February 2023 - Vullkancasino

The Amazon Kindle store may soon be overflowing with books by ChatGPT

The Amazon Kindle has been a real boon for self-publishing authors, but its virtual bookstore may be overrun by a particularly prolific new scribe: ChatGPT.

As noted Reuters, there are already 200 e-books in the Amazon Kindle store, authored or co-authored by ChatGPT. But since Amazon doesn’t require authors to disclose whether they’ve used AI, this is likely a huge underestimation of the number of titles written or co-created by AI tools.

Books created by ChatGPT are published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct publishing division, which publishes over 1.4 million self-published books (opens in a new tab) each year and sells them alongside those written by famous authors.

No mention of AI tools like ChatGPT in the Amazon Kindle Publishing Guidelines (opens in a new tab)or any need for publishers to disclose them themselves, this number could skyrocket given the popularity of “large language models” that are particularly skilled at generating text from prompts.

This is great news for “authors” who want to dramatically increase their productivity by channeling ideas through the increasingly popular ChatGPT, which is now also available on Bing. In one example cited by Reuters, a New York retailer with no previous writing experience created a 30-page illustrated children’s book in a matter of hours and sold it through Amazon.

But it’s also a potential bombshell for both authors and readers, given that Amazon’s virtual shelves could soon be flooded with AI-created books. We’ve asked Amazon for comment on how it plans to address this issue and will update this story when we get a response.

For now, Amazon simply told us that “all books in the store must match ours content guidelines (opens in a new tab)including respecting intellectual property rights and all other applicable laws.” However, it seems clear that he will need to go further if his Kindle store is to maintain a sense of order and help readers distinguish books written by a robot from real authors.

Analysis: Amazon will have to stop robo-authors

(Image credit: Amazon)

The rapid growth of AI tools like ChatGPT is both a blessing and a curse for self-publishers, depending on how you view the technology. Their text generation skills are ideal for quickly creating first drafts, but authors also risk drowning in a sea of homogeneous doppelgängers.

Given that “big language models” such as ChatGPT and Google’s upcoming Bard are being trained on human-created content, there are also potentially huge copyright issues with works that are primarily generated using AI tools.

Seemingly, the amount of work generated by artificial intelligence in the Amazon Kindle store remains a drop in the ocean of its entire range. But that picture could change quite quickly, given the huge number of tutorials on YouTube and Reddit that show how easy it is to create and sell a new book in just a few hours.

Amazon’s goal for Kindle Direct has always been to remove all barriers to entry for beginning authors and speed up the creation of new titles. His Kindle Direct Tips (opens in a new tab) the site proudly states that “there are no gatekeepers to decide which books get published.”

While this policy is unlikely to change overnight, some AI detection tools may be required to at least flag ChatGPT-generated books to readers. Without moderation, the best Kindle readers could soon see their virtual shelves groan under the weight of some extremely prolific new AI authors.

Activision finally confirms that there has been a serious data breach

Publishing giant Activision confirmed that there was a data breach at the end of last year.

Despite downplaying the incident, many in the media, as well as the underground hacking community, say the breach was serious.

The news surfaced on Twitter, where vx-underground cybersecurity researchers shared screenshots of stolen data and messages posted by hackers in Activision’s Slack workspaces. The data was apparently stolen in early December last year, after an Activision employee phished the credentials, resulting in cybercriminals downloading employee internal data and some gaming data from the company’s endpoints (opens in a new tab).

Downplaying the incident

Activision spokesman Joseph Christinat responded to the news by sharing a statement saying the company “quickly” responded to the attack and “quickly resolved it.” The same statement claims that the cybercriminals did not gain access to any sensitive employee data, game code or player data.

But vx-underground begs for something else. Files shared by the group TechCrunch they showed employees’ full names, phone numbers, corporate email addresses, and in some cases even their office postal addresses. All important information that can be used in identity theft and social engineering attacks.

Although the media did not explicitly say so, they suggest that Activision was trying to cover up the data breach. It had happened almost three months ago, but his employees were also unaware of it. Two employees were talking TechCrunchconfirming that this is a problem

“If an employee’s information is involved, they should have disclosed the breach,” one of the publication’s employees said.

Activision is one of the largest game publishers in the world, with such titles as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty.

The company is currently working on an acquisition deal with Microsoft, with the latter allegedly agreeing to buy the company for $68.7 billion. However, regulators in various jurisdictions opposed the deal, media reported.

By: TechCrunch (opens in a new tab)

AMD plans to harness the power of AI to transform gaming with its next-gen GPUs

AMD CEOs David Wang and Rick Bergman have confirmed that we will see much more AI in the next generation graphic cards from the tech giant, which will be built on the AMD RDNA 4 architecture.

In a recent interview with Japanese gaming site 4gamer, AMD executives detailed what we can expect from RDNA 4. Of course, the front and center were confirmation that we’d see a second iteration of Team Red’s AI accelerator cores (similar to Nvidia’s Tensor cores), which were first introduced in the current generation RDNA 3 GPUs – such as excellent Radeon RX 7900 XTXCurrently AMD’s best graphics card in the shop.

Nvidia’s tech is still light years ahead of AMD when it comes to AI processes – just look at RTX4090 – but these second-generation AI cores should offer a major step forward. Aside from the accelerator cores, the two also discussed some other cool new features, most notably the new GPU independent pipeline which allows rendering and texturing processes to be generated purely on the GPU without having to communicate with the CPU.

This has great potential to increase the processing speed of RDNA 4 GPUs as it will not have to rely on the CPU and system RAM to perform certain tasks, effectively eliminating two potential system bottlenecks. According to Wang and Bergman, we can expect a massive 2.2x performance increase over current RDNA 3 cards.

Analysis: AMD fully supports the fashion for artificial intelligence

Perhaps even more interestingly, Wang was eager to discuss implementing AI in the gaming space. In an interview with 4gamer, he stated that AI hardware should not only be used to improve the graphical aspect of games, claiming that the inference cores on the GPU can actually be used to improve the gameplay itself.

This has potentially terrifying implications – imagine you’re playing a shooter where the enemies are actually driven by a deep learning AI housed in your computer that really reacts, learns, and adapts to your actions. Sounds the same the youngest somewhat dystopian to imagine the boss fight in the game ChatGPT.

Still, on a slightly less terrifying level, it’s interesting to consider the uses of AI cores for things like NPC pathfinding in games. Every player has complained at some point that the game’s characters walk too slowly or get stuck on the door frame due to wobbly pathfinding – Wang believes that AI cores can solve many such immersion-breaking problems.

It’s kind of funny that AMD is so committed to AI now, ever since Team Red he was basically mocking Nvidia last year for relying too much on AI technology in their RTX i GPUs DLSS. In its defense, AMD has proven that upscaling technology such as DLSS can be achieved without the use of AI, as seen in the Radeon FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) software. AMD’s seniors seem to have become AI converts, but they have different – and intriguing – ideas on how it should be used compared to Nvidia’s plans. We cannot blame them for wanting to go in a different direction; Nvidia has been having a lot of problems lately.

While we don’t know exactly when RDNA 4 will land, AMD’s 2-year tenure when it comes to GPU launches means we can most likely expect them towards the end of 2024. Bergman assured 4gamer that new cards will be released in the near future, although “close” may be a stretch here.

US government email server found without password protection

A US government email server has been detected online without the correct password (opens in a new tab) protect its contents by essentially disclosing sensitive information to anyone who knew where to look for it. Did anyone really know where to look – it remains to be seen.

The exposed email server was hosted on Microsoft’s government-owned Azure cloud for the Department of Defense, allowing sensitive but still unclassified data to be shared.

This service offers servers that are physically disconnected from commercial customers and was part of an internal mailbox system that contained approximately 3 TB of internal military emails, some of which related to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), a military special operations.

Terabytes of data

However, it seems that the server was not password protected, so you only need to know the IP address to access it and all the data stored on it.

This hosted data reportedly contained sensitive information such as internal military emails, personal information and health information about certain government employees, and more.

The breach was spotted by security researcher Anurag Sen, who notified TechCrunch of the news so it could alert the US government.

TechCrunch said it has seen some data hosted on the server and believes it is unclassified, “which would be consistent with the civilian USSOCOM network,” it argues.

The server was first listed as being leaked on February 8, but there’s no explanation yet as to why this happened.

Soon after, TechCrunch contacted USSOCOM, and the server was locked down the next day.

Responding to an email inquiry, USSOCOM spokesman Ken McGraw said the incident was not the result of a hack: “We can confirm that no one has hacked into US Special Operations Command information systems at this point in time,” McGraw said.

By: TechCrunch (opens in a new tab)

Revealed: Here’s what Google says will be the biggest trends in cloud data and AI this year

Google has released its 2023 Data and AI Trends Report, with a number of points it believes will become more prevalent in the coming months and years.

IN blog (opens in a new tab) Discussing the report, Google Cloud Data & Analytics VP Gerrit Kazmaier and Google Cloud Databases VP Andi Gutmans explain how addressing these five trends will help companies stay relevant and competitive.

The research will also benefit Google in its efforts to simplify data integration, increase AI adoption, and meet security requirements.

Cloud and AI Trends 2023

Google estimates that in the years leading up to 2026, more than eight in 10 (82%) organizations will move out of data silos as they work to implement a more integrated cloud data platform. The company’s cloud division hopes to improve the way its users store, manage, analyze and govern their data with an emphasis on cost optimization.

The study also confirms the drive towards open source solutions that prevent lockdowns, which they say is critical for rapid AI adoption, faster development cycles and increased return on investment.

Artificial intelligence is also projected to reach a “tipping point” by 2025, and consumers have already demonstrated how eager they are to use the technology with popular tools such as ChatGPT OpenAI and the upcoming Google Bard. Statistics suggest that by this year, 90% of new enterprise app releases will include built-in AI capabilities.

It is also said that analytics and insights will receive a significant boost in the near future as companies look to achieve more efficient decision-making and investments in data and AI have already increased over the last 18 months.

Finally, the way companies process data via cloud storage needs a significant change. Numerous compliance regulations and mandates require different types of data retention, and a generic approach can put businesses and their customers at risk. While the exact solution remains to be determined, more than three-quarters (77%) of companies are striving to improve their ability to classify data and enforce better security and privacy controls.

As we look ahead to the coming years, it is clear that how we handle data will become even more important, with AI helping to improve many of our current business operations.

Where to buy PSVR 2 – The new PS5 VR headset is here

PSVR 2 launches today and is actually in stock – a shocking twist for anyone who struggled to buy a PS5 for months when availability was so low. You may have read our PSVR 2 review and are now convinced to give this powerful and high-quality console-based virtual reality headset a try. If so, here’s where to buy PlayStation VR 2.

Right now PlayStation VR 2 costs $549.99 / £529.99 / AU$879.95 and is only available through the official Direct PlayStation Store (opens in a new tab) in this early launch window. It is unclear when this period of exclusivity will end or when it will be available at other retailers in these regions. For the money, you get a PSVR 2 headset, PSVR 2 Sense controllers, and a pair of stereo headphones.

There is also the option to purchase the PSVR 2 bundle which comes with a VR headset and a copy of one of the main PSVR games Mountain Call Horizon for $599.99 / £569.99 / AU$959.95. As for the accessories, the only official one currently available is the PSVR 2 Sense Controller Charging Dock for $49.99 / £39.99.

PlayStation VR 2 – where to buy

Do I need a PS5 to use PSVR 2?

Yes. Sony’s second generation VR headset is powered by the PS5, so you’ll need the latest console to use it. It’s not a standalone piece of equipment like Meta Quest 2. Combined, it’s a costly investment. However, it’s still more affordable than similarly powerful PC VR headsets.

And following the high praise given in our review, it looks like Sony has kicked it out of the park with this new release. In fact, the PSVR 2 has already made it onto our list of the best VR headsets.

The image quality is superb, the controls are very responsive and easy to set up. There is a good selection of early titles that also showcase technology. Not only is he mentioned Mountain Call Horizonbut there are also VR versions Tetris effect, Rez Infinity AND Resident Evil Village thanks to the free DLC update.

We’ve rounded up some of the latest PSVR 2 compatible game deals below:

(Image credit: Sony)

When will PSVR 2 be available for purchase from other retailers?

It seems that Sony has learned from previous mistakes after the PS5 restocking fiasco and is limiting PSVR 2 distribution at such an early stage. With the PlayStation VR 2 price and release date announced, the manufacturer has confirmed that the official PlayStation Direct store is the only place to buy the latest VR headsets if you’re in the US, UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands or Luxembourg.

However, it has also been confirmed that the PSVR 2 will be available for purchase at other select retailers in other regions. It is best to check stock information with major local stores.

The PlayStation Direct store exclusivity also applies to this initial launch phase, but there is no indication of when it will be lifted. You can stay with us for the latest on where to buy PSVR 2 in the coming months, as well as any PlayStation VR deals when they first become available.

F1 TV explained: what it is, what it includes, the cost, how to get it

The 2023 F1 season will be the most exciting yet, with 23 races confirmed, including the inaugural Las Vegas Grand Prix. What’s more, motorsport fans can get closer to the action with F1 TV, the sport’s official streaming service.

Providing viewers with extensive coverage of race days, practice sessions, paddocks, live timing and tons of exclusive F1 content, read our full guide to using F1 TV and F1 TV Pro online and on your TV.

Available in over 80 countries, including the US and India, the F1 TV app has seen a leap forward in recent years. Coverage is now offered in Full HD, users can select localized comments and explore the world by switching between multiple camera feeds.

Below we’ll introduce you to the two versions of the F1 TV – basic and premium – and explain what you get for your money…

What is F1 TV and F1 TV Pro?

F1 TV is the FIA’s own dedicated “over the top” streaming service for the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. The service is available in two different tiers:

F1 TV Pro is a premium service offer (opens in a new tab)and offers subscribers live coverage of every Formula 1 race of the season. In addition to this, you can also broadcast every session on the track for all GPs and access all drivers’ onboard cameras and team radio, as well as access to live broadcasts of F2, F3 and Porsche Supercup races.

Another exclusive to F1 TV Pro subscribers is the super cool Live Timing feature, which lets you check real-time telemetry and tire wear history of your drivers during races.

The key difference between F1 TV Pro and significantly cheaper Access to F1 TV rung (opens in a new tab) is that the latter does not include live coverage of the races, offering delayed replays and highlights instead.

Both tiers offer on-demand access to over 2,000 hours of F1 footage, with a surplus of every Grand Prix since 1981.

(Image credit: Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

(opens in a new tab)

Where can I watch F1 TV and F1 TV Pro?

F1 TV Pro offers live broadcasts in six languages in over 80 countries. However, exclusive TV rights deals in some countries mean a bonus F1 TV Pro level and live race coverage is not available everywhere, only from Access to F1 TV level available in these regions.

For example, F1 TV Pro is available in the US, Canada and India, but not the UK and Ireland as Sky Sports has exclusive rights to Formula 1 until 2029. Similarly, the F1 TV Pro is not available in Australia, New Zealand, Spain or Germany.

You can find out what type of coverage is available on F1 TV in your region checking here (opens in a new tab).

How much does F1 TV cost and does it have a free trial?

F1 TV varies slightly in price by region. In the US, F1 TV Pro is typically $79 for an annual subscription, while F1 TV Access is $26.99 per year.

The website also offers free 7 day trial of F1 TV Pro (opens in a new tab) in some countries, including India, but not in the United States. It’s also cheaper in India – only $29.99 a year after the free trial.

How to watch F1 TV?

It’s quite simple to launch and start watching all the motor racing on F1 TV. Begin from going to the website (opens in a new tab)selecting the correct region and registering or using the free trial period.

The service offers dedicated apps for most major platforms such as Apple, Android, Roku, and the Amazon Fire App.

The service is also available to be viewed on a PC via all major web browsers.

How to watch on TV?

With F1 TV now offers its coverage in glorious 1080p across a range of devices including Apple TV, Android TV (not supported by the TV app), Amazon Fire TV and Roku 3900x and above.

You can also stream F1 TV from your browser using Apple Airplay (for Apple TV only) or Google Chromecast, letting you watch all the action on the big screen.

Lewis Hamilton on F1 TV — (Image credit: Clive Mason – Formula 1 / Formula 1 via Getty Images)

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Where else can I watch F1?

As mentioned, not all regions have an F1 TV package with live Grand Prix coverage, with the notable exceptions being the UK, Ireland and Australia. So check out our dedicated F1 live stream guide for the best information in your regions.

Those who want to watch all the Down Under action are served by Fox Sports, who have the rights to broadcast the 2021 season live in Australia. If you don’t have Fox as part of your pay TV package, your best option may be to sign up for its fast-growing sister offering Kayo sports (opens in a new tab) streaming service.

Even better, Kayo offers FREE two-week trial (opens in a new tab)!

After that Kayo Sports Basic Pack (opens in a new tab) it costs $25 per month and allows users to stream on two devices at the same time. The site also offers Kayo Premium Sports Pack (opens in a new tab)which provides three simultaneous streams for $35/month.

You can watch every 2023 F1 GP UK & Ireland via Sky Sports (opens in a new tab) and a dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel. Subscribers can also watch on the move using Sky Go app (opens in a new tab)which is available on almost all modern phones, tablets, laptops, personal computers and consoles.

While the US and Canada are well served with F1 TV offering full live coverage of the races in both regions, viewers in both countries also have the option to watch via traditional linear broadcasters.

For the 2023 F1 season, it is ESPN (opens in a new tab) which will provide comprehensive coverage in the United States. Cable cutters are in luck too because you can get ESPN without having an expensive cable package through top providers like Slingshot TV (opens in a new tab)AND fuboTV (opens in a new tab).

Meanwhile, in Canada, you can watch F1 2023 races in English TSN (opens in a new tab) or French speaking RDS (opens in a new tab) – but these are premium channels that usually come with a pay TV package.

If you get them as part of your cable deal, you’ll be able to simply log in with your provider details and access F1 live streams.

Do you like the sound of F1 TV? Go to the website now (opens in a new tab)register and start watching!

The best password manager denies that its entire database can be stolen

The open-source password manager KeePass has debunked claims that it has a serious vulnerability allowing unauthorized access to users’ password vaults.

KeePass is primarily intended for individual use, not as a business password manager. It differs from many popular password managers in that it does not store its database on cloud servers; instead, it stores them locally on the user’s device.

The newly discovered vulnerability CVE-2023-24055 (opens in a new tab)allows hackers who have already gained access to the user’s system to export the entire vault in plain text by altering the XML configuration file, completely exposing all usernames and passwords.

Not our problem

When the victim opens KeePass and enters the master password to access their vault, this will export the database to a file that hackers can steal. The process runs silently in the background without notifying KeePass or the operating system, so no verification or authentication is required, making the victim no smarter.

Users on a SourceForge forum (opens in a new tab) asked KeePass to either require a master password before allowing exports, or disable the export feature by default and require a master password to enable it again.

A practical exploit for this vulnerability has already been made available online, so it is only a matter of time before malware writers develop it further and make it widely available.

Without denying the existence of the CVE-2023-24055 vulnerability, KeePass argues that it cannot protect against cyber criminals who already control your system. They said cybercriminals with write access to a user’s system could steal their password vault through all sorts of means they couldn’t prevent.

This was described as a “configuration file write access” issue in April 2019, with KeePass claiming that it is not a vulnerability in the password manager itself.

The developers said that “Having write access to the KeePass configuration file typically means that an attacker can actually perform much more powerful attacks than modifying the configuration file (and these attacks can eventually affect KeePass as well, regardless of the protection of the configuration file) “.

“These attacks can only be prevented by keeping the environment secure (using anti-virus software, firewall, not opening unknown email attachments, etc.). KeePass cannot magically work securely in an unsecured environment,” they added.

While KeePass doesn’t want to add any extra security to prevent unauthorized XML file export, there is a workaround that users can try. If they log in as a user administrator instead, they can create a forced configuration file that prevents the export from running. First, they have to make sure that no one else has write access to KeePass files and directories before they activate the admin account.

However, even this is not foolproof as attackers can run a copy of the KeePass executable in a different directory than where the forced configuration file is stored, meaning that according to KeePass “this copy does not know the forced configuration file that is stored in another place, [therefore] no settings are enforced.

Want to hard lock your system? Then you should consider using the best security keys

QNAP encourages customers to upgrade now to protect themselves from a dangerous vulnerability

A new exploit has been discovered that affects QNAP customers running the latest OS versions: QTS 5.0.1 and QuTS hero h.5.0.1, but don’t worry, apply this patch and you should be fine.

The vulnerability is said to allow cybercriminals to inject malicious code and has a score of 9.8 (out of 10) on the Common Security Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), making it critical.

We are not sure what the implications would be if a cyberattack were to take place, but QNAP encourages its customers to update and install patches immediately.

QNAP security patch

The exploit codenamed CVE-2022-27596 is marked as “resolved” on the company’s website website (opens in a new tab)detailing how users can check for firmware updates.

QNAP NAS users should go to Control Panel > System > Firmware Update and select Check for Update under Live Update. Users can also manually update by downloading the firmware from Support > Download Center.

The vulnerability has been fixed in the following versions:

QTS 5.0.1.2234 build 20221201 and later
QuTS hero h5.0.1.2248 build 20221215 and later

This is not the first time QNAP customers have been urged to take action to prevent a cyberattack. In fact, the company is regularly attacked. That said, for the most part, it was quick to respond to exploits and issue patches in a timely manner, giving its users the confidence that it is committed to protecting their data.

Moreover, NAS attacks are unfortunately a common occurrence, and users of all types of devices are encouraged to protect their data as best as they can. This may include, but is not limited to, using strong credentials and authentication, and using VPNs and firewalls.

The MacBook Pro’s new 14-inch SSD is slower than the 2021 MacBook Pro, and that’s a good thing

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro is already one of the hottest products of 2023 thanks to Apple’s new M2 Pro and M2 Max chips, but if new reports are to be believed, this fancy new silicon could come with a rather irritating trade-off: a slower SSD.

British tech channel Zone of Tech reported a much slower SSD in the new 14-inch MacBook Pro than in the 2021 14-inch MacBook Pro.

NOTE: We just discovered that the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro M2 Pro (512GB) is significantly slower than the previous 14-inch M1 Pro model. Apple is likely to reuse single SSD modules (like the entry-level 256GB M2 Air and M2 MacBook Pro). More tests coming soon. pic.twitter.com/3kMiHVDxaFJanuary 24, 2023

After Zone of Tech posted news on Twitter (opens in a new tab), 9to5Mac confirmed (opens in a new tab) that he sees the same thing in his MacBook Pro and posted photos of the SSD inside the MacBook itself which appeared to reveal a single SSD NAND chip, not the two NAND chips in the M1 MacBook Air and M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro models.

Although the capacity of a single SSD and a dual-chip SSD are the same – 256 GB – splitting the SSD into two separate chips allows it to read and write data anywhere on the SSD more efficiently.

According to 9to5Mac’s Blackmagic Disk Speed Test – which we haven’t independently verified – the new Apple M2 with M2 Pro and 512GB SSD scored 3,154.4 MB/s write and 2,973.4 MB/s read, placing it far behind the 2021 MacBook Pro, which scored 3950.8 MB/s for writing and 4900.3 MB/s for reading in the same test.

This prompted 9to5Mac to open up the MacBook Pro to delve into its innards to find the culprit, after which it actually found a new, less efficient SSD configuration using two 256GB NAND SSD chips working in concert instead of the four 128GB chips used in 2021. 14-inch MacBook Pro.

How Tom’s gear notes that this alone is enough to slow down disk access speeds, which would be reflected in the new reports, and also says that the new M2 Mac mini’s 256GB configurations also suffer from the same SSD performance degradation.

But will anyone really notice—or care?

We haven’t verified SSD “degradation” ourselves, but it would make sense. Apple caught a lot of criticism for raising the price of the MacBook Air in 2022, so there must have been pressure to keep prices on par with previous models. In fact, I applaud it, given how price inflation around the world has seriously strained people’s finances in the past year.

If Apple had to go from four NAND SSDs to two to save some money, it’s honestly worth the trade-off – yes, even for a high-end MacBook Pro. Read/write speeds on the new 14-inch MacBook Pro according to these reports are still very high, fast enough that no one even noticed any slowdown.

Only when you compare the latest MacBook Pro with its predecessor will you be able to see the difference, and even then you’ll need to use a disk speed booster that probably less than 5% of users know about. And unless you’re upgrading to the new 2023 MacBook Pro from the 2021 MacBook Pro (which we don’t recommend), you never even know there’s a problem.

It’s also worth noting that the SSDs in MacBooks aren’t even the best SSDs out there. In my review of the Samsung 990 Pro, which is not available for any MacBook, I got a sequential read speed of 7465.49 MB/s and a sequential write speed of 6887.68 MB/s, while random read/write speeds were 5467.60 MB/s respectively 4104.87MB/s.

That’s way ahead of the 2021 MacBook Pro at its best, and the 990 Pro is a PCIe 4.0 SSD. Once PCIe 5.0 SSDs become popular, not even the best MacBook Pro will be able to keep up with these SSD speeds. And it won’t matter because ultimately raw performance isn’t really the reason people go out and buy MacBook Pro devices. They buy them for ease of use, compatibility, and style (which is debatable, but digressing).

Would you rather spend hundreds more on a new MacBook Pro for a faster SSD?

Some will argue that by spending that much money you shouldn’t have any performance drop, but after all the supply chain issues that have driven up the prices of consumer goods all over the world, there’s simply no way he can get the same thing you did last time for the same price.

If you wanted top performance in all areas, you would now have to pay extra for that privilege. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, but we both know that’s been the case for the past few years and if Apple had decided not to change the SSD and just decided to plug in the price of the 14 inch MacBook Pro by $400 in all areas, that would be something everyone would rightfully complain about.

In the meantime, Apple has basically managed to produce a laptop that is otherwise 20% to 30% faster in all the workloads MacBook Pro users need it for, so MacBook Pro buyers shouldn’t feel like they’re being ripped off. . There are a lot of things about Apple’s recent launch that are legally unacceptable (like offering a penny for a trade-in for a 2021 MacBook Pro), but that’s not really it.