Computer Systems - Page 10

Global PC shipments rose by 3% for this year's second quarter, marking two consecutive quarters of growth after an alarming two years of decline. PC shipments hit 64.9 million units for the three months ending in June, which is great news for the industry as we head into the AI PC era. However, even though everyone's talking about and pushing AI, it sounds like regular PC sales are driving the growth, especially those from Apple.

According to research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), Apple's shipments increased by 20.8% for the quarter, followed by Acer, whose shipments grew by 13.7%. Even though Apple saw significant growth, its market share of 8.8% sits below that of companies like Lenovo (22.7%), HP Inc. (21.2%), and Dell Technologies (15.5%).

Looking at the top five companies, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, and Acer, only Dell saw a 2.4% decline in shipments. With Microsoft's new Copilot+ PCs recently debuting and more AI-ready mobile hardware on the way from AMD and Intel later this year, it will be interesting to see what impact AI PCs have on global PC shipments.

Minisforum has just launched its new AtomMan G7 PT Mini-PC, the fastest gaming PC that the company has released so far. Check it out:

The new Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT is the world's first AMD Advantage-certified Mini-PC, packing the AMD Ryzen 7 7945HX processor and Radeon RX 7600M XT GPU, even boasting an ultra-fast Gen5 SSD for storage. The new AtomMan G7 PT Mini-PC could be considered a spiritual successor to the Intel NUC Enthusiast systems, but now that the ASUS ROG NUC systems are here, gamers are flocking to those Mini-PCs.

The new ASUS ROG NUC systems feature higher-end Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPUs, which are components commonly found in higher-end gaming laptops. But, this is where ASUS has hefty pricing on its new ROG NUC, and now... there's a cheaper alternative with the Minisforum AtomMan G7 PT Mini-PC which starts at just $999.

Taiwan's two major PC vendors Acer and ASUS saw strong June and Q2 2024 sales led by strong shipments of new AI PCs and a recovery of the PC sector.

In a new report from outlet UDN, we're learning that Acer reported a 33.4% year-on-year increase in June revenue up to NT$28.2 billion (around $865 million USD or so), while ASUS reported a 21.5% year-on-year increase to NT$58.4 billion (around $1.79 billion USD or so).

ASUS said that its PC product shipments in Q2 2024 were "better than expected" and alongside AI server shipments, its brand revenue in Q2 2024 record a record high for the same period of last year. ASUS emphasized that the company has taken the lead in launching Copilot+ PC systems, with the most extensive AI innovation applications from June to July, and will continue to expand its various AI applications and product innovations to fully deplop the new growth cycle of AI.

Here's something a bit different: a mini PC that's been tucked away inside a keyboard, and it's a seriously portable peripheral (15 x 10cm) at that.

This is an innovative device revealed by a Chinese manufacturer, Linglong, who showed off the keyboard PC in a presentation on Bilibili (as flagged up by Tom's Hardware).

The computer-keyboard hybrid folds in half so it'll actually fit in a pocket (and that feat is actually demonstrated in the presentation for the device).

ASUS has finally unveiled its new ROG NUG 970 and ROG NUC 760 systems, new NUC systems that have some seriously powerful hardware inside of the 2.5-liter chassis. Check them out:

The new ASUS ROG NUC 970 and ROG NUC 760 Mini-PCs feature an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H or Core Ultra 7 155H "Meteor Lake" CPUs, both featuring up to 16 cores and 22 threads at different CPU clocks. There's the option for either NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070 or RTX 4060 Laptop GPUs, along with the integrated Arc GPU on the Meteor Lake processor.

ASUS supports up to 64GB of DDR5-5600 memory on the new ROG NUC systems, with space for at least 3 x Gen4 M.2 2280 SSDs. This is mighty impressive, as some Mini-PC systems only have room for a single Gen4 SSD. That's not like ASUS, with 3 x Gen4 SSD slots joined by Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, multiple USB ports (USB-C, USB-A), HDMI 2.1, and even dual DisplayPort 1.4 connectors.

It was only a matter of time, but it is coming: Mini-PC manufacturer Xyber XPC has just unveiled the world's first AMD Ryzen Mini-PC themed after Tesla's super-popular, near-indestructible Cybertruck. Check it out:

Xyber XPC is a Mini-PC manufacturer based in Hong Kong, China, unveiling its new Xyber XPC Mini-PC themed as a Tesla Cybertruck on Indiegogo. Inside, we have AMD's current-gen Ryzen 7 8845HS "Hawk Point" APU, and support for up to 64GB of DDR5 memory.

The team had its Cybertruck Mini-PC on display at Computex 2024 last month, with the team saying the XPC is in full production right now and isn't far away Inside, there's the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS "Hawk Point" APU, up to 64GB of DDR5-5600 (SO-DIMM) memory, and up to 4TB of SSD storage... which is damn good inside of the Cybertruck-themed system.

Minisforum has just introduced its new UH125H Pro Mini-PC which packs Intel's Core Ultra 5 125H "Meteor Lake" CPU, OCulink connectivity, and interestingly... a physical Copilot+ button. Check it out:

The new Minisforum UH125H Pro Mini-PC rocks the Intel Core Utlra 5 125H "Meteor Lake" CPU which is a 14-core, 18-thread CPU with a maximum CPU boost clock of up to 4.5GHz, with a single large diameter fan, phase-changing thermal pads, and 3-heatpipe cooling system keeping thermals under control.

The new Minisforum UH125H Pro Mini-PC features support for DDR5-5600 memory, which can be crammed with an incredible 96GB. The system ships with either no RAM or 32GB of DDR5-5600, but it is user-upgradable.

Lenovo is taking the fight to Apple with the launch of its new ThinkCenter neo Ultra, which is powered by Intel and NVIDIA hardware, and will be a competitor to the Mac Studio. Check it out:

The company offers its new ThinkCenter neo Ultra PC with up to the Intel Core i9-14900T processor, packing 24 cores and 32 threads that boost up to 5.5GHz. Lenovo lets you customize the ThinkCenter neo Ultra with up to 64GB of RAM (up to DDR5-4800), and up to 2 x 1TB Gen4 SSDs for up to 2TB of Gen4 SSD storage.

On the GPU side of things, Lenovo lets you bake in up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU with 8GB of GDDR6 memory, with the PC using a 350W power supply.

Minisforum is about to unleash its new UM880 Pro and UM890 Pro Mini-PC systems, both packing AMD's Ryzen 8000 series "Hawk Point" APUs. Check them out:

First off, we've got the Minisforum UM880 Pro, which features the Ryzen 7 8845HS "Hawk Point" APU, while the UM890 Pro features the beefed-up Ryzen 9 8945HS "Hawk Point" APU. Minisforum has crammed in a higher-end cooling system to keep the Hawk Point APUs as cool as possible, which allows the company to boost up to 70W TDP, higher than AMD's default of 35-65W TDP.

AMD's new Ryzen 9 series "Hawk Point" APUs can boost up to 5.2GHz, while the Ryzen 7 "Hawk Point" APU can boost up to 5.1GHz. These higher boost clocks being maintained at all times during gaming or productivity loads is a bit harder inside of a smaller system, but in other Mini-PCs we have 50-60W TDPs, so Minisforum is pushing things here (which we love to see).

ASRock has launched its new DeskMeet X600 Mini-PC that has a very cool trick up its sleeve: it features a PCIe extension cable that lets you use an external graphics card... which is something we don't see in a world dominated by Thunderbolt 4 and OCulink connectivity.

It's impossible to cram in a monster GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card inside a Mini-PC system, but with a full PCIe interface through an external PCIe extension cable, it just makes sense. ASRock has placed the PCIe connector hidden under a cover (because some users won't use an external discrete graphics card) that can be taken off and used at any time.

The company does miss a huge opportunity, though: ASRock doesn't include a high-quality PCIe extension cable with its new DeskMeet X600 Mini-PC. This means you'll need to find one yourself, and if you have problems, it's not ASRock's issue. ASRock, you should've included the PCIe extension cable with the system.

MSI has unveiled its new flagship gaming PC at Computex 2024 and just like everything else at this year's trade show it includes artificial intelligence (AI).

If you have seen any news coming out of Computex 2024 you would have noticed AI has made its way into almost every product, and all-in-one (AIO) gaming PC's are no exception. MSI provided me with a tour of their booth this year where they showed off their new flagship gaming PC called the MEG Vision X AI. This new gaming PC is an extension of the company's Vision line and includes a new eye-catching case that uses some wraparound glass to make all of the internal components visible.

However, that isn't the most eye-catching thing about the MEG Vision X AI, as you have already probably noticed the large touchscreen. According to MSI representatives at the booth this new touchscreen can be synced to MSI's "exclusive AI apps for enhanced AI functionality".

Colorful Technology is known for creating PC components, gaming laptops, audio products, and all-in-one gaming solutions. At Computex 2024, it's set to showcase a range of liquid-cooled products - two standouts being the unique Colorful Neptune Series all-in-one PC with an open-frame and full-cover water block and the updated COLORFUL iGame GeForce RTX 4090 Vulcan LAB.

The Neptune Series PC is quite the looker thanks to its open design and full-cover water block that delivers liquid cooling to the CPU, other components, and the Neptune graphics card. With its sci-grey color scheme, it looks like a space station or spaceship. COLORFUL confirms that the unique all-in-one PC will ship with an Intel Core i9 processor, iGame Z790D5 Neptune i92T motherboard, and 2TB SSD.

Customers will have control over the specs when ordering, so there will be multiple variations of the Neptune Series PC. Colorful also notes that it is developing a Neptune motherboard "for the next-generation Intel Core processors," so its design will support next-generation Intel Arrow Lake CPUs.

Update: ASUS updated us on the NUC 14 Performance, saying that there would be barebones systems, and systems with pre-installed SSD and RAM.

ASUS has just introduced its new NUC 14 Performance, which is pretty much identical to the ROG NUC, but without the ROG flair. There are more hardware options available for the NUC 14 Performance, too.

Inside, the new ASUS NUC 14 Performance with its highest-end specs will be powered with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 desktop GPU, up to 64GB of DDR5 SO-DIMM memory, and support for a Gen4 SSD.

This is something you've probably never seen before: a desk with a hidden hatch that reveals a built-in 45-inch OLED gaming monitor, all of your peripherals, and even a liquid-cooled gaming PC with a flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card. Check it out:

YouTube channel DIY Perks is behind this beautiful creation, with a built-in 45-inch Corsair Xeneon Flex ultrawide bendable OLED gaming monitor, which he stripped down to its bare PCB and panel to completely minimize its size. The peripherals used include a full-sized keyboard, gaming mouse, gaming headset, and an external audio interface with the OLED gaming monitor.

On the PC side of things, we have an Intel Core i9-13900K processor, ASRock Z790 PG-ITX/TB4 motherboard, and a ZOTAC GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card, all of which are cooled with water blocks. There are also dual HDPlex 500W GaN power supplies, with one of them dedicated to the RTX 4090. Filling out the specs, we've got an amazing 12 x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 drives in a Flashtor 12 Pro NAS, which is connected through an M.2 port to the motherboard, and a 10GbE M.2 network card.

Lenovo has just launched their latest Legion desktop gaming PCs with new Mobile on Desktop (MoDT) designs that offer up to an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor.

Lenovo is the largest PC maker in China, with MoDT platforms used by Chinese companies for years now, Lenovo is the latest one with its new Legion 7000K desktop PC series. Lenovo's new Legion 7000K systems feature Intel's current-gen 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs.

The company is using two of these CPUs: the Core i9-14900HX (24 cores, 32 threads) at up to 5.8GHz and a 190W TDP (!!!) and the Core i7-14650HX (16 cores, 24 threads) at up to 5.2GHz with a 160W TDP. Lenovo uses a custom desktop motherboard with the CPU pre-installed, which means it's not upgradeable at all. There's no IHS (integrated heat spreader) on the CPU, which Lenovo says is an advantage, as some enthusiasts will delid (remove the IHS) off their processor.

The rumors of NVIDIA making a next-generation Arm-based processor seems to be gaining traction, with both the CEOs from Dell and NVIDIA teasing a new NVIDIA Arm-based processor inside of a new Dell AI PC in 2025.

During a recent chat with Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow, Dell CEO Michael Dell was asked about NVIDIA's place in the huge AI PC market, to which the Dell CEO said: "come back next year," while NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang said "exactly".

We know that the Windows-on-Arm AI PC market is going to absolutely explode in the next 12 months, with Microsoft launching its new Copilot+ PCs powered by Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus processors. NVIDIA has all of the ingredients to create a monster Arm-based processor: Arm general purpose cores, GeForce GPUs, Tensor Cores for AI, networking, and more hardware.

Qualcomm has announced that in collaboration with Microsoft, the new Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows, a compact form-factor PC powered by the flagship Snapdragon X Elite, specifically designed for developers creating or optimizing apps and experiences for the next-generation of AI PCs under the new Copilot+ PC ecosystem.

Inside, the new Snapdragon Dev Kit features Qualcomm's new flagship Snapdragon X Elite processor, running at a TDP of up to 80W. There's also 32GB of LPDDR5X memory (not upgradeable), and 512GB of SSD storage. There are 3 x USB4 ports with Type-C, 2 x USB 3.2 ports with Type-A, a single Ethernet jack, 3.5mm headphone and HDMI.

Qualcomm's new Snapdragon Dev Kit is priced at $899.99, but remember that these aren't for everyone... they're for developers who reach out to Qualcomm to get their hands on a Snapdragon Dev Kit.

The M2 Ultra Mac Studio and Mac Pro are among the best Macs you can buy if you need raw horsepower and lots of cores, but we now expect that Apple will ship the M3 family of chips for these computers entirely and move on to the M4. Apple announced the first M4 device earlier this month in the form of the iPad Pro, and while there are no Macs with the chip yet that will change later this year. But in terms of the M4 Ultra and the Macs that will use it, there is no suggestion that they will arrive before 2025.

In fact, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has now reiterated that in the paywalled version of the Power On newsletter for Bloomberg. Gurman says that Apple's current roadmap has the company set to launch the new M4-powered Mac Studio and Mac Pro in the middle fo 2025 which means that we shouldn't expect anything any time soon. Thankfully, the M2 Ultra Mac Studio and Mac Pros are still extremely fast devices.

Gurman also says that he doesn't expect that Apple will announce any new Macs at the WWDC event that will kick off on June 10, allowing the company to instead focus on software. Given the expected focus on big AI features coming to the iPhone that could be the best decision, giving Apple the time needed to show off its new software updates to the fullest. Alongside the iOS 18 update, we also expect Apple to preview new updates for the Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro.

Apple has been beta testing the macOS Sonoma 14.5 update for a few weeks now, giving developers and public beta program testers the chance to put it through its paces. Apple hasn't yet confirmed when it will be released to the public, but the expectation is that it will arrive within the next few weeks. That's now become more likely than ever before after Apple made the first Release Candidate version of the update available for download by developers.

This Release Candidate suggests that Apple is almost ready to make the macOS Sonoma 14.5 update available for download by Mac owners around the globe, although it's possible we will see one or two more Release Dancidates made available depending on whether there are any new issues identified by testers.

Perhaps most notable however is the news that Apple has shared details of what people can expect from the big update when it does finally become available for Mac owners. Apple doesn't often share release notes for beta updates depending on the platform and the features it expects to ship, but this Release Candidate does have a release note available for our perusal.

The new Minisforum S100 is a pocket-sized mini PC (that looks like a portable tape recorder from the 1990s) powered by Intel's N100 Alder Lake-N processor. This 6W quad-core chip lacks capabilities like HyperThreading.

However, 6W for a CPU is not a lot of power at all, and with a boost clock speed of 3.4 GHz, 8GB of LPDDR5-4800 memory, and 256GB of UFS 2.1 storage (with read and write speeds of up to 850 MB/s and 260 MB/s, respectively), it's low enough that the Minisforum S100 doesn't need to be connected to a wall socket to fire up.

How does the Minisforum S100 draw power? You have two options: use the USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port (an adapter is included) or the 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port that supports powered Ethernet. The latter solution means the Minisforum S100 can get power and data from a single cable. In addition, the Minisforum S100 comes equipped with Windows 11 and can output up to 4K.