Good news, MacBook fans! Intel’s Optane drives are compatible with Apple’s laptops. This means upcoming models could feature storage and memory tech 1,000 times faster and more durable than current SSDs.
Optane is Intel’s upcoming lineup of memory and solid state storage that utilizes 3D Xpoint. This technology uses a three-dimensional mesh to store data, and is the first major breakthrough in storage technology since the development of flash memory in 1989. Speeds are fast enough that hard drives and memory (i.e. RAM) can operate at roughly the same speed, which could fundamentally change the way computers work in the long term.
Intel hasn’t said much about Optane, but the drives are reportedly compatible with NVMe, a super-fast storage protocol already put to use in some MacBooks. It’s not unheard of for Windows laptops to use NVMe, but most use the older SATA interface instead.
Certainly, it would make sense for Apple to adopt the technology quickly. The company led the charge for PCI Express hard drives, and then the adoption of NVMe, when it became available. This gave Apple a hard drive performance lead. In the last year that’s eroded a bit as more Windows systems include PCI Express and/or NVMe drives, so Optane could be the opportunity Apple needs to retake its lead.
Optane SSDs are expected to show up on the market sometime next year, likely sold to hardware enthusiasts for use in desktop computers. Gamers are an obvious niche on the consumer side of things, but the potential benefits for data centers are also massive.
Little has been said about how this tech will be put to work in consumer devices, including laptops. We won’t know much until Apple, Intel, or any other computer maker publicly announces support. But we’re sure every MacBook fan would love a hard drive with write speeds 1,000 times faster than an SSD.
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.