Weekly Digest - 2020.46

Macs with Apple Silicon

Apple held the One more thing event that focused on new Apple Silicon for Macs.

Apple introduced a brand new M1 chip, which combines couple of  chips and controllers under one single housing:

  • 5‑nanometer process,
  • 16 billion transistors,
  • 8-core CPU with 4 high‑performance cores and 4 high‑efficiency cores,
  • Integrated  8-core GPU,
  • Integrated 16-core neural engine built-in,
  • Integrated and shared memory including DRAM and cache.

According to Apple, new CPU is up to 3.5x faster on the same power usage. And the GPU is twice as fast. Looking at early benchmarks, those claims might be true.

The new chip would be nothing without new hardware that uses it, so Apple announced 3 new Mac:

Mac mini

  • Apple M1 chip (8-core CPU,  8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine),
  • 8 or 16GB of RAM,
  • 256GB, 512GB ,  1TB or 2TB of storage,
  • WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5,
  • Price starting at $699.

MacBook Air

  • 13.3-inch Retina Display (2560 x 1600px)
  • Apple M1 chip (8-core CPU, 7 or 8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine),
  • 8 or 16GB of RAM,
  • 256GB, 512GB ,  1TB or 2TB of storage,
  • 2 USB 4/Thunderbolt ports,
  • WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5,
  • Up to 18 hours of battery life,
  • Price starting at $999.

MacBook Pro 13

  • 13.3-inch Retina Display (2560 x 1600px)
  • Apple M1 chip (8-core CPU,  8-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine),
  • 8 or 16GB of RAM,
  • 256GB, 512GB ,  1TB or 2TB of storage,
  • 2 USB 4/Thunderbolt ports,
  • WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5,
  • Up to 20 hours of battery life,
  • Price starting at $1299.

macOS Big Sur released

Apple has also released the newest version of the mac operating system. I've been using it since Beta and it's rather stable, but the launch itself was far from perfect.

Xbox Series X launch

Microsoft has finally launched the next-gen console. The launch itself was rather smooth, but there were some vaping accidents 😅 Now, when the console is here, it's time for some next-gen games to be released.

Image credits: Apple

Weekly Digest - 2020.37

Xbox Series S & X

Microsoft has officially confirmed Xbox Series S. It's a simplified version of the Xbox Series X. Here are the highlights:

  • Frame rate: up to 120FPS,
  • Resolution: 1440p with 4K upscaling,
  • 512GB NVME SSD,
  • No optical disc,
  • 60% smaller than Series X,
  • Price: $299,
  • Launch on November 10th, 2020.

It's a good choice for people who want new Xbox, but doesn't care about 8K and optical disc. The only downside is really small storage. 512GB is really small, especially when games can take more than 200GB of storage. Hopefully, soon Microsoft will release another version with 1TB of storage.

Regarding Xbox Series X, it will also launch on November 10th for $499. The preorders will start on September 22.

September Apple Event

Apple has announced an event that will be held on September 15th. Similar to WWDC, this event also will be digital only. According to rumors this event will focus on new iPad Air, Apple Watch Series 6. New iPhones will be announced in October or even later.

Epic vs Apple continued

In August, Epic sued Apple, couple weeks later Apple is suing Epic, asking for damages over the breach of  developer contract. In the press release they called Epic the "modern corporate Robin Hood" 😂

Apple has every legal right to do so, but I think the PR damages will cost Apple more than potential settlement with Epic.

Image credits: Microsoft

Weekly Digest - 2020.33

Epic goes to war with Apple

Hours after removing Fortnite from AppStore, Epic filed a civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple. The legal complaint,  seeks to establish Apple’s App Store as a monopoly, and the civil suit is seeking injunctive relief to “allow fair competition” in mobile app distribution.

Fortnite has been also removed from Play Store and Epic filled another lawsuit agains Google as well.

Epic has a really small chances to win this lawsuit,  but  this time the company with millions of users is rebelling against Apple, so they will get attention of general public. Definitely the antitrust commissions in US and EU will notice this.

Xbox Series X will launch in November

Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox Series X will launch in November, before the holiday season. According to some rumors, the premiere is set to November 6th.

Now, that we have more or less accurate release date, all we need is the price.

Microsoft Surface Duo release date

Microsoft's first foldable mobile device will arrive on September 10th. The preorders are already available for $1,399. Surface Duo is Microsoft's first phone since Lumia. It not only has interesting design, that includes two separate screens, but also it runs Android.

Image credits: Microsoft