Technologies

Will Hogwarts Legacy Run on Your Laptop?

The new Harry Potter game is getting rave reviews (and plenty of contoversy), but can your low-end PC run it?

Hogwarts Legacy, the newest game set in the Harry Potter universe, has been a smashing success (albeit prefaced by the controversy over J.K. Rowling’s comments regarding transgender people). Out now, the game is available on nearly every modern console system, and also for Windows, where you can get it via Steam or the Epic Games Store.

Because it’s a modern PC game, its system requirements are beyond the capabilities of your average work or school laptop, and call for a discrete graphics card. However, the minimum, according to publisher WB Games, is an Nvidia GeForce 960 (or Radeon RX 470), a card that was released in 2014 for desktops and 2015 for laptops.

What are the required PC system specs for Hogwarts Legacy?

The game offers four sets of recommended or required hardware, but the lowest-end ones won’t get you much more than 30 frames per second at low quality settings. Decent hardware should get you 60fps at 1,920×1,080-pixel resolution.

On PC, the game automatically evaluates your hardware and sets what it thinks are the best graphics settings, but you should still play around with them to find what works best for you.

Hogwarts Legacy PC specs

	Low	High	Ultra	Ultra 4K
CPU	Intel Core i5-6600 or AMD Ryzen 5 1400	Intel i7-8700 or AMD Ryzen 5 3600	Intel Core i7-10700Kor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X	Intel Core i7-10700Kor AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
RAM	16GB	16GB	32GB	32GB
GPU	Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 4GB or AMD Radeon RX 470 4GB	Nvidia GeForce 1080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT or Intel Arc A770	Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT	Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	85GB	85GB	85GB	85GB
Settings	720p / 30 fps, Low	1080p / 60 fps, High	1440p / 60fps, Ultra	2160p / 60fps, Ultra

Will Hogwarts Legacy run on a Mac?

No, it’s on consoles (PS4 and PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X) and Windows only for now. If the game gets added to a cloud service like Nvidia GeForce Now, that could be a Mac-friendly workaround.

OK, but how does it really play?

I loaded the game up on both a high-end gaming laptop and a midlevel nongaming laptop. The Razer Blade 18 has a Core i9 CPU and Nvidia’s RTX 4080 GPU, and I was hitting around 120-140fps at Ultra settings and 2,560×1,600-pixel resolution.

Then I tried a Samsung Galaxy Book Pro laptop, with Intel’s Arc graphics chip. That sounds like it would be supported based on the chart above, but the Arc chip referenced there is a higher-end, model, not the more mainstream version in the Samsung. In this case, even with every setting turned down as far as possible, I could only manage a frame rate in the low/mid-20s, which I wouldn’t consider good enough for even casual gaming.

So, will Hogwarts Legacy run on your work or school laptop without a discrete Nvidia or AMD GPU? Sadly not.

Game console reviews

See the latest CNET gaming coverage here.

Technologies

Waymo Expands Its Robotaxi Fleet to Las Vegas, San Diego and Detroit. Everything to Know

Here’s everywhere the self-driving company operates now and where it’s heading soon.

Technologies

Apple Plans to Use a Custom Model of Google’s Gemini AI to Power Siri, Report Says

Apple reportedly chose Google over Anthropic for financial reasons.

Apple is turning to Google to make a custom Gemini AI model to power the next version of its virtual assistant Siri for spring 2026, according to a report from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman on Sunday.

According to the report, Apple was evaluating whether to use Google or AI competitor Anthropic for the next version of Siri. Gurman says Google offered a better financial deal. In an earlier Bloomberg report, he says Anthropic would have cost Apple $1.5 billion per year. The report doesn’t reveal Apple’s own financial offer.

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This custom Gemini model will run on Apple’s private cloud compute servers. Apple’s own models will continue to run on devices for personal data, while Gemini would operate on servers for more complex tasks. Gurman also says that Apple won’t highlight Google’s involvement in the company’s marketing.

Representatives for Google, Apple and Anthropic did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

With major tech companies pivoting toward AI, Apple has largely been left behind. The tech company was slow to adopt AI and hasn’t developed AI models that are competitive. It instead turned to companies like OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, to help add generative capabilities on top of existing Apple systems.

Even then, the promise of a truly agentic Apple Intelligence has failed to materialize, although it has improved. Apple CEO Tim Cook also hasn’t ruled out the possibility of acquiring an AI company.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Apple also has a close relationship with Google. The search giant pays Apple $20 billion annually to remain the default search engine on Apple devices. It’s a relationship that nets Apple money and prevents it from building a competitor to Google Search, a claim Apple denies. This arrangement was an important factor in the Department of Justice’s case against Google, where a judge ruled that the company was operating an illegal monopoly.

Despite falling behind on AI, Apple is doing well financially. Last month, it surpassed a $4 trillion market cap.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Nov. 4, #877

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for Nov. 4, #877.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle has a diverse mix of topics. They’re not too tough, but let’s hope you recognize your computer-related phrases. If you need help, you’re in the right place. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Point in the right direction.

Green group hint: Like a veneer, or veil.

Blue group hint: Like JPG.

Purple group hint: Musical instrument.