APC April 2021

It’s a very rare and special time in the world of the PC. We’re witnessing above-average generational performance leaps with GPUs, a remarkable battle for the CPU space well into its third year, exciting new PCIe 4 SSDs, motherboards with loads of lanes, monitors with extreme specs, and RAM hitting ridiculous speeds. It’s wonderful. Well, it could be wonderful. But it’s not. Because you just can’t buy a lot of this stuff without a long wait, and/or some compromise on what you really wanted. You know the situation. You may well be on a waiting list for something. Odds are, you are. We’ve covered this from a few angles this month. Joel (page 17), Jared (page 19) and Mark (page 64) look at the issue, the immediate effects and the complex…

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APC is Australia’s oldest consumer technology magazine – having been consistently in print for 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 platforms. We know most people aren’t wed to a single brand’s products and use a variety of devices. And, like you, APC’s journalists want to…

A federal jury in Waco, Texas, ruled on March 3rd that Intel must pay US$2.18 billion in damages to VLSI, a semiconductor design firm, for violating two of its patents. Damages for one patent violation weigh in at US$1.5 billion, while the other totals US$675 million. The broader case is still ongoing, though, as VLSI has sued Intel in several states, spanning California, Delaware, and Texas, for damages associated with six other alleged patent violations. Intel’s most recent 10K filing lists the VLSI lawsuits as ongoing litigation, noting that VLSI seeks a total of US$7.1 billion in damages from all eight alleged violations, along with future royalties, attorney’s fees, costs, and interest. Intel predicts that totals up to US$11 billion, collectively. Intel commented on today’s ruling, saying to Tom’s Hardware, “Intel strongly…

LastPass is rolling out a change to its free plans that will affect users drastically. Specifically, it’ll limit the kind of devices users can run the app on from March 16th, 2021. Users will have to select their device type by logging into their account. Depending on which device you choose, you’ll automatically be opted into the mobile or computer type. and they’ll be offered three chances to switch before needing to choose or trade up to the premium plan. To clarify, you could use two types of devices on the previous plan, now you can use an unlimited number of devices, albeit limited to one type in pre-defined classes.…

The U.S. imposed new sanctions on SMIC, the largest semiconductor manufacturer in China, in September 2020 to prevent it from purchasing new chip-making equipment. Used chip-making equipment sellers in Japan aren’t subject to those same restrictions, however. Nikkei Asia said those sellers have struggled to keep their products in stock, which has led to significant price increases over the last year. The value of critical equipment such as lithography systems reportedly tripled in that timeframe. Nikkei Asia said that “nearly 90 percent of used machines appear to be headed to China,” per a source at Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance, and that another anonymous source at an unidentified used equipment dealer claimed, “machines that were basically worthless several years ago are now selling for 100 million yen ($1,200,000}.”…