It's been another big week of news and happenings in the tech, gaming, and science space, and Jak and Kosta are back with a new episode of The TT Show - TweakTown's official podcast. This week, they go all-in on the massive Xbox leak that revealed console refresh plans, new games, new controllers, and a possible switch to ARM-based computing for the next Xbox console generation in 2028.

This week, Kosta sits down with the Head of Product over at XPG, Luca Fiore, to discuss to talk about the company's new Battlecruiser II chassis, what goes into the development of a case, industry trends, and why it's so important to engage and take on community feedback. And thanks to XPG, we've got a massive prize pack of gear to giveaway. Head here for more info!

Jak and Kosta also look at the state of mobile gaming when you can hook up the new iPhone to a TV to play Resident Evile with a PS5 controller. Plus, the GeForce RTX 4090 finally meets its match - and it's not Crysis or the latest Cyberpunk 2077 update. It's a display!

Apple's iOS 17.1 update is now available to beta testers and it's starting to look like it'll bring with it a few notable improvements once it arrives, likely next month. One of the changes that hadn't been highlighted until today is a tweak that will change the way that the Reachability looks on some iPhones.

The Reachability feature is designed to make it easier for people to reach interface elements that are at the top of the screen, especially on larger devices like the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The feature moves everything down temporarily and currently uses the iPhone's wallpaper to fill the void. Except that can look pretty bad on devices with the Dynamci Island because it draws attention to it - and that's all changing with iOS 17.1.

As reported by MacRumors and based on a post to Reddit, the Reachability feature will gain a new solid black background when it's invoked on a device that has the Dynamic Island. That includes the iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max. On devices that don't have a Dynamic Island, Apple still shows the blurred version of the wallpaper.

You've probably already seen the stories of people's new iPhone 15 Pro handsets getting warm, but have you heard the one about iPhones getting so hot that they break their Apple Pay feature? That's a thing, believe it or not. But at least it doesn't sound like this one is being based by Apple or its new iPhones.

The problem, it seems, crops up whenever people charge their iPhones using their in-car wireless charger and then go to use Apple Pay only to find that the payment feature no longer works. The problem? It seems that some wireless chargers are getting so hot that they're damaging the iPhone itself, specifically the NFC chip that makes Apple Pay work.

The original reports about this were specifically for Apple's iPhone 15 lineup, but it's since become clear that it's a problem that affects all iPhones. It was also said that it was specific to BMW but, again, it now seems that people with other cars from Ford, Audi, and others are also having similar problems.

Apple has started to apply new Chinese laws that require apps to be licensed before they can be made available to people in the country. That applies to all apps available in the App Store, something that means Apple will now have to also require licenses be granted before apps can be made available for download.

This move is one that has been in the works for some time and Apple was the notable dissenter as it tried to make the Chinese government aware of the impact it would have on its users. However, it's now had to comply just as others already had and now requires that developers receive a license if they want their apps to be available for download from the Chinese App Store.

Reuters reports that the new move kicked in last Friday, with Apple now requiring developers to submit the "internet content provider (ICP) filing" when publishing their app to the App Store. Without it, apps will not be made available. However, while the Reuters report mentions new apps the law also applies to apps that are already available, so it's likely that some will need to be removed.

NVIDIA's RTX 4090 is selling well in Japan, a report tells us, but the RTX 4080 is a very different story.

According to the report from Japanese tech site ITMedia (via VideoCardz), which talked to a number of retailers, there is considerable demand for the Lovelace flagship GPU.

One store noted that:

"The demand for RTX 4090 has been constant, but it's becoming a bit difficult to get in stock."

The Google Pixel 8 and Google Pixel 8 Pro are both set to be announced at an event that will take place tomorrow, October 4. Now the latter phone has appeared in a new leak with the Tensor G3 chip getting an outing in new photos.

Those photos show the Tensor G3 having its information displayed on-screen and were shared by M. Brandon Lee on X, the social network previously known to the world as Twitter. They give us a better indication of what the new chip will be set up like including the speeds of the cores that are being used.

Based on the leak we're seeing here, and assuming it's legitimate, the Tensor G3 will have a 1+4+4 layout which is different from the 1+2+4 layout of the previous two generations of Google chip, as noted by 9to5Google. The new Cortex-X3 chip will be the big core used this time out, with a 2.91GHz clock speed and a 4nm fabrication process being the key features.

Intel would appear to be clearing out stock of Alder Lake processors, at least on Newegg given a bunch of fresh reductions - big ones - that the US retailer has just put into play.

VideoCardz flagged this up, spotting that Vectral on X (formerly Twitter) had posted about the discounts to a clutch of Alder Lake CPUs.

Should you want to grab yourself a Core i9-12900KF (the same as the 12900K, just with no integrated graphics), that will now run you to $325 on Newegg, with $75 chopped off the price tag via a discount code at checkout (all of these offers work via a code).

Getting hold of Apple just got a bit harder than it used to be after Apple stopped providing human support via direct messages on X, the social network previously known as Twitter. The company has also stopped offering support via its YouTube channel's comments, too.

The move was first spotted by MacRumors which reports that as of October 1, sending a direct message to the AppleSupport account on X will result in an automated reply with links to support avenues available via Apple's own website. Something similar will happen if you send a reply to AappleSupport, although you might get a link to Apple's support articles depending on the request.

This comes after a previous report that claimed Apple was ready to eliminate paid social media support roles across YouTube, X, and even Apple's own support forums. Instead, the company now wants people to get their help via the phone with support members being transitioned to those teams to help bolster their numbers.

Buying a second-generation HomePod just got cheaper, assuming you're in one of a handful of countries and don't mind buying a refurbished model, that is.

Apple's online refurbished store is now selling the second-generation HomePod in the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and a handful of other countries. The United States is conspicuous by its absence, but MacRumors points out that the smart speaker is indeed listed in the US refurbished Apple Store, you just can't actually buy one yet.

Buying a refurbished HomePod means that you'll save around 15% on the original asking price. As an example, UK customers would pay £249 for a HomePod that would normally retail for £299. While refurbished HomePods aren't available to buy in the United States just yet, the speaker will sell for $249 rather than the original $299 in Apple's own back yard, too.

In a candid interview, Kevin Scott, Microsoft's chief technology officer, spoke at Vox Media's Code Conference, where he opened up about the recent rise and demand for GPUs for building new hardware and equipping data centers for AI. In addition to noting that NVIDIA's GPU line-up is currently the best fit to deliver AI processing power, he added that supply issues and shortages are improving.

"Demand was far exceeding the supply of GPU capacity that the whole ecosystem could produce," Kevin Scott said during a panel discussion. "That is resolving. It's still tight, but it's getting better every week, and we've got more good news ahead of us than bad on that front, which is great."

With Microsoft investing billions in companies like OpenAU alongside Google building its supercomputer facilities, the demand for NVIDIA's cutting-edge GPUs has seen its stock price rise by 190% in 2023 alone. With Microsoft adding weight to NVIDIA's financial reporting stating that GPU supply will steadily increase each quarter, Kevin Scott also had a few words to say about the competition - and Microsoft's ambitions.

BenQ's latest 4K HDR projector might be the one to turn you away from that TV life to the world of having a massive 150-inch cinema screen at home. The new BenQ X3100i is the company's flagship Gaming Projector, sporting excellent and vibrant color accuracy, low input lag (4ms), built-in speakers, and console and app support in a compact size.

The BenQ X3100i is the company's flagship 4K Gaming Projector, image credit: BenQ.

With BenQ's 4LED light source, you're also looking at a very bright projector capable of working in most environments thanks to the 3300 lumens of brightness - which also means better HDR quality. And with 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut and a 600,000:1 contrast ratio, the specs here are certainly tasty.

For those with the room or space to install a projector (and the BenQ X3100i Gaming Projector is portable enough to fit on a coffee table), it's worth considering - especially with different picture modes to suit different gaming genres and the ability to save and remember profiles for various consoles.