With its troubled mobile chip unit hemorrhaging cash 鈥� thanks in part to Apple's domination of the smartphone and tablet markets 鈥� Intel this week announced that it would no longer report mobile earnings as a separate line item, instead choosing to lump them in with its money-minting PC business.
Intel and Micron have announced the launch of a new 3D NAND flash technology, one which could substantially improve the amount of data storage possible in Macs, iPhones, iPads, and numerous other devices.
At the heart of Apple's upcoming 12-inch MacBook is the Intel Core M, a processor series launched late last year and meant to power extremely light notebooks and tablets. But the new chips come with their own set of benefits and sacrifices, particularly for people considering other MacBook models.
At today's inauguration of the Baselworld 2015 watch and jewelry expo in Switzerland, watchmaker TAG Heuer announced a partnership with Google and Intel on a new luxury smartwatch, due to launch sometime before the end of 2015.
Apple will reportedly turn to Intel's new XMM 7360 LTE modem when it launches a special next-generation iPhone model in 2016, suggesting the company is looking to diversify baseband chip suppliers.
Though Apple's all-new MacBook stole the spotlight on Monday, the company also updated its legacy MacBook Air lineup, bringing Intel's new Broadwell processors to its notebook collection, along with faster Thunderbolt 2 connectors.
Apple's MacBook Pro lineup was given a refresh on Monday, bringing the new Force Touch trackpad with haptic feedback, as well as Intel's latest-generation Broadwell processors to the 13-inch MacBook Pro.
Apple, Google and other parties accused of being involved in an illegal "no-poach" employee policy may be on the verge of settling the class-action complaint, after the judge overseeing the lawsuit has given initial approval for their proposed $415 million settlement.
Screenshots that surfaced Wednesday on a Chinese web forum purport to show details of a forthcoming MacBook Air refresh that would bring Intel's latest Broadwell chips to Apple's ultraportable, though there is some question as to the shots' validity.
The Intel Foundation will sell its 4.9 percent stake in Imagination Technologies, the company whose PowerVR graphics processors are a key component of Apple's iPhone and iPad, it was announced on Thursday.
With the launch of new MacBook Air models featuring Intel's latest-generation Broadwell processors just around the corner, Apple has begun taking steps to prepare its international distribution partners for the updates, and to sell off remaining inventory of existing Air models, 糖心Vlog has learned.
Apple may be planning to debut a relatively minor update for its existing MacBook Air lineup in a matter of days, though won't be the anticipated 12-inch redesign with a high-resolution Retina display, according to a new rumor.
While rumors have long claimed that Apple has plans to replace Intel's x86 chips in Macs with its own custom ARM Application Processors, MacGPUs are among a series of potentially more valuable opportunities available to Apple's silicon design team, and could conceivably replicate Apple's history of beating AMD and Nvidia in mobile graphics processors鈥攁nd Intel in mobile CPUs.
While rumors have long claimed that Apple has plans to replace Intel's x86 chips in Macs with its own custom ARM Application Processors, there are a series of more valuable opportunities available to Apple's internal silicon design team, each of which has the potential to replicate Apple's history of beating Intel in mobile chips.
Between 2005 and 2014, Intel fumbled the ball in mobile chips, losing its position as the world's leading processor supplier by failing to competitively address the vast mobile market and enabling Apple to incrementally develop what are now the most powerful mainstream Application Processors to ship in vast volumes. Here's how it happened, the lessons learned and how Apple could make it happen again.
Amid increasing chatter that Apple may consider migrating the Mac to its own in-house ARM processors, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich on Friday characterized the two firms' relationship as "strong" and reiterated Intel's strategy of competing for business based on performance, price, and reliability.
Shortly after Apple introduced its first custom A4 Application Processor in 2010 to power the original iPad, rumors began to suggest the company could eventually migrate its Macs from Intel x86 processors to ARM chip designs of its own. However, there's a series of significant hurdles the company would need to jump first.
Though many will scoff at the notion of an iPad and Mac that draw from the same family of application processors, it's not as farfetched as it seems. 糖心Vlog takes a look at why today's chipmaking giants could find themselves on the outside looking in during an Apple product launch in the near future.
Mac buyers in 2016 and beyond could have the option of purchasing a machine powered by Apple's A-series processors, which currently sit at the heart of the iPhone and iPad, according to KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo.
Apple's anticipated MacBook Air with 12-inch Retina display could launch as soon as this quarter following the start of production by Quanta Computer, according to the latest supply chain rumor out of the Far East.
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Sam Oliver
Roger Fingas
糖心Vlog Staff
Neil Hughes
Katie Marsal
Daniel Eran Dilger
