Latest News - Page 740

The GeForce RTX 4090 is banned from sale in China thanks to new U.S. Government restrictions imposed to curb the country's advances in AI. And since that news dropped, it's been a roller coaster ride for the world's most powerful gaming GPU - with global prices increasing dramatically and rumors that NVIDIA plans to launch a China-exclusive GeForce RTX 4090D in January 2024. The Year of the Dragon, hence the 'D'.

The RTX 4090D uses the AD102-300 GPU, a cutdown version of the AD102-250 GPU in the existing GeForce RTX 4090 that will adhere to the new restrictions imposed on AI hardware exported to the region. The latest info from well-known NVIDIA leaker MEGAsizeGPU over on X/Twitter claims that the GeForce RTX 4090D will feature the same Boost Clock speed as the existing RTX 4090 (2520 MHz) but a higher Base Clock speed (2280 MHz).

Additional info from other sources claims that the RTX 4090D will also feature the same 24GB of GDDR6X memory, though further details like memory speeds and TDP are still being finalized. It's believed that NVIDIA will lower the CUDA Core count to fall within the restrictions that measure AI performance.

AMD's latest Adrenalin Edition 23.12.1 driver release for Radeon GPUs is a big one in that there's a lot more going on than simply adding day-one support for one of the last big PC game releases for 2023 - Ubisoft's Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. The most immediate changes come with a redesign of the UI for the Home and Gaming tab to better integrate HYPR-RX.

HYPR-RX combines Anti-Lag+, Radeon Boost, and Radeon Super Resolution into a single-click option to make access to these technologies easier. However, due to issues with latency reduction interfering with game code, Anti-Lag+ is no longer a part of the equation, and there's no word on when it'll be coming back. Anyway, back to the UI redesign.

AMD's release notes state that HYPR-RX profiles can be enabled on a per-game basis on the Home Tab - a great addition as it brings AMD's tech to the forefront of the UI. Switching over the Gaming tab, users will be able to learn about each HYPR-RX feature and have direct control over any potential settings. It doesn't stop there, as Adrenalin Edition 23.12.1 introduces the brand-new AMD HYPR-RX Eco mode.

Google has just unveiled its new performance-tweaked version of its Tensor Processing Unit (TPU), which is called the TPU v5p and is Google's most powerful, scalable, and flexible AI accelerator so far.

TPUs have been the basis for training and serving AI-powered products, including YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, Google Play, and Android. Google's just-announced generative AI model -- Gemini -- was trained on and is served using TPUs from Google. The company is also announcing AI Hypercomputer and Google Cloud. This new groundbreaking supercomputer architecture uses an integrated system of performance-optimized hardware, open software, leading ML frameworks, and flexible consumption models.

Google says its new TPU v5p is capable of 459 teraFLOPS of bfloat16 performance or 918 teraOPS of Int8, with a huge 95GB of HBM3 memory with up to 2.76TB/sec of memory bandwidth. Google can use as many as 8960 x TPU v5p AI accelerators together in a single pod, using Google's in-house 600GB/sec inter-chip interconnect to train models faster or at a greater precision. This is 35% bigger than what was possible with TPU v5e and over twice as large as what was possible on TPU v4.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang spoke with reporters in Singapore on Wednesday, talking about their dominant position in the AI market with increasing AI GPU competition, as well as saying it'll comply with new US regulations.

China has a booming AI chip market that is worth $7 billion, and NVIDIA takes a dominating 90% share of that AI chip market, which is why the recent US sanctions are going to change that. The new US sanctions also create an opportunity for Chinese rivals to boost their own AI chip foothold while NVIDIA creates alternate AI GPU solutions.

Huang spoke with reporters while he was in Singapore on Wednesday, where he is meeting up with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong to talk about all things AI. Huang said: "NVIDIA has been working very closely with the U.S. government to create products that comply with its regulations. Our plan now is to continue to work with the government to come up with a new set of products that comply with the new regulations that have certain limits".

AMD has just detailed its new Ryzen 8040 series APUs that are codenamed Hawk Point, where they will feature Zen 4 CPU cores, RDNA 3 GPU cores, and an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) and its Ryzen AI core.

The new flagship AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor features 8 cores and 16 threads, boosting up to 5.2GHz and packing a Radeon 780M RDNA 3-based GPU that features 12 Compute Units and a 35-54W TDP. There are a few different families of Hawk Point APUs here, with 1 x Ryzen 9 and 3 x Ryzen 7 APUs that are all 8-core, 16-thread parts.

Under that, we've got 5 x Ryzen 5 APUs that are 6-core, 12-thread chips, while there's a Ryzen 3 APU with 4 cores and 8 threads at the bottom of the Ryzen 8040 series APU stack. Each of them has on-board graphics and an NPU... except for the last two Ryzen 8040 series CPUs (the Ryzen 5 8540U and Ryzen 3 8440U both don't have NPUs).

The mid-range GeForce RTX 4060 Ti comes in two flavors - the more common 8GB variant and one with 16GB of GDDR6 memory on a similar 128-bit bus. With a single 8-pin power connector and a TGP of 165W, the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti is one of the most power-efficient GPUs in the GeForce RTX 40 Series. This makes it the perfect candidate for smaller form factor models, cards designed to take up minimal space inside a build.

Enter the new GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Musou MAX or "Unchallenged" from Chinese NVIDIA partner GALAX, which features an ultra-thin single-slot form factor. I can't remember the last time I saw a single-slot graphics card capable of running the latest games, so this is pretty exciting.

With dimensions of 267x111x20 mm, the GALAX GeForce RTX 4060 Ti MAX includes a vapor chamber cooling system with a copper heatsink and a blower-style fan. It's a unique design because it marks the first GPU release for the GeForce RTX 40 Series to use a single-slot form factor.

AMD has officially launched its new Instinct MI300X, its new flagship AI accelerator that will take the AI GPU battle to NVIDIA's door, where it's up to 60% faster than the H100 AI GPU.

AMD's new Instinct MI300X is a technological marvel featuring chiplets and advanced packaging technologies from TSMC to craft the new AI GPU. We have the new CDNA 3 architecture, which has a blend of both 5nm and 6nm IPs that have up to an insane 153 billion transistors on the Instinct MI300X.

Inside, we have the main interposer laid out with a passive die that houses the interconnect layer using a 4th Gen Infinity Fabric solution, with the interposer featuring a total of 28 dies that include 8 x HBM3 packages, 16 dummy dies between the HBM packages, and 4 active dies with each of these active dies featuring 2 compute dies.

Apple's MacBook Air is among the best laptops on the market at its size, especially since the company added its own silicon and ditched Intel for good. But the current m2 model is about to get a refresh for an even better one if reports turn out to be true. And it's going to happen soon.

That's according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman who says that Apple intends to try and arrest a slowdown in laptop sales by adding a newly refreshed model to the lineup in the shape of the new M3 MacBook Air. Gurman cites unnamed sources when he says that Apple is already hard at work on the device and that it could debut in March 2024.

The new MacBook Air, codenamed J613 and J615, will reportedly come in the same 13- and 15-inch sizes that the current M2 model offers with the addition of that speedy new M3 chip. That M3 chip was announced not that long ago and is currently available in the 24-inch iMac. Expectations are high that Apple will also add support for the same M3 chip to the upcoming iPad Pro as well, a tablet that is also set to debut in March if rumors are true.

With 2023 set to become the first year that Apple hasn't released a new iPad since the very first one, it should perhaps come as no surprise that there are multiple models getting close to a release. Now, a new report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman claims that Apple has as many as four new iPads all chopping at the bit, and that they're going to be here soon.

Gurman suggests that we might see the new iPads arrive in March 2024, alongside a new MacBook Air, with two new iPad Air and two new iPad Pro models set to debut. The releases are going to be upgrades to the existing models, but there are some bug changes afoot including the addition of the biggest iPad Air yet.

Starting with the iPad Pro, Gurman says that there will be updated 11- and 12.9-inch versions that will feature the Apple M3 chip as well as a new OLED display. That display will offer improved color reproduction, among other things. This is the OLED technology currently used in the iPhone. In fact, the iPhone has been using OLED displays since 2017, but the 2024 iPad Pro will be the first to follow suit. The two new iPad Pro models will both come in Wi-Fi and cellular configurations.

If you look at your current iPhone, whether that's the latest and greatest flagship iPhone 15 Pro Max or something a little more modest, like the iPhone 13, you're probably already wondering the same thing - when will Apple get rid of that ugly area where the camera lives? On older iPhones that's a notch that houses the Face ID magic and selfie camera, and on the iPhone 15 family of devices, it's where the same tech lives but within the funky Dynamic Island. But in future iPhones there might be no camera holes whatsoever, leaving Apple with an all-screen display to do whatever it wants with.

That's after a new report by The Elec claimed that Apple's Korean display partners have already started to develop under-display cameras that will allow Apple to ditch the pill+hole arrangement of even its very best iPhones. The report claims that LG Innotek is the company that is pushing the development of technology that would allow the camera to sit beneath the display while still being capable of capturing whatever it's looking at.

There are already phones that have under-display cameras in the Android world, but the images taken by those cameras can be washed out at best. That happens because less light can reach the camera's sensor because, obviously enough, it's being blocked by the display. However, LG Innotek seems to have an answer for that in a new "freeform optic' lens system that helps to increase the amount of light that can be collected.

When Apple launched the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus they were the first non-Pro iPhones to sport the Dynamic Island. That meant that there were new requirements for the companies tasked with building those displays, and it seems that one of the companies that was expected to pick up a chunk of the slack has so far been unable to do so. And what's worse, there's no suggestion that things are going to improve any time soon.

That's according to a paywalled DigiTimes report that was picked up by MacRumors, anyway. BOE is a Chinese display manufacturer that was expected to produce some of the displays used in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. But it's been struggling with light leaks around the area where the hole-punch and pill arrangement makes up the Dynamic Island. It appears that light leaks through the holes, making the display look like something's broken.

BOE was already in Apple's bad books after it conditionally approved mass production in March of 2023 only to find that by September BOE was still unable to meet its requirements. Apple subsequently ditched BOE as a supplier for the displays, but the company has continued to work to try and fix the problem so as to pick up future Apple business.

India has proposed a new law that will require that all phones sold in the country use USB-C ports, just like the European Union law that will require exactly the same thing starting from 2024. If India's law does arrive, it'll come into effect from 2025. But that's still worrying news for Apple and the company has already sought to push back on the plans.

While Apple switched the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro devices to USB-C this past September in an attempt to meet the EU's USB-C requirement, the situation in India is more complicated. With the Indian market preferring to spend less money and buy older models, Apple might find it difficult to sell devices if the Lightning port is effectively banned. The older iPhone 14 and iPhone 13 lineups would not be available, causing Apple problems in more ways than one.

While only offering expensive iPhone 15 models would affect Apple's ability to sell to Indian customers, another issue presents itself according to a Reuters report. Apple currently produces some iPhones in India as part of the country's production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme. That scheme means that Apple gets financial incentives to produce iPhones in the country, but it says that it will struggle to meet the required quota if Indian customers aren't allowed to buy the Lightning-powered devices.

If you've been typing away on your iPhone only to find that you are no longer in the app that you thought you were in, you aren't alone. That's something that seems to have happened to an increasing number of people, according to a new report.

MacRumors says that people have started to complain of the bug across Apple's own forums as well as social media like Reddit. Some people have gone so far as to swap out their iPhones only to have the same issue all over again. The bug also doesn't appear linked to specific software versions and has happened on all updates from iOS 17 through the latest iOS 17.1.2. It seems particularly problematic when people are typing quickly, only to find that they have accidentally triggered the multitasking interface and have switched apps to something else entirely.

While Apple doesn't seem to have a proper fix just yet, nor is it clear if it's even working on one, MacRumors says that disabling the Reachability feature appears to be a temporary fix. Reachability allows users to invoke the feature to move the top of the screen downwards, making it easier to reach one-handed.

The first-look trailer for Rockstar Games' sequel to Grand Theft Auto V has been released, and it's already shattered world records, according to Guinness World Records.

Guinness World Records has taken to its website to post an update about the newly released trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV, explaining that the extremely popular trailer, which at the time of writing has gained more than 105 million views, has already become the most liked videogame trailer on YouTube with 8.9 million likes over a 24 hour period.

Additionally, as I reported earlier, the new GTA 6 trailer also took the crown from MrBeast for the most viewed YouTube video in 24 hours (non-music). The new trailer breezed past Mr. Beast's "Every Country On Earth Fights For $250,000," which reached 59.4 million views in 24 hours as Rockstar's sequel landed on a whopping 90,421,491 views in just 24 hours.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk shared a graph to his personal X account showcasing how far ahead SpaceX is compared to its competition on how much mass it has launched into orbit.

The graph was created by Bryce Tech, a mission-focused SETA contractor that applies analytics and engineering expertise to program management, and specifically, in this case, how much weight in kilograms has been launched to orbit and by whom. The graph shows SpaceX leading the pack by a country mile with 381,278 kg to orbit, or "upmass", with the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) coming in second with 24,560 kg, Roscosmos with 17,475 kg and Northrop Grumman Space Systems with 8,051 kg.

The graph illustrates what Musk wrote in his caption on the initial X post, "SpaceX is tracking to launch over 80% of all Earth payload to orbit this year". Furthermore, the graph showcases that SpaceX is the global leader in transporting mass to orbit, and with bigger and better rockets on the way, such as the recently tested Starship launch vehicle, capable of launching 100 tons to orbit, the competition will find it very difficult to catch up.

Just when we thought CD Project Red was ready to close the book on Cyberpunk 2077, going out on a high note thanks to years of updates and fixes culminating in the release of the excellent Phantom Liberty expansion - comes Update 2.1, and another dose of RTX improvements.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is out this week, and it packs in the base game and the Phantom Expansion. One of the coolest new features to arrive with Update 2.1 is that you can finally take a ride on the Night City metro system, including new, unique subway scenes and interactions. Players can now take the in-game radio system with them on the go, thanks to a new Ripperdoc implant.

Throw in new vehicles and revamped boss fights, and it's a meaty update. And for those playing the game on a high-end GeForce RTX 40 Series GPU, you'll be pleased to know that the game's Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode has exited preview with the full release, improving visual fidelity and performance for its incredible full path tracing mode.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has announced that Twitch will be shutting down its Korean division over unsustainable operating costs.

The CEO of the world's largest livestreaming company took to a blog post to publish an update on Twitch in Korea, where he explained that the cost for Twitch to operate in Korea is "prohibitively expensive", and despite efforts to reduce operating costs, the company has made little headway on reaching its goal. Clancy gave examples, such as trialing peer-to-peer streaming and restricting video quality to 720p, as attempts at reducing operational costs, and while they did reduce running costs, it simply wasn't enough.

The first trailer for Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto VI didn't break YouTube, but it did break a record - snatching the crown from the biggest YouTuber on the planet, MrBeast.

The new trailer for what is likely to be the most anticipated game of all-time has gained 85 million views in just the first 22 hours of it being live, smashing MrBeast's record of 59.4 million views in just 24 hours. Notably, that ranking has excluded music videos, but that doesn't mean the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer won't beat those records too, as at the current time of writing this the trailer has almost 100 million views.

The views are a reflection of the widespread anticipation for Rockstar Games' biggest franchise, and one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world. The last installment in the series was Grand Theft Auto V, which was released more than 10 years ago, and at the time quickly breaking the record for the "highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours," raking in $815.7 million on release day selling 11.21 million copies.

It has happened a lawmaker has used OpenAI's ChatGPT to write a proposal for a new law to be passed, which it later was - unanimously.

The politician is city councilman Ramiro Rosário, and the new law he proposed was entirely written by ChatGPT, according to a new report from AP where the politician is quoted admitting to using the AI-powered technology. Rosário said that he asked OpenAI's ChatGPT to write him a proposal to prevent the city from charging taxpayers to replace water consumption meters if they are stolen. The chatbot spat out the answer, and he took it directly to his 35 peers without informing them of its origin.

In what seemed like a bizarre turn of events in the technology news cycle, with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman being ousted from his position and then rehired, we are starting to learn a little bit more about why Altman was initially let go from his position.

A new report from WIRED has revealed that Altman's personal life played a role in why the board decided to let him go, as the publication reports that Altman was spread too thin among his many entrepreneurial pursuits, and as OpenAI's board wrote in its blog post about Altman's departure, "he was not consistently candid in his communications with the board, hindering its ability to exercise its responsibilities."

So, what could this mean? Altman wasn't just responsible for his duties at OpenAI; he was also rapidly investing in many startups that he saw potential in. For example, in 2019, OpenAI signed a nonbinding agreement to spend $51 million on AI chips developed by Rain AI, a company that Altman had personally invested $1 million into. "Over four years ago, we signed a nonbinding Letter of Intent with Rain to engage in discussions regarding a written agreement; we have not proceeded with next steps," said OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood