I think we can agree that most people will never need anything more than a midrange processor for average use and only overbuy due to marketing.

Speaking only for myself, I’ve become accustomed to the snappiness of higher end processors and high refresh screens. All the screens I use on a daily basis are 120hz+ and even though I don’t game on my phone, the benefits of having a high refresh rate screen has become a nice quality of life feature for me. I still have a 60hz phone that I test as a degoogled phone and the difference is quite noticeable.

A high-end processor helps drive apps at those higher refresh rates and also just as important, it can brute-force some of the less-than-well optimized open source apps I rely on to interact with my self-hosted infrastructure.

I can live with a lower-end phone but I’m willing to pay a bit more for features and performance that meet my standards.

If they stick with a Samsung manufactured 750G, it’ll be limited to the low end market. There’s nothing wrong with that but it’s not really an option for the western mid to high end market.

I feel like I’m limited to pixel phones since they’re the only widely available phone that doesn’t void the warranty for unlocking the bootloader. I haven’t tried roms in a few years but I like having that choice. Fairphones can be a little hard to get. Are there other options? Lineage support would be ideal.

We literally have wireshark and similar utilities available to all of us to inspect every packet of data coming in to and leaving our phones. You can install pcapdroid right now to see exactly what facebook is doing and where that data is going. This is not complicated stuff.

Now imagine the payday and notoriety that’ll go to the security research firm that is doing this kind of work on a regular basis and is able to definitively prove it’s happening. Why do you think that hasn’t happened yet?

Or how about not assuming either way and waiting for proof before believing narratives. Anything else occupies the same space as conspiracy theories.

The math on anyone always listening to everyone’s phones doesn’t add up and will not any time in the near future.

https://krakenfiles.com/view/Z0TvlfD1Au/file.html

Discussion starts at 9:10 after some technical issues.

Edit: Looks like what I have is the unedited version of the link you followed up with.

I have the video but haven’t gotten around to watching it yet. Anything I should look out for?

$666 without kb/mouse/monitor/os. https://pcpartpicker.com/list/vjVNbL

You’re right in that over the long term, a PC gamer will probably end up spending less on their hobby. But for someone starting from scratch and trying to decide on a path, the console remains the cheaper and easier platform to jump into.

I don’t see where I mentioned optimization but I am curious and maybe you can elaborate further on what I’m guessing are probably the differences between game patch optimizations vs driver level optimizations?

Not sure I agree the premise of the article. Sales are going to be down when there are fewer AAA releases to drive hardware sales. It’s taking longer and longer to develop those games and the budget required no longer justifies console exclusivity.

I think 2025 will be the real measure of console strength when the big releases are scheduled to come out.

First point is more true today than it was in the past. It is impossible to build a gaming pc for $400-500 that is capable of playing most modern games at high settings (without RT) and play at 60 fps. The gpu capable of doing that is around $300 by itself.

I think the longevity of consoles also plays a large part in their appeal. Knowing you can use the system to play at consistent performance levels for 7-8 years is a comforting thought.

For the PC side, I’m not sure about your point about drivers. Nvidia/AMD/Intel regularly release day 1 drivers to improve compatibility with new games.