Intel’s new 14th-gen Meteor Lake CPUs are finally here. The company officially announced its latest generation client system on a chip (SoC) lineup, which is claimed to deliver “game-changing performance” and power efficiency for the PC industry. Intel says it’s the “largest client SoC architectural shift in 40 years,” and it seems specifically targeted at Apple’s wildly popular M-series processors.
The new Meteor Lake series introduces a major architectural shift as it is the first to be built on Intel 4 process technology. It makes use of the 7nm process and is designed using extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography to improve yield and area scaling to increase power efficiency.
Talking about Meteor Lake’s scalable SoC architecture, Mikal Hunsaker, senior principal engineer at Intel, said: “Our 12th-generation Intel Core processors, code-named Alder Lake, introduced Intel’s hybrid computing architecture, which increased core efficiency and delivered intelligent workload optimization by integrating two core microarchitectures into a single die.”
Utilizing Intel’s Foveros 3D packaging technology, Meteor Lake features a four-tile architecture design:
Intel is also introducing an NPU into client silicon for the first time with Meteor Lake. It has been designed to facilitate low-power, high-quality AI experiences and is well-suited for workloads transitioning from the CPU that require improved quality or efficiency. It is also said to be suitable for workloads that would traditionally rely on cloud computing due to the absence of efficient client-side compute resources.
Meteor Lake will also integrate a new Intel Arc GPU in Meteor Lake. Intel has combined the contemporary feature set of the Xe-HPG microarchitecture with the power-efficient design of the Xe-LP microarchitecture to create the Xe-LPG microarchitecture utilized in the Meteor Lake GPU. The new GPU is claimed to offer up to twice the graphics performance and performance per watt when compared to the previous generation of mobile processors, and it includes features such as DX12 Ultimate with hardware-accelerated ray tracing, variable rate shading, and sampler feedback.
It is expected that the first wave of products powered by Meteor Lake processors will start shipping on December 14. Intel is yet to announce its full lineup, including various SKUs, so keep a lookout for its next big announcement in the coming weeks.
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.