After the debacle over the controversial Windows 11 system requirements, the question of how they would change in future versions remains a point of interest.
And now, some of the first details about Windows 12’s system requirements are beginning to surface despite its prospective launch still being some time away.
According to the German publication Deskmodder, Microsoft has been working on the future operating system version since February 2022 and is referring to the software internally as “Next Valley.” Though the final version is not expected to roll out to the general public until the second half of 2024, there has already been enough progress on the software to draft a decent list of specifications and minimum requirements for installation.
There is word that Microsoft plans to make Windows 12 compatible with Intel’s 14th Gen Meteor Lake-S desktop processors out of the box, suggesting that devices with such CPUs might be the first to run Next Valley. However, there have been few details about Meteor Lake-S circulating, particularly not any connecting the component to Windows 12, according to Neowin.
Deskmodder also claims that Windows 12 might support the Pluton coprocessor, which was first introduced on the Ryzen 6000 mobile CPUs in January 2022.
As for protection, Windows 12 will likely use the same TPM 2.0 Trusted Platform Module for its security crypto-processor that was seen on Windows 11, despite Microsoft testing out SHA-3 (Secure Hash Algorithm 3) support in a recent Insider Build.
Other hardware specs potentially include 8GB RAM, which would be an upgrade for Windows 12 at twice the capacity as for Windows 11.
There is no word on whether there would be a boost in minimum storage requirements. Currently, the minimum disk space needed to install Windows 11 is 64GB. However, Neowin noted that Microsoft could nix hard disk drives (HDD) in favor of solid-state hard drives (SSD) for software installation. This was a Windows 11 rumor that didn’t come to pass, but perhaps it could be a feature of Windows 12.
Overall, Windows 12 is expected to be “cloud-powered and AI-driven,” according to Microsoft’s chief product officer Panos Panay.
The company is still not finished updating Windows 11, which has been available to the general public since October 2021. The current OS will also be inundated with some of the features that will eventually make it to Next Valley. Users can also expect the retirement of such legacy features as MSDT and VBScript, which have been prone to exploitation.
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.