Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2025 i APC

If you’ve been smiling quietly to yourself every time you looked at your superannuation statement over the past couple of years, you’ve probably got AI to thank for the cushier retirement. For now, at least. “Much of this growth is a bet on the future. A bet that all these chips, all these new data centres, all these AI services will drive enormous future revenues.” The AI bubble is continuing to inflate at a rapid rate. In 2024, generative AI companies raised $56 billion from venture capitalists – close to double the figure from 2023, according to financial database PitchBook. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, AI startups secured $73.1 billion. The reason that your pension pot has been growing faster than Japanese knotweed is that many funds are tied to…

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 everyday 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. INDEPENDENT REVIEWS 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. That means identifying the best…

PRICE $179.95 WEB www.logitech.com The Logitech Signature Slim Solar+ K980 is a solar-powered keyboard with the hook being that you might never need to charge it while using it wirelessly. It’s also rather slim, designed with a clutter-free desk look in mind. You can’t charge the Logitech Signature Slim Solar+ via any other means but light, as it doesn’t feature removable batteries or any kind of direct charging port. A wide ridge cut at the top of the keyboard incorporates its solar panel, which can take in power either from direct sunlight or from ambient lighting within a room, though that’s likely to be less rapid at recharging it, as you might expect. Logitech’s claim here is that the Signature Slim Solar+ K980 should be able to run for up…

PRICE $997 WEB tinyurl.com/APC552ally A couple of years ago, Asus ROG released the Ally, the first Windows handheld gaming PC from a mainstream OEM, and despite strong competition from the established Steam Deck, this device managed to make a place for itself among PC gamers. Now Asus has found a new way to make its next-gen device appealing by partnering with Microsoft to create the Xbox Ally, a Windows handheld that improves upon the Ally classic. Unlike the more powerful Xbox Ally X, this more affordable white handheld utilises a relatively modest AMD Z2 Series processor that offers performance more on the level of the Steam Deck. The Xbox Ally has similar internals to the 512GB Steam Deck OLED, which costs $549.00. However, these two devices offer several feature trade-offs,…

PRICE $369 WEB tinyurl.com/APC552eufy The E10 from Eufy could be so much more. Right now, it’s an 8in portable screen that syncs nicely with your Eufy home-security setup, and for that, it’s great. You can use it as a tablet, mount it on a wall, leave it in its dock, or carry it around your home with you. It lets you answer your doorbell and check your security feeds whenever you want. However, it’s only compatible with Eufy security products. This is in contrast to the H500, which has Matter integration giving it complete control over a wide range of smart-home devices from various brands. The E10 can’t even work with Eufy’s non-security devices, including its robo-vacs and other smart-home gadgets. Still, for $369 you get a respectable tablet that…

SYSTEM-INFORMATION TOOL NEEDS Windows 10 or 11 WEB www.turkaysoftware.com/glow Glow 25.07 A detailed and well designed system analyser. Glow was one of the most popular program of 2024 – but its developer took a break for the first half of this year. The brilliant system-information tool is now back with a major update, which includes a host of new features, improvements and more insights into your PC’s components. The most notable addition in Glow 25.07 is a new Installed Apps section. This lists all the programs installed on your PC, even those that don’t appear in the Control Panel or Windows Settings Apps list. Although Glow doesn’t uninstall software, you can double-click an item to open the folder containing that program. Glow’s Tools menu – which contains useful options such…

From cheap home routers to enterprise data centres, every internet-enabled device runs on IP. Together with TCP – the protocol that allows remote systems to connect and reliably exchange data with one another – IP underpins our connected lives, and has been doing so for years. Whether you’ve wanted to or not, you’ve probably absorbed a certain working familiarity with IP. When it comes to the finer details, though, things get more mysterious. A typical router interface offers any number of advanced settings whose meanings are far from clear, and while you may know that certain aspects of the setup need to be just so, the reason is rarely obvious. Let’s look at some of the more puzzling questions relating to IP – and at last get some understandable answers.…

KEY Budget build Pick these parts if you want to build a new, well-rounded PC for a good price. Mid-range build For productivity power and running every new game at 1080p 60fps. This recommended build will see you through. Advanced build You’re looking for the best PC on the market and superior components. But you still want to spend smart. BUDGET BUILD Enjoy 1080p gaming and most tasks without breaking the bank. MOTHERBOARD B760M Steel Legend WiFiAsrock $249This board is affordable, DDR5 ready, and packed with features, including Wi-Fi support. PROCESSOR Core i5 13400FIntel $225With ten cores, six of them the Performance kind, this Raptor Lake Core i5 is fantastic value and a great all-rounder. GRAPHICS CARD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8GBAMD $499AMD delivers what we need for a 1080p gaming PC at…

Classic RPGs make up some of the most formative examples of late ’90s to early 2000s PC gaming in my memory, but I also remember when they weirdly disappeared. If you loved games like the original Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, or Planescape, and also wondered why we stopped seeing these kinds of titles for a bit there, well it turns out you can blame physical retailers for the decline in Dungeons & Dragons-style PC RPGs. The Infinity Engine was used to power isometric roleplaying games like the ones above. It allowed game devs to take many of the sentiments and mechanics used in D&D and translate them to videogame experiences. It allowed a lot of people to have these kinds of adventures for the first time, especially when good Dungeon…

A lot of games hardware marketing focuses on performance. Esports-ready mice and keyboards. High-refresh-rate monitors that promise you’ll see the enemy faster and aim more accurately. Even in graphics hardware, extra frames and faster performance are generally the basis of any purchase argument. But I think that messaging misses a crucial aspect of what it is to have a powerful PC: sitting back and taking the time to enjoy the visuals. Letting the game happen, instead of imposing your will on it. With Battlefield 6 looming large at the moment, casting its complex, soft-edged, anti-aliased shadow over all of PC gaming, it’s especially handy to keep that philosophy in mind. There’s more than one way to enjoy a Battlefield game’s visuals, and I’d argue the best way of all is…

Inspirational stories from computing’s long-distant past It was December 1983, and Belgrade in former Yugoslavia was suffering a typically harsh winter. Temperatures had plummeted to as low as -10°C. Yet something happened that month which would warm the hearts of thousands of technology enthusiasts: a special edition of a popular science magazine hit the The publication, Računari u vašoj kući (Computers in Your Home), was released as a spin-off of the monthly magazine Galaksija and it was notable for two things. One, it was the first computer magazine to be released in the country. Two, it instructed readers how to build their own computer. What’s more, it became as influential in Eastern Europe as the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 were in the West. What began as a small project…

Corsair Xeneon Edge PRICE $399 WEB corsair.com Corsair suggests you do one of two things with this petite 14.5in 2560 x 720 display. Firstly, it thinks you might want to put it in your PC case, a niche we can certainly see it filling as long as you’ve got the case to support it without covering up its touchscreen with tempered glass. Second, slap on the included magnetic stand and place it beneath (or vertically beside) your monitor as a second screen, connected to a spare HDMI port. That one’s the winner, if you ask us, because anyone who’s gone ultrawide for their main screen either needs a gargantuan desk or a second screen that fits into a unique space. There’s a secret third use, which is as a USB-C…

PRICE $239 WEB asus.com The ROG Harpe II Ace is what happens when Asus takes an esports mouse and gives it real-world refinement. Weighing just 48 grams (sans dongle), this semi-symmetrical ultralight’s low-slung shell practically disappears in your hand. We’re coming at the Harpe II Ace from the already lightweight Glorious Model O and the weight difference in the hand is not insignificant. The warm-touch “bio-based nylon” finish feels premium and grippy, and a welcome change from the slippery plastics typical of ultralights. Build quality and overall design is tight and feels more robust than its feather weight would suggest. Performance is stellar. The 42,000-DPI ROG AimPoint Pro sensor tracks flawlessly – even on glass(!) – while ROG Optical Micro Switches offer crisp clicking with a 100-million-click lifespan. SpeedNova 8K…

PRICE $599 WEB asus.com The ROG Ryuo IV SLC 360 ARGB is built to do more than just cool a CPU, and is aimed at those who want every part of their build to stand out and don’t mind paying for it. This 360 mm AIO cooler goes beyond just a normal screen, with a 6.67-inch curved panel that turns your CPU block into a miniature billboard with a surprisingly good 3D depth effect. The cooler is not just flashy and the hardware is solid – Asus uses an aluminium radiator paired with ROG MF-12C ARGB fans to deliver high airflow and high static pressure without it getting too noisy. The pump and integrated CPU block have paste pre-applied, so it’s ready to use straight out of the box. The…

PRICE $244 WEB dell.com The Dell Pro Plus earbuds aim to tackle a problem only a few others can handle: the ability to connect to two different devices at the same time (and eight total) and automatically (or manually) switch between them. The Dell Pro buds are aimed at office use, but audio quality is decent for music on the train to work – especially if you customise the equaliser settings via the app. The earbuds include ANC that does a good job with background office noise and aircon hum, but you do need to make sure you use the best fit of the four included tip sizes. The Dell buds include in ear detection, so will automatically trigger a pause if playing back video or audio files, plus there…

CONTRIBUTORS Tim Danton with contributions from Erin Bashford, Cat Ellis, Jason England, Jon Honeyball, Cale Hunt, Tony Polanco Every September the great and the good of the technological world descend upon Berlin for a riot of technology launches. Some live on in history, such as the first VCR in 1971 and the debut of the compact disc a decade later. Most have their moment in the sun before being cast into the eternal shade of history. And this year – well, we have a mix. Perhaps the biggest news was the arrival of a Panther Lake laptop, while ThinkPad purists will likely go as white as the X9 Aura Edition’s finish on seeing Lenovo move away from its purist black roots. Acer also claimed headlines for its sub-1kg Acer Swift…

Given that Windows 10 is at the end of its supported life, many people will be preparing to retire a PC over the next few months. But before you pull the plug on that PC for the last time, you need to ensure you’ve erased any sensitive data – and that requires more effort than simply running through the Reset procedure. Of course, it’s not only Windows 10 PCs that are being decommissioned. So, here we’re going to run through how to ensure all the devices we use regularly are properly wiped before we send them on to their next destination – whether that be a friend or relative, a buyer or even straight to the recycling centre. You can’t be too careful, even with a device that’s destined for…

IT WILL TAKE15 minutes YOU WILL LEARNTo back up Photos assets by date or album, and ensure original files are backed up YOU’LL NEEDPhotos Takeout app (Free, offers IAPs, photostakeout.com), macOS 10.13 or later By only storing photos locally on your Mac, you risk losing irreplaceable memories if it gets lost or damaged. A safer solution is to store shots on iCloud Photos, as you can simply download the full-resolution images as and when you need to edit and share them. However, although iCloud Photos is a syncing service, it doesn’t technically offer a backup of your clips and stills. Plus, as you snap more shots, you may need to start paying for extra iCloud storage. Fortunately, the Photos Takeout app enables you to back up and offload assets such…

1 month ANNO 117: PAX ROMANA RELEASE November 13, 2025 DEVELOPER Ubisoft Mainz The latest entry in the long-running Anno series promises to let gamers shape the Roman Empire in their image, be that via strong economic growth or bloody warfare. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 7 RELEASE November 14, 2025 DEVELOPER Treyarch, Raven Software Robots, zombies and guns, lots of guns. The latest co-op and multiplayer shooter promises to be the most mind-bending Black Ops ever. YAKUZA 0 DIRECTOR’S CUT RELEASE December 8, 2025 DEVELOPER Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio Fight through the entertainment districts of 1980s Tokyo and Osaka as yakuza Kazuma Kiryu and cabaret club manager Goro Majima. It’s time to crack skulls. 2 months CODE VEIN II RELEASE January 29, 2026 DEVELOPER Bandai Namco Studios Inc. In…

PRICE $84.95 PLATFORM PC, PS4/5, XB1/S/X WEB tinyurl.com/APC552vampire You are Phyre, an elder vampire of prodigious strength and no small amount of fame, forced to sleep for a hundred years. And people have been waiting for your return. You wake up in 21st century Seattle, bound by a curse and weighed down by the expectations of modern bloodsuckers. Amid all this, you must carve out a place for yourself in this new city, along with an identity, even as you’re nudged into deals and alliances, bending and adapting as you try to become what Seattle’s nighttime residents need: a big scary vamp who can fix everything. Or break everything. Bloodlines 2 is good, sometimes even great, and it absolutely sated my appetite for a blood-fuelled undead yarn. But it is…

RELEASE Sept 5, 2023 DEVELOPER Bethesda Game Studios PUBLISHER Bethesda Softworks WEB bethesda.net No one is more surprised than me to report this bit of news: it’s 2025 and I am playing Starfield again. To be clear, I’m not saying I didn’t like Starfield when it launched in 2023. I did like it, and I played it for more than 100 hours! I just thought I was finished with it. It’s a good game, but it’s light years removed from the sort of staying power held by Bethesda RPGs like Fallout 4 or Skyrim. Less of a surprise: it’s a cool mod that finally brought me back to Starfield, or to be more specific, a collection of several hundred cool mods that together form Star Wars: Genesis, a full conversion…

In this issue’s column I was supposed to be trying to charge my phone using solar power, but sadly I got the timing wrong. After weeks of blazing sunshine, the weather has turned overcast, so my solar-charging test will have to wait. In the meantime, I’ve turned my attention to the screen of my Windows 11 laptop, which is no longer fulfilling my workspace needs. Measuring a mere 13 inches diagonally, it doesn’t offer enough ‘screen real estate’ (as the experts say) to display everything I want. Aside from my browser, I usually have at least 10 programs, apps and folders open at any given time. Some are minimised to the taskbar while others lurk in the background, jostling for space. The obvious solution is to buy a second monitor…

We explore the trends and technologies that are set to shape the future Language is always changing, and nowhere does that happen faster than with teenagers. But forget them and whatever the heck “skibidi” means: there’s a flood of new words in the world of tech, too, thanks to the rise of AI and other future innovations hovering on the horizon. “Technology is bound to be an important driver of ‘lexical innovation’ – linguists’ jargon for new vocabulary – when new concepts, processes and products are not encoded by our existing lexicon,” said linguist Tony Thorne, the author of Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. Clankers, glazing, vibe coding – these aren’t just relevant to IT but to everyone, notes Thorne. “AI has generated a whole raft of new terms, and many…

PRICE $329 WEB logitech.com Ostensibly an evolution of last year’s G515 Lightspeed TKL, the new Rapid model really warrants being considered as an all-new product. While it shares the same chassis shape and key layout, the addition of magnetic analogue switches elevates it into a class of its own. These keys are intended to provide a gaming advantage – and they definitely do – but for plain old typing I’m having trouble recalling any keyboard I’ve enjoyed so much. The secret sauce is the magnetic analogue mechanism, and every single key on this board has it. These are gaining in popularity, though add to the cost, and at $329 the G515 Rapid TKL is pricey. Thus, compromises have been made by Logitech to keep the cost down: it’s not wireless,…

PRICE $169 WEB www.corsair.com In shooters like Valorant or CS: Go, or MOBA games like League of Legends or Dota 2, a mouse functions as an extension of the arm, making a lighter model often preferred by top-level players. If lightness is what you’re after, the Corsair Sabre V2 Pro offers just that. Weighing roughly the same as your average lunchbox muesli bar, the Sabre V2 Pro is Corsair’s lightest-ever mouse (just 36 grams), making it feel almost imperceptible during use. There’s no question the Sabre V2 Pro provides the speed and precision that elite gamers need for a fast, fluid experience, free from fatigue and drag. And, given how insubstantial the mouse feels in-hand, it’s impressive that it can still offer up to 70 hours of battery life. Beyond…

PRICE $327 WEB crucial.com We were impressed by the speed and sturdy design of Crucial’s X10 Pro, and this cheaper version offers a greater choice of storage capacities than the Pro. Crucial quotes read speeds of up to 2,200MB/s and write speeds of 2,000MB/s, which matches the Pro, though it lacks its predecessor’s hardware encryption option. We saw speeds approaching Crucial’s quoted levels in our benchmark tests (1790MB/s write speeds, for example), but only because we used a USB-C port that supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 standard. These aren’t as common as the slower Gen 2 ports, so check your connected device’s specification. Those who have connected devices with USB 4.0 ports will get even faster speeds from compatible drives like the Corsair EX400U, which can transfer at twice…

Once upon a time, not that long ago, you’d be laughed out of a meeting or seminar for opening up a gaming laptop. I’ve had it happen to me, during my early days writing about hardware. I took a gaming laptop to an event filled with tech journos and was roundly made fun of when I had to desperately find a power outlet in a meeting room, of which there were none, to try and save my ailing battery and any semblance of my dignity. As gaming laptops have evolved, that’s no longer something to worry about, though. TUF A14 (2025) A bit of everything. PRICE $2,799 FROM Asus 1 The Asus TUF A14 has been reformed for 2025. It’s largely the same laptop we’ve come to appreciate over the past…

Group test Reviewed by ALEX BLAKE ON TEST… > GoodLinks> Instapaper> Matter> Raindrop.io> Readwise Reader> Safari Reading List Sometimes, you don’t have time to read that fascinating article you chanced upon on your phone, but you also don’t want to lose it to the ether, never to come across it again. In cases like that, a great read-it-later app can be a godsend, saving your articles in a readable format – with ads and distractions filtered out – ready for when you have more time to read. Pocket used to be the go-to app for this purpose, but unfortunately it was recently shut down by developer Mozilla. If you’re a diehard Pocket fan – or just want a read-it-later app for your content consumption needs – there’s a new void…

What is it? The latest version of the wireless charging standard Qi (pronounced ‘chee’). It was approved in April and the first devices are now starting to arrive. Wireless? So you don’t need any cables? Correct. Wireless charging has been around since 2009 when the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) introduced Qi. But it took until 2012 for phone manufacturers to make phones that could be charged wirelessly. How does it work? Magnetic induction. Wireless chargers have a coil of wire. When you switch it on, it sends a current through that coil, creating an invisible magnetic field. Your phone has a matching coil. Put the two close enough together, and that magnetic field induces a current in your phone’s coil. That current is turned into electricity, which tops up your…

Hollow Knight: Silksong isn’t Grand Theft Auto VI, but the number of games that scurried away from its September 4 release date, announced as a surprise just two weeks ahead of time, gave it the air of a game nothing could compete with. But what does competing mean when the game in question is a 2D platformer sequel with a cult-like following? Of the delayed games, you can easily see why a Metroidvania sequel like Aeterna Lucis would be sweating. But what about the games that are less obviously aimed at the same exact players? Shouldn’t they be fine even if Silksong’s a mega hit, considering there are more PC gamers than ever? “You can go to the likes of GameDiscoverCo and look at data for past high-performing titles with…

PRICE $29.99 PLATFORM PC, PS5 WEB tinyurl.com/APC552baby Baby Steps is a parody of open world games, and our collective punishment for using the phrase ‘walking simulator’. You play Nate, a basement-dwelling loser mysteriously teleported from his couch to the wilderness like the Pevensie children being magicked to Narnia, only instead of plucky youngsters full of Blitz spirit you are a 35-year-old failure full of pizza. There’s a mountain in the wilderness and maybe if Nate climbs it he’ll be able to go home. It’s as reasonable an assumption as any, so off you set, taking your first (baby) steps, and immediately falling on your dumptruck arse. Baby Steps recommends you play with a controller like a real yakuza, so I did. Squeezing one trigger lifts your foot, pushing a stick…

It isn’t just graphics cards that cost a lot more today than they did recently. It’s the same story for basically every other consumer purchase, from the games we run to make those GPUs sweat, to the teabags that sustain us during that vital scientific testing, and the electricity used to boil the kettle – as has been well documented, it’s all gone through the roof. But this is PC gaming. A subculture whose very origins are founded in the art of bending hardware to our will, making it do things it wasn’t designed for. The first home computers weren’t for gaming, they were for doing boring things, like looking at numbers. If they were meant for fun, they wouldn’t have manufactured them all in hearing-aid beige. Playing games on…