Technologies

Intel Enters the Quantum Computing Horse Race With 12-Qubit Chip

But before quantum physics revolutionizes computing, Intel and rivals will have to learn how to make vastly more powerful machines.

Intel has built a quantum processor called Tunnel Falls that it will offer to research labs hoping to make the revolutionary computing technology practical.

The Tunnel Falls processor, announced Thursday, houses 12 of the fundamental data processing elements called qubits. It’s a major step in the chipmaker’s attempt to develop quantum computing hardware it hopes will eventually surpass rivals.

Intel, unlike most of its rivals, makes its qubits from individual electrons housed in computer chips that are cousins to those that power millions of PCs. The company is lagging behind. Rivals like IBM, Google, Quantinuum and IonQ have been offering quantum computers for years, but Intel believes tying its fortunes to conventional chip technology will ultimately enable faster progress.

«To me, it’s natural to use the tools already developed rather than having to develop new tools,» said Jim Clarke, director of quantum computing hardware at Intel Labs. Intel makes its own quantum computing chips at its D1 fab in Oregon.

You won’t buy your own quantum computer, but they could affect your life very directly. Among those investing in the technology are financial services companies seeking more profitable investments, materials science researchers hoping for better batteries, pharmaceutical companies trying to design better drugs and governments trying to crack adversaries’ encrypted communications.

Those challenges are out of reach of conventional computers, but quantum computing has the potential to tackle them by taking advantage of the weird physics of the ultrasmall. Today’s quantum computers aren’t generally practical, and the full promise of the technology remains years away, but physicists and engineers have made steady progress year after year.

Intel, an expert in large-scale manufacturing, hopes to help speed things along by building many quantum chips, which it calls quantum processing units, or QPUs. The University of Maryland, one of the centers benefiting from a US government program to accelerate quantum computing progress, will use Intel machines.

The quantum computing race

One notable feature of quantum computing is the tremendous variety of approaches. Intel is using electrons, storing data with a quantum mechanical property called spin that’s analogous to the two directions a top can spin. IBM and Google are using small electrical circuits of superconducting materials. IonQ and Quantinuum manipulate charged atoms stored in a trap. Other approaches involve neutral atoms and even that most fleeting of particles, the photon.

At a sufficiently small scale, quantum mechanics dominates physics and anything can become a qubit, quantum computing pioneer and MIT researcher Seth Lloyd said in an earlier interview. «It’s a question of whether you can massage them in the right way to convince them to compute.»

In other words, quantum computing isn’t a horse race like in the traditional computer chip market. It’s more like a horse pitted against a falcon, a motorcycle and an Olympic sprinter.

Intel likes its approach. Tunnel Falls is in manufacturing today, but the company very soon will «tape out» its successor, meaning the design is finished, and it’s begun designing the model after that, Clarke said. Twelve qubits is a tiny fraction of what’s needed for useful quantum computers, but Intel started with a simple approach designed for fast improvement and sustained progress over the years required to make serious quantum computers.

A tiny Intel Tunnel Falls quantum computer chip perched on a fingertip — Intel’s Tunnel Falls quantum computer test chip perched on a fingertip

Intel

«The next big milestone is when we have a few thousand qubits,» a quantity that will let quantum computer engineers correct the frequent errors that plague qubit operations, Clarke said. «That’s probably three, four years, maybe five years away,» Clarke said. «And it’s probably the early 2030s or mid-2030s before we have a million cubits that are going to change the world.»

And Intel is engineering not just the QPUs, but the crucial data links that link each qubit to the outside world. Today’s quantum computers often look like high-tech chandeliers, with gleaming metal communication conduits looping down toward the processor, but that bulky design won’t work with thousands or millions of qubits, and Intel believes its control chips and chip interconnect technology will be necessary parts of an overall system.

Plenty of competitors

Intel is unusual in selecting photons housed in computer circuits for its quantum computing foundation. One of its biggest rivals, IBM, already offers multiple 127-qubit quantum computers for research and commercial use, with a 433-qubit machine up and running.

«We have a plan to get this out to hundreds of thousands of qubits using superconducting qubits,» said Jerry Chow, leader of IBM’s quantum computing hardware effort. IBM is working on quantum computer chips with a flock of code names — Egret, Heron, Condor, Crossbill — that are designed to prove out new technologies to reduce errors and improve the qubit-to-qubit connections that are central to the machines.

And it’s making progress. On Wednesday, it secured a coveted spot on the cover of the journal Nature for research showing its 127-qubit Eagle quantum computing chip can surpass conventional machines in simulating the materials physics that produce effects like magnetism.

Intel tried and rejected the supercomputing qubit approach, Clarke said. Its spin qubits are a million times smaller than a superconducting circuit, letting the company fit 25,000 of them on each 300mm silicon wafer that transits through its chip fabrication plant, called a fab. When Intel finds a problem building quantum chips, it figures out how to adapt the qubit to traditional chip manufacturing, not vice versa.

Disagreement with Intel’s approach

Such arguments haven’t persuaded others. Google is sticking with superconducting qubits.

«Superconducting qubits lead in critical metrics. We are confident they are the leading technology for the future of quantum supercomputers,» Google said in a statement, pointing to their processing speed and progress toward error correction to keep calculations on track longer. «We see a clear path to scale our technology to large-scale, error-corrected machines of general use.»

And IonQ Chief Executive Peter Chapman believes Intel’s approach is too inflexible for practical, large-scale quantum computers. His company is developing ion trap machines that scoot charged atoms around, letting different qubits interact with each other for computation. Fixing qubits onto the surface of a chip drastically complicates computations, he said.

«What worked in computing in the past — silicon-based processors — is not the right solution for the age of quantum,» Chapman said.

The deep disagreements about the best approach will perhaps be resolved as the machines evolve and grow larger. Intel’s plans rely on its manufacturing advantage, tapping into its experience building some of the most complicated electronics devices on the planet.

«Not everybody has a fab like this in their back pocket,» Clarke said.

Technologies

I Made Google Translate My Default on iPhone Before a Trip and It Saved Me More Than Once

Google Translate supports far more languages than Apple’s app, and it’s easy to make the switch.

If you’re traveling overseas this summer, the Google Translate app can come in handy to quickly translate a road sign or conversation. The latest Google Translate update allows you to pick the app as your default translation app for Apple iPhones and iPads running iOS and iPadOS 18.4 and later. Previously, you were limited to the built-in Apple option.

Google began leveraging AI to boost Google Translate’s offerings, adding 110 languages last year to increase its total support for 249 languages. Compare that to Apple Translate, which supports 19 languages. Neither Google nor Apple responded to a request for comment.

Both apps offer voice and text translation, including a camera feature that lets you instantly translate by pointing your camera at text. Both also allow you to use translation features without an internet connection, which can come in particularly handy when traveling to more remote locations.

After using both, I found that the Google Translate picked up speech a little quicker so I didn’t have to constantly repeat myself, and the audio pronunciations were a little easier to understand than on Apple Translate. I switched to Google Translate as the default on my iPhone, and here’s how you can, too.

How to set Google Translate as the default on an iPhone or iPad

Setting Google Translate as your default app is simple on an iPhone or iPad, so long as it’s running iOS and iPadOS 18.4 or later.

Download the Google Translate app or update it to the latest version.
Go to the Settings on your iPhone or iPad.
Scroll down to the bottom then select Apps.
Click Default Apps at the top of the screen.
Then choose Translation.
Select Google Translate.

Technologies

The 20 Best PC Games Right Now

Put your gaming computer to the test with the best PC games out right now, including AAA hits like Elden Ring and Black Myth: Wukong as well as indie darlings.

PC gaming gives you the best of most worlds. With a decent budget and some gumption, you can build a solid desktop rig — or you can invest in one of CNET’s best gaming PCs and gain access to a wide world of PC exclusives, indie games and even some titles that were previously exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox.

There’s a truly unlimited amount of tags, store queues and interactive recommendations to browse through, and it can get overwhelming trying to find the next best metroidvania, boomer shooter, collectathon or whatever your cup of tea is. PC gamers aren’t lacking for choice.

In fact, between Steam, the Epic Games Store, Game Pass and more, there are thousands upon thousands of games to choose from. One of the biggest issues you can run into with a massive backlog is choice paralysis. Just which are the best PC games out there?

We’re here to help. To narrow your game choices, CNET curated this list of the best PC games you can play right now.

Read more: Best Gaming PC Deals Right Now

TL;DR? These are the 20 best PC games for June 2025

Balatro
Warframe
Baldur’s Gate 3
Overwatch 2
Valorant
Disco Elysium: The Final Cut
Elden Ring
Cassette Beasts
Dread Delusion
Celeste
Total War: Pharaoh
Stardew Valley
Lunacid
Black Myth: Wukong
Neon White
Helldivers 2
Risk of Rain 2
Soulstone Survivors
Terraria
Haste

PC gaming FAQs

Recent updates to the list

February 2025: While no new games have been added to the list so far this year, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an early frontrunner. A spate of stellar seasonal events, maps and new heroes has also put Marvel Rivals in contention for the PC hero shooter crown.

Read more: The Best Heroes to Play in Marvel Rivals

June 2025: Added Helldivers 2, Risk of Rain 2, Soulstone Survivors, Terraria and Haste to the list in order to represent both games industry behemoths and indie gaming hidden gems.

How we determined CNET’s best PC games

When creating this list of the best PC games, we factored in how unique and enjoyable these games are for most players. We evaluated criteria including graphical quality, innovative gameplay mechanics and compelling narratives. The picks we made cover a variety of genres from fantasy to retro platformers to shooters to strategy games, and while we favored PC-exclusive games and indie titles you won’t find on Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Switch, we also included some can’t-miss games that appear on multiple platforms. If you’re looking for help choosing your next game, CNET’s top PC list is a good place to start narrowing your choices.

Technologies

How to Add These Hidden Music and Apple Intelligence Controls to Your iPhone

One control can Apple’s Visual Intelligence to more devices besides the iPhone 16 lineup.

Apple released iOS 18.4 on March 31, and the update brought bug fixes, new emoji and a new recipes section in Apple News to all iPhones. The update also brought a handful of new controls to the iPhone Control Center, including one that brings Visual Intelligence to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.

When Apple released iOS 18 in September, the update remodeled the Control Center to give you more control over how the feature functions. With iOS 18, you can resize controls, assign some controls to their own dedicated page and adjust the placement of controls to your liking. Apple also introduced more controls to the feature, making it a central hub for all your most-used iPhone features.

Read more: Everything You Need to Know About iOS 18

With iOS 18.4, Apple continues to expand the number of controls you can add to the Control Center. If you have the update on your iPhone, you can add ambient music controls, and Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones get a few AI controls in the menu, too. Here’s what you need to know about the new controls and how to add them to your Control Center.

Ambient Music controls

Apple gave everyone four new controls in the Control Center library under the Ambient Music category. These controls are Sleep, Chill, Productivity and Wellbeing. Each of these controls can activate a playlist filled with music that corresponds to the specific control. Sleep, for instance, plays ambient music to help lull you to bed.

Some studies suggest white noise could help adults learn words and improve learning in environments full of distractions. According to the mental health company Calm, certain kinds of music can help you fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep. So these new controls can help you learn, fall asleep and more.

Here’s how to find these controls.

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your Home Screen to open your Control Center.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
3. Tap Add a Control.

You’ll see a section of controls called Ambient Music. You can also search for «Ambient Music» in the search bar at the top of the control library. Under Ambient Music, you’ll see all four controls. Tap one (or all) of them to add them to your Control Center. Once you’ve added one or all the controls to your Control Center, go back to your Control Center and tap one to start playing music.

Here’s how to change the playlist for each control.

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your Home Screen to open your Control Center.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
3. Tap the Ambient Music control you want to edit.
4. Tap the playlist to the right of Playlist.

A dropdown menu will appear with additional playlists for each control. If you’re in the Sleep control, you’ll see playlists like Restful Notes and Lo-Fi Snooze. If you have playlists in your Music app, then you’ll also see an option From Library, which pulls music from your library. Tap whichever playlist you want and it will be assigned to that control.

Apple already lets you transform your iPhone into a white noise machine with Background Sounds, like ocean and rain. But Ambient Music is actual music as opposed to more static sounds like in that feature.

Both of these features feel like a way for Apple to present itself as the first option for whenever you want some background music to help you fall asleep or be productive. Other services, like Spotify and YouTube, already have ambient music playlists like these, so this could be Apple’s way of taking some of those service’s audience.

Apple Intelligence controls

Only people with an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or the iPhone 16 lineup can access Apple Intelligence features for now, and those people got three new dedicated Apple Intelligence controls with iOS 18.4. Those controls are Talk to Siri, Type to Siri and Visual Intelligence.

Here’s how to find these controls.

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner of your Home Screen to open your Control Center.
2. Tap the plus (+) sign in the top-left corner of your screen.
3. Tap Add a Control.

Then you can use the search bar near the top of the screen to search for «Apple Intelligence» or you can scroll through the menu to find the Apple Intelligence & Siri section. Tap any (or all) of these controls to add them to your Control Center. While Talk to Siri and Type to Siri controls can be helpful if you have trouble accessing the digital assistant, the Visual Intelligence control is important because it brings the Apple Intelligence feature to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max.

Visual Intelligence was originally only accessible on the iPhone 16 lineup because those devices have the Camera Control button. With iOS 18.4, Visual Intelligence is now accessible on more devices and people thanks to the titular control in Control Center. But remember, Visual Intelligence is like any other AI tool so it won’t always be accurate. You should double check results and important information it shows you.

For more on iOS 18, here are all the new emoji you can use now and everything you should to know about the recipes section in Apple News. You can also check out all the features included in iOS 18.5 and our iOS 18 cheat sheet.