Whatever else you might say about 2020, it’s been a banner year for PC hardware. For enthusiasts, AMD claimed the desktop CPU performance crown from Intel for the first time in over decade. Both Nvidia and AMD released blazing-fast next-gen graphics cards. For mainstream users, laptops got faster and cheaper, and so did phones. Meanwhile, speedy SSDs finally started hitting mainstream prices after years of being out of reach for most buyers.
It’s a shame so many of these innovations remain hard to find on the actual street, as the pandemic led to unprecedented demand for tech products. Shopping for a webcam this summer was pure hell (but it’s easier to find a webcam now, at least).