Apple's press release describes the show as having been inspired by true events and set in 1970. It tells the story of four women who choose to defy ultraconservative norms and join Mexico's first female police force. However, they then find that the whole thing was just a publicity stunt to distract the media from a serial killer who is on the loose.

Apple has been beta testing the macOS Sonoma 14.5 update for a few weeks now, giving developers and public beta program testers the chance to put it through its paces. Apple hasn't yet confirmed when it will be released to the public, but the expectation is that it will arrive within the next few weeks. That's now become more likely than ever before after Apple made the first Release Candidate version of the update available for download by developers.

This Release Candidate suggests that Apple is almost ready to make the macOS Sonoma 14.5 update available for download by Mac owners around the globe, although it's possible we will see one or two more Release Dancidates made available depending on whether there are any new issues identified by testers.

Perhaps most notable however is the news that Apple has shared details of what people can expect from the big update when it does finally become available for Mac owners. Apple doesn't often share release notes for beta updates depending on the platform and the features it expects to ship, but this Release Candidate does have a release note available for our perusal.

There have been a lot of rumors and reports of late that claim Apple is going to bring some big much-needed AI-powered features to the iPhone when iOS 18 is released later this year and while we've heard that those features will run on-device, others will require a server. Those cloud servers will allow Apple to handle more complex tasks, including generative AI workflows, and a new report now suggests that the servers will run Apple's own custom chips.

We've been hearing more and more about Apple's plans to put its own chips into servers of late, and it's a plan that makes sense. Apple's Macs, iPhones, and iPads all use custom-designed chips that are built by TSMC and it's proven to be a real boon for the company. More control means that Apple has a better lock on power usage and performance, and it can tailor chips to specific needs as well. In the case of servers, it's suggested Apple will produce chips that can run AI-related workflows particularly well.

There was previously no timeline for when the Apple-designed chips would be used, but a new Bloomberg report by Mark Gurman suggests that Apple will have its in-house server chips ready soon enough to power the cloud component for the iOS 18 AI push.

Apple's currently testing the iOS 17.5 software update ahead of what is likely to be a release to the public within the next few weeks. It's already been testing the update for some time now, but the latest beta release brings a new feature that we didn't see coming and can make a big difference to the way people enjoy the News app.

According to a new report, the iOS 17.5 Release Candidate build that was made available to developers recently includes a new feature that will allow people to use the News app when they don't have an internet connection.

As 9to5Mac notes, Apple News currently stops working when there is no internet connection unless a user intentionally makes specific stories available for offline viewing. However, the iOS 17.5 update looks set to change that by offering the full news experience even when no connection is available.

If you're an Apple Card owner who also happened to have asked for one of those titanium cards to go with it, you're probably starting to notice that it's getting ready to expire. The Apple Card launched back in 2019 in the United States and remains only available in that country. Now, the first cards are starting to expire and Apple is ready to ship new ones. But it isn't as easy as just cutting up your old one and getting on with your day.

Apple has started to contact Apple Card owners to alert them that they will need a new physical card. The company says that it will send a replacement card to billing addresses within the next couple of weeks. But those cards will also come with a prepaid shipping label so that customers can send their old Apple Card back to be recycled. As it turns out, having titanium recycled isn't as easy as you might think.

Apple has confirmed that the previous card will stop working at its expiry date while the new card can be activated as soon as it arrives.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been Apple CEO since 2011 when then-CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs stood aside as a result of the ill health that would ultimately kill him. Since then Apple has seen unprecedented success including huge iPhone sales, the entry into new markets like the Apple Watch and now Apple Vision Pro, and more. But it's a fact that Tim Cook won't be able to stick around forever and Apple is likely already starting to look at who could be a likely replacement. According to one report, there's one man in particular that seems most likely to take over.

Writing for Bloomberg, Mark Gurman suggests that while any imminent change could see the arrival of Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams in the top job, Apple is making plans beyond then - and it doesn't expect that Cook is going away any time soon.

Gurman says that Apple does have Jeff Williams in line should Cook step aside sooner rather than later, citing people familiar with Apple's inner workings. However, Williams is 61 this year which means that he isn't all that much younger than Cook who turns 64 later in 2024. That means that Williams is unlikely to be a long-term replacement for Cook, which means that Apple will have plans for a more permanent solution.