Personal computers got a lot more exciting in 2021 thanks to Intel and Apple. Intel got a new chief executive who has plans for the giant chipmaker to reclaim its faded glory. Meanwhile, Apple introduced Macs with its own powerful new processors that challenge Intel’s plans. Processors — the electronic brains, also called chips, that …

I didn’t really need to upgrade to an M1 Max-powered MacBook Pro. After spending hours using Adobe’s Lightroom photo editing and cataloging software, boy, am I glad I did.  The speed of the new MacBook Pro knocked my socks off. The battery life was similarly impressive. And it’s great having an SD card reader back for importing photos and videos …

A startup called SiFive announced a new processor design Thursday that could revamp mobile phones, cars and other digital devices if the company’s plans work out. Its Performance P650 design comes with a 50% speed boost over the P550 that arrived in June.  The San Mateo, California-based company hopes its designs will offer a better balance of speed, battery life and cost thanks to …

Honeywell Quantum Solutions and Cambridge Quantum, two big companies in the nascent but potentially revolutionary quantum computing technology, completed merger plans to become a new company called Quantinuum on Tuesday. The new 400-employee company is a bigger competitor to tech giants like Google, IBM, Intel and Microsoft that also hope to cash in on quantum computing. The two companies each …

The Commerce Department on Wednesday barred US firms from exporting quantum computing technology to eight Chinese companies and labs to try to keep the country from decrypting sensitive US communications and developing new military technology. “Global trade and commerce should support peace, prosperity, and good-paying jobs, not national security risks,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in a statement. Though still technologically …

This story is part of Road Trip 2021, CNET’s coverage of the push and pull to manufacture more products in the USA. When you walk among the hulking machines inside an Intel chip factory, you feel simultaneously dwarfed and gigantic. Dwarfed because such factories, called fabs, are enormous facilities covering dozens of acres. And gigantic because the processors they build …

When Apple debuted the Touch Bar on its new MacBook Pro laptops five years ago, I was willing to give the technology giant the benefit of the doubt. The narrow touch-sensitive display along the top of the keyboard certainly offered a surprising new user interface option. And I needed a new computer. It was a chance to try something new. Alas, …

A new search engine called You.com is challenging Google’s dominance with a promise of better privacy and more elaborate results. The startup launched its service Tuesday with $20 million in funding from venture capital firms and a big name in tech, Salesforce Chief Executive Marc Benioff. You.com, now in public beta testing, won’t sell your personal information, track you online or show …

The iPhone 13 Pro models are the first Apple smartphones to use the ProMotion feature to help graphics and text slide by fluidly when you’re scrolling. That means now’s a good time to learn about the screen technology called LTPO that enables it. LTPO stands for low temperature polycrystalline oxide. That mouthful translates to better battery life on premium mobile devices. …

Moore’s Law, the gauge of steady processor progress from Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, has taken a beating in recent years. But with new chipmaking technology, it’s making a comeback, Intel Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said Wednesday. “Moore’s law is alive and well,” Gelsinger said at the company’s online Innovation event. “Today we are predicting that we will maintain or even …