Apple event: The full recap on iPhone 14, Apple Watch Ultra, and much more
Today’s Apple event was packed with new announcements from Apple. There’s the iPhone 14 lineup with four new models, the Apple Watch Series 8, the Apple Watch Ultra, AirPods Pro 2, and much more. Head below for the full details on everything Apple announced at today’s “Far out” event from the Steve Jobs Theater.
- Apple Watch Series 8
- Apple Watch SE
- Apple Watch Ultra
- AirPods Pro 2
- iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
From 9to5Mac
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X leaks suggest a CPU that could be a handful for Intel
AMD’s Ryzen 7 7700X processor has been glimpsed in a couple of leaked benchmarks which show an impressive performer in many respects.
The 7700X was flagged up in a CPU-Z test (now deleted) which was posted on Twitter by renowned leaker Tum_Apisak (courtesy of Tom’s Hardware).
The next-gen AMD processor managed to attain 774 in single-thread, and a score of 8,381 in multi-thread. The latter shows the 7700X just edging out Intel’s flagship Core i9-12900K by 1%, and compared to the Core i7-12700K, the AMD chip was 8% faster. Put that multi-core result up against the Ryzen 7 5800X, and the incoming CPU is 28% quicker.
For single-thread, the picture doesn’t look so great for AMD, with the 7700K falling behind the 12700K in this case, and being about equal to the 12600K in fact (the Ryzen processor was 1% faster than the latter). The 7700K did beat the 5800X by 21% in single-thread, though.
Tum_Apisak also provided a screenshot in CPU-Z showing the retail version of the 7700X (apparently a model sent to a reviewer) boosting to 5425MHz across all cores, which very slightly outdoes the officially rated boost of 5.4GHz (by 25MHz – of course, depending on what quality chip you get, a 7700X could be capable of a putting its foot down a bit more than that during max boost).
That grab also shows the TDP of 105W for the processor, and that the 7700X was tested in a Gigabyte X670E Aorus Master motherboard with DDR5-6400 system RAM.
Another leak flagged by VideoCardz further shows the Ryzen 7 7700X in Geekbench, hitting 2,209 for single-core and 14,459 for multi-core, easily passing the Core i7-12700K by a 16% margin in the former, but ending up much closer in multi-core at just 2% in favor of the AMD processor.
From Techradar
OnePlus rumored to launch one of the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2-based phones
-1.JPG?w=770&ssl=1)
The OnePlus 10T debuted just one month ago with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and lightning-fast charging, but you know what also moves as fast as lightning? The company’s smartphone release cycle. The OnePlus 10 Pro isn’t just one of the best smartphones of 2022, it was also one of the first, launching in China back in January, before phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22 were even announced. Now there’s a chance that OnePlus may be interested in getting started even earlier for the 11 series, and a new rumor suggests it might be planning to launch a phone running some next-gen silicon before the year’s out.
This theory comes from Digital chat station posting on Weibo, where the tipster talks a little about a new device OnePlus is supposedly working on (via Android Authority). He claims it would run an SM8550 SoC, which is expected to be Qualcomm’s upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, due to be introduced at its next Snapdragon Summit in November (the existing Gen 1 chips are the SM8450 and SM8475). By virtue of it running the next Snapdragon flagship chip, and knowing OnePlus, it sounds reasonable that this could be a device belonging to the OnePlus 11 series — maybe the OnePlus 11 Pro if the upcoming lineup is anything like the current one (as we didn’t get any vanilla OnePlus 10).
From Android Police
Bose steals Apple’s spotlight by announcing its new QuietComfort Earbuds II
It’s been two years since Bose released its QuietComfort Earbuds. Although they offer a decent listening experience, the time has come for Bose to come out with an upgrade that can compete with today’s earbuds. Enter the QuietComfort Earbuds II.
Today, Bose has officially announced the next generation of its true wireless noise-cancelling earbuds. The new earbuds offer a number of improvements from the previous generation, such as the size. According to Bose, these earbuds are one-third the size of the original and they weigh less than a quarter ounce.
The buds also include a Fit Kit that comes with interchangeable stability bands and two-piece ear tips. There will be three separate-sized ear tips and three separate-sized stability bands to mix and match with for nine different combinations.
From Android Authority
The Apple A16 Bionic shows how far phones have come in closing the processor gap
So even though Apple’s Far Out event on September 7 was a decidedly mobile affair, there was something for those of us who dig deep into the nuts and bolts of computers.
I’ve had the privilege of testing some of the best processors on the market, from Intel’s finest to the best AMD processors available, and even a recent deep dive into Apple Silicon. Computer processors have taken on an aura of exceptionalism that make even the best phone processors seem almost quaint, but look under the housing and we’re starting to see some convergence, something that the Apple A16 Bionic shows more than ever.
To be clear, the new A16 Bionic is not a desktop chip or even one that can rival those in the best laptops, but given it’s specs, there are a number of things that point to it being more like these latter two than you might initially think.
From Techradar
Wearable market share jumps in Q2 2022, smart bands lose ground
There are a plethora of smart bands available on the market that are being sold as “smartwatches.” In reality, these are just fitness bands with some locked-in features. A smartwatch, such as the Samsung Galaxy Watch 5, or an Apple Watch, allows the user to install apps from the App Store or Play Store, and tweak its features, as you would do on your Android or iPhone.
However, these basic smart bands or smart wearables have given the taste of high-end smartwatches to millions across the globe. And thanks to that, according to the latest Canalys report, the total global shipment of smart wearables that includes basic bands and smartwatches, in Q2 2022 rose to 41.7 million units. Out of which, basic watches witnessed a big 46.6% increase in shipments, while smartwatches (those that are actual ones) saw a 9.3% increase in market share in Q2 2022.
From Sammobile
Synthetic DNA startup Catalog partners with Seagate for its DNA-based data storage platform
Data needs to be stored somewhere. However, data storage costs keep growing, and the data people keep producing and consuming can’t keep up with the available storage. According to Internet Data Center (IDC), global data is projected to increase to 175 zettabytes in 2025, up from 33 zettabytes in 2018.
Catalog, a Boston-based startup, has come up with a novel way of solving the problem. The startup is building a platform using synthetic DNA to store digital data, and has teamed up with storage vendor Seagate Technology for a research collaboration to advance its automated DNA storage and computation platform.
The partnership focuses on automating the DNA-based storage platform using Seagate’s specially designed electronic chips.
While a traditional microprocessor processes binary code, Seagate’s chip has tiny reservoirs that process small amounts of synthetic DNA in liquid form; liquid from one reservoir on the chip can be processed with liquid from another reservoir to produce a chemical reaction.
Catalog says its current prototype DNA computation and storage platform, or DNA writer, called Shannon, has demonstrated the potential of DNA computation and storage as a proof of concept, but it is a large machine that requires a significant amount of chemistry. The size of Shannon is like an average family kitchen, according to Catalog.
To develop a commercially viable DNA storage platform, Catalog is reducing the amount of chemistry and increasing the amount of automation required for DNA storage and computation.
From Techcrunch
Jeep Will Electrify Entire Lineup, Launch 4 EVs by 2025
Jeep is planning to electrify its entire lineup by 2025 and is expecting 50% of its US sales to be fully electric by 2030. The company laid out its future electrification plans at an event Thursday, which also included the announcement of the Recon, Wagoneer S and Avenger EVs.
“4xe is the new 4×4,” said Jeep CEO Christian Meunier. Following the launch of the Grand Cherokee 4xe and Wrangler 4xe, the company will put electrified powertrains into its entire range of vehicles. This includes the Wagoneer sub-brand, as well, with models expected to “deliver powertrains that target an estimated 500 miles of combined range.”
In addition to plug-in hybrid SUVs, Jeep will introduce four fully electric vehicles globally by 2025. During Thursday’s event, Jeep previewed two SUVs that will come to the US — the Recon and another vehicle codenamed Wagoneer S — as well as a subcompact Avenger EV that will exclusively be offered abroad. The fourth EV SUV is still unknown right now.
While the company has yet to commit to a date for a fully electric US portfolio, Jeep says 100% of its European sales will be EVs by 2030. The Recon and Wagoneer S EVs will debut sometime in 2023 with sales expected to kick off in 2024. The not-for-US Avenger EV, meanwhile, will debut on Oct. 17 during the Paris Motor Show.
From Cnet
Geekbench results show how much faster the iPhone 14 Pro’s A16 chip really is
The iPhone 14 Pro models are the only Apple product to feature the new A16 Bionic chip. While Apple claimed it’s 40% faster than the competition, it’s important to see how it really compares to its predecessor, the powerful A15 Bionic. Now we know the difference between both Apple silicon chips.
According to Geekbench 5 scores, the iPhone 14 Pro has a 1,879 Single-Core Score, while it has a 4,664 Multi-Core Score. Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro benchmark test, the predecessor of the iPhone 14 Pro has a 1,797 Single-Core Score and a 4,659 Multi-Core Score.
With this test, we know the A16 Bionic chip performs 10% faster in a single core compared to its previous model, while there’s practically no difference with the multi-core part.
Here’s how Apple described the iPhone 14 Pro processor when it was introduced during the keynote:
With two high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, the new 6-core CPU is up to 40 percent faster than the competition and easily handles demanding workloads. A16 Bionic features an accelerated 5-core GPU with 50 percent more memory bandwidth — perfect for graphics-intensive games and apps — and a new 16-core Neural Engine capable of nearly 17 trillion operations per second. Using Apple’s best-in-class fusion architecture to combine performance and energy savings, the chip delivers more performance with a fraction of the power compared to the competition.
The A16 Bionic chip is the first Apple processor to use a 4nm structure. Previous chips – including the A15, M1, and M2 – use a 5nm structure. Apple is aiming to bring a 3nm chip with the M2 Pro and M2 Max processors, although it’s unclear whether the company will achieve that in partnership with TSMC.
From 9to5Mac
Brazil bans sales of iPhones without USB power adapters
Brazil says it is banning the sale of iPhones which do not include a power adapter.
In a statement on Tuesday, Brazil’s Ministry of Justice and Public Security said it has fined Apple 12.275 million reais (£2.04m).
Brazilian consumer agency Senacon said Apple’s decision not to include power adapters with new iPhones discriminates against consumers by selling an “incomplete product”.
Apple will appeal against the ban.
The company told Reuters in a statement it would work with Brazilian authorities to “resolve their concerns,” but added it has previously won several court rulings in Brazil on the issue.
“We are confident that our customers are aware of the various options for charging and connecting their devices,” Apple said.
The fine and ban on sales of iPhones without USB power adapters was announced a day before Apple showcased its new iPhone 14, 14 Pro and Apple Watch Ultra.
From BBC
