An alleged partial close-up capture of the Nintendo Switch 2's chipset has leaked out; courtesy of Kurnal (@Kurnalsalts). This fresh leak is being hyped up as putting an end to all online debate regarding the upcoming hybrid console's technological underpinnings. Despite late 2024/early 2025 reports pointing to a custom NVIDIA "T239" SoC design, certain voices continued to produce conjecture about a more "cutting edge" solution. Surprisingly, Team Green's PR department did issue a statement about the Switch 2 being powered by: "a custom processor featuring an NVIDIA GPU with dedicated RT Cores and Tensor Cores for stunning visuals and AI-driven enhancements."

As expected, Nintendo staffers remained guarded during recent press junkets—in-depth tech talk was deferred in NVIDIA's general direction. Kurnal's sharing of a speculative "T239" partial die shot does not provide any major new revelations or insights—as discussed on the Nintendo Switch 2 Subreddit, tech enthusiasts continue to rely on specification details from the big hack of NVIDIA repositories (three years ago). Newer speculation has focused on Nintendo's choice of foundry—Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter continues to express his personal belief that Nintendo has selected a Samsung 8 nm DUV foundry node. In opposition, certain critics have persisted with a 5 nm EUV node process theory.

Mid-way through April, we heard about sanctions affecting shipments of NVIDIA's H20 AI chips into China. Despite (rumored) best efforts made by Jensen Huang and colleagues, the US government has banned the export of Team Green's formerly sanction-conformant design. Similarly, NVIDIA prepared a slightly less potent GPU for gaming applications—exclusively for the Chinese market. Despite sporting a restricted GB202 "Blackwell" GPU die, the GeForce RTX 5090D 32 GB is still a monstrous prospect. According to Chinese PC hardware news sources, Team Green representatives have sent alerts to "all" of its Chinese add-in-card partners (AICs)—early warning signs have indicated a possible cut-off of GB202 GPUs in the near future. A member of the Chiphell forum disclosed some insider knowledge and dismissed unfounded speculation about RTX 5090D cards being replaced by "full fat" RTX 5090 options.

sthuasheng commented on Team Green's alleged bulletin—distributed at some point last week: "the notice only said that the supply of RTX 5090D was suspended, ...this did not mean any sales or transportation ban; it urged everyone not to make any speculations or judgments unless there was an official notice issued at a later date. After this notice was issued, each AIC began to notify agents to suspend sales, because the inventory of 5090D has always been very small, so it is necessary to keep these stocks to observe the subsequent situation and deal with the subsequent after-sales. At the same time, we might as well speculate that each AIC and dealer may also have the intention to stockpile 5090D units and then sell them at an elevated price." BenchLife.info decided to reach out to industry moles, following an absorption of various Chiphell whispers.

Not long after Intel's launch of the Arc Xe2 "Battlemage" B580 12 GB graphics card design, insiders started generating noise about potential spin-offs bound for release in 2025. In theory, the speculated "B580 24 GB" variant could arrive as a workstation-oriented discrete graphics solution—possibly lined up as a next-gen entry within Team Blue's Arc Pro family. Three mysterious BMG (aka "Battlemage") PCI identifiers turned up at the end of January; sending online PC hardware debates into overdrive; one faction believed that Team Blue was readying fabled productivity-focused B-series cards—complete with enlarged pools of GDDR6 VRAM. Apparently, Sparkle's Chinese branch has provided comment on newer rumors—from March, according to VideoCardz. The Taiwanese manufacturer is a key Intel board partner in the field of Arc GPU-based graphics card products—across gaming and professional desktop lines. Unfortunately, the company's head office (in Taiwan) has dismissed "official" claims about a May/June launch of an unnamed 24 GB model. Sparkle's Chinese social media account engaged with members of the PC hardware community, and outlined an "original plan" to release something new within the second quarter of 2025—apparently the incoming card is "still being arranged."

Acer seems to be readying premium tier Radeon RX 9070 XT OC graphics card models for an imminent launch. The brand's Swedish office has sent out mixed messages—as noted by VideoCardz's past weekend coverage—regarding their incoming non-overclocked Nitro SKU. Gaming GPU enthusiasts have often complained about AMD's overcomplicated model nomenclature—in particular, the company's XT, XTX and GRE attachments have caused uncountable headaches. Quite amusingly, Acer Sweden's marketing team got bamboozled by Team Red's model labelling scheme—as evidenced by their recent advertising of a "Nitro Radeon RX 9070 GRE XT 16 Gbit/s graphics card."

VideoCardz reckons that no such SKU exists; employees have rectified this mistake—at the time of writing, Acer Sweden's product page showcases a corrected designation: "Nitro Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB graphics card." According to industry moles, AMD and its board partners are working on RDNA 4 generation "Great Radeon Edition" (GRE) cards. Late last week, VideoCardz acquired an alleged Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB specification sheet. Team Red and AIBs seem to be devising a forthcoming retail release in China; possibly by next month. Acer Sweden's inadvertent/bungled leak suggests that GRE-related info is present within internal promo material.

Going back to May 2023, an industry inside report suggested that AMD was planning a new generation Ryzen Threadripper High-End Desktop (HEDT) processor series. At the time, "Shimada Peak" was linked to a possible 2025 launch. Over the ensuing years, shipping manifests have revealed the transfer of various 9000 SKUs between Team Red facilities—starting with a mysterious 96-core prototype. Industry observers have been seeking out newer evidence of AMD's next-gen flagship "Zen 5" Threadripper chip; likely going under a "9995WX" moniker.

Late last week, a fresh leak unearthed a likely sub-flagship SKU: the 9985WX. This alleged 64-core SKU was spotted—by Everest (aka Olrak29)—alongside 9955WX (16-core) and 9945WX (12-core) siblings, in a shipping manifest. As reported on TechPowerUp on March 21, the same source uncovered two other entry-level models: the 9975WX (32-core) and 9965WX (24-core) parts. Unfortunately, Team Red's rumored monstrous 96-core 9995WX processor was not listed within fresh batches of shipping documents. Industry watchdogs expect AMD to repeat its product layout from past generations; spanning from entry-tier 12-core offerings up to the aforementioned 96-core range-topper. The latest leak suggests utilization of the SP6 socket type, and 350 W TDPs (across all product identifiers).

At the tail end of March, an interaction between Tomasz Gawroński (aka GawroskiT) and Jaykihn (jaykihn0) indicated that Intel had abandoned the development of higher-end Arc Xe2 "Battlemage" graphics cards—possibly back in late 2024. Months of silence—since the launch of pleasingly wallet-friendly B580 and B570 models—instilled a sense of unease within segments of the PC gaming hardware community. Many watchdogs assumed that company engineers had simply moved onto devising futuristic Arc Xe3 "Celestial" equivalents. As discovered last week, hopes have been elevated for a potential expansion of Team Blue's "Battlemage" dGPU lineup. Haze2K1 highlighted an intriguing entry within an NBD shipping manifest; a "BMG-G31"-type GPU was transferred "for R&D purposes." Currently, the lower end of Intel's B-card series is populated by discrete solutions based on their smaller "BMG-G21" GPU design.

Tomasz Gawroński spent part of his Easter weekend poring over shipping documents; soon stumbling on an entry that mentioned a mysterious "IBC C32 SKT"—again, listed under "research and development" purposes. In a reply to Gawroński's social media bulletin, miktdt weighed in with a logical theory: "because of the BMG in the text the best I could believe is a reworked/restarted BMG G31. C32 could simply mean cores 32 which is a fully-enabled G31. This makes more sense to me." VideoCardz posits that these leaks do not necessarily signal the revival of fortunes for more potent Arc Xe2 "Battlemage" SKUs; Intel could be shipping "canceled project" prototypes to different locations. Going back to late summer 2023, a "BMG G10" GPU die was spotted by members of the press during a tour of Team Blue's Malaysian test lab. Back then, certain industry insiders believed that the whole "Battlemage" endeavor was going through "development hell." Fast-forward to the present day; OneRaichu reckons that there is still a likelihood of Team Blue's "B770" model turning up at some point in the future.

Apple is reportedly working on two different new-gen Vision mixed reality headset models. As covered on TechPowerUp's news section earlier on in the week, one rumored "more budget-friendly" option could be a lightweight product. Yesterday, Kosutami (@Kosutami_Ito) posited that Apple engineers have realized a thinner design. According to inside information, weight reduction has been achieved through the fitting of select titanium parts—Kosutami highlighted the lighter Vision package's connectors and battery as potential candidates. Industry watchdogs reckon that the rest of this rumored design will rely on (largely) aluminium and plastic pieces. The tipster also teased a "graphite dark blue" colorway; harkening back to iPhone 5's Slate Black aesthetic. A theorized "Vision Air" label has emerged from Kosutami's recent social media post.

Historically, Apple's Air notebook models have consistently launched as lighter/cheaper alternatives to MacBook Pro offerings. Mac specialist and general PC hardware news sites have picked up on additional Kosutami bulletins, going back to late last week. Photos of a speculated "Vision Air" power cable were shared online, last weekend. An initial upload showcased an anodized aluminium "Lightning-style" connector "finished in Apple's distinctive Midnight Blue/Black" colorway. MacRumors inspected a newer set of images, and explained: "the (original) Vision Pro uses a similar connector, except with twelve pins instead of eight, suggesting that the new cable is part of a more significant redesign, at least of the external battery. The audio strap connector appears to be the same design as that of the Vision Pro."

The unannounced Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB graphics card model seems to be next in line within AMD's RDNA 4 range. Despite official presentation material teasing a Q2'25 launch of Radeon RX 9060 Series cards, insiders believe that Team Red will debut an in-between option—possibly before the arrival of Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB and 8 GB SKUs. Rumored new-generation "Great Radeon Edition" (GRE) cards are expected to launch as Chinese market exclusives; potentially as a "strategic" gap fill. Local board partner moles have whispered about almost zero replenishments of Radeon RX 9070 (non-XT) 16 GB stock in the region. As reported earlier today, some of VideoCardz's inside sources insist that Radeon RX 9070 GRE cards will—eventually—replace Radeon RX 9070 options. Initial leaks suggested fundamental "step-down" specification pillars: 12 GB of VRAM, a 192-bit memory interface, and a "reduced" "Navi 48" GPU die.

According to fresh claims, the Radeon RX 9070 GRE model could utilize a "Navi 48 XL" GPU variant. VideoCardz reckons that a quarter of the original GPU core count has been shut off; resulting in a total of 3072 stream processors. Comparatively, the Radeon 9070 XT arrived with 4096 SPs. The Radeon 9070 launched with 3584 units. The report delved into alleged core frequency details: "the RX 9070 GRE's clocks will be higher than the RX 9070, reportedly at 2.79 GHz boost, resulting in around 17.1 TFLOPS compared to 18 TFLOPS on the RX 9070...Some custom variants we know of will approach a 3.0 GHz boost clock, so there is definitely room for overclocking." The latest spec sheet leak confirms a 12 GB pool of VRAM, in GDDR6 form—VideoCardz weighed in with some embellishments: "the memory will not be clocked at 20 Gbps, as on (already launched) RX 9070 (XT) and (incoming) RX 9060 XT, but at 18 Gbps. This means that the memory bandwidth will be about 1/3 lower than the RX 9070 (XT) at 432 GB/s." Certain industry observers reckon that AMD will continue to rely on AIBs to produce an all-custom lineup of forthcoming RDNA 4 products. So-called "reference designs" (MBA) have turned up in China, but only in very limited numbers—sold via hazy avenues.

Two weeks ago, unannounced APU model names—"Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme" and "Ryzen Z2 A"—were leaked by Hoang Anh Phu. AMD introduced its Ryzen Z2 series at CES 2025; officially consisting of three options: Z2 Extreme, Z2 and Z2 Go. Technical make up of the two alleged new additions remained a mystery, but watchdog theorizations positioned the rumored "Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme" as the (expanded) lineup's flagship—likely due to the enablement of an integrated XDNA 2 NPU. The vanilla Z2 Extreme APU is a handheld gaming-oriented product; existing as a spin-off from Team Red's "Strix Point" mobile processor design—utilizing Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 technologies. By similar deduction, the leaked "Ryzen Z2 A" SKU was viewed as a "Hawk Point" (Zen 4 + RDNA 3) processor, possibly with a "switched on" AI aspect. Earlier today Hoang Anh Phu provided a new follow-up claim—this morning's social media post proposes a return to "Van Gogh" pastures.

The not-yet-official "Ryzen Z2 A" APU design could be derived from the Steam Deck's Zen 2 + RDNA 2 package. Valve and AMD's collaboration resulted in the "Van Gogh" custom chip design—also known as "Aerith"—debuting back in 2022. A die shrink—from 7 nm to 6 nm—arrived in the form of Steam Deck OLED's "Sephiroth" chipset (2023). Phu's latest prediction places the "Ryzen Z2 A" closer to the already unveiled Ryzen Z2 Go, graphics technology-wise. As discussed in the past, this entry-level "Phoenix 2" solution sports an RDNA 2 iGPU, albeit paired with Zen 3 processor cores. The Ryzen Z2 Go chipset powers Lenovo's Legion Go S handheld gaming PC—in the near future, this offering will be made available with two different operating system options: Windows 11 or SteamOS. As extrapolated from Phu's fresh prediction, similar-ish lower end devices—prepped with Valve's proprietary OS—could arrive with "Ryzen Z2 A" APUs onboard.

Last year, leakers posited that Xiaomi engineers were working on proprietary new-generation mobile chipset. The giant Chinese technology company has produced proprietary SoC designs in the past—most notably 2017's Pengpai/Surge S1 (blink, and you missed it)—but has largely relied on a wide swatch of Qualcomm solutions for deployment in smartphones. According to a fairly fresh ITHome news report (via a source at Sina Technology), Xiaomi has established a "chip platform department" under the umbrella of its mobile phone product development division. The exact nature of this newly-formed team remains semi-mysterious, and how it intermeshes with current (rumored) proprietary chip design efforts. The megacorporation's speculated "dedicated chip platform department" is said to be working on a "Xuanjie" SoC series.

Qin Muyun—a former senior director of product marketing at Qualcomm—is purported to be the new department's leader. Insiders believe that Muyun will answer directly to Xiaomi's CEO: Lei Jun. Over the past half decade, company engineers have accumulated chip designing experience in multiple lesser technology fields—ITHome lists: "imaging, fast charging, power management, communication, and display" aspects. Xiaomi leadership could be "shaking up" its first-party SoC development projects. Two weeks ago, rumors turned up online regarding a node process downgrade—from 3 nm to 4 nm. Smartphone industry watchdogs reckon that Xiaomi's forthcoming flagship chipset design will perform on the level of Qualcomm's first generation Snapdragon 8 mobile processor (from 2021).

Earlier in the week, AMD's unannounced Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics card design was linked to a possible public announcement at this year's edition of Computex. Naturally, Team Red has missed an opportunity to take on Team Green with a parallel launch of rival products. Leaks have pointed to the existence of two Radeon RX 9060 XT variants; one with 16 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, and another with an 8 GB pool. The cheaper end of RDNA 4—including a mysterious Radeon RX 9050 model—seems to be geared up to take on NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti, RTX 5060 and RTX 5050 cards. Further rumors have emerged; following initial hints of a formal introduction at an important late Spring event.

Chiphell's chief reviewer and editor reckons that Radeon RX 9060 XT cards will arrive at retail in May. This Chinese PC hardware forum is a notorious source of leaks—around early January, participants were boasting about having extremely early access to Radeon RX 9070 XT samples. In response to this morning's relevant VideoCardz report, Hoang Anh Phu weighed in with a new prediction—AMD and board partners could launch Radeon RX 9060 XT products two weeks after an official reveal at Computex 2025. Team Red is likely mapping out a new pricing strategy, due to NVIDIA's launch of "cheaper than expected" new models. So far, brand-new GeForce RTX 5060 Ti options have received a largely lukewarm welcome. Another Chiphell member has picked up on regional whispers about "starter" price points (including VAT)—reports suggest that the: "(Radeon RX) 9060 XT 8 GB version is 3100 yuan (~$422 USD, and the 16 GB variant is 3500 yuan (~$476 USD)."

Sony and Microsoft seem to be involved in the development of handheld gaming consoles, but insiders reckon that respective next-generation offerings will not directly compete with each other. Xbox and ASUS have signalled some sort of collaborative ROG Alloy-esque device; potentially releasing later on in 2025. Whispers of a futuristic PlayStation portable model's chipset design emerged mid-way through March; courtesy of Kepler_L2. The notorious leaker has recent history of reporting inside track knowledge of AMD CPU and GPU architectures/technologies. They alleged that Sony and Team Red's collaborative PS6 APU design project had reached a finalized stage of development, possibly around late 2024/early 2025. Returning to March/April events; Kepler_L2 theorized that a "PS6 Portable" would not be capable of surpassing PlayStation 5 (home console) level performance upon launch in 2028.

The mysterious handheld is said to be powered by a "15 W SoC" manufactured on a non-specific 3 nm node process. Elaborating further, they posit that PlayStation's rumored handheld is capable of running PS5 generation games—bandwidth and power restrictions could reduce resolution and frame rates below that of Sony's current-gen system. Kepler_L2 pictures "PS6 Portable" gaming performance being somewhere in-between Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5 (non-Pro). According to rumors, the handheld's chipset is not related or derived from the PS6 home console's internal setup. Kepler_L2 envisioned a mobile SoC with fewer than 40 compute units (CUs)—several media outlets have added their interpretation of this data point; with a sub-36 count. PlayStation 5's GPU aspect consists of 36 CUs, while the Xbox Series S graphics solution makes do with 20 units. Sony's speculated return to portable territories will be welcomed by owners of older handheld models—namely the Vita and PSP. Famously, these portable products struggled to keep up with competing Nintendo devices.

AMD has not publicly announced its Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB and 8 GB graphics cards, but board partners have inadvertently "revealed" the existence of forthcoming custom designs. Team Red's RDNA 4 kick-off events did tease a second quarter launch of a Radeon RX 9060 Series cards, but have remained coy since the conclusion of late February celebrations. Over a month ago, VideoCardz cited AIB insider knowledge—regarding early specification details. In this morning's follow-up report, unnamed board partner moles have theorized a possible public unveiling of Radeon RX 9060 XT models: at next month's Computex 2025 trade show. Industry watchdogs believe that Team Red's lower end RDNA 4 are specced to compete closely with Team Green's GeForce RTX 5060 Ti lineup. NVIDIA and involved AIBs are reportedly gearing up for a retail launch this week.

The latest leak suggests AMD's Radeon RX 9060 XT design being readied—as standard—with (reference) game clock frequencies set at 2620 MHz, and boost clocks going up to 3230 MHz. In addition, VideoCardz has heard mutterings about "overclocked variants" boosting up to the 3.3 GHz mark. The much-rumored Navi 44 GPU die could sport 2048 stream processors—half of Navi 48's full SP count. Prior to this week, TechPowerUp's GPU database entry indicated the utilization of a speculative "Navi 48 LE" unit. Now amended, the Radeon RX 9060 XT listing mentions a tentative "Navi 44 XT" variant. Leaked guideline info allegedly specifies 500 W power supplies, as minimum requirements for incoming cards. A 550 W base level could be advised for overclocked/overengineered models. VideoCardz did not see any 16-pin power connected SKUs within leaked material; "most specs" feature 8-pin power connectors.

Over a year ago, hardcore overclocking fanatics celebrated MSI's resurrection of the much missed MPOWER motherboard product line. After a seven-year hiatus, the Taiwanese manufacturer revived this series—beginning with a brand-new Z790MPOWER option. Back then, an exclusive Wccftech news report put a spotlight on the (then) brand-new model's support of Intel Core 12th, 13th, and 14th Gen processors (on LGA 1700/1800). Returning to the present day, MSI seems to be prepping a new MPOWER motherboard model—leaked shots imply a return to an old school color theme (black/yellow, rather than metallic tones). Wccftech has uploaded two close-up teaser images, from a "brief glimpse" preview session. There is evidence of AI upscaling here—despite the presence of anomalies/aberrations, we can see MSI logo and MPOWER branding on attached heatsinks.

Wccftech believes that the proposed "MSI MPOWER AMD series" will be: "a strong and cost-effective design for overclockers. The previous Z790 MPOWER motherboard brought great OC capabilities in an affordable design, offering 8000 MT/s DDR5 support and the new design will be no exception...Starting with the details, the...motherboard will feature an AM5 socket and is likely to leverage the B850E chipset. The new MPOWER motherboard also comes with a microATX form factor." Like last year's edition, MSI has readied the board with two DDR5 DIMM slots—ideal for ardent memory overclocking enthusiasts. This twin-stick setup reportedly supports up to 128 GB capacities. An extra bit of real estate is freed up; thus granting room for an additional M.2 bay. Wccftech did not disclose every tidbit of insider info, but they have hinted about the board's prowess: "it's awesome that we are finally getting an MPOWER motherboard from MSI for AM5 builders. The MPOWER series is great for overclocking and this motherboard should be just as good. We also managed to get information regarding the OC capabilities which are going to rival some of the high-end AM5 offerings as far as memory tuning is concerned."

Last week, PowerColor introduced a Spectral White spin-off of its flagship Red Devil Radeon RX 9070 XT Limited Edition model. According to fresh inside track info, the Taiwanese manufacturer is preparing yet another premium level RDNA 4 option. VideoCardz has detected whispers regarding a speculated "Red Devil Radeon RX 9070 XT Backplate Edition" product; the online publication has a history of sourcing pre-launch details from board partner industry moles.

PowerColor's older Red Devil graphics card products can be customized with swappable backplates—Devil Skin designs are identified as "Intrusive" and "Generative." VideoCardz believes that the alleged "Backplate Edition" card will be based on the brand's regular Red Devil RX 9070 XT model. It is not clear whether this special edition package will be bundled with successors to the two RX 7000 Series-only Devil Skin attachments, but insiders have indicated a current "in production" status of "Backplate Edition" cards.

Earlier in the month, keen observers of Team Red activities were taken aback by whispers of a mysterious Radeon RX 9070 GRE GPU. Up until then, many assumed that AMD's engineering team was readying Radeon RX 9060 Series cards for launch in Q2'25. A source in China claimed that the next wave of RDNA 4 would arrive in the shape of a not-yet-official "Great Radeon Edition" (GRE) design; allegedly derived from Team Red's Navi 48 GPU die. Certain groups of skeptics have questioned the validity of this leak; many believe that the speculated Radeon RX 9060 XT model will launch ahead of a rumored GRE sibling.

Late last week, TechPowerUp's GPU-Z utility was updated to version 2.65.0 form—supported hardware lists were populated with several new additions. As highlighted by VideoCardz, the presence of Radeon RX 9070 GRE and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB GPUs points to potential imminent releases. In the case of Team Green, lower end "Blackwell" graphics cards are launching this week—as disclosed by insiders. AMD's Radeon RX 9070 GRE 12 GB card is expected to release as a Chinese market exclusive; possibly as a substitute for "difficult to acquire" Radeon RX 9070 16 GB (non-XT) AIB products.

Mid-way through last week, a list of supposed MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB custom graphic card model names appeared online. Days later, VideoCardz followed up with visual confirmation—covering unannounced INSPIRE and GAMING SKUs. MSI's full lineup of brand-new offerings is expected to be unveiled this week, but the online publication has managed to source pre-launch promo shots from an undisclosed outlet. Previews of retail packaging are absent, but the uploaded images of isolated hardware products look legitimate.

As leaked last week, the board partner's—likely entry level—GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G INSPIRE 2X OC model has turned up with a new dual-fan design. TechPowerUp inspected MSI's freshly debuted INSPIRE 3X cards at CES 2025. The manufacturer has gradually populated its custom GeForce RTX 50-series product stack with triple-fan options—the most recent being their GeForce RTX 5070 SKU. The smallest INSPIRE card design seems to feature a single 8-pin power connector—prior to last week, VideoCardz had heard rumors from AIB industry moles about this curious provision. By best guesstimation, the INSPIRE 2X design seems to be 2.3-slots thick. As expected, MSI has outfitted this model with three DisplayPorts (1.2b) and one HDMI (2.1b) port.

According to the latest South Korean semiconductor industry whispers, Samsung's 2 nm GAA node process (aka SF2) development team has hit another pleasing experimental production milestone. An Asia Economy SK news article has sourced insights from inside track players—one unnamed mole posited that: "the 2 nm yield currently under development at Samsung Foundry is much better than previously known...and more positive than the (reportedly abandoned) 3 nm process." A combination of relatively new leadership and a rumored welcoming of first wave High-NA EUV equipment has likely bolstered next-gen efforts, after late 2024's alleged failure of 3 nm prototypes. Leaks from earlier in 2025 indicated SF2 test yields wavering around 20-30%; far from ideal—back then, insider reports suggested that TSMC was well on the way to achieving 60% rates with a competing 2 nm product line. Asia Economy has picked up on mutterings about Samsung's current progress—latest outputs: "have exceeded 40% in the wafer testing stage at a post-processing company."

Industry watchdogs reckon that the South Korean's foundry business is making good progress; perhaps on track to commence speculated mass production by the third quarter of this year—just in time to get finalized flagship "Exynos 2600" mobile chips in the manufacturing pipeline. The Taiwanese rumor mill indicated a major milestone "completion" of TSMC's 2 nm trial phase at some point last month—insiders mentioned excellent yield rates: in the region of 70-80%. Cross-facility mass production could start later this year, but experts propose that the market leader will be implementing price hikes. These "elevated charges" could send loyal TSMC customers in the direction of an alternate source of 2 nm wafers: Samsung. Fresh semicon biz gossip has the likes of Apple, AMD and NVIDIA in the picture.

AMD's Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 "MBA" graphics cards are no longer "best kept secrets"—as demonstrated recently by the "leaking out" of supposed reference models through black market/back alley channels in China. Late last month, a dual-fan non-XT specimen was snapped up by Chiphell forum member—alleged benchmark results were soon shared within that community. A few days later, a "Made-by-AMD" Radeon RX 9070 XT sample was dissected and compared to Sapphire's PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB SKU. An additional MBA XT example emerged last week, courtesy of another in-depth Chiphell thread. A "bored" enthusiast happened upon a 5499 RMB (~$748 USD) when idly browsing through Xianyu listings (Taobao's Ebay equivalent platform). Their buying experience was described as follows: "(I) found a 'public version' Radeon RX 9070 XT in Tianjin. It was said to be manufactured by (an) OEM, so I bought it without hesitation...I made an appointment to meet today and got it successfully. I don't have to wait for a graphics card anymore."

For unknown reasons, AMD decided to launch its first wave of RDNA 4 gaming graphics cards sans first-party designs. Leaked specimens have attracted much attention in China; with owners bragging about their respective ownerships of reasonably priced rarities. The latest back channel customer expressed satisfaction when inspecting Team Red's all-black flagship Navi 48 GPU-based solution: "after I got it, I have to say that it is not very heavy and is quite light. But the appearance is really what I like." After initial tests, they discovered that VRAM temperatures were not up to snuff—as alluded to (pre-launch) by other Chiphell figures. Their personal DIY improvements were described: "(I) took it apart to measure the thickness of the thermal grease pad. Everyone said the temperature of the video memory was high, so I decided to change to something better....(with) original silicone grease FurMark 2K resolution for 20 minutes: maximum core temperature was 62 degrees, maximum hot spot temperature was 84 degrees, maximum memory temperature was 88 degrees, maximum power was consumption 346 W."

A fresh leak suggests that MSI is "all in" with its upcoming rollout of GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB custom card lineup. Earlier today, I_Leak_VN uploaded a fuzzy list of nine unannounced models to social media. By some undisclosed means, the reliable Vietnamese tracker of inside info had acquired a pre-launch chart of VANGUARD, GAMING TRIO, INSPIRE, VENTUS and SHADOW options—mostly in factory overclocked forms. Late last week, GIGABYTE—another Taiwanese manufacturer—registered a wide variety of competing 16 GB VRAM-equipped offerings in South Korea. MSI's alleged card count is greater (9 vs. 7); having the advantage with four different VENTUS models.

Unlike its nearby rival, MSI has opted out of the AMD Radeon battle for this generation (RDNA 4). With full concentration on Team Green, the "Blackwell" GB206 GPU was seemingly deemed worthy of bearing the brand's premium VANGUARD cooling solution—as implied by a headlining position on I_Leak_VN's screenshot. Sitting at the bottom is MSI's barebones SHADOW 2X design; we do not know whether a new entrant will reuse the exact same dinky enclosure that is present on their GeForce RTX 5070 SHADOW 2X cards (standard and OC). Visual confirmation is expected to arrive next week; industry insiders believe that global retail stock will appear on April 16.

Since its summer 2023 launch, Apple's pricey Vision Pro mixed reality headset has not exactly attracted a mainstream audience. Roughly a year later, rumors of a (then) recently canceled successor appeared online—insiders posited that company engineers had pivoted onto the development of a cheaper alternative model. Vision Pro "Version 1.0" arrived with an intimidating $3499 price tag; thus eliminating interest from a wide swath of potential AR/VR headset enthusiast customers. Industry insiders reckon that Apple had "abruptly reduced production" of the current-gen model last October, with further whispers suggesting a complete cessation of manufacturing activities by the end of 2024. Yesterday, an ITHome article cited compelling claims made by supply chain insiders—the initiation of mass production for a speculated second generation "Apple XR/Vision Pro" device.

The online report stated that: "multiple independent sources (have) confirmed that the panels, shells and other key components of the second-generation Apple XR headset are already in production." Very specific leaked information indicates Lens Technology being the exclusive supplier of glass panel pieces, and Changying Precision tasked with the making of the next-gen model's casing. Additionally, several contract circuit manufacturers are supposedly "rushing to complete orders." Secretive figures posit that Apple will release its sequel mixed reality headset later on in 2025. Differing "expert opinions" have not determined whether this incoming set of fancy goggles will be the predicted "cheaper" model, or a proper "M5 SoC-powered" successor.

So far, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 50xx graphics card models have shipped with Samsung GDDR7 memory modules onboard. According to a fresh MEGAsizeGPU (aka @Zed__Wang) claim, a change in vendor has already occurred. The tenured tracker of Team Green inside track information believes that the company has: "started to use SK hynix GDDR7 for the GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. Started with GeForce RTX 5070 first." Officially, NVIDIA's latest board designs can support GDDR7 modules produced by the "big three:" Samsung, SK hynix and Micron (see BIOS info below). Team Green's comfortable market leading position probably grants plenty of negotiation power to pick and choose the best component deals. Day one evaluators performed teardowns on GeForce RTX 50 series review samples; TechPowerUp's W1zzard found Samsung "K4VAF325ZC-SC32" GDDR7 units—rated for 32 Gbps—onboard various GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB models. As outlined by VideoCardz, the rest of NVIDIA's "Blackwell" gaming product stack sticks with 28 Gbps-rated Samsung GDDR7 modules, extending to its Mobile portfolio.

At some point in 2023, Sam Altman founded a new AI hardware device firm: io Products. Last September, Jony Ive confirmed his involvement in this startup tech company. Industry whispers suggest that Open AI's CEO (Altman) and the former Apple chief designer (Ive) were collaborating on the making of voice-enabled smart AI assistant household products. According to a (paywalled) The Information news article, this fledgling operation attracted an "undisclosed amount of funding" from wealthy benefactors. The "small team" is reportedly working on some type of "revolutionary" screenless AI phone, but this rumored project is likely in a very early stage of development—so moles have not disclosed exact details.

The report posits that Ive has recruited Tang Tan and Evans Hankey—both high-level ex-Apple industrial leads, with long-term iPhone design experience. The Information's anonymous inside sources believe that Ive's LoveFrom boutique agency will determine the visual setup for forthcoming io Products smart devices. Additionally, the report extends to a potential takeover bid—valued at around $500 million (USD)—coming from Altman's main gig. Open AI's leadership is supposedly weighing up its options. The Information disclosed an alternative avenue; a simple partnership—rather than a comprehensive takeover.

NVIDIA is expected to reveal its GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile and RTX 5050 Mobile GPUs later this month, but a series of leaks—going back to last summer—have already spoiled the fun. Last month, leaks pointed to Razer and MSI's preparing cheaper of "cheaper" portable gaming PCs—featuring lower end "Blackwell" Mobile hardware. VideoCardz has spent time looking for more examples—recent detective work has unearthed further evidence of an imminent launch. Yesterday's investigative article put spotlights on Razer, Lenovo and LG. Team Green's manufacturing partners have inadvertently published official web material with multiple mentioning of pre-release GeForce RTX 5060 and GeForce RTX 5050 laptop-oriented solutions. Razer China has already reacted to VideoCardz's report; their Razer Blade 16 (2025) splash page no longer lists an NDA-busting GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile option.

Similarly, LG's Taiwanese office has scrubbed "5050" from a recently published new LG gram AI notebook press release. The edited line states: "NVIDIA GeForce RTX 8 GB graphics card is only available in 16Z90TR-E.AD88C2 model." On January 31 (2025), the Lenovo PC YouTube channel uploaded an unboxing of their refreshed Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 16" model. The video's description let slip crucial pre-release information, regarding an upcoming discrete graphics configuration: "optional latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 graphics, with a total power output of 135 W for strong performance." VideoCardz has deduced a speculative 65 W TDP rating for Team Green's entry level "Blackwell" mobile SKU. At the time of writing, Lenovo has not edited out the offending descriptor from their Lenovo IdeaPad Pro 5 16" (2025) featurette.

According to reports from last year, Xiaomi was expected to unveil an oft-rumored proprietary mobile chipset design at some point in 2025. By October 2024, the Chinese technology giant allegedly reached the tape-out phase of its first 3 nm SoC—at the time, insiders posited that Xiaomi was seeking a manufacturing partner. Months earlier, a prototype design was linked to TSMC's 4 nm "N4P" node process—this rumor raised many smartphone watchdog eyebrows. Unlike many other Chinese firms, Xiaomi was reportedly allowed to select a fairly advanced manufacturing process at Taiwan's premier foundry service. In a past weekend news article, Wccftech outlined interesting circumstances: "(US) export controls have yet to affect Xiaomi, which is supposedly on track to launch its first in-house chipset later this year. However, while we reported last year that the company was scheduled to unveil its custom 3 nm SoC in 2025, we were disappointed to learn just the specifications of this version that will utilize TSMC's 'N4P' process. According to more details, this silicon will not sport any homegrown cores like Qualcomm has adopted for the Snapdragon 8 Elite."

Late last week, Jukanlosreve highlighted another leaker's prediction—regarding the technological foundations of Xiaomi's mystery flagship mobile processor. Fixed Focus Digital's Weibo post mentioned the "N4P" node, as well the utilization of current generation Arm Cortex-X925, Cortex-A725 and Cortex-A520 units. A speculated Imagination Technologies "IMG DXT 72-2304" integrated graphics solution is touted to outperform Qualcomm's Adreno 740 iGPU; as featured in their Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (2022) SoC. As highlighted by Wccftech's report, one of the publication's associates has deemed Fixed Focus Digital to be an unreliable source of inside track info. In response to Jukanlosreve's tweeted question, Mochamad Farido Fanani opined: "that's right, how does Xiaomi use N4P in its new chipset? But this guy always guesses blindly." Older leaks—based on "N4P" rumors—projected performance levels roughly on par with Qualcomm's first generation Snapdragon 8 chip. This model was introduced at the tail end of 2021.