Today, Intel officially launched 11 new, highly integrated 10th Gen Intel Core processors designed for remarkably sleek 2 in 1s and laptops. The processors bring high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) to the PC at scale, feature new Intel Iris Plus graphics for stunning entertainment and enable the best connectivity with Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and Thunderbolt 3. Systems are expected from PC manufacturers for the holiday season.

"These 10th Gen Intel Core processors shift the paradigm for what it means to deliver leadership in mobile PC platforms. With broad-scale AI for the first time on PCs, an all-new graphics architecture, best-in-class Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and Thunderbolt 3 - all integrated onto the SoC, thanks to Intel's 10nm process technology and architecture design - we're opening the door to an entirely new range of experiences and innovations for the laptop."
-Chris Walker, Intel corporate vice president and general manager of Mobility Client Platforms in the Client Computing Group

AnandTech, who spoke with the USB Promoter Group at Computex, have shared that the new protocol is expected to manifest in physical, consumer products by the end of 2020. The specification for the next-generation bus is currently on version 0.7, with the USB Promoter Group expecting it to be finalized by this Summer. Then it's just a matter of manufacturers developing new products powered by the latest protocol.

USB 4.0 borrows heavily from Intel's thunderbolt 3 technology - which, if you'll remember, was made available as an open specification very recently. Intel's contribution of the Thunderbolt 3 protocol will enable USB 4.0 to achieve speeds of up to 40 Gbps with multiple data and display protocols being able to share available bandwidth. Additionally, USB 4.0 will make use of USB Type-C's interface, ensuring backwards compatibility not only with it, but also USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt 3. Due to the many improvements in data transfer speeds and ability to stream multiple data and display protocols, the USB Promoter Group is looking at the possibility of changing USB's trademark logo for the next generation interface, alongside a revised branding scheme.

AMD X570 is the company's first in-house design desktop motherboard chipset for the AM4 platform. The company sourced earlier generations of chipset from ASMedia. A chipset in context of the AM4 platform only serves to expand I/O connectivity, since an AM4 processor is a full-fledged SoC, with an integrated southbridge that puts out SATA and USB ports directly from the CPU socket, in addition to LPCIO (ISA), HD audio bus, and SPI to interface with the firmware ROM chip. The X470 "Promontory Low Power" chipset runs really cool, with a maximum TDP of 5 Watts, and the ability to lower power to get its TDP down to 3W. The X570, on the other hand, has a TDP of "at least 15 Watts." A majority of the X570 motherboards we've seen at Computex 2019 had active fan-heatsinks over the chipset. We may now have a possible explanation for this - there are just too many things on the chipset.

According to AMD, the X570 chipset by itself can be made to put out a staggering twelve SATA 6 Gbps ports (not counting the two ports put out by the AM4 SoC). A possible rationale behind this may have been to enable motherboard designers to equip every M.2 slot on the motherboard with SATA wiring in addition to PCIe, without needing switches that reroute SATA connection from one of the physical ports. It's also possible that AMD encouraged motherboard designers to not wire out SATA ports from the AM4 SoC as physical ports to save costs on switches, and dedicate one of them to the M.2 slot wired to the SoC. With the two SATA ports from the SoC out of the equation, and every other M.2 slot getting a direct SATA connection from the chipset, motherboard designers can wire out the remaining SATA ports as physical ports, without spending money on switches, or worrying about customer complaints on one of their drives not working due to automatic switching. This is an extreme solution to a rather simple problem.

Apple today introduced the all-new Mac Pro, a completely redesigned, breakthrough workstation for pros who push the limits of what a Mac can do, and unveiled Apple Pro Display XDR, the world's best pro display. Designed for maximum performance, expansion and configurability, the all-new Mac Pro features workstation-class Xeon processors up to 28 cores, a high-performance memory system with a massive 1.5TB capacity, eight PCIe expansion slots and a graphics architecture featuring the world's most powerful graphics card. It also introduces Apple Afterburner, a game-changing accelerator card that enables playback of three streams of 8K ProRes RAW video simultaneously.

Pro Display XDR features a massive 32-inch Retina 6K display with gorgeous P3 wide and 10-bit color, an extreme 1,600 nits of peak brightness, an incredible 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a superwide viewing angle, all at a breakthrough price point. Together, the new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR are the most powerful tools Apple has ever put in the hands of pro customers and will change pro workflows forever.

At Computex 2019, we spotted three new socket LGA2066 motherboards from GIGABYTE, and several other manufacturers. At its Computex 2019 keynote, Intel announced that in Q3 2019, the company is launching new Core X series HEDT processor models "for creators." When combined with the handful new LGA2066 motherboard models we've spotted, it becomes highly likely that the processors Intel is launching this Fall could be LGA2066-compatible. Without further ado, the X299G Aorus Master, the X299G Aorus Xtreme Waterforce, and the X299G Designare 10G.

The X299G Aorus Master is different from the X299 Aorus Master launched last November, and the X299G Designare 10G is different from the X299 Designare EX launched way back in 2017. The X299G Aorus Xtreme Waterforce is the first "Xtreme" sub-branded LGA2066 product. What's common to these three boards is out-of-the-box support for the upcoming HEDT processor models, besides 9th generation "Skylake-X" Refresh processors, and the original "Skylake-X" chips.

ASRock is ready with its own mini-ITX motherboard based on the AMD X570 chipset, the X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX TB3. This tiny powerhouse one-ups other mini-ITX motherboards in its category by offering 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 connectivity over USB type-C, in addition to USB 3.2. This Thunderbolt port also includes a DP pass-through from your discrete graphics card.

Expansion includes one PCI-Express 4.0 x16. Storage connectivity includes one M.2-2280 with PCI-Express 4.0 x4 and SATA 6 Gbps connectivity; and four SATA 6 Gbps ports. Networking options include 2.4 Gbps 802.11ax WLAN, Bluetooth 5.0, and 1 GbE driven by Intel i211-AT. The board pulls power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, conditioning it for the SoC with a 6+2 phase VRM. A chunky fan-heatsink cools the chipset, shedding some of its heat to the enlarged VRM heatsink cloaked under the I/O shroud.

ASRock will be showing the world's first Thin Mini-ITX form factor - RX570TM-ITX/TBT graphics card, which adapts with AMD Radeon RX570 graphics card and supports Intel Thunderbolt 3 technology. The RX570TM-ITX/TBT graphics card is not only the first graphics card with a Thunderbolt 3 Type-C interface which supports 40Gb/s transfer rate and power delivery, but it also features 4 USB 3.1 Gen1 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, and SATA 6Gb/s interface.
The RX570TM-ITX/TBT graphics card is based on the Thin Mini-ITX concept. With this graphics card, All-in-One PC manufacturers can develop their own Thunderbolt monitors with 3D performance and power charging with less effort. Moreover, it would be able to fit in a mini ITX chassis. By connecting a notebook through Thunderbolt 3 Type-C interface, it helps to increase the notebook's 3D computing power and charge the notebook at the same time.

ZOTAC Technology, a global manufacturer of innovation, today introduced the more capable ZBOX Q Series Mini Creator PC featuring the advanced NVIDIA Quadro GPU and powerful workstation focused Intel Xeon processor. The new addition to the ZBOX Q Series leverages the ZBOX Mini PC's sleek and minimal design without compromising the powerful hardware components inside. From stunning industrial design and advanced special effects, to complex scientific visualization and sophisticated data modeling, to creating and editing images and videos, the ZBOX Q Series enables limitless creations.

The new ZBOX Q Series features the industry certified NVIDIA Quadro with up to 16GB GDDR5 memory. It's a tested and certified fully compatible hardware on many major professional design applications. The new Q Series models come equipped with an Intel Xeon processor to deliver fast and responsive performance.

Today, Intel launched the most powerful generation of Intel Core mobile processors ever: the new 9th Gen Intel Core mobile H-series processors, designed for gamers and creators who want to push their experience to the next level. "Our new 9th Gen platform is designed to delight gamers, creators and performance users by giving them more of what they want. We are bringing desktop-caliber performance with up to 5 GHz and 8 cores in a range of thinner systems and new level of connectivity with Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) so users can game or create where they want," said Fredrik Hamberger, general manager of the Premium and Gaming Laptop Segments at Intel.

There are 580 million enthusiast PC gamers and 130 million PC-based content creators today who care about raw performance as much as they do responsiveness of their PC. They require PCs that can handle everything from demanding AAA games to taxing creative workloads like editing, rendering and transcoding massive 4K video - all while on the go. The 9th Gen Intel Core mobile processors deliver desktop-caliber performance in a mobile form factor and feature amazing performance; the fastest, most reliable wireless with Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (Gig+); the most versatile wired connectivity with Thunderbolt 3; and support for Intel Optane memory technology.

Today at the 2019 NAB Show, LaCie, the premium brand from Seagate Technology (NASDAQ: STX), announced two new storage solutions for creative professionals and prosumers. The new LaCie Rugged RAID Shuttle and LaCie 2big RAID build on the brand's record of efficient preservation of high-value, high-resolution digital imagery through the capture, edit, distribution, and archiving workflow

Digital transformation in the media and entertainment industry has led to rapid data growth. In fact, according to a recent IDC whitepaper sponsored by Seagate, the media and entertainment (M&E) datasphere - the amount of data created, captured or replicated across the globe - is expected to grow at a 25% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2018 to 2025.

ASUS today released the latest into their line of ProArt monitors, especially geared for professionals, where color accuracy is paramount. The ProArt PA34VC features a 21:9 aspect ratio over a 3440 x 1440 IPS panel, which guarantees double the widescreen space of conventional 1080p monitors. The panel already comes factory-calibrated, so there's no need to mix things up in post-buy tinkering (though it does support ASUS' ProArt Calibration Technology,

There's HDR 10 VESA certification with 100% sRGB color gamut coverage, dual Thunderbolt 3 ports for video connectivity and data-transfers at speeds of up to 40 Gbps. These Thunderbolt ports also enable Power Delivery of up to 60W to external devices. It also features built-in Picture-in-Picture (PiP) and Picture-by-Picture (PbP). Gray-to-gray response time is being rated at 0.1ms, according to ASUS, while typical brightness caps out at 300 cd/m².

Intel is well on its way to making the innovation delivered with Thunderbolt 3 available to everyone. Today, Intel announced that it contributed the Intel Thunderbolt protocol specification to the USB Promoter Group, enabling other chip makers to build Thunderbolt compatible silicon, royalty-free. In addition, the USB Promoter Group announced the pending release of the USB4 specification, based on the Thunderbolt protocol. The convergence of the underlying Thunderbolt and USB protocols will increase compatibility among USB Type-C connector-based products, simplifying how people connect their devices.

"Releasing the Thunderbolt protocol specification is a significant milestone for making today's simplest and most versatile port available to everyone. This, in combination with the integration of Thunderbolt 3 into upcoming Intel processors is a win-win for the industry and consumers," said Jason Ziller, general manager, Client Connectivity Division at Intel.

A new security vulnerability named "Thunderclap" severely compromises security of computers with USB type-C Thunderbolt ports, or machines with Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps) ports. This would be pretty much every MacBook released in the past two years, Macs, and PCs with certain aftermarket Thunderbolt 3 adapters. Chronicled in a paper by the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge, Rice University and SRI International, is a method for Thunderbolt devices to bypass the host machine's IOMMU (I/O memory management unit), and read its main memory over DMA.

An IOMMU translates address-spaces between devices and main memory, and hence protects your memory's contents being read by just about any device. The group has detailed possible ways to mitigate this vulnerability, and forwarded these mitigations to Apple, Intel, and Microsoft. For now no public mitigation exists other than disabling the Thunderbolt controller of your machine in your motherboard's UEFI setup program.

OWC has released the second generation of its super-fast ThunderBlade external SSD, with a lower price point and improved performance. For creative professionals and prosumers who work to capture and process 4K or 8K video, the updated ThunderBlade Gen 2 can be the difference between staying under budget and on-schedule on a project or not.

The new ThunderBlade is stackable and runs cooler than the previous iteration, while still maintaining a near-silent environment with its fanless operation, all factors that can be critical in an operation on the go or in a tight space. With dual Thunderbolt 3 ports users can daisy-chain up to five additional ThunderBlades, and by connecting more than one drive with SoftRAID, speeds can be increased up to 3800MB/s. The newest ThunderBlade can complete a 1TB content transfer in under four-and-a-half minutes.

While at CES 2019 we had the opportunity to visit with PowerColor who were showing off their latest external GPU enclosures including the TBX-180/240FU, and the TBX-750FA. Starting with the TBX-750FA this external GPU enclosure uses a Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps) connection and has a 750-watt internal power supply. Due to the size of not only the enclosure but the power supply as well, graphics cards measuring up to 335 x 170 x 58 mm (13.18 x 6.69 x 2.28 inches). When you factor in maximum GPU power is rated at 500-watts pretty much any GPU on the market should work with this enclosure like a cat with a box if it fits it sits. Connectivity options consist of the 1x Thunderbolt 3 port for connection to the host system, 1x Gigabit Ethernet, 5x USB 3.0 (3 up front, 2 in back), 1x SD 4.0, and finally 1x SATA. Overall the enclosure measures in at 359 x 179 x 198 mm and supports Windows 10 and MacOS 10.13.4 or later.

Elgato, the leading provider of hardware and software for content creators, today unveiled Elgato Key Light, Screen Link, Stream Deck SDK, and Thunderbolt 3 Pro Dock, combining to make up the biggest launch in the company's history. From advanced lighting and connectivity to mobile streaming and increased software accessibility, Elgato is making it easier than ever for creators to produce and broadcast their own professional, high-quality video content.

Elgato Key Light is the first of its kind: an LED light panel developed specifically for modern content creators. Key Light easily clamps to your desk, adding professional lighting to your setup while taking up a fraction of the space of traditional light boxes or lamps. Key Light wirelessly communicates with your PC or Mac, letting you instantly control lighting brightness and warmth via Elgato's convenient Control Center app or a key press on Elgato's highly acclaimed Stream Deck. Key Light shines with 80 premium OSRAM LEDs that output a massive 2,500 lumens while generating practically no heat.

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.

ASUS today announced ASUS Mini PC ProArt PA90, a new series of compact, workstation-class PCs that deliver powerful, fast and stable performance for designers and content creators. Featuring 9th Generation Intel Core processors, NVIDIA Quadro graphics, up to 64GB of high-speed DDR4 memory, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity and a triple-storage design that blends ultrafast SSD and high-capacity HDD storage, Mini PC ProArt PA90 provides uncompromising performance for computer-aided design (CAD) workflows for architecture, engineering and manufacturing in an attractively modern, compact form-factor that fits easily into any workspace.

Powered by the latest 9th Generation Intel Core i9 and Core i7 processors, which provide up to 30% better performance than the previous generation, Mini PC ProArt PA90 ensures smooth and responsive processing for content creators multitasking with the most demanding applications and working on complex projects.

It appears that releases from CES are already making their way in the press even before the year ends. We learned of LG's new "Ultra" series monitors recently, and now we get to know about their plans from the laptops business unit. Their Gram lineup was developed to feature lightweight portable laptops with enhanced user experience in mind, and joining the series in 2019 are the 14-inch LG Gram 2-in-1 (model 14T990) and the new LG Gram 17 (model 17Z990), both of which are 2019 CES Innovation Award winners.

The 14" Gram 2-in-1 is a convertible, shifting from tablet to laptop at the whim of the user. It features a 360° hinge coupled with a touch screen to add more use cases in between. This by itself is not necessarily new or unique to the market, but a welcome addition to fans of the LG brand nonetheless. The company wants to also assure the customer that the laptop is built to last, having met the U.S. military MIL-STD-810G standard for durability. Part of this no doubt comes from the incorporation of Corning's Gorilla Glass 5 on the touch screen, and the display underneath uses LG's IPS technology. More information on this, and the Gram 17, following the break.

Samsung Electronics today announced the new Notebook 9 Pen, a premium 2-in-1 PC with a built-in S Pen that allows users to reach their true creative potential. With its combined style, power, and portability, Notebook 9 Pen is perfect for users who want a device that adapts to the way they work, and need the flexibility to get more high quality work done.

"Choice and creativity go hand in hand, and those who create deserve the flexibility to work the way they want, wherever inspiration strikes," said YoungGyoo Choi, Senior Vice President and Head of the PC Business Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. "With improved design and performance, along with our Notebook's most advanced S Pen yet, the new Notebook 9 Pen is perfect for contemporary professionals who put especially high demands on their technology."

Intel plans to put an 8-core "Coffee Lake" CPU into a chassis with no more than 5 liters volume. Detailed earlier this month, the "Ghost Canyon" is a high-end NUC (next unit of computing) desktop which features the company's premium "Coffee Lake-HR" SoC. This chip features an 8-core/16-thread CPU and Intel UHD 620 graphics, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

Since "Ghost Canyon" is positioned above the "Hades Canyon" NUC in Intel's product stack, Intel isn't bothering to build another MCM with an 8-core CPU and an AMD discrete GPU. It could instead let the NUC feature a faster discrete GPU over an MXM slot. FanlessTech caught the first glimpse of "Ghost Canyon," a matte black box with clear Intel Extreme branding. Apart from its star attraction, "Ghost Canyon" offers up to three HDMI 2.0 ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, M.2-2280 NVMe storage, and either PCI-Expresss 3.0 x16 interface for graphics. FanlessTech mentions this product won't be out before early-2020.

Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) systems have always offered a great deal of performance in a tiny form factor. Their current lineup which consists of Hades Canyon features Intel's 8th generation of processors and depending on model can also feature an AMD Radeon RX VEGA M graphics processor, that said, the vast majority of units utilize Intel's integrated graphics. The most potent these configuration is Intel's 100W 4c/8t i7-8809G with Radeon RX Vega M GH graphics. It delivers exceptional performance for the size, allowing users to play AAA games at high settings with stable frame rates.

Thanks to a member of the PC EVA forums we now have access to what appears to be a leaked Intel roadmap showcasing their Ghost Canyon X NUC systems. Set to debut in 2019/2020 Intel will be pushing multiple new CPUs for these systems including a 45W 8c/16t i9-9xxxH, 45W 6c/12t i7-9xxxH, and 45W 4c/8t i5-9xxxH. All three feature UHD graphics by Intel, however, what is most interesting there provisions for a single PCIe X16 slot. Now, in reality, the inclusion of a proper PCIe slot is unlikely, I would speculate due to the size that it is, in fact, an MXM slot which limits options to discrete mobile graphics processors which tend to be far more expensive for consumers. Still, more information is required before making any serious judgments one way or the other at this time.

OWC announced today the availability of its refreshed OWC Drive Dock. Designed to be the ultimate high-performance tool for creative workflows, backup or other tasks requiring constant access to multiple drives, the OWC Drive Dock delivers a compact and easy solution with exceptional performance.

The OWC Drive Dock supports up to two, simultaneous drives and connects to any Mac or PC with the latest USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 port for data rates of up to 981 MB/s; or connects to any Mac or PC with an available standard USB port for data rates of up to 522 MB/s. This new dock can support both 2.5-inch drives, 3.5-inch drives, a combination of both, and can even RAID drives together for data redundancy or performance. The OWC Drive Dock includes an auto-switching internal power supply compatible with a standard dual-prong power cable and no extra power block.

SAPPHIRE Technology introduces GearBox Thunderbolt 3 eGFX - a new expansion chassis for Mac Pros, Ultrabooks and Small Form Factor Computers. Connect a powerful graphics card to a Thunderbolt 3 ready device and experience greatly improved performance in professional software and games.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today launched the QNA series Thunderbolt 3 to 10GbE adapter, providing users with Thunderbolt 3 Type-C computers with an affordable method to connect to 10GbE networks. With the QNA series adapter, users can benefit from Thunderbolt 3 and 10GbE dual connectivity, making file transfer faster while also improving work efficiency.

"With the handy QNA series adapter, a 10GbE network can be created between your Thunderbolt 3 computer and another 10GbE-capable device without needing a complicate setup. 10GbE networks can facilitate high-speed data transfer and greatly benefit applications that are bandwidth or file-size intensive," said Dan Lin, Product Manager of QNAP.