Just like everyone else on the planet, it looks like Samsung is getting in on the cryptocurrency business, by manufacturing ASIC chips designed specifically for mining those precious bitcoins. Or litecoins, or NEM tokens, or dogecoins, take your pick. Point is, one of the world’s largest chip manufacturers is muscling into the cryptocurrency mining industry.
“Samsung’s foundry business is currently engaged in the manufacturing of cryptocurrency mining chips. However we are unable to disclose further details regarding our customers,” a Samsung spokesperson told TechCrunch.
According to TechCrunch, the move comes as part of a collaboration with a distribution partner in China. Other than that, there is not much to go on here, Samsung has remained tight-lipped about who it’s making the chips for, and to what end — other than their purpose as crypto-mining tools.
To clarify, Samsung isn’t making CPUs or GPUs for bitcoin mining, instead it is making application-specific integrated circuit or ASIC chips. Think of these as processors designed for one specific purpose, rather than the kind of general use processor inside your computer or smartphone. ASIC chips are made with particular uses in mind, and optimized to perform a single task very well and very efficiently. That’s why ASIC chips built for cryptocurrency mining are in such high demand. They get the job done because it’s the only job they’re built for.
Samsung getting in on this part of the cryptocurrency craze makes sense, since its a massive company with its snaking tendrils in hundreds of different businesses. Manufacturing ASIC chips for crypto mining isn’t much of a stretch for Samsung’s enormous manufacturing infrastructure. It is, however, big news for other ASIC chip manufacturers.
As TechCrunch points out, it’s not clear exactly where Samsung is going to fit into the cryptocurrency chip manufacturing business, but at the very least it’s putting itself in direct competition with some big players in chip manufacturing — namely, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC.
As the world’s largest chip manufacturer, TSMC has made a comfortable niche in the cryptocurrency-facing ASIC chip market. We will have to wait and see what happens now that Samsung is jumping in with both feet — either way, it’s sure to make some waves.
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.
Two new highly requested iCloud plugins just got added to ChatGPT, giving people who rely on Apple’s Mail and Calendar services a way to search emails, check appointments, and manage their schedules directly through the chatbot.
The integration is rolling out to all ChatGPT plans, including the free tier. You can access it on the web, desktop, and iOS.