It’s difficult to think of an online retailer that is more trustworthy than Amazon. However, reports are circulating that customers who recently purchased Ryzen CPUs from the site have received fake components, prompting questions about how these items entered the supply chain.
Earlier this month, Reddit user Sh00ter999 posted an image gallery to the site detailing his experience with a fake Ryzen CPU. While the exterior packaging of the component initially looked legitimate, opening up the box and looking at the processor itself revealed that something was amiss.
Whereas real Ryzen CPUs have the products name embossed into the surface of the component, Sh00ter999 found that his part simply had a sticker attached to its exterior. Removing this sticker revealed what had really been delivered — an Intel Celeron processor with 2.9 GHz.
The issues with Sh00ter999’s order did not stop there. In addition to the processor itself not being what it seemed, the accompanying Wraith Spire LED cooler was by no means in the sort of condition you would expect a new component to be in. It was dented, dirty, and clearly not the actual cooler that AMD bundles with its Ryzen CPUs.
It’s not entirely clear how this phony Ryzen CPU happened to be sent to an Amazon customer. When asked by a fellow Reddit user, Sh00ter999 confirmed that he bought the part directly from the site, rather than from a third-party seller. The going theory is that someone else purchased the product, swapped out the processor and the cooler, then returned it for a refund while keeping the legitimate parts.
While the processor didn’t hold up to close scrutiny, the AMD seal on the box was apparently a pretty convincing fake. Adding weight to this theory is the fact that the plastic packaging around the CPU itself seemed to have been sealed with a cigarette lighter, rather than professional equipment.
There is a happy ending to this story — Sh00ter999 got in touch with Amazon’s perennially helpful customer service department and was shipped a replacement processor overnight. This seems to be an isolated incident, but more than one customer has reported the scam, according to PC Gamer.
Update: We’ve reached out to Amazon for an official statement on the matter.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.