Computers

Apple announces 16-inch MacBook Pro

Most powerful MacBook Pro to date

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Image by GadgetMatch

2019 seems to be the year of ‘Pro’ for Apple with the launches of the iPhone 11 Pro, AirPods Pro, and the Mac Pro with Pro Display XDR. The 17-inch MacBook Pro was discontinued before but the newly announced 16-inch MacBook Pro seems to hit the sweet spot for Apple when it comes to big ‘pro’ notebooks.

Same design, larger footprint

The new MacBook Pro has a larger 16-inch Retina Display with a resolution of 3072 x 1920 at a brilliant 500 nits, replacing the older 15-inch models. It has a DCI-P3 color gamut, ideal for processing shots and grading films all together. This new display offers an immersive visual experience and larger screen real estate without the extra heft.

There’s a massive six-speaker sound system which brings high-fidelity audio experience not just for audiophiles and musicians, but for video editors and podcasters alike. It promises clearer and more natural audio, with the bass able to go half an octave deeper. The microphones also get an upgrade. There’s now less hiss and they deliver cleaner audio recordings.

To address the problems everyone had with the Butterfly keyboard that plagued previous models, Apple has announced a newer Magic Keyboard with a refined scissor mechanism and a more responsive key press. There’s now a separate, physical escape key since more and more users would find their escape keys frozen with the Touch Bar MacBook Pros. The Touch ID slash power button is also separate. It also brings back the inverted-T arrow keys.

Powerful specs for the power users

We all know the 15-inch MacBook Pro is already powerful, but this monster promises a significant performance boost of up to 2.1 times. This is configurable with the latest 6 / 8-core 9th Generation Intel processors. Turbo Speeds are also promised to reach up to 5GHz. For the first time, they offer a massive 64GB of memory and a spacious 8TB SSD option — the largest on a notebook yet.

There’s also a new AMD Radeon Pro 5000M graphics card, which is the first 7nm mobile discrete GPU for professionals. It’s also paired with GDDR6 video memory and an 8GB of VRAM option. This is beneficial for heavy filmmakers and 3D animators alike.

Gaming on Mac may not sound good but it also promises a smoother gameplay of up to 1.6 times. Game developers will also enjoy this machine as Unity will deliver 1.4 times faster fly-through performance than its competitors.

The highest configured 16-inch MacBook Pro promises a performance improvement of up to 80 times over the last highest-end 15-inch MacBook Pro.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro’s new thermal design enables intensive workload over long periods of time. The heat sink is 35 percent larger, resulting to a 28 percent increase in airflow and better heat dissipation. The battery is at its biggest at 100Wh. It promises 11 hours of battery life — one hour more than the previous model.

Pricing and availability

The 16-inch MacBook Pro starts at SG$ 3,499 in Singapore or US$ 2,399 in the US, the same starting price as the previous 15-inch model. It’s available online and through the Apple Store app starting today. In-store availability will come later this week.

Accessories

Acer PA100 portable SSD brings fast, flexible storage on the go

Up to 2TB

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Acer is expanding its storage lineup with the PA100 Portable SSD. It’s a compact external drive designed for users who need faster storage across multiple devices.

The PA100 uses USB 3.2 Gen 1 connectivity. It reaches sequential read speeds of up to 560MB/s and write speeds of up to 430MB/s. This makes it suited for everyday tasks such as transferring large files, backing up content, managing documents, and moving media between devices.

Up to 2TB of portable storage

The PA100 comes in three capacities: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. This gives users options depending on whether they need extra space for documents and schoolwork or larger collections of photos, videos, and project files.

Acer also designed the drive with mobility in mind. The PA100 has a slim 9mm profile and a lightweight build, while its reinforced construction is designed to withstand everyday travel and handling.

The drive comes with a 2-in-1 USB-C to USB-C and USB-A cable. This allows it to connect to compatible PCs, tablets, smartphones, and other devices without requiring a separate adapter. It also supports major operating systems and USB-C mobile platforms.

Designed for everyday use

Power efficiency is another focus. Acer says the PA100 uses less than 3W during operation, while idle power consumption can drop to as low as 0.62W.

The drive also features an optimized thermal design to help maintain stable performance during extended transfers and daily workloads.

The Acer PA100 Portable SSD is backed by a three-year limited warranty. Pricing and availability may vary by market.

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Computers

New Mac mini starts at a whopping $899, only 256GB of storage

It comes with the M6 or the M5 Pro.

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Almost two decades ago, Apple was infamous for being an anti-gamer brand. Though the company’s devices touted superior protection against viruses, they couldn’t play video games, alienating a significant chunk of the population and forcing them onto PCs. For a while now, the Mac has changed the status quo, bringing in more powerful hardware that can play games. Today, Apple is championing that cause further through the newly launched Mac mini.

Compared to the chunkier Macs, the Mac mini has a lithe 5” x 5” profile, emphasizing the “mini” in its name. Despite the size, the new mini will tout two flavors of Apple silicon: the M6 and the M5 Pro.

The M6 variant delivers with up to two times faster gaming performance with ray tracing when running Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, compared to the previous M4 version. Meanwhile, the M5 Pro version touts up to 4.5 times faster rendering performance with ray tracing in Blender, compared to the M2 Pro. It will come with macOS 27 Golden Gate out of the box.

You won’t have to worry about connectivity, either. The Mac mini comes with compatibility for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5Gb Ethernet (going up to 10Gb in upgraded versions). It will also have two USB-C ports, three Thunderbolt 5 ports (but only Thunderbolt 4 for the M6 version), and HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.

Unfortunately, price seems to be another thing that it’s getting from PCs. The new Mac mini has an increased starting price. Specifically, the M6 version starts at US$ 899 (with only 256GB of storage), and the M5 Pro version starts at US$ 1,699 (for 512GB of storage). Preorders are open now, but they ship out on September 22.

SEE ALSO: Apple raises the prices of iPad and MacBook lineups

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Computers

ASUS unveils TUF Gaming T700, T700 Mini

Built for extreme operational demands

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ASUS has announced the arrival of its latest TUF Gaming desktop lineup models: the TUF Gaming T700 and TUF Gaming T700 Mini.

These new offerings bring heavy-duty performance and military-grade durability to gamers, engineered to endure extreme operational demands while delivering rock-solid stability.

The new ASUS TUF Gaming T700, in particular, is engineered to take on modern AAA titles with its uncompromising performance.

It has an aggressive mecha-inspired MIL-STD chassis, including a transparent side panel to put powerful components on display. Vibrant orange ambient lighting also adds a bold finishing touch.

Inside is an AMD Ryzen 7 8700F processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti GPU for high-frame rate gaming.

The T700 also features a robust thermal solution equipped with quad 65 CFM fans and a 240mm liquid cooler.

Meanwhile, the TUF Gaming T700 Mini is tailored for competitive gamers while maintaining a compact, battle-tested chassis.

It has an Intel Core Ultra 5 225F desktop processor, paired with with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics.

This combination provides seamless multitasking, crisp visuals, and reliable frame rates across today’s popular titles.

The internal hardware is cooled by a custom thermal matrix featuring dedicated copper heat pipes and a heavy-duty 90mm cooling fan.

True to the TUF Gaming legacy, the T700 Mini is likewise MIL-STD tested to endure extreme operational demands.

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