APC

Welcome to an extra fabulous issue of APC. It’s a hot one because we’ve got some primo gear reviewed, and it’s extra hot because we have all of the winners revealed for the big annual Australian PC Awards. Woot. Here at HQ, the whole team has been badgering Chris for the last couple of weeks about his reviews of the Intel 13900KS and AMD 7950X3D. “Have you benched them yet? Which is better? Is the new-gen X3D as amazing as we hoped?” Having these two chips pitched against each other is Ferrari vs Lamborghini stuff. They’re the big dogs, and it’s especially interesting because it’s basically a contest of brute force, with Intel hitting 6GHz for the first time in a consumer CPU, while AMD is playing trickery with its…

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"Championing technology doesn’t mean we’re unrelenting yes-men and -women, however, and APC aims to be as objective as possible in all our coverage." APC is Australia’s oldest consumer technology magazine – having been consistently in print for over forty years, since our first issue way back in May 1980 – and we take that heritage and responsibility very seriously. While our focus is obviously on the personal computer the very definition of the PC has changed and shifted markedly since the early 1980s. As such, we touch on many other areas of tech, too, from smartphones and apps to peripherals, accessories, and beyond. We have two goals: to find the best modern tech and to help you make the most of it. We’re also an open church in terms of…

WARREN BUFFETT DUMPS 86% OF TSMC SHARES An ominous sign? Warren Buffett’s holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, cut its position in TSMC by 86 percent, according to a CNN report citing a regulatory filing. The investment firm also purchased additional Apple stock. It’s not clear whether Berkshire dumped TSMC stock because it expects softening demand for consumer electronics and personal computers, or because it’s concerned about increased risks of China invading Taiwan, which would threaten the value of the world’s largest contract maker of chips. TSMC is the world’s largest foundry with indisputable technological lead and will remain No.1 for quite a while, but there certain risks for the company, including expanded competition as well as the risk of Chinese invasion. GPU SHIPMENTS DROP 35% But Intel’s Arc is gaining. As…

Microsoft’s new and improved Bing search engine is getting a lot of attention (for both good and bad reasons) thanks to the inclusion of ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot. And with the AI-powered Bing now appearing on some users’ phones, it looks like it’ll be rolling it out to Android and iPhone smartphones as well. However, while there will be plenty of smartphone users looking forward to trying out the ChatGPT-powered Bing after all the hype, I’m not sure this is a good idea. That’s because despite the exciting potential of ChatGPT, its inclusion in Bing has highlighted some serious shortcomings of the AI chatbot. Many users have found ways to get some weird results, including the AI worrying about its memory, and getting mildly aggressive with users when its…

Meta is testing monthly subscription services for Facebook and Instagram that will give users blue tick verification, in a controversial move that echoes Twitter Blue. The new Meta Verified subscription is now available in Australia and New Zealand, with Meta stating that it hopes to bring the service “to the rest of the world soon”. The monthly subscription, which will cost $19.99 on the web and $24.99 on iOS and Android, comes with features that are mainly aimed at creators who want to fast-track their way to success on Facebook and Instagram. Meta says there are five main benefits to having a Meta Verified subscription. Firstly, you’ll get a verified badge, which will require you to send a government-issued ID like a passport to Meta for authentication. You’ll also get…