System software code used for detecting and installing AMD's upcoming Radeon "Navi" family of graphics processors surfaced in the latest Apple MacOS "Mojave" beta. Version 14.2 beta of the operating system packs preparation for AMD's next-generation GPUs through a device identifier "0x73101002." A similar piece of code surfaced on early versions of MacOS "Sierra" some 6 months prior to Radeon "Vega" family launch, which perfectly aligns with this release of Mojave preceding the speculated mid-2019 launch of "Navi."

The code makes four references, Navi 16, Navi 12, Navi 10, and Navi 9. We're not quite sure if these are brand names or ASIC codes pointing to the number of next-generation compute units enabled on the silicon. If they are the latter, and assuming AMD hasn't changed the number of stream processors per NGCU, we're looking at the possibility of these chips being mid-range performance successors to the "Polaris" family, and it's likely they'll find place in Apple's upcoming generation of iMac, and possibly even MacBooks.Many Thanks to theoneandonlymrk for the tip.

Seagate Technology plc., a world leader in data solutions, today announced an exciting extension of its portfolio with several new models, including new solid state drive offerings at CES 2019. From gung-ho gamers to Instagram gurus, photo-collecting parents, or visionary creatives, Seagate offers the data storage solutions that empower users to live their best digital lives in today's fast-changing data-heavy landscape.

Today, consumers have more ways than ever to consume content, driving the need to create, distribute and manage data efficiently. According to a recent IDC whitepaper sponsored by Seagate, five billion consumers are currently interacting with data every single day. By 2025, that number will jump to six billion, or 75 percent of the world's population. Each of those six billion people will have at least one data interaction every 18 seconds, bumping the amount of data created worldwide to 175 zettabytes by 2025. Consumers increasingly need reliable ways to collect, protect, manage and access a good portion of that data, and Seagate's latest products - including the cutting-edge LaCie Mobile Drive, LaCie Mobile SSD, Seagate Backup Plus HDDs, FireCuda 510 and BarraCuda 510 internal SSDs, and IronWolf 110 NAS SSD - are designed to fit a variety of data storage needs and digital lifestyles.

While the new release of LG's Gram series is no secret, we were able to take a closer look at the 17-inch 17Z990-R.AAS8U1 and 14-inch 14T990-U.AAS8U1 models at CES 2019. These Windows 10 based offerings rival Apple's MacBook Air not only in size but in regards to specifications and looks as well. Packing a 17-inch 2560x1600 IPS display into a 15.6-inch class body the 17Z990-R.AAS8U1 packs a serious punch. It comes equipped with a 4c/8t Intel Core i7-8565U which offers a base clock of 1.8 GHz and a boost clock of 4.6 GHz. It also comes equipped with 16 GB of system memory, while a 512GB SSD handles all your potential storage needs. The inclusion of Thunderbolt 3 gives users faster file transfer speeds along with the ability to connect an extra display via a single port. Meanwhile, the 72 W battery allows for continuous operation up to 19.5 hours. With solid specifications and sleek design, it appears to be a robust system. The MSRP is currently listed at $1699.99.

The more portable 14T990-U.AAS8U1 is a far more compact 14-inch offering with a 1920x1080 IPS touchscreen that makes use of Corning's Gorilla Glass 5. Unlike the 17-inch LG Gram, the 14-inch can convert from a traditional laptop to a tablet and even comes with a Wacom AES 2.0 Pen. Like its larger sibling, it features the same 72W battery allowing for it to operate up to 21 hours. General specifications are the same as its larger sibling with the Intel Core i7-8565U, 16 GB RAM and 512 GB SSD all making a reappearance here. This latest 2-in-1 from LG will set you back $1499.99. For a more in-depth look at both systems check our previous coverage here.

The shadow of a ARM-based MacBook has been there for years. Rumors have been adding up, and the performance of their own mobile processors is more and more convincing with each new generation of devices. The recent launch of the iPad Pro has reinforced those signs after knowing its Apple A12X Bionic' Geekbench 4 results. According to this benchmark, the new iPad Pro isn't that far in raw performance from what we have with a Core i9-8950HK-based MacBook Pro (2018). We have a Single-Core/Multi-Core score of 5020/18217 in the iPad Pro vs the 5627/21571 on the MacBook Pro. If this seems nuts it's because it really is.

This comparison is pretty absurd in itself: TDPs are quite different on both (7 W vs 45 W) but there are also important distinctions in areas such as the memory used in those devices (most Apple laptops still use DDR-2133 modules) and, of course, the operating system on which they are based. Those numbers are just a tiny reference, but if we pay attention to Apple's recent keynote, that Photoshop CC demo can really speak for itself. And again, comparisons are hateful, but let's look for a slightly fairer comparison.

Apple today announced a slew of updates to there product lines including an all-new MacBook Air and Mac Mini. Starting with the MacBook Air, Apple has finally given the system a proper upgrade bringing it back to relevance after years of stagnation. These upgrades include a 13.3-inch Retina display, Intel's 8th generation Core i5 processor with UHD Graphics 617, up to 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3 and SSDs with capacities up to 1.5 TB. In terms of design, the shell is made of 100% recycled aluminum with the entire system weighing in at just 2.75 lbs compared to the outgoing models 2.96 lbs.

On top of the various hardware improvements, Apple has also included their Touch ID fingerprint sensor which is paired with their T2 chip for a secure login much the same as the current MacBook Pro. These two inclusions, along with the T2 chips ability to deliver on-the-fly data encryption makes the MacBook Air one of the most secure notebooks on the market according to Apple. However, one thing missing here is the Touch Bar, which will likely make more than a few users happy. The keyboard also gets upgraded to the same third generation with butterfly mechanism used on the MacBook Pro lineup.

We've been seeing rumors for months about the new iPad Pro and especially the successors to the MacBook Air, and we'll soon be able to confirm whether those rumors were true. Apple has issued media invites for an October 30 event in New York with the tagline "There's more in the making". The company is expected to announce the new iPad Pro, which could be based on a processor more powerful than the Apple A12 Bionic used on the new iPhone XR, XS and XS Max. This new tablet would have both 10.5 and a 12.9 inches models with slim bezels and Face ID. The rumors suggest the new iPad Pro will ditch the Lighting connector and replace it with a USB-C port.

Even more promising is that theoretical successor to MacBook Air (not necessarily called this way) that has been talked about for months. In August Bloomberg pointed out that this machine would have a Retina display whose size is not entirely clear: while DigiTimes talked about a 13-inch screen, Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst at TF International Securities, spoke of a replacement for the current MacBook that would therefore have a 12-inch screen. There is no info around its CPU/GPU, but the recent launch of 8th Gen U-Series and Y-Series processors makes guessing a fun exercise.

Bootcamp was an instant hit with MacBook users, as it allowed them to dual-boot between MacOS and Windows, giving them access to applications that don't have MacOS versions. Google's Chromebook is a similar walled-garden to Apple Mac, with the company maintaining tight control over the hardware and OS. A new software modeled along Bootcamp, cheekily named Campfire, could introduce dual-booting on Chromebooks, allowing you to switch between ChromeOS and Windows 10.

Campfire first surfaced on the Chromium Git as a mysterious new project pointing to an "alt OS mode" for ChromeOS. XDA Developers confirms that Campfire will be introduced by Google for its entire userbase, and not just something that you optionally install. You also don't need to enable Developer Mode to use it. For now, a wide range of Chromebooks appear to be Campfire-ready. Google will focus on making it as easy as possible to install Windows 10. Although not limited by other hardware specs, Campfire could eat up at least 30 GB of storage to meet Windows 10 requirements and leave a reasonable amount of user-space. You should only try it out on Chromebooks with 60 GB (or higher) storage.

Did you know, that the home buttons on the iPhone 7/Plus, and iPhone 8/Plus aren't real buttons? It's a flat surface with pressure and fingerprint sensors, and when pushed hard enough, the Taptic module underneath simulates the tactile-feedback of pushing a real SMD button (which is why the button feels jammed when the iPhone is powered down). Apple's latest generation of MacBooks already have real keyboards with extremely short key travel, that's well enough received by its users to convince the company to toy with a notebook with completely virtual keyboards.

Apple filed patent applications for a new generation of MacBooks that completely lack physical keyboards, and instead have two screens on the opposing halves of the traditional notebook clam-shell. The upper half has a higher-resolution main screen, while the lower half has a slightly lower-resolution screen that's good enough to display virtual keyboards of any shape, layout or character-set; in addition to more content. This screen will have toughened glass, and a super-sensitive capacitive 3D touch layer, and Taptic modules underneath. The trackpad, too, is virtual, and can be located wherever you like. Apple will give MacOS more gesture-based control riding on the success of the iPhone X. The patent application shows that Apple has succeeded in simulating keyboards' tactile-feedback on Taptic, and it's only a matter of time before notebooks with real keyboards could be relegated to sub-premium market segments.

Apple, at WWDC 2018, announced that with the latest update to MacOS, its operating system for iMac desktops and MacBooks, the company is deprecating two of the industry's leading APIs, OpenGL and OpenCL, in a bid to boost adoption of its own Metal API. OpenGL and OpenCL applications will continue to function on MacOS 10.14, but the APIs themselves will be deprecated going forward. The removal of OpenGL from future MacOS releases breaks most AAA cross-platform games playable on the Mac, particularly distributed over Steam. The deprecation of OpenCL comes as a surprise to the scientific community, as several computational applications running on Mac Pros will be affected. Adobe Creativity Suite applications take advantage of both APIs. Apple is pushing for Metal's compute-shader features to replace the API.

One of the biggest tech stories of the 2000s was Apple's transition from the PowerPC machine architecture to Intel x86, which brought the Mac closer to being the PC it so loathed. The transition wasn't smooth, as besides the operating system, practically every third-party software developer (eg: Adobe), had to rewrite their software for the new architecture, with new APIs, and new runtime environments. Apple could be bringing about a similar change before the turn of the decade.

Apple already builds its own application processors for iOS devices, and some of the newer chips such as the A11 Bionic and A10 Fusion have already reached the performance levels of entry-level x86 desktop processors. It's only a matter of time before Apple can build its own SoCs for Macs (that's not just iMac desktops, but also Mac Pro workstations, MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro). That timeline is expected to be around 2020. Since these chips are based on the ARM machine architecture, they will mandate a major transformation of the entire software ecosystem Apple built over the past decade and a half. Intel shares dropped by as much as 9.2 at the first reports of this move.

After years of experience in the optical disc, computer equipment, auto and industrial markets, Pioneer has recently made the leap into the consumer electronics market and launched its all-new USB Type-C Series which include a docking station, multiport adapter, and external Portable SSD and more.

Versatile Docking Station helps build a super powerful personal workstation
The docking station features a simple design, intuitive use, and perfect compatibility with MacBooks and Thunderbolt computers. Only the USB-C terminal is required to connect all devices to significantly improve work efficiency. It supports Windows dual-screen output, having the complete expanding capability for the A/V output. It is flexible, easy to use and charges your device to greatly enhance your work efficiency.

Kingston Digital Europe Co LLP, an affiliate of Kingston Technology Company Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, is set to share its latest and upcoming products at CES. Kingston will have demonstrations highlighting the capabilities of their family of solid-state drives and encrypted USB Flash drives, as well as additions in the consumer lifestyle space with mobile and embedded solutions.

"We are excited to share what's to come from Kingston in 2018. CES week provides a great opportunity to showcase the many quality technology solutions that make up the Kingston family," said Robert Allen, Director Marketing and Technical Services -EMEA, Kingston. "From enterprise SSDs, encrypted USBs, consumer mobile products to embedded solutions, we continue to offer customers rock-solid reliability, ultimate security and maximum performance. When guests visit our suite, they will fully understand Kingston's commitment to offering the most complete family of performance solutions."

Feral Interactive today announced that action RPG Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is coming to macOS on December 12th, augmented with Metal 2, Apple's latest graphics API. Developed by Eidos Montréal and published by Square Enix on consoles and Windows PC, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is the latest instalment in the renowned cyberpunk Deus Ex series. Set in 2029, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided casts players as Adam Jensen, a mechanically-augmented covert agent in a world where discrimination against augmented humans has created a climate of fear. Armed with a new arsenal of state-of-the-art weapons and augmentations, but forced to operate in a society that distrusts his kind, Jensen must choose which approach to take as he struggles to unravel a global conspiracy.

Players will will tailor Jensen's augmentations to suit their individual play style as they forge their own routes through meticulously designed missions, constantly choosing between a variety of tactical options: hacking, stealth, social skills, and brute force. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided features superbly realised environments with wildly imaginative science-fiction elements. The game's main hub, a vast and breathtakingly detailed re-imagining of Prague, infuses the city's historic architecture with futuristic art, technology and interior design.

Apple today previewed macOS High Sierra, the latest version of the world's most advanced desktop operating system, delivering new core storage, video and graphics technologies that pave the way for future innovation on the Mac. macOS High Sierra offers an all-new file system, support for High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) and an update to Metal, Apple's advanced graphics technology that powers everything from machine learning to virtual reality content creation. macOS High Sierra also includes a number of refinements to the apps Mac users enjoy every day, including Photos, Safari and Mail.

"macOS High Sierra delivers important forward-looking technologies and new opportunities for developers wanting to tap into the power of machine learning and create immersive VR content on the Mac," said Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "The core technology innovations in macOS High Sierra, combined with our advances in hardware, will continue to push the Mac forward in exciting new ways."

Apple today updated its iMac line with up to three times more powerful graphics, faster processors, Thunderbolt 3, faster storage options and brighter Retina displays, and added a Retina 4K display and discrete graphics to the $1,299 (US) 21.5-inch iMac. With its incredibly thin and seamless enclosure, fast processors and storage and stunning Retina display, iMac sets the gold standard for desktops. iMac delivers powerful performance for 3D graphics, video editing and gaming, and with macOS High Sierra coming this fall, iMac becomes a great platform for virtual reality content creation. Apple also today updated MacBook and MacBook Pro with faster processors, added faster SSDs to MacBook and introduced a new $1,299 (US) 13-inch MacBook Pro.

"With major updates to iMac, and a refresh of our MacBook and MacBook Pro lines, the Mac is stronger than ever," said John Ternus, Apple's vice president of Hardware Engineering. "Today iMac gets a huge graphics performance increase, faster CPU performance, Thunderbolt 3 and a brighter Retina display with support for 1 billion colors. We're also increasing CPU and SSD speed on MacBook, adding faster processors and making faster graphics standard on our 15-inch MacBook Pro and introducing a new $1,299 (US) 13-inch MacBook Pro."

AKITIO today unveiled their new Thunderbolt 3 PCIe box, the Node Lite. The new Node Lite is an upgraded version of their popular Thunder2 PCIe Box. The Node Lite features PCIe Gen 3, which provides much improved performance when using new PCIe cards such as video capture cards, RAID cards, NVMe SSD storage, 10G and even 40G network cards. The Node Lite is compatible with both macOS and Windows computers, making it the ideal companion for the new 2016 MacBook Pro as well as new Thunderbolt 3 Windows PC's.

The Node Lite features the same compact, tool-less design as the Thunder2 PCIe Box in a stylish new space gray outer case. Inside the case, the Node Lite features two Thunderbolt 3 ports, which can be used to daisy chain other Thunderbolt 3 devices as well as USB 3 Type-C devices. Another new addition is a DisplayPort version 1.2 port which can be used to connect an additional 4K@60Hz monitor.

NVIDIA could be close to scoring design wins with Apple, for its MacBook, iMac, and Mac Pro families. This came to light in a job posting at NVIDIA, which calls for applicants to "help produce the next revolutionary Apple products." Although Apple has offered options of both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs on its Mac products in the past, the company hasn't offered NVIDIA GPUs for several generations now, with AMD Radeon being the only discrete GPU choice for MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac Pro products, with the only other choices being integrated GPUs by Intel.

Apple today updated MacBook with the latest Intel processors, improved graphics performance, faster flash storage and an additional hour of battery life, making the thinnest and lightest Mac better than ever. Featuring an all-metal unibody enclosure, MacBook is now available in four aluminum finishes - gold, silver, space gray, and for the first time on a Mac, a gorgeous rose gold. With a stunning 12-inch Retina display, highly responsive full-size keyboard, Force Touch trackpad, versatile USB-C port and all-day battery life in a design that is just 2 pounds and 13.1 mm thin, MacBook is the future of the notebook.

"MacBook is the thinnest and lightest Mac we have ever made and it's our vision for the future of the notebook," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Customers are going to love this update to MacBook, with the latest processors, faster graphics, faster flash storage, longer battery life and a beautiful rose gold finish."

OWC Digital, a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, today announced the all-new Aura SSD for Mid 2013 and Later Mac laptops, the most anticipated SSD upgrade release in OWC's history. In an era of ever-expanding storage needs, this long-awaited upgrade allows users, for the first time ever, to expand the stock storage that came with their Mac laptops and reuse their original factory drive to transfer data and as a high-performance external storage solution.

Available in 480GB and 1TB capacities, Aura SSD upgrade kits are the first and only PCIe-based flash storage upgrades available for MacBook Pro with Retina display (Late 2013 and newer) and MacBook Air (Mid 2013 and newer) models.

ADATA Technology Co., Ltd., the world's leading brand in memory modules, today announced a major strategic move towards deeper investment and involvement in Apple-compatible products. The Apple Series announcement coincides with the launch this week of three ADATA products for Apple devices: i-Memory UE710 USB 3.0 Flash drive, i-Memory SD Card, and UC350 Type-C USB 3.1 OTG Flash drive. ADATA has developed several patented technologies that are being applied in Apple-related products and is leveraging extensive research capabilities as part of this new focus. Based on its strong track record in memory and storage, ADATA plans to integrate existing proficiencies in future innovations to benefit Apple users. Notable areas include advanced storage expansion, rapid device charging, and products that make the most of proprietary Apple Lightning connectors and emerging USB Type-C. With a series of products dedicated to Apple platforms, ADATA expects to deliver exciting new innovations to customers while promoting long-term business growth.

The UE710 USB 3.0 Flash drive features a dual connector design, combining Apple Lightning and USB 3.0. It offers super-convenient data transfer and backup between mobile iOS devices such as iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch and Mac or Windows PC. UE710 greatly reduces data transfer wait times, which is significant when handling large media files and especially useful wherever internet access to cloud storage is not available. UE710 provides the best solution for expanding storage on iOS devices that do not support memory cards. It comes with the free i-Memory app, which offers user-friendly content management features. UE710 supports approximately 40 file formats, including Ultra HD 4K video and professional RAW photo files, all with near-instant access. It is available in snow white and black/silver color schemes, and 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities.

Team Group Inc. today launched the Team MiDRIVE, an all new storage expansion solution for Apple MacBook. For MiDRIVE's compact plug in design and with the use of Team UHS-1 high speed memory card, it is specifically customized for MacBook series to meet the needs of many Mac users. The overall design is simple, clean and neat as well as colorful, which emphasize the idea of a simple and smart living with a personalized taste. To form a contrast in design between the cap and the body of the USB drive, we use elegant matte finish and bright white gloss finish.

With the expandable design and through the help of the high speed memory card, MiDRIVE is able to take a step further to improve the storage capacity and the file management efficiency. Continuing Mac's exquisite minimalist design and also satisfying users' needs for both practical and personal style, the exterior features an ultra slim and short design with classic black and white pattern.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company, announced today the OWC USB-C Dock. Available for immediate pre-order, the new OWC USB-C Dock provides a complete connectivity solution for the 2015 Apple MacBook and other computers that utilize USB-C ports.

Available in Silver, Space Gray, and Gold, the OWC USB-C Dock provides eleven ports and enables essential everyday peripheral connectivity. Users will be able to charge devices, connect a display, add external storage, import photos from an SD card, utilize wired Gigabit Ethernet connections, connect their favorite audio accessories, and even power their MacBook, all through a single USB Type-C cable.

Patriot, a leading manufacturer of mobile accessories, computer and USB memory, announces the development of a Type-C USB Flash Drive for the new MacBook, Google Chromebook Pixel and other Type-C equipped notebooks and systems available on the market. With the recent release of the latest MacBook, which has been upgraded with the new Type-C port, consumers will now be able to use the Type-C USB Flash Drive to transfer data from any other form factor using a single robust and small solution.

Outfitted with a polished metal exterior, the dual-sided Type-C / Type A USB Flash Drive will feature both a small Type-C at one end and a standard USB 3.0 connector at the other end allowing seamless data transfer from traditional devices to the new Type C based device. Patriot solves the problem of compatibility, providing a solution that is compatible with all devices.

Sonnet today announced the Echo Express SE I, the latest addition to the award-winning Echo Express line of Thunderbolt 2-to-PCIe expansion systems. Like the other members of the Echo Express family, the SE I enables the use of a wide variety of high-performance PCI Express (PCIe) cards - originally designed for use in desktop computers - with any Mac or Windows computer with a Thunderbolt port. The new single-slot model supports nearly every Thunderbolt-compatible PCIe card on the market, including double-width cards (PCIe card plus daughter card).

The Echo Express SE I features Thunderbolt 2 technology, which provides ample bandwidth for many of the most demanding, highest performance PCIe cards, and incorporates support for the DisplayPort 1.2 protocol, which enables video streaming to a 4K video monitor. The new expansion chassis is ideally suited for use with a wide variety of pro video capture, audio interface, SAS or SATA HBA, 16Gb or 8Gb Fibre Channel, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and RAID controller PCIe cards, allowing them to connect with Thunderbolt-enabled iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro computers, as well as Mac Pro computers that lack PCIe expansion slots. Plus, the Echo Express SE I's dual Thunderbolt 2 ports not only support full-bandwidth connectivity with 20Gbps Thunderbolt 2-equipped host computers, but provide full backward compatibility with 10Gbps Thunderbolt-equipped computers and devices, and support daisy-chaining of other Thunderbolt 2 and Thunderbolt devices.

Today LaCie, the premium brand of Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX), announced the addition of USB-C technology to its Porsche Design Mobile Drive. This product combines the ease of use of USB-C with the proven speed, style and durability of the LaCie Porsche Design line, making it the perfect match for the latest MacBook.

The LaCie Mobile Drive features a USB-C port - the user-friendly connector of the future. This new technology makes the LaCie Mobile Drive incredibly easy to connect, since both ends of the cable are identical and the connector is reversible. As a result, there is no need to worry about which end goes to which device or about plugging it in upside down.