Asus just announced its first rapid-trigger gaming keyboard, but the timing is awkward. The Falchion Ace HFX includes a rapid-trigger toggle, which immediately resets the keypress when you release it. Brands like Razer and Wooting have used this for speed tapping, allowing you to strafe very quickly in games like Counter-Strike 2. The problem? Valve just banned this sort of rapid triggering in Counter-Strike 2.
You can still use the feature in other games, but it’s possible other titles will follow Valve’s lead to ban this type of hardware advantage. Regardless, the Falchion Ace HFX is still an exciting keyboard. It’s the first keyboard Asus has released that uses Hall Effect, or magnetic, switches. You can still get the advantages of an instant reset with the Falchion Ace HFX in games like Counter-Strike 2, even if you don’t use the speed tapping feature.
The keyboard itself comes in a 60% frame, but Asus crams in the keys for a 65% layout. This is the same layout we saw with the Falchion RX LP earlier this year. The Falchion Ace HFX uses full-sized keycaps, however, so it should be more suitable for competitive play.
To also help with competitive play, the Falchion Ace HFX includes an 8,000Hz polling rate, which we first saw on the ROG Azoth Extreme recently. You can connect the keyboard with USB-C, but Asus includes two USB-C ports on the keyboard. That allows you to position the cable comfortably depending on your setup, or to connect the keyboard to multiple PCs and quickly swap between them.
Despite the competitive focus, Asus didn’t skimp when it comes to the internal build of the Falchion Ace HFX. The keyboard includes a gasket mount and five layers of internal sound dampening, so it should hold up between matches when you’re typing.
Asus hasn’t announced pricing or a release date for the Falchion Ace HFX yet, but it says the keyboard should arrive in the last few months of the year. Given the rapid-trigger feature and the robust internal design, you should expect the keyboard to land above $150, and possibly even push above $200.
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.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.
After spending years with touchscreen Windows laptops, I've become rather accustomed to reaching out and tapping the screen if I just want to interact with something quickly. It's a small convenience, one that feels natural as soon as you get used to it. But whenever I use a MacBook for a bit, I inevitably find myself reaching for the screen before realizing that Apple has never offered this feature for its notebooks.
Apple has resisted touchscreen Macs for years, but that might finally change. The company is reportedly preparing to introduce its first touchscreen MacBook Pro, complete with an OLED display and a redesigned interface that accommodates touch input. Not to be confused with the new $2,000 M6 MacBook Pro, which just launched with minimal updates over its predecessor.