Intel

Early MacBook Pro adopters confused by misidentified graphics in System Profiler

If you're a proud owner of a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, you may be wondering why macOS's System Profiler application identifies the GPU as Intel Iris Pro 580 integrated graphics vs. Intel HD Graphics 530, as advertised on Tech Specs webpage.

No, Apple did not accidentally put the wrong GPU in the new MacBook Pro—a company source explains that the problem stems from an error in the System Information database causing the app to misidentify the GPU.

TSMC to start mass producing 10nm chips nearly a year ahead of Intel

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), which builds Apple's in-house designed A10 Fusion chip that powers the iPhone 7, has confirmed mass production of ten-nanometer chips for clients will kick off by year-end, beating Intel by almost a year in terms of high-performance silicon.

Chip maker Intel's own ten-nanometer chips are due in second half of 2017.

Intel could begin fabricating iPhone and iPad chips as early as 2018

Both in-house designed 'A10' and 'A11' chips for this year's iPhone 7 and 2017 iPhones/iPads, respectively, are believed to be manufactured solely by Taiwan's semiconductor foundry TSMC (sorry, Samsung).

According to Nikkei Asian Review, Intel is now perfectly poised to give TSMC a good run for its money in as little as two years because any Apple chips after the A10/A11 should be fabricated by Intel.

The recently signed licensing deal between Intel and UK-based ARM Holdings lets the former fabricate chips for smartphones based on the latter's CPU technology.

Deal with ARM would theoretically let Intel build 10nm iPhone and iPad chips

Chip giant Intel announced today at its Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco an important deal with UK-based fabless semiconductor maker ARM Holdings that will permit other foundries to build chips based on ARM's most advanced Cortex-series CPU cores using Intel's sophisticated ten-nanometer process technology.

Given that Apple's in-house designed A-series chips include fully customized 64-bit CPU cores based on ARM technology, the announcement expands Apple's options by letting its contract silicon manufacturers such as Samsung and TSMC fabricate iPhone and iPad chips using Intel's foundry services.

Intel unveils new Kaby Lake chips, VR headset for merged reality, drone platform & more

At Intel Developer Forum today, chip giant Intel announced a seventh-generation Core processors, code-named Kaby Lake, along with a new drone platform, an exciting open-source virtual reality project and a bunch of other goodies.

During an opening keynote presentation, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said the new Kaby Lake chips, due later this year, will let users stream movies in 4K resolution with smooth playback and long battery life.

The company did not say when a low-power edition of the latest Kaby Lake chips suitable for use in Mac notebooks and iMacs might become available to vendors.

Bloomberg: Intel cellular modems will be reserved for AT&T iPhone 7 models

Supply chain whispers recently claimed that a significant portion of LTE cellular modems for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus would be built by Intel instead of Qualcomm and now Bloomberg is reporting that Intel modems will be actually reserved for AT&T iPhone 7 models.

Qualcomm is expected to remain Apple's modem provider for Verizon and China-bound iPhone 7 handsets. Qualcomm's boss had said he expected a major customer to diversify its supplier base.

Intel shares details of next-gen Kaby Lake chips, Core i7 Extreme Edition and more

Intel today announced at the Computex 2016 show in Taiwan that its seventh-generation Core processors, code-named Kaby Lake, are slated to arrive later this year. It also shared details about an all-new ”Extreme” edition of the Core i7 chip for gamers and content creators, the Apollo Lake chips for tablets and hybrid devices such as all-in-ones, and more.

The company highlighted some of the advancements in performance, battery and media capabilities that the Kybe Lake platform provides. In a way, the announcement has paved the way for future Macs built around the Kybe Lake platform.

DigiTimes: Intel to supply at least half of iPhone 7’s faster LTE cellular modems

Rumors continue to swirl that Intel had been commissioned to build LTE modem chips for Apple's upcoming smartphone refresh, a marquee win for the semiconductor giant.

Tuesday, Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes reported that Intel may supply up to fifty percent of LTE modems for the forthcoming iPhone 7 models.

Although Intel itself will package the modems, the chips will be mass-produced by contract manufacturers TSMC and KYEC, as per DigiTimes, indicating that the iPhone 7's 'A10' system-on-a-chip may integrate an Intel-built LTE modem. These Intel-designed LTE modems for the iPhone 7 are said to be faster than those in the iPhone 6s.

Intel wants to replace the 3.5mm headphone jack with USB-C

Apple may not be the only company about to ditch the century-old 3.5mm analog audio connector with the release of the next iPhone this fall. AnandTech reported this morning that the semiconductor giant Intel is backing the industry's “strong desire to move from analog to digital” by proposing that the 3.5mm audio jack be replaced with USB-C on smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

Qualcomm is “assuming” that Apple will give LTE modem orders for iPhone 7 to rival Intel

Shares of Qualcomm have dropped two percent after CEO Steve Mollenkopf told analysts on an earnings call Wednesday that it may lose some of its “biggest customers” as they are going with a “second source,” Bloomberg reported.

The fabless chip maker's been Apple's exclusive supplier of LTE modems for over three years now.

That's about to change soon: Mollenkopf is now “assuming” that a major customer will give orders to a rival, indicating a potential loss of business for the company. Analysts said they think the customer is Apple and the rival is Intel.

New MacBooks offer 90 percent faster SSD write speeds, Skylake CPU up to 20 percent faster

Apple today announced a second-generation twelve-inch MacBook which brings speed increases across the board thanks to the use of Intel's latest Skylake chip platform, PCIe-based flash storage and a speedier 1,866MHz RAM.

The Verge took the new machines briefly for a spin. Having put the new MacBook through its paces in Primate Labs' $0.99 Geekbench 3 benchmarking app to measure the performance of the new Intel CPU and using the free Blackmagic Disk Speed Test app for benchmarking disk I/O operations, the publication was able to determine just how performant the updated flash storage and Intel's new Skylake CPU are.

Intel has reportedly secured orders for a ‘significant portion’ of iPhone 7 cellular modems

Chip giant Intel has secured orders for a “significant portion” of cellular modems on Apple's upcoming iPhone 7, according to a note CLSA Securities analyst Srini Pajjuri sent to clients, a copy of which was obtained by NDTV.

The current iPhone 6s generation uses Qualcomm's MDM9635M LTE Cat. 6 cellular modem and the previous-generation iPhone 6 series is outfitted with Qualcomm's MDM9625M modem so if this particular analyst is right, Qualcomm is set to lose some serious money should Apple dual-source cellular modems for the next iPhone.