Two new ASUS TUF series laptop models (TUF A14 and TUF A16) come out of the dark at Computex, making use of AMD Ryzen AI 9 CPUs and NVIDIA RTX 4000 GPUs. The ultraslim chassis of ASUS TUF Gaming A14 weighs merely 1.46 kg with a thickness of 1.69 cm, and features a 14" 16:10 up to 2.5K 165 Hz @ 3 ms 400 nits display with NVIDIA G-Sync support. Powered by the latest AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor with 50 TOPS NPU, and with another hefty helping hand from NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 GPU with 233 TOP of AI performance, dual-channel LPDDR5X RAM, a 73 Whr battery, and 2x M2.2280 SSD slots makes it an interesting option for gamers looking after a light and thin laptop.

The bigger brother, TUF A16 have the same AMD Ryzen 9 CPU but comes with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with 321 TOPS, a 16" 100% sRGB display with 90% screen-to-body ratio, dual-channel LPDDR5X 7500 MHz memory, USB 4.0 ports, and dual 2nd Gen Arc Flow Fans with full-width heatsink (170 W combined max wattage).

German PC OEM Schenker, along with its two brands—XMG targeted at high-performance mobile workstations and gaming notebooks; and Tuxedo, targeting Linux-friendly notebooks; made a splash at the 2024 Computex. We visited their pullout booth. The EVO 14 is a 14-inch class performance notebook powered by choices of Intel Core Ultra 7 155H "Meteor Lake" or AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS "Hawk Point" mobile processors; an innovative new dual-fan cooling solution, with 65 W sustained power delivery, and an 80 Wh battery pack. The 14-inch display features a 16:10 aspect ratio, 400 nits brightness, and 3K resolution. Memory options go all the way up to 96 GB, and I/O includes either USB4 or Thunderbolt 4, depending on the hardware platform. The EVO 15 is almost identical in terms of specs, but with a larger 99.8 Wh battery, and a 15.3-inch 500 nits display, and a full-sized edge-to-edge keyboard.Update 07:03 UTC: We have some pricing and availability details from Schenker.

ASUS today announced the ROG Ally X, its ambitious new handheld game console that's a step up from the ROG Ally that the company launched last year. The ROG Ally X is powered by the same AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme processor as the ROG Ally, but with 50% more unified memory—now up to 24 GB of LPDDR5X-7500, which runs at an 18% higher speed than the 16 GB LPDDR5-6400 of the original. The designers also implemented an M.2-2280 NVMe SSD slot, which opens the console up to the widest possible selection of NVMe SSDs. The console includes a 1 TB drive, which is double that of the 500 GB that the ROG Ally comes with. The company has also significantly upgraded the thermal solution of the console with a larger fan, and better thermal venting, which offers 6°C lower gaming temperatures.

Perhaps the biggest feature upgrade is the battery, which is 80 Wh, a 100% increase from the 40 Wh of the original ROG Ally. This may not be a linear 100% increase in battery life from the ROG Ally (due to the various hardware upgrades), but should still pose significant improvements to it. Other hardware updates include USB4, which includes DisplayPort passthrough from the iGPU; besides a separate USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-C. The console supports USB-PD with 140 W fast-charging, and is paired with a first-party GaN-based 140 W fast-charger. Dimensions are similar to those of the ROG Ally, except for 4 mm added thickness, and 70 g added weight (608 g vs. 678 g). Available from July, the ROG Ally X is priced at $799, and includes a 3-month Xbox Game Pass. We went hands on with the console at ASUS's pre-Computex event. Stay tuned for several more announcements form the company in the coming days.

Acer today introduces two new Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise laptops, both designed with powerful technology and Google AI capabilities that ensure businesses, their workforces and frontline employees are equipped with the latest technology to work in the cloud more efficiently and securely.

Both new Chromebook Plus Enterprise models - the Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise 515 and Acer Chromebook Plus Enterprise Spin 514 - come with the business capabilities of ChromeOS unlocked, ensuring best-in-class security, simple management, flexible access, and enhanced administrative support, all coupled with double the speed, memory and storage. The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 514 (CP514-4HN) is also available for consumers or individuals.

ZOTAC, best known for its graphics cards and to some extent its Mini-PCs, is going to present a new handheld gaming device - ZOTAC ZONE. Videocardz somehow managed to get their hands on an almost complete spec sheet just to find out that it will be powered by an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 8840U processor. From this we can also get to know that it will use Radeon 780M integrated graphics with 12 RDNA3 Compute Units (15 W Default, 28 W Max). ZOTAC ZONE will feature a 7-inch 120 Hz AMOLED, 1080p, 120 Hz display with up to 800 nits maximum brightness.

The device specs include 16 GB of LPDDR5X memory, 512 GB dedicated storage and support for M2.2 2280 SSDs. The 48.5 Wh battery with an estimated 1.25 hours of runtime seems a bit weak, thus the lower 700 g weight, but that could change since the display/demo unit that will be available during Computex next week is a non-final prototype model. As confirmed by ZOTAC, ZONE is expected to be launched in the next quarter, with no details about the price.

Acer today debuted two new premium Chromebook Plus laptops - the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 and Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE - that combine versatile designs with a 2x faster Intel Core processor and up to double the memory and storage, giving people the power to do even more all at once.

As Chromebook Plus devices, the two new models support enhanced generative AI features for connectivity, creativity, and collaboration, such as a "help me write" feature available with just a right click, Google Photos' Magic Editor, Gemini, and more. The Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 is a slim convertible optimized for on-the-go productivity and connectivity with a 360-degree hinge that allows it to be used in myriad ways and places, and the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE is a next-generation cloud-gaming Chromebook with the latest gaming-centric hardware to stream and play AAA games with NVIDIA GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Boosteroid, Amazon Luna and more.

Yesterday we reported on DDR6 memory hitting new heights of performance and it looks like LPDDR6 will follow suit, at least based on details in a JEDEC presentation. LPDDR6 will just like LPDDR5 be available as solder down memory, but it will also be available in a new LPCAMM2 module. The bus speed of LPDDR5 on LPCAMM2 modules is expected to peak at 9.2 GT/s based on JEDEC specifications, but LPDDR6 will extend this to 14.4 GT/s or roughly a 50 percent increase. However, today the fastest and only LPCAMM2 modules on the retail market which are using LPDDR5X, comes in at 7.5 GT/s, which suggests that launch speeds of LPDDR6 will end up being quite far from the peak speeds.

There will be some other interesting changes to LPDDR6 CAMM2 modules as there will be a move from 128-bit per module to 192-bit per module and each channel will go from 32-bits to 48-bits. Part of the reason for this is that LPDDR6 is moving to a 24-bit channel width, consisting of two 12-bit sub channels, as mentioned in yesterday's news post. This might seem odd at first, but in reality is fairly simple, LPDDR6 will have native ECC (Error Correction Code) or EDC (Error Detection Code) support, but it's currently not entirely clear how this will be implemented on a system level. JEDEC is also looking at developing a screwless solution for the CAMM2 and LPCAMM2 memory modules, but at the moment there's no clear solution in sight. We might also get to see LPDDR6 via LPCAMM2 modules on the desktop, although the presentation only mentions CAMM2 for the desktop, something we've already seen that MSI is working on.

ASUS today announced a new generation of AI-powered computing at its online-only Next Level. AI Incredible. launch event, dedicated to the launch of the ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507). Powered by the Snapdragon X Elite, the device is the company's first Copilot+ PC, with Windows AI features and a collection of exclusive ASUS AI apps that aim to improve the user's work and play.

"As ASUS embarks on this journey, marked by the launch of our first AI PC, we stand at the beginning of a new era of personal computing." ASUS Co-CEO S.Y. Hsu said, speaking at the event, "The launch of our first Copilot+ PC powered by Snapdragon X Elite is an important milestone for us, and we believe that these devices are the future of consumer PCs and will drastically change the way we will work, study, create, and play."

Today, Lenovo launched the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6, its first next generation Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon X Elite. As the PC industry enters a new phase of the artificial intelligence era, Lenovo is poised to offer new levels of personalization in personal computing across its PC portfolio. Intelligent software-powered local processing of tasks, and increased productivity, creativity, and security, these Copilot+ PC's combine to deliver a whole new experience in PC interaction. Lenovo is expanding its already comprehensive portfolio of AI-ready devices, software, and optimized services with two new laptops for consumers and business users—the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x and the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6.

Powered by Qualcomm Technologies' new Snapdragon X Elite processor featuring the 12-core Qualcomm Oryon CPU, Qualcomm Adreno GPU and a dedicated Qualcomm Hexagon NPU (neural processing unit), the new laptops deliver leading PC performance per watt with the fastest to date AI NPU processing up to 45 trillion operations per second (TOPS). With the latest enhancements from Microsoft and Copilot+, users can now access Large Language Model (LLM) capabilities even when offline, offering seamless productivity and creativity. The latest Lenovo laptops allow users to tap into the extensive Copilot+ knowledge base, empowering them to explore endless creative possibilities. By leveraging generative AI and machine learning, Copilot+ assists in composing compelling text, crafting engaging visuals, and streamlining common productivity tasks. With the ability to work offline with the same fluidity as online, the Yoga Slim 7x and the ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 set new standards in AI PC innovation, promising a futuristic and streamlined user experience for end users.

Acer today launched its first Copilot+ PC with the Swift 14 AI laptop, in collaboration with Microsoft and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., ushering in a new AI era with brand new user experiences and AI capabilities on Windows 11. The Swift 14 AI has multiple device models, powered by Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus platforms, and both feature one of the world's fastest NPUs for laptops to enable on-device AI processing. Users can streamline everyday tasks with smarter PC functions and tackle complex workloads more effectively.

"Engineered for AI from the inside out, the Swift 14 AI is the first among many Acer Copilot+ PCs to come," said Jerry Kao, COO, Acer Inc. "These next-generation AI PCs see significant leaps in AI processing power, unlocking brand new experiences that we know users will love."

TrendForce reports that the three largest DRAM suppliers are increasing wafer input for advanced processes. Following a rise in memory contract prices, companies have boosted their capital investments, with capacity expansion focusing on the second half of this year. It is expected that wafer input for 1alpha nm and above processes will account for approximately 40% of total DRAM wafer input by the end of the year.

HBM production will be prioritized due to its profitability and increasing demand. However, limited yields of around 50-60% and a wafer area 60% larger than DRAM products mean a higher proportion of wafer input is required. Based on the TSV capacity of each company, HBM is expected to account for 35% of advanced process wafer input by the end of this year, with the remaining wafer capacity used for LPDDR5(X) and DDR5 products.

Courtesy of ASUS Vietnam (via @rquandt on X/Twitter), we now have an idea of what ASUS' first Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite notebook will look like, but also what the main specifications are. It will share the Vivobook S 15 OLED branding with other notebooks from ASUS, although the leaked model carries the model number S5507QA-MA089WS. At its core is a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 SoC which is the base model from Qualcomm. The SoC consists of 12 Oryon cores, of which eight are performance cores and four are energy efficient cores. A peak, multi-threaded clock speed of 3.4 GHz and 42 MB of cache, as well as a 75 TOPs AI engine rounds off the SoC specs. The SoC is also home to a Qualcomm Adreno GPU, but so far Qualcomm hasn't released any useful specs about the GPU in the Snapdragon X Elite series of chips.

ASUS has paired the SoC with 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory of an unknown clock speed, although Qualcomm officially supports speed of up to 8,448 MT/s in a to PC users unusual configuration of eight channels at 16-bit wide, for a bandwidth of up to 135 GB/s. For comparison, Intel's latest Core Ultra processors max out at LPDDR5X 7,467 MT/s and up to 120 GB/s memory bandwidth. Other features include a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, a glossy 15.6-inch 2,880 x 1,620 resolution, 120 Hz OLED display with 600 nits peak brightness and a 70 WHr battery. It's unclear what connectivity options will be on offer, but judging by the screenshot below, we can at least expect an HDMI out as well as a pair of USB Type-C ports, a micro SD card slot and a headphone jack. As far as pricing goes, Roland Quandt is suggesting a €1,500 base price on X/Twitter, but we'll have to wait for the official launch to find out what these Arm based laptops will retail for. ASUS Vietnam has already removed the page from its website.

The ROG Ally X handheld gaming console ASUS plans to unveil on June 2, has not just a fixed microSD card slot, and a 40% larger battery, but also an upgraded main memory, MysteryLupin, a reliable source with ASUS leaks, reports. The console features 24 GB of LPDDR5X memory, compared to 16 GB on the regular ROG Ally with the Ryzen Z1 Extreme. The larger battery should give it usage of up to 8 hours on a full charge, while the larger memory should definitely improve performance, given that the SoC is the same Z1 Extreme ASUS uses in the regular ROG Ally. Besides the larger memory and battery, the console features an industry standard M.2-2280 NVMe SSD drive bay, with a pre-installed 1 TB SSD. This should open users up to the widest possible range of SSD upgrades. ASUS is reportedly pricing the ROG Ally X at $799, a $100 increase over the original ROG Ally with the Z1 Extreme—a premium that's actually shaping up to be good value.

Intel has prepared the Core Ultra 5-238V, a Lunar Lake-MX CPU that integrates 32 GB of LPDDR5X memory into the CPU package. This new design represents a significant departure from the traditional approach of using separate memory modules, promising enhanced performance and efficiency, similar to what Apple is doing with its M series of processors. The Core Ultra 5-238V is the first of its kind for Intel to hit mass consumers. Previous attempt was with Lakefield, which didn't take off, but had advanced 3D stacked Foveros packaging. With 32 GB of high-bandwidth, low-power LPDDR5X memory directly integrated into the CPU package, the Core Ultra 5-238V eliminates the need for separate memory modules, reducing latency and improving overall system responsiveness. This seamless integration results in faster data transfer rates and lower power consumption with LPDDR5X memory running at 8533 MT.

Applications that demand intensive memory usage, such as video editing, 3D rendering, and high-end gaming, will be the first to experience performance gains. Users can expect smoother multitasking, quicker load times, and more efficient handling of memory-intensive tasks. The Core Ultra 5-238V is equipped with four big Lion Cove and four little Skymont cores, in combination with seven Xe2-LPG cores based on Battlemage GPU microarchitecture. The bigger siblings to Core Ultra 5, the Core Ultra 7 series, will feature eight Xe2-LPG cores instead of seven, with the same CPU core count, while all of them will run the fourth generation NPU.

Micron Technology, Inc., today announced the availability of Crucial LPCAMM2, the disruptive next-generation laptop memory form factor that features LPDDR5X mobile memory to level up laptop performance for professionals and creators. Consuming up to 58% less active power and with a 64% space savings compared to DDR5 SODIMMs, LPCAMM2 delivers higher bandwidth and dual-channel support with a single module. LPCAMM2 is an ideal high-performance memory solution for handling AI PC and complex workloads and is compatible with the powerful and versatile Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 mobile workstations.

"LPCAMM2 is a game-changer for mobile workstation users who want to enjoy the benefits of the latest mobile high performance memory technology without sacrificing superior performance, upgradeability, power efficiency or space," said Jonathan Weech, senior director of product marketing for Micron's Commercial Products Group. "With LPCAMM2, we are delivering a future-proof memory solution, enabling faster speeds and longer battery life to support demanding creative and AI workloads."

Enthusiasts on the ChipHell forum scored an alleged image of AMD's upcoming "Strix Halo" mobile processor, and set out to create some highly plausible schematic slides. These are speculative. While "Strix Point" is the mobile processor that succeeds the current "Hawk Point" and "Phoenix" processors; "Strix Halo" is in a category of its own—to offer gaming experiences comparable to discrete GPUs in the ultraportable form-factor where powerful discrete GPUs are generally not possible. "Strix Halo" also goes head on against Apple's M3 Max and M3 Pro processors powering the latest crop of MacBook Pros. It has the same advantages as a single-chip solution, as the M3 Max.

The "Strix Halo" silicon is a chiplet-based processor, although very different from "Fire Range". The "Fire Range" processor is essentially a BGA version of the desktop "Granite Ridge" processor—it's the same combination of one or two "Zen 5" CCDs that talk to a client I/O die, and is meant for performance-thru-enthusiast segment notebooks. "Strix Halo," on the other hand, use the same one or two "Zen 5" CCDs, but with a large SoC die featuring an oversized iGPU, and 256-bit LPDDR5X memory controllers not found on the cIOD. This is key to what AMD is trying to achieve—CPU and graphics performance in the league of the M3 Pro and M3 Max at comparable PCB and power footprints.

Samsung Electronics, a world leader in advanced memory technology, today announced that it has developed the industry's first LPDDR5X DRAM supporting the industry's highest performance of up to 10.7 gigabits-per-second (Gbps). Leveraging 12 nanometer (nm)-class process technology, Samsung has achieved the smallest chip size among existing LPDDRs, solidifying its technological leadership in the low-power DRAM market.

"As demand for low-power, high-performance memory increases, LPDDR DRAM is expected to expand its applications from mainly mobile to other areas that traditionally require higher performance and reliability such as PCs, accelerators, servers and automobiles," said YongCheol Bae, Executive Vice President of Memory Product Planning of the Memory Business at Samsung Electronics. "Samsung will continue to innovate and deliver optimized products for the upcoming on-device AI era through close collaboration with customers." With the surge in AI applications, on-device AI, which enables direct processing on devices, is becoming increasingly crucial, underscoring the need for low-power, high-performance LPDDR memory.

Intel Core Ultra "Lunar Lake-MX" will be the company's bulwark against Apple's M-series Pro and Max chips, designed to power the next crop of performance ultraportables. The MX codename extension denotes MoP (memory-on-package), which sees stacked LPDDR5X memory chips share the package's fiberglass substrate with the chip, to conserve PCB footprint, and give Intel greater control over the right kind of memory speed, timings, and power-management features suited to its microarchitecture. This is essentially what Apple does with its M-series SoCs powering its MacBooks and iPad Pros. Igor's Lab scored the motherlode on the way Intel has restructured the various components across its chiplets, and the various I/O wired to the package.

When compared to "Meteor Lake," the "Lunar Lake" microarchitecture sees a small amount of "re-aggregation" of the various logic-heavy components of the processor. On "Meteor Lake," the CPU cores and the iGPU sat on separate tiles—Compute tile and Graphics tile, respectively, with a large SoC tile sitting between them, and a smaller I/O tile that serves as an extension of the SoC tile. All four tiles sat on top of a Foveros base tile, which is essentially an interposer—a silicon die that facilitates high-density microscopic wiring between the various tiles that are placed on top of it. With "Lunar Lake," there are only two tiles—the Compute tile, and the SoC tile.

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for AI, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is announcing its latest portfolio to accelerate the deployment of generative AI. The Supermicro SuperCluster solutions provide foundational building blocks for the present and the future of large language model (LLM) infrastructure. The three powerful Supermicro SuperCluster solutions are now available for generative AI workloads. The 4U liquid-cooled systems or 8U air-cooled systems are purpose-built and designed for powerful LLM training performance, as well as large batch size and high-volume LLM inference. A third SuperCluster, with 1U air-cooled Supermicro NVIDIA MGX systems, is optimized for cloud-scale inference.

"In the era of AI, the unit of compute is now measured by clusters, not just the number of servers, and with our expanded global manufacturing capacity of 5,000 racks/month, we can deliver complete generative AI clusters to our customers faster than ever before," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "A 64-node cluster enables 512 NVIDIA HGX H200 GPUs with 72 TB of HBM3e through a couple of our scalable cluster building blocks with 400 Gb/s NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand and Spectrum-X Ethernet networking. Supermicro's SuperCluster solutions combined with NVIDIA AI Enterprise software are ideal for enterprise and cloud infrastructures to train today's LLMs with up to trillions of parameters. The interconnected GPUs, CPUs, memory, storage, and networking, when deployed across multiple nodes in racks, construct the foundation of today's AI. Supermicro's SuperCluster solutions provide foundational building blocks for rapidly evolving generative AI and LLMs."

An unusual memory configuration has been spotted on an HONOR MagicBook Pro 16 AI laptop—Golden Pig Upgrade (via Weibo) has shared a brief snippet of footage from a Task Manager session. It confirms that non-binary symmetrical LPDDR5(X) memory is now operating within portable Windows 11 devices, at least in China. Crucial 12 GB capacity DDR5 SODIMM products were uncovered a couple of days ago—at the time, tech enthusiasts wondered whether other options were due in the near future. Recent Geekbench Browser entries have unveiled several "HONOR DRA-XX" Intel Core Ultra-powered devices that sport 24 GB memory configurations.

Manufacturers have been deliberating over new 12 GB, 24 GB, and 48 GB standards for roughly two years—we witnessed the release of commercial desktop products last year. It has taken longer for OEM options to arrive, but HONOR seems to be pioneering a rollout within the slimline laptop segment. VideoCardz has analyzed Golden Pig Upgrade's short clip—they believe that the demoed MagicBook Pro 16 (dual-channel) has a soldered-on: "total capacity of 24 GB based on LPDDR5X technology. Instead of relying on SODIMM modules, this laptop has eight individual memory chips, each with a capacity of 3 GB, totaling 24 GB of LPDDR5X-6400 memory." Upcoming enthusiast-class portable systems—with quadruple SODIMM slot setups—could be fitted with maximum 48 GB capacities. The latest developments signal a pleasing breakaway from traditional laptop system memory limits of 16 and 32 GB.

Lenovo has announced today that the Lenovo Legion Tab, an 8.8-inch Android tablet for the modern mobile gamer, is soon going to be expanding availability from China to select markets in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) and Asia. The Lenovo Legion Tab bridges the gap between PC and mobile gaming, offering a solution for gamers seeking a high-performance gaming experience that is both accessible and convenient.

The Lenovo Legion Tab transcends the typical expectations of a tablet, delivering outstanding gaming performance thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 4 nm processor and 12 GB of LPDDR5X memory all in a 76 mm thin Storm Grey tablet weighing in at just 350 grams. The Lenovo Legion Tab allows for even more gaming on the go owing to its 256 GB onboard storage—expandable with the microSD slot that supports up to 1 TB cards. The 144 Hz 8.8-inch QHD+ Lenovo PureSight gaming display brings visuals to vibrant life, allowing any Android compatible game to shine crisp and colorful. The tablet's integrated haptic system gives gamers a further level of immersion and feedback so they can truly get in the game.

In what is a solid hint that Arm-based SoCs such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon X don't just intend to serve as cheaper alternatives to x86-based U-segment processors from Intel and AMD, but also compete in the high-end on virtue of their performance and battery life advantages; Samsung is designing a line of premium thin-and-light notebooks around the upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. Snapdragon X crams in the company's most advanced Arm CPU IP, and the latest generation Qualcomm Adreno iGPU; with Qualcomm claiming to offer 2x the CPU and graphics performance over x86 processors in its price-class, at 1/3rd the power (in other words, over 2x the battery life). It also packs a powerful NPU with 45 TOPS AI inferencing performance on tap. The Snapdragon X Elite is essentially Qualcomm's answer to the M3.

With the Snapdragon X Elite, Samsung has designed the new Galaxy Book 4 Edge, and WinFuture has some specs. Apparently the notebook comes in a 14-inch thin-and-light form-factor. The Snapdragon X Elite will be paired with 16 GB of LPDDR5/X memory, and 512 GB of NVMe-based SSD storage. Comms will include a 5G MODEM for connectivity anywhere; and possibly Wi-Fi 7 BE. Although we can't tell from the company images, it stands to reason that Samsung is using an AMOLED touchscreen display. WinFuture reports that Samsung plans to price the Galaxy Book 4 Edge at €1,759, which should put it in competition with several models of M3-powered MacBooks. The best part? The notebook is powered by Windows 11, and comes with a Microsoft-supplied translation layer for running legacy PC apps on it.

There is some confidence behind removing HTT (Hyper-Threading technology) for the P-cores of its upcoming processor generations. Apparently "Lunar Lake" 17 W U-segment processors offer a substantial multithreaded performance gain of almost 50% over the current-generation "Meteor Lake," enabling Intel to do away with the power- or cache overheads that come with HTT. "Lunar Lake" will be Intel's third microarchitecture powering mobile processors under the Core Ultra brand; and its U-segment SKUs meant for ultraportables will come with processor base power values of 17 W. Intel will probably revise its platform specifications for the U-segment to denote 17 W, up from the current 15 W. Bionic Squash, a reliable source with Intel leaks, suggests so. The processors will come with a configurable base power of up to 30 W.

Intel "Lunar Lake" microarchitecture has a lot in common with the upcoming "Arrow Lake." For starters, both microarchitectures use the same combination of "Lion Cove" P-core architecture, and "Skymont" E-core architecture; however "Lunar Lake" comes with changes in the core-configuration, and the use of more advanced foundry nodes for some of its tiles. "Lunar Lake," much like "Meteor Lake," comes with a design priority for mobile platforms, which is why Intel is planning to launch this shortly after "Arrow Lake," with some reports even speaking of a late-2024 debut for the U-segment.

TrendForce reports a 29.6% QoQ in DRAM industry revenue for 4Q23, reaching US$17.46 billion, propelled by revitalized stockpiling efforts and strategic production control by leading manufacturers. Looking ahead to 1Q24, the intent to further enhance profitability is evident, with a projected near 20% increase in DRAM contract prices—albeit with a slight decrease in shipment volumes to the traditional off-season.

Samsung led the pack with the highest revenue growth among the top manufacturers in Q4 as it jumped 50% QoQ to hit $7.95 billion, largely due to a surge in 1alpha nm DDR5 shipments, boosting server DRAM shipments by over 60%. SK hynix saw a modest 1-3% rise in shipment volumes but benefited from the pricing advantage of HBM and DDR5, especially from high-density server DRAM modules, leading to a 17-19% increase in ASP and a 20.2% rise in revenue to $5.56 billion. Micron witnessed growth in both volume and price, with a 4-6% increase in each, resulting in a more moderate revenue growth of 8.9%, totaling $3.35 billion for the quarter due to its comparatively lower share of DDR5 and HBM.

Cadence's digital and custom/analog flows are certified on the Intel 18A process technology. Cadence design IP supports this node from Intel Foundry, and the corresponding process design kits (PDKs) are delivered to accelerate the development of a wide variety of low-power consumer, high-performance computing (HPC), AI and mobile computing designs. Customers can now begin using the production-ready Cadence design flows and design IP to achieve design goals and speed up time to market.

"Intel Foundry is very excited to expand our partnership with Cadence to enable key markets for the leading-edge Intel 18A process technology," said Rahul Goyal, Vice President and General Manager, Product and Design Ecosystem, Intel Foundry. "We will leverage Cadence's world-class portfolio of IP, AI design technologies, and advanced packaging solutions to enable high-volume, high-performance, and power-efficient SoCs in Intel Foundry's most advanced process technology. Cadence is an indispensable partner supporting our IDM2.0 strategy and the Intel Foundry ecosystem."