At Aspen, Colorado’s Brainstorm Tech 2019 conference this week, Intel CEO Bob Swan shed some light on the future of Intel’s fabrication process by remarking that Intel is planning on beginning production on a 7nm die for its processors in 2021. The revelation follows only two months after the company’s Computex 2019 announcement of its first 10nm processors, the Ice Lake line, left many observers wondering when the CPU giant would catch up to its nimbler rival AMD, which showed off 7nm processors the day before. Not only is Intel just reaching 10nm manufacturing as AMD rolls out 7nm chips, but the Ice Lake chips Intel showed off are not intended for desktops, but exclusively for mobile or versatile 2-in-1 devices.
This admission of Intel’s shortcomings makes for a welcome sign for AMD, validating their aggressive strategy of die shrinks and price undercutting. Beyond AMD’s flashy Computex 2019 launch for its 7nm Ryzen 3000 CPUs, the manufacturer also has a threadripper waiting in the wings that Intel has no plans of contending with. Confidence is running so high over at AMD that they are also taking the GPU fight to Nvidia in a big way. Earlier this week, a high-level AMD executive boasted about duping Nvidia into setting less-than-competitive prices against AMD’s Ryzen RX 5700.
Intel’s woes don’t end with AMD’s lead on die size, either. If Microsoft goes forward with its rumored switch to Qualcomm, Intel will suddenly lose out on a massive opportunity to supply the highest-selling device in the tablet product category.
To say that Intel is on the decline, though, is to judge the situation prematurely. There’s a reason why the company has stayed on top for as long as it has, and part of it is that Intel continually explores new development options and researches new techniques. Currently, Intel’s biggest bet on the future is Project Athena, which aims to bring consumers superior performance by more tightly linking processing and networking in hardware for the next generation of mobile and 2-in-1 devices. Intel has also devised a new way to package different hardware components together with its Foveros initiative. It might also be the case that Intel is taking a conservative approach with its CPUs to counterbalance its entry into graphics cards with its impending Xe GPUs, which would instantly have to compete with both AMD and Nvidia.
Either way, while Intel may not be able to match AMD in die size in the short term, it has proven that it is keeping up in performance so far, which most consumers probably care more about than form factor. Only if Intel slips on that front (if it even does slip) will Intel really have reason to worry.
Mozilla is giving Firefox’s Smart Window two new tricks. If you haven’t tried it yet, Smart Window is an optional AI mode in Firefox with a built-in chat that helps you get things done while you browse. With this update, it can fill out online forms using details from your tabs and keep an eye on websites for you.
Tired of typing the same details into every form?
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.