Daily Tech News 30 March 2026

Top Story

Intel's Arrow Lake Refresh isn't even on store shelves yet and it's already had a price increase. (WCCFTech)

10% officially and up to 25% in online listings. Still decent value if it weren't for all the other headwinds Intel is facing here.

Sailing straight into an F5 tornado.
But you can save a lot of money on audiophile-grade cables. (Tom's Hardware)

Mostly by not buying them. Once again, there is no detectable difference between $4000 cables and a $7 pair from the Amazon Basics range.

Tech News

Microplastics are glove contamination. (University of Michigan)

The researchers are sure that once they rule out the omnipresent glove particles they will have the truth and not a big fat ball of nothing.
One day after Microsoft announced a new focus on security, the company had to release an emergency security patch. (Computer Weekly)

For a bug created by the March Windows update.
M4 and M5 Macs can't run external 4k monitors at native resolution in HiDPI mode. (S McLeod)

You might wonder how people didn't notice.

People did.

But Apple doesn't sell a 4k monitor - only 5k and 6k models - so they didn't care.

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Beans.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 G'Day everyone

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 04:02 AM (Ia/+0)

2 G'day Skip.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at March 30, 2026 04:04 AM (BLOW1)

3 G’day, all.

Posted by: French Jeton at March 30, 2026 04:07 AM (j0T5y)

4 PRETENDERS RULE!

Posted by: Caf at March 30, 2026 04:14 AM (qS/Xm)

5 RULERS PRETEND!

Posted by: SciVo at March 30, 2026 04:14 AM (Sy6m/)

6 Wild looking skies in Oz from Tropical Cyclone Narelle. Never seen anything like it.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 30, 2026 04:23 AM (Fbc0I)

7 Mornin'

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 30, 2026 04:26 AM (sAmhv)

8 G'day everyone.

Posted by: Gmac-WTF did you think was going to happen? at March 30, 2026 04:39 AM (Q/FnY)

9 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at March 30, 2026 04:40 AM (bQ4nt)

10 Nine comments in 45 minutes. Sad!

Posted by: hall monitor lizard at March 30, 2026 04:47 AM (QAaXS)

11 Always liked the Pretenders
She let Rush use her music because her dad was a big Rush guy

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 04:47 AM (Ia/+0)

12 Making bank probably didn’t hurt, either.

Posted by: Common Tater at March 30, 2026 04:48 AM (vSCm4)

13 I can watch Duke lose all day.

Posted by: Accomak at March 30, 2026 04:52 AM (wkU1F)

14 My new shiny Macbook Sky comes in today. Looking forward to playing with my new expensive toy. Don't really need another laptop, I just wanted an Apple. Could have gotten a renewed one but didn't. At the moment, I can afford a new Apple. I'm sure I'll like it. I suspect I may need to get some spare cables. I do have 4 external HDs around but I don't think they'll fit without an adapter. Find out when it arrives. I probably do have some cables that will work, just have to find them. I am not an organized type. I'm a wee bit scattered.

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 30, 2026 04:53 AM (sAmhv)

15 I heard Duke lost. Yay! Now I wish I watched the game. Sounded like a good one!

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come at March 30, 2026 04:55 AM (sAmhv)

16 Hello forum techies from your non techie poster

I'm into day three of a "no news" Holy Week fast- although I must admit to accidentally clicking on a "Legal insurrection" site and seeing a headline before I backed out 😉 it feels good.

So I'm here ( as I said I would be ask for prayers ( which I'll do in a moment ) and to relate a story about a " God incident" rather than what others might call a "coincidence". There is a lovely lady in her 90's who resides at the nursing home. She comes to the services even though she is RC. They watch the Mass by simulcast in n Sundays but I am there they last Saturday of the month. Saturday was our recognition of Palm Sunday and Holy Week . Her daughter came and sat through part of the service but had to leave . I always begin a service with a time of silence and suggest breath prayers in which they breathe in and out saying a bit of scripture such as "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want"

Continued below . Don't want to activate spam warnings

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 30, 2026 05:02 AM (JAyzc)

17 >>>I heard Duke lost. Yay! Now I wish I watched the game. Sounded like a good one!

Posted by: Puddleglum, cheer up for the worst is yet to come

>That was one game for the decade. I have a buddy who's a big Duke supporter. You know we busted his balls until he couldn't take it anymore.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 30, 2026 05:04 AM (Fbc0I)

18 G'morning, all!

Been busy with life.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 30, 2026 05:06 AM (iMotb)

19 I have a couple of boxes and a filing cabinet full of cables from my computer building days. I suppose maybe their is some copper in them. But locally the copper thief's have been busy stealing any cables they can find, some power outages have plagued the area.

Posted by: Colin at March 30, 2026 05:06 AM (e8qy3)

20 Disclaimer: Beans.

The first item, is Beans.

Posted by: John Carter of Mars at March 30, 2026 05:08 AM (O7YUW)

21 Watched the UConn/Duke game yesterday with our kitten's grand-Human.

Not really a big fan of any sports, but don't hate them either.

But her husband was traveling back from a mission trip yesterday, and it was just an enjoyable time together after church.

And what an ending to the game.

Wow!

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 30, 2026 05:09 AM (iMotb)

22 16-part 2

Anyway the suggestion for Saturday was "Be still and know that I am God" which is from one of the psalms. The woman's daughter said " I want to show you something" and the back of her cell phone was that very saying! It was great!

And now for the prayer request: My son- the horticulture major has an interview at 10:00 . If you could keep him in prayer I would be so grateful. He's a good young man and as kind poster Boswell would tell you and a good employee . Thanks so much! God bless you

Back to a news fast although I am most grateful for what Ace and JJ. And others provide here.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at March 30, 2026 05:09 AM (JAyzc)

23 Fen I hope he gets it

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 05:12 AM (Ia/+0)

24 Mornin' everyone.

Intel putting prices up on an item, after the initial price has been announced, and before it hits the market: Well that's fine, you can do that, as long as you're willing to watch a bunch of your customers refuse to purchase at that price.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 30, 2026 05:13 AM (O7YUW)

25 I think Chrissie Hynde had Rush donate the money to the charity of her choice.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at March 30, 2026 05:13 AM (gQ15S)

26 Fen, prayers up for your son.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 30, 2026 05:13 AM (iMotb)

27 Good morning Horde,

Our unnaturally mild winter is rolling into what appears to be a dry spring. Mother Nature apparently has a trick or two up her sleeve. Suddenly the forecast is for rain and snow all week. All of our fruit trees are budding early. I hope they don’t end up frozen.

Posted by: Pete Bog at March 30, 2026 05:15 AM (xAJnx)

28 Good luck with your sons job interview. We need people who know how to grow food, before the solar panels take over. My neighbors son was just told his new job is ending already after a year and he is a good kid with a mechanical engineering degree. The company is from out of state and is consolidating research and development in Texas. I have faith that he will survive at the grand old age of 24.

Posted by: Colin at March 30, 2026 05:19 AM (e8qy3)

29 But Apple doesn't sell a 4k monitor - only 5k and 6k models - so they didn't care.

Sounds like Apple.

People have been asking them to put the charging port on the front of the Magic Mouse since 2009 and they still don't care because it would ruin Johnny Ive's elegant design.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 30, 2026 05:19 AM (6ydKt)

30 I think in east we had hardest winter in a long time, and very wet.

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 05:20 AM (Ia/+0)

31 Being it's the tech thread...

I had to replace the front door lock the other week and decided to go with a smart lock from Kwikset.

All went well, install was smooth, and the features seem to be well integrated into the app.

But, the advertised '5 month battery life' seems to be about 15 days in real life. And it has lost WiFi connectivity twice now.

Tech support responded with a rout 'Do these things' and closed out the complaint with n o further action on their part.
A second online complaint has been received, and simply setting there with no reply from them for a week now.

So....I'm disappointed and frustrated with that little adventure.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at March 30, 2026 05:23 AM (iMotb)

32 At least supposed to get to mid 60s today, better tomorrow

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 05:26 AM (Ia/+0)

33 >>>I think in east we had hardest winter in a long time, and very wet.

Posted by: Skip

>This is the mildest winter I've ever seen. Dry with a light snow pack, which will later mean wildfires. Unless we get tropical storms. Weather machines and contrails, that's the ticket.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 30, 2026 05:26 AM (Fbc0I)

34 Evening and morning, late toilers and early risers!

Okay. We're all agreed: It's Monday. But remember:

"Compared to being on the wrong side of the ground, even a bad Monday is pretty small kumquats, nicht wahr?"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 30, 2026 05:26 AM (wzUl9)

35 Heating oil is getting low and have no desire to have to get that delivery now

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 05:27 AM (Ia/+0)

36 Intel has done an excellent job, according to reviews, with the Arrow Lake refresh and the 250K Plus & 270K Plus.

They've gotten these chips working wonders for productivity apps, beating AMD on the regular. Gaming has much improved to now being on par with the 14900K from three years ago and the new chips are often beating AMD's equivalent non-X3D chips. They are also much less power-hungry than their recent CPUs.

The problem is the chips are on for a dead-end socket so you can't upgrade them in socket on current motherboards.

But this bodes extremely well for Intel's next generation Nova Lake chips that are supposed to come out later this year.
Intel might finally be able to compete, or beat, AMD in productivity & gaming for the first time in years.

2027 should be a very good year for CPUs with AMD's Zen 6 coming out as well.

Terrible year for everything else, though.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 30, 2026 05:29 AM (6ydKt)

37 Actually got enough sleep by my standards; Stirling the great black cat did not wake me up.

I happened to see a new channel on my online TV guide last night; they were running Charade w/ Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. According to the schedule they wre supposed to be showing the Darren McGavin 1950s Mike Hammer right now, and the Jack Lord series Stoney Burke (!) at five. But the channel is showing a test pattern. Oh, well.

The channel? It's called "Ace"!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 30, 2026 05:29 AM (wzUl9)

38 Googles apple magic mouse
They put the charging port on the bottom of the mouse?
Yeah, it looks sleek, but that's an impracticable place.
We do all sorts of odd things for sexy looks

Posted by: Accomak at March 30, 2026 05:31 AM (wkU1F)

39 ^^^^ should be:

The problem is the chips are on a dead-end socket so you can't upgrade them with next-gen CPUs in socket after current motherboards.

*Yawns*
*drinks more caffeine*

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 30, 2026 05:31 AM (6ydKt)

40 Have a little job to go to first, not sure where afterwards
At least wifi there I found out.

Posted by: Skip at March 30, 2026 05:33 AM (Ia/+0)

41 >>>I had to replace the front door lock the other week and decided to go with a smart lock from Kwikset.

All went well, install was smooth, and the features seem to be well integrated into the app.

>Wait, your lock comes with an app? More wireless noise? Amazing. Our brains are being saturated and we're drowning in RFI.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 30, 2026 05:33 AM (Fbc0I)

42 I had a choice of LG ranges with the features we wanted. Said no the model with wifi.

Posted by: Accomak at March 30, 2026 05:33 AM (wkU1F)

43 Sat down with my state tax form yesterday.

It's a car crash, and a big one. Fortunately I do not have to pay until 5/15.

This morning, too, I have to order my new tires, and then have a video call with the lender in Kansas who's been "pre-approving" me. So, Monday.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at March 30, 2026 05:35 AM (wzUl9)

44 $4000 for an audio cable?

I can think of A LOT of better things to do with $4000 than an audio cable.

I've never understood that part of audiophilia at all.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at March 30, 2026 05:36 AM (6ydKt)

45 I understand it perfectly - if you can sell some idiot a $4000 cable, it’s nice work. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Posted by: Common Tater at March 30, 2026 05:38 AM (P7T1m)

46 @31/Village Idiot's Apprentice:

After you've secured another company's lock and put that on, I'd package everything back up for the Kwikset smart lock, and return it as "not fit for purpose", with an explanation as well.

You tried, in good faith, to use the company's support. It sucks. You owe them nothing.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at March 30, 2026 05:39 AM (O7YUW)

47 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 30, 2026 05:40 AM (u82oZ)

48 Good morning, one and all.

Hadrian, I sent the picture of The Big Dummy to my mother. She thinks it's outrageous that he's not allowed to have a beer and a TV in his crate but I explained that dog shows probably had rules about it.

Posted by: NR Pax at March 30, 2026 05:41 AM (BpO1e)

49 >>>I understand it perfectly - if you can sell some idiot a $4000 cable, it’s nice work. Rinse, lather, repeat.

Posted by: Common Tater

>Hah! For $4K I could use some new industrial grade eardrums. Yeah, that's not coming back.

Posted by: Rev. Wishbone at March 30, 2026 05:41 AM (Fbc0I)

50 Village Idiot's Apprentice

Top o ta mornin to ya, gov'nor.

Doing more walking these days. I now have four different widows to walk inside the mall with.

Walking, not stalking.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at March 30, 2026 05:42 AM (u82oZ)

51 All the available retail homey depot doors, door locks and hardware are pure trash. I wondered about that some years back, where’s the “good stuff”?

Posted by: Common Tater at March 30, 2026 05:44 AM (CLXqj)

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