The MacBook Air's display could be about to get smaller
A future MacBook Air could be smaller than the one that is currently on sale. Or, at least, the display that it uses could shrink from the current 13.6-inch panel that is used today.
That's according to a tweet by display analyst Ross Young that was sent to his paid subscribers on the platform. According to Young, the MacBook Air's rumored move to an OLED display technology could bring with it a slightly smaller screen - 13.4 inches down from the current 13.6-inch model that is on sale as the M2 MacBook Air. However, it isn't clear yet whether anyone will notice that shrink in size or if Apple could rejig the layout of the model including the notch.
In that tweet, reported on by MacRumors, Young is said to have added that the MacBook Pro isn't likely to get its own OLED display until 2026. That's when Young expects that the supply chain will be able to produce enough OLED panels for both lines of notebooks. Previously, it's said that suppliers of OLED displays have focused on other products and smaller screens - like the iPad Pro and other tablets produced under other brands.
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You can finally watch ad-supported Netflix on your Apple TV
After months of waiting, Netflix subscribers can finally watch their ad-supported content on the Apple TV 4K and Apple TV HD streaming boxes. Before now, that tier didn't work thanks to an incompatibility with the tvOS version of the Netflix app. That meant that the only way to watch Netflix on the Apple TV was to pay for the tiers that didn't offer ads.
That has now finally changed after it was noticed by one Reddit user that a new Netflix app update has fixed things. The result is that those who have chosen to pay less and watch ads can now do so on their premium Apple streaming hardware.
The new update is version number 2.3.0 and if you have automatic app updates enabled you probably already have it installed without realizing it. The Apple TV doesn't do a good job of telling you when it has updated an app, unfortunately.
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Apple's AR/VR headset might miss expected WWDC launch
Apple had been expected to announce its first AR/VR headset during the WWDC event that will take place in June. But a new report now suggests that might not happen after all.
The headset, dubbed Reality Pro by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, has been heavily rumored for months with some suggesting that Apple could unveil it at the Worldwide Developers Conference so as to give developers a chance to take a look at what they'll be building apps for. It was never clear whether the device would go on sale at the same time, or if it would launch months later as Apple previously did with the Apple Watch.
However, a new report by supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo now suggests that might not happen. In a post to Twitter, Kuo said that Apple "isn't very optimistic" about its product, adding that it might instead choose to delay the announcement.
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AMD A620 Motherboards for entry-level Ryzen 7000 builds are launching this week
A new report at Wccftech indicates that the launch of entry-level A620 motherboards for AM5 Ryzen 7000 CPUs is happening this week, with an MSI A620 motherboard set to launch with a price point under USD 90.
And yeah, that's what we'd call entry-level and affordable, and something that will open the door to more budget-conscious Ryzen builds using the lower, more efficient SKUs of the Ryzen 7000 Series. Like, say, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600.
Of course, lowering the price does mean reducing the capabilities, with PCB images of the MSI A620 board showcasing a 6+2+1 VRM design and a single 8-pin power connector for the AM5 socket. Still, the board will feature VRM heatsinks and, per the AM5 spec, support DDR5 memory (with AMD EXPO overclocking) via two slots.
GeForce NOW games for April 2023 announced, Dead Island 2 and more are coming
NVIDIA has announced what's being added to the could-streaming GeForce NOW in April 2023, and it's stacked with great-looking indie titles and a few high-profile releases.
NVIDIA also took the time to remind everyone that it has partnered with Microsoft to bring titles from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, Mojang, and Activision (pending the closure of the acquisition) and is currently in the process of onboarding Microsoft titles into the GeForce Now ecosystem.
But, until those titles arrive, plenty of goodness is coming - with 11 titles added this week and plenty more coming in April, including the highly anticipated Dead Island 2 and the entire run of The Dark Pictures Anthology interactive horror games from Bandai Namco.
E3 2023 has officially been canceled due to a lack of industry interest
Traditionally the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) has been one of the biggest events in the gaming calendar, covering consoles, PC, and anywhere games are played. And now, after a year since we got confirmation that the event was making a return, word of its cancelation has arrived.
So, what went wrong? The short answer is that there wasn't enough industry interest or support for the event to be the sort of large-scale gaming extravaganza it has been in the past.
Several notable players like Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, Ubisoft, EA, and others have chosen to skip E3 2023 to do their own digital thing or shift their focus to the newly annualized Summer Game Fest.
AMD releases optimized drivers for The Last of Us on PC to address performance
Based on the current state and feedback surrounding the PC port of the iconic PlayStation title The Last of Us Part I on PC, the game will need more than an "optimized" driver release to get it into shape.
Still, AMD Software Adrenalin Edition 22.40.43.05 has been released, offering game optimizations for The Last of Us for Radeon GPU owners. The driver release looks to have been pushed out early, with AMD noting in the release notes that a subsequent AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.4.1 driver will be made available in the future.
And with that, optimizations for this one game look to be the extent of the latest Radeon driver update - but that makes sense. Currently, AMD is offering a free copy of The Last of Us Part I for new Radeon buyers, so it's unfortunate that the game's poor state on PC is outside of its control.
3DMark AMD FSR 2 Feature Tests added, letting you compare image quality
AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) upscaling technology is now officially a part of the 3DMark benchmarking suite, with a new AMD FSR feature test available in the 3DMark Advanced and Professional Editions.
AMD FSR 2 test in 3DMark, image credit: UL Benchmarks.
The test is a tool to gauge the potential performance improvements gained from enabling AMD FSR 2 technology. It also lets users compare the image quality between FSR and traditional rendering like TAA (Temporal Anti-Aliasing).
Image comparison is available via the 3DMark frame inspector tool that lets users compare image quality with an interactive side-by-side presentation that includes FSR and native rendering. The tool allows users to pan and zoom up to 32 times for a super close inspection which is excellent.
NVIDIA RTX 4070 GPU leaked price is $599 - and we can't believe it, frankly
NVIDIA's RTX 4070 graphics card, which is expected to debut in April (likely in a couple of weeks), will be priced at $599 in the US, or so the latest rumor holds.
The RTX 4070 Ti is $200 more than the vanilla 4070, if this speculation turns out to be correct (Image Credit: NVIDIA)
While that's not exactly affordable - far from it, really, you can still buy a whole (budget) PC for that - it's a lot less than previous speculation contended.
The GPU grapevine has been rife with mutterings about the RTX 4070 being priced as high as $750, or maybe $699, with those hoping for a $599 price tag being on the most optimistic end of the spectrum.
Google throws all its weight behind Bard, gunning for ChatGPT in a big way
Google is shifting things about to cater more for its Bard AI rather than Google Assistant, according to a new report.
Google's pretty clear that Bard remains 'experimental' thus far (Image Credit: Google)
CNBC tells us that an internal Google reshuffle is detailed in a memo entitled 'Changes to Assistant and Bard teams' that details changes to 'heavily' prioritize the development of Bard at the expense of Assistant.
Direct personnel changes include the departure of Jianchang Mao, who was vice president of engineering at Google Assistant. Mao will be replaced by Peeyush Ranjan, who was vice president in Google's commerce organization, the CNBC report claims.