A massive Macbook Pro overhaul is coming, according to Bloomberg. According to the report, sourced to “people familiar with the matter,” the long-rumored touchscreen device will replace the function keys and advanced AMD graphics cards will bring graphics capability to Apple’s long-neglected laptop line.
The Macbook Pro, as sold today, hasn’t really seen a design refresh since 2012, and it shows. The Pro line is heavy, underpowered, and expensive relative to the competition. To fix this, Apple needs to change a bunch of things at once, which is part of why so many rumors are circulating.
This latest Bloomberg report suggests that Apple is doing just that. The laptop has reportedly been in testing since earlier this year. Here are the changes specifically mentioned in the article.
Most of these statements have been floating around for months now, and even align with supposedly leaked photos of the new model. The sheer volume of rumors, and the interest in them, really speaks to the extent to which Apple needs to refresh its flagship laptop line.
But this is all going to remain rumor for a while more. Bloomberg’s report suggest the Macbook Pro refresh won’t be announced during Apple’s September 7 event, which will focus on the iPhone. Apple officials wouldn’t comment on that specifically, however, so as always we’re left guessing. It will be interesting to see which rumors turn out to be true.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google DeepMind's AI world model Genie 4 can now build interactive worlds that you can explore and reshape as they run. It also generates ambient sounds, music, and dialogue that respond to your actions.
The new world model builds on Genie 3 with improved realism, more natural human movement, and better simulations of real-world physics. It could eventually help with everything from game development to training robots.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.