Computers
Intel’s 7nm processors won’t arrive till 2022
Apple, AMD, and Qualcomm have a significant lead
In its quarterly earnings call, Intel revealed that it’ll have to adjust its future product lineup. The company further said its 7nm (nanometers) processors will be six months behind schedule. This means they won’t be ready until the end of 2022 or even the first half of 2023.
The yield of its 7nm process is now 12 months behind schedule. In turn, Intel said it’s “accelerating its transition to 10nm products” in 2020, due to an increase in demand.
What’s even more surprising is, Intel is considering contingencies that could see its chips fabricated by third parties if it can’t get its own foundries. Rival AMD is already making 7nm chips and this is exerting further pressure on Intel to progress. Apple and Qualcomm are leveraging 7nm technology for a couple of years now.
7nm chips are more efficient and best suitable for portable gadgets like laptops and smartphones. The delay could put Intel in serious danger because Arm has managed to attract Apple as well. The giant shall be shifting its Mac lineup to an Arm-based architecture within two years, ditching Intel’s decades of partnership.
Intel is a very experienced player and designs as well as produces its own chipsets. On the other hand, companies like TSMC have mastered the production and make chips for other companies under a contract.
Intel’s current best offering, popularly called 10nm in the industry, was ideally scheduled to appear in 2017. But it’s making high-volume sales now. Thankfully not everything is going south for the chipmaker and its Tiger Lake CPUs are still on track for launch later this year. Its first 10nm Alder Lake-based desktop and server CPUs will be ready by the second half of 2021.
Computers
ROG brings out the ultra-stylish G1000 gaming desktop
Plus, here’s a couple of sleek transport options from ROG.
Despite how much higher prices are going today, there are still so many options if you want a PC for yourself. However, only a handful of brands will offer you quite as much style doing so as ASUS. Today, ROG has revealed the new G1000 gaming desktop.
For the first time ever in a prebuilt PC, the ROG G1000 comes with a built-in AniMe Holo, a holographic fan with customizable visuals using Armoury Crate and Aura Sync. Additionally, the holographic fan is inside its own chamber, preventing it from interfering with the main system. Instead, the desktop uses the ROG Thermal Atrium, which uses three fans to channel fresh air through a 420mm AIO liquid cooler.
Now, the ROG G1000 isn’t just a pretty face. Inside, the 104L desktop comes with a Ryzen 7 9800X3D processor. It also comes equipped with the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080, up to 128GB DDR5 memory, and 1TB SSD for storage. New purchases will also come with a gaming keyboard and mouse, a year of Microsoft 365 Basic, Office Home 2024, and an ASUS No. 1 Quality and Service warranty.
The ROG G1000 will be available from ROG Exclusive Stores and will start at PhP 399,995.
Celebrating ROG at 20
Besides the new desktop, ROG is also launching a couple of storage and transport options for your prized gaming possessions. The ROG SLASH Backpack Edition 20 is a sleek backpack that can fit an 18-inch laptop with enough room for peripherals and accessories. It also comes with a custom FIDLOCK Magnetic quick-release, black-and-translucent-gold buckle. It will be available next quarter for PhP 10,995.
Meanwhile, the ROG SLASH Hard-Case Luggage Edition 20 is designed specifically for transporting your hard-earned gaming devices. The light-but-durable aluminum frame comes with a specialized compartment for laptops, handhelds, and accessories. It also has removalbe foam dividers to better customize the case for your needs. Finally, it has 360-degree silent skate wheels for smoother rolling. The luggage will be available starting next quarter for PhP 15,995.
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.
Computers
New Mac mini starts at a whopping $899, only 256GB of storage
It comes with the M6 or the M5 Pro.
Almost two decades ago, Apple was infamous for being an anti-gamer brand. Though the company’s devices touted superior protection against viruses, they couldn’t play video games, alienating a significant chunk of the population and forcing them onto PCs. For a while now, the Mac has changed the status quo, bringing in more powerful hardware that can play games. Today, Apple is championing that cause further through the newly launched Mac mini.
Compared to the chunkier Macs, the Mac mini has a lithe 5” x 5” profile, emphasizing the “mini” in its name. Despite the size, the new mini will tout two flavors of Apple silicon: the M6 and the M5 Pro.
The M6 variant delivers with up to two times faster gaming performance with ray tracing when running Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, compared to the previous M4 version. Meanwhile, the M5 Pro version touts up to 4.5 times faster rendering performance with ray tracing in Blender, compared to the M2 Pro. It will come with macOS 27 Golden Gate out of the box.
You won’t have to worry about connectivity, either. The Mac mini comes with compatibility for Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6, and 2.5Gb Ethernet (going up to 10Gb in upgraded versions). It will also have two USB-C ports, three Thunderbolt 5 ports (but only Thunderbolt 4 for the M6 version), and HDMI port, an Ethernet port, and a headphone jack.
Unfortunately, price seems to be another thing that it’s getting from PCs. The new Mac mini has an increased starting price. Specifically, the M6 version starts at US$ 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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