AMD announced a new version of its popular FreeSync technology on Tuesday, as it looks to build on the success of the existing technology while also introducing some new features that will make high-end PC gaming a little easier. The aptly named FreeSync 2 will improve upon its predecessor by offering support for HDR content in the first half of 2017.
The original version of FreeSync was designed to smooth out your PC gaming experience by reducing screen-tearing, which was caused by the video card and monitor being out of sync. Frame rates that were too high for a given refresh rate would cause unsightly tearing, and to mitigate that, most games use v-sync to lock your framerate to your refresh rate.
Unfortunately, that can cause some other performance issues, so AMD developed FreeSync, a technology that enables compatible monitors to communicate more effectively with compatible video cards. That way, frames are served up according to your refresh rate without v-sync, the middle man.
“Radeon FreeSync 2 technology is the first of its kind that combines HDR support with dynamic refresh rate technology, and does it in a seamless, plug-and-play manner that improves gaming quality automatically when the right content is present,” said Scott Herkelman, AMD’s vice president and general manager of gaming.
The latest version of FreeSync takes things a step further, by incorporating support for HDR content. Currently, HDR content is handled by your monitor, which does its own tone-mapping and can lead to latency issues. FreeSync 2 cuts out another middle man by shifting the tone-mapping workload to the GPU instead of the monitor.
Compatible monitors will be able to recognize FreeSync 2-capable graphics cards and allow your GPU to tone map directly to your display’s target luminance, contrast and color space. According to AMD, using FreeSync 2 offers over two times the brightness and color volume over sRGB.
FreeSync 2 will be rolling out in the first half of 2017, and will be backwards compatible for FreeSync-compatible AMD Radeon GPUs, including the Radeon RX series based on Polaris architecture.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.