Apple is expected to make big improvements to its AI capabilities when it announces a slew of big new software updates at the WWDC event on June 10 and while Apple hasn't confirmed anything so far, we're starting to see more and more leaks surrounding what new features users can look forward to.

Reports have so far suggested that while there will be upgrades to Siri, some AI features will be baked into apps like Safari, Messages, and Mail. Those features will help people do everyday tasks more effectively, and the latest report suggests that new AI-powered audio summarization features will be included.

The report, via AppleInsider, cites people familiar with the matter when reporting that Apple is working on such features including greatly enhanced audio subscription capabilities for its various software platforms. The iPhone's iOS 18, iPad's iPadOS 18, and Mac's macOS 15 updates are expected to be those that benefit from the new AI initiative.

When Apple announced the Apple Vision Pro spatial computer, or AR/VR headset if you prefer, back in June of last year there were a couple of things that immediately made it stand out from the crowd. One was the impressive visuals and app experiences that it promised to bring to users who bought one, and the other was the incredibly high price that those same people would have to pay to put one on their heads. Ever since the arrival of the headset, we've been waiting for news on what comes next, and we already know that Apple is working on a new model that will be more accessible. Read, cheaper. Now a new report suggests that Apple could be set to launch the Apple Vision Pro in 2026, and it's going to be a lot cheaper.

That's according to a leak by @Revegnus1, an account that has only been around for a couple of days. However, the name suggests that this might be the return of a leaker who had a strong history of sharing details gleaned from the supply chain of Apple and other companies. The @Tech_Reve account previously disappeared from the X social network, so it's possible this is the same person sharing information via a new account. We don't yet know that for sure though, so bear that in mind when we tell you what they're claiming - according to them, the Apple Vision Pro 2 could cost as little as $1,500.

To put that into perspective, that would be less than half the $3,499 that Apple currently charges for the first-generation product. They also claim that the headset will debut in 2026, however, which could give Apple the time required to be able to reduce the costs associated with such a device.

When Apple announced the M4 iPad Pro earlier this week we were already expecting the tablet to be the fastest that Apple had ever offered, and it doesn't look like we are going to be disappointed. But early benchmarks confirm that while the iPad Pro is the fastest yet, it's also competing with Apple's high-end MacBook Pro as well.

In fact, the M4 chip used in the iPad Pro is so fast that its single-core performance is faster than the M3 Max found in Apple's very best laptops, while the multi-core performance is comparable to that of the M2 Max that was used in the previous generation MacBook Pro.

This is all based on new Geekbench results that have been spotted and shared by MacRumors, and it makes for interesting reading. The 10-core version of the M4 chip which is found in the 1TB and 2TB iPad Pro managed an average single-core score of 3,695 while it managed an average multi-core score of 14,550 across a total of 10 different benchmarks. It's those figures that put the MacBook Pro to the sword; the M3 Max manages 3,128 in single-core performance while the M2 Max scores 14,800 in multi-core tests. The M3 Max manages a much improved multi-core score of 10,957 however, so there's no suggestion that the M4 can compete with that just yet. We can expect good things from future M4 Pro and M4 Max chips, though.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Wednesday that a Chinese invasion of Taiwan to seize control of TSMC would be "absolutely devastating" to the US economy.

Raimondo was asked at a US House hearing about the impact of an invasion of Taiwan by China to control TSMC, where she said "it would be absolutely devastating. Right now, the United States buys 92% of its leading edge chips from TSMC in Taiwan".

It was only back in March of this year that a top US admiral testified that China is building its military and nuclear arsenal on a scale not seen since World War II, preparing to invade Taiwan by 2027. Admiral John Aquilino, the leader of the Indo-Pacific Command, told the US House Armed Services Committee in a prepared testimony on Tuesday that Beijing's defense budget has ballooned by 16% over the last few years to over $223 billion. In the three years since he's taken command, he said that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had added another 400 fighter jets and 20 new major warships to its arsenal. Admiral Aquilino said China has doubled its ballistic and cruise missile inventory since 2020.

Corsair has just launched its latest MP700 PRO SE PCIe 5.0 SSD, setting new performance highs across the board and even winning an Editor's Choice award in our review on the Corsair MP700 PRO SE PCIe 5.0 SSD.

The new Corsair MP700 PRO SE PCIe 5.0 SSD is capable of up to 14GB/sec (14,000MB/sec) sequential read performance, and up to 12GB/sec (12,000MB/sec) of sequential write performance. Corsair has multiple SKUs of its new MP700 PRO SE SSD: the regular MP700 PRO SE, the MP700 PRO SE with Air Cooler, and MP700 PRO SE Hydro X Series.

They all feature the same 14GB/sec reads and 12GB/sec writes, with the differences between the models being the Gen5 SSD on its own, Gen5 SSD + air cooler, Gen5 SSD + custom loop water block.

This week, on a more focused episode of The TT Show, Jak and Kosta break down and go through the crazy Helldivers 2 controversy on PC. If you were offline for a few days (and this all played out throughout a single weekend), the decision to force the Helddivers 2's PC players to link their Steam Account to a PlayStation Network (PSN) account caused a veritable backlash storm.

From the review bombing to developers being grilled to Sony and developer Arrowhead's damage control to the surprisingly swift happy ending, Jak and Kosta discuss the implications and consider what might happen in the aftermath.

This week's other big story comes from the world of Apple, with the company lifting the lid on its new iPad Pro lineup powered by the new AI-powered 3 nanometer M4 chip. The big thing here is that it represents Apple's first dip into the world of OLED displays, with a groundbreaking 1000-nit SDR and HDR screen that has two OLED panels in one!

NVIDIA is reporting launching its next-generation GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card first, and then weeks later, the monster GeForce RTX 5090 will be unleashed.

That's according to leaker "kopite7kimi" who posted on X saying "RTX 5080 should be released first" to which "AGF" replied, saying "to be exact, they should be announced at same time with availability separated by (a) few weeks".

I can't see NVIDIA unveiling its GeForce RTX 5080 first and then the GeForce RTX 5090 second, the launch would be the both of them at the same time with availability splitting over a few weeks making sense. I'm sure that NVIDIA will want to make sure it has plenty of GeForce RTX 5080 graphics cards as they'll sell more units of those cards over the ultra-high-end RTX 5090.

EA CEO Andrew Wilson said during the company's recent quarterly earnings call that the next Battlefied game will be developed by the "largest team in franchise history".

During the call, the EA CEO seemed to take on that Battlefield 2042 was a pile of junk, where he said "players have made it clear that they wanted an even deeper experience". I don't think players wanted a "deeper experience," they just wanted a great Battlefield game and to not see their franchise burning into the ground.

Wilson did say that EA is still committed to the live service models, after a survey earlier this year that pointed out that 70% of surveyed developers are worried about the sustainability of live service games. The new Battlefield game in development will have a "connected" side for single-player, but the EA CEO didn't walk us through how that would work.

Apple recently announced its new iPad Pro line-up, powered by its new M4 chip and sporting the company's first groundbreaking OLED display, which pushed the technology's brightness to new heights. It's also the thinnest device in the company's history, with the 13-inch variant featuring a thickness of just 5.1mm - incredible.

And it seems that the display and thickness drove the inspiration and message behind Apple's latest ad for the new iPad Pro. "Meet the new iPad Pro," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a social media post debuting the ad. "The thinnest product we've ever created, the most advanced display we've ever produced, with the incredible power of the M4 chip. Just imagine all the things it'll be used to create."

However, to try to sell the device's thin profile and creative capabilities, whoever Apple put in charge of the ad decided that it would be a good idea to take a treasure trove of iconic art-driven technology and gear from history and put them in one of those flattening machines, completely destroying them.

Intel has just splashed out on buying ASML's bleeding-edge High-NA EUV lithography machines, placing orders for the rest of the machines that the Netherlands-based company will make this year.

In a new report from The Elec, we're hearing that Intel is buying ASML's latest High-NA EUV lithography machines by placing reserve orders for the 5-6 kits that the company will make this year. Intel will be using ASML's new High-NA EUV lithography machines for its upcoming Intel 18A (1.8nm) and Intel 14A (1.4nm) process nodes.

Intel will have the most High-NA EUV lithography machines in 2025, with competitors including SK hynix and Samsung set to get their first batches of High-NA EUV lithography machines in the second half of 2025. Intel will have a rather large advantage over their competitors, especially if production goes well, yield rates are healthy, and the chips that Intel is pumping out are performance leaders.

China has imported more than $1 billion in goods from the Netherlands in April 2024 alone, a rather hefty 32% increase even in the world of US export restrictions and the selling of semiconductor machines to China.

China's imports from the Netherlands increased 32% last month from a year ago, to $1.4 billion, according to data released this week. The data doesn't show the breakdown of trade, which will come later this month, but we all know it's coming from Dutch company ASML, which makes semiconductor machines.

In the months leading up to April 2024, over 50% of the value of all Chinese imports from the Netherlands were just ASML's lithography machines, according to Bloomberg's analysis of the official data. The US has been restricting China's access to the latest chip-making tools, pressuring countries like the Netherlands to stop exporting equipment to China, and even stop repairing the equipment that China has already purchased.

Capcom's Dragon's Dogma 2 was released earlier this year. It took the publisher's impressive RE Engine (initially built for the Resident Evil franchise and games). It expanded its capabilities to fit the open-world RPG style of the Dragon's Dogma franchise. Hidden inside the engine was a full path-tracing mode that Capcom was playing around with, as seen here.

Now, you can enable full path tracing in the impressive Resident Evil 4 Remake via the same REFramework developer window while modding in DLSS 3.7 for improved upscaling and image quality. Although Resident Evil 4 is a game tailor-made for baked lighting (the time of day never changes), path tracing still makes a massive difference.

Certain night scenes and some objects look off, but several examples in the video presented by MxBenchmarkPC showcase the different path tracing, or complete ray tracing can bring to a game. Even when compared to the game's existing ray-tracing implementation.

AMD's next-generation Zen 5-based "Ryzen AI 100 series" processors will be unveiled and launched at Computex 2024 next month, with the latest Ryzen AI 165 processor teased in new leaks.

In a new leak from Chinese reviewer and leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, we can expect the AMD Ryzen AI 165 "Strix Point" APU to feature 10 cores and 20 threads, with an XDNA2-based NPU for AI workloads, offering 45 TOPS of AI performance from the NPU alone.

We've already heard rumbles of a Strix Point APU being officially called the Ryzen AI 9 HX 170, with 12 cores and 24 threads of Zen 5-based CPU power boosting at up to 5.1GHz with the same XDNA2-based NPU for AI workloads. But the new 10-core, 20-thread Ryzen AI 165 "Strix Point" APU could feature a 2+8 or 4+6 configuration (AMD will have Zen 5 and Zen 5c CCXs for Strix Point).

Skyblivion is a fan remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in the Skyrim engine, an ambitious overhaul on track for a 2025 release. Like the Skywind project (the Morrowing remake using the Skyrim engine), the developers behind Skyblivion have presented an update on the game and its progress, with a closer look at what to expect.

Oblivion was one of the first RPGs from modern 3D gaming to launch with a truly massive open world to explore. However, many of the environments were procedurally generated, with dungeons and other points of interest, repeating layouts, and general designs. Skyblivion is going to great lengths to maintain Oblivion's massive size and ensure that each area, location, and dungeon feels unique.

The new Skyblivion update video opens with a detailed look at the game's 'Great Forest' region to the north. With distinct foliage, animals, and more, it looks fantastic and different in a way absent from Oblivion. Also being updated are the Ayleid Ruins, which now vary wildly in look, feel, design, and purpose.

AYANEO has just teased its upcoming external GPU solution: AG01 "Graphics Starship" will be officially unveiled on May 18. First, the tease:

The new AYANEO external GPU dock being called "Graphics Starship" is really cool, as it definitely looks like an old-school 90s-themed sci-fi ship we've seen in the movies. We don't know anything at all about the AYANEO Graphics Starship, other than it's a GPU dock for your graphics card.

We could have USB4, Thunderbolt 4, or OCulink connectivity... but AYANEO does state that it's a "multi-function graphics dock" so we should expect some great functionality out of it. AYANEO says it's an external graphics card dock, but we can't see a PCIe x.0 x16 interface, so we should expect just a few particular graphics cards that will be sold, or will work with, the AYANEO AG01 "Graphics Starship" external GPU dock.

NVIDIA's latest GeForce Game Ready Driver 552.44 - WHQL adds day-one support for two highly anticipated games, Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut and Homeworld 3, both of which will launch next week.

Ghost of Tsushima is the long-awaited PC port of the PS4 open-world feudal Japan cinematic action game from PlayStation Studios and developers Sucker Punch and Nixxes. Homeworld 3 is the return of an iconic sci-fi strategy game. Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut features DLSS 3, DLAA, and NVIDIA Reflex support, while Homeworld 3 supports DLSS Super Resolution upscaling or DLSS 2.

As a highly anticipated game, Ghost of Tsushima: Director's Cut also supports AMD's FSR 3 and Intel's XeSS upscaling for those without RTX-powered rigs. The PC version sports new features and improved visuals, with uncapped frame rate and ultrawide display support (up to a massive 49:9).

Neuralink has posted an update on its first human patient to receive a brain implant, saying within the first weeks after the medical procedure a problem presented itself.

For those that don't know, Neuralink is Elon Musk's brain implant company that has constructed a brain-computer interface (BCI). With this new piece of technology, Neuralink believes it will be able to help people suffering from diseases such as paralysis by enabling control of a device with the patient's thoughts. The first paralysis patient to receive the BCI was 29-year-old Nolan Arbaugh, who was shown controlling a desktop mouse cursor and even playing video games such as Mario Kart.

Despite this achievement, Neuralink details a malfunction that occurred with Arbaugh's BCI, with the company writing the brain chips "threads" that are thinner than human hair and record neural signals. These threads, unfortunately, began to retract from Arbaugh's brain. Neuralink's system called Link records neural signals using 1,024 electrodes that are spread across 64 threads. With fewer electrodes to monitor brain signals, Neuralink was prevented from accurately measuring Link's speed/accuracy.

According to a new report at Reuters, OpenAI (the massive AI firm behind ChatGPT, backed by billions from Microsoft) is planning to launch an AI-powered search engine on Monday. The engine will compete with Google and Perplexity, a competing AI search startup founded by a former OpenAI researcher.

Going up against the search giant that is Google with the aid of AI is not uncommon. Microsoft's long-running Bing search recently added OpenAI ChatGPT integration - but only for paid customers. AI and search engines are set to go hand-in-hand, as Google is also integrating generative AI into search and other products like Gmail.

The Reuters report cites 'two sources familiar with the matter,' so nothing is official. However, OpenAI's stealth launch of a new search engine (possibly in beta or limited form) next week would mark an exciting turn for the company. Bloomberg has reported on the company's search engine plans in the past, so it sounds like it's only a matter of time.

NVIDIA is reportedly experimenting with a huge triple-fan, quad-slot, 600W-capable cooling solution for its upcoming next-generation GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs.

In a new report from Benchlife, the outlet explains: "According to information from a familiar cooling module manufacturer, NVIDIA has already conducted relevant tests and verification on cooling modules for the Blackwell GPU architecture's GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards, evidently preparing for the launch of the GeForce RTX 50. Although there's no specific timeline, currently, about 4 plans are underway, with power ranging from 250W to 600W".

We did hear all the way back in late 2022 that NVIDIA had prototype versions of the GeForce RTX 4090 -- or RTX 4090 Ti or RTX 4090 SUPER -- with a gigantic triple-fan, quad-slot, 600W cooler. Fast-forward two years, and we're hearing the same thing leading up to the launch of the RTX 50 series.

Two of Bethesda's key studios wanted to make new games in fan-favorite franchises before they were shut down.

Days ago, Xbox shut down three Bethesda Softworks studios: Arkane Austin, Tango Gameworks, and Alpha Dog. The decision was part of a new "reprioritization of resources" that would put Bethesda's "high-impact titles" front and center. Xbox closed down the studios and re-allocated their budgets and spending accounts for other teams and projects.

The news has caused a big rift among the Xbox faithful, but frustrations rose even more once today's news broke. Sources tell Bloomberg's Jason Schreier that Tango Gameworks was prepping an internal pitch for Hi-Fi Rush 2 before the studio was shut down. Hi-Fi Rush is one of the most acclaimed Xbox games in recent memory--fans love it and were eager for a sequel.