Latest news with #TechBlog
Gizmodo
02-07-2025
- Gizmodo
A ‘Cheap' MacBook With an iPhone Chip Could Bring Battery Life Like We've Never Seen Before
There's an Apple rumor going around that I can't stop musing about. (No, it's not about a foldable iPhone.) It's for a low-cost 13-inch MacBook that could cost hundreds of dollars less than Apple's current $999 13-inch M4 MacBook Air. Noted tech analyst and supply chain sleuth Ming-Chi Kuo of TF International Securities said on Sunday that Apple is working on a 13-inch laptop powered by an A18 Pro chip. The tech blogosphere immediately erupted with skepticism that Apple would use a chip that powers the current iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max in a MacBook. It would be an insult to consumers who expect a desktop-class chip inside of laptop, not an equally powerful processor made for phones! Except, it wouldn't be stupid. While I would love Apple to revive its discontinued, two-pound 12-inch MacBook with an M-series chip (even with a five-year-old M1 chip), selling a low-cost MacBook with an iPhone processor makes a whole lot of sense. Former Macworld Editor-in-Chief and independent Apple pundit Jason Snell put it into perspective best with his handy charts on his blog Six Colors: As Snell notes, Apple's A18 Pro chip is '46% faster than the M1 in single-core tasks, and almost identical to the M1 on multi-core and graphics tasks.' For general laptop tasks like browsing the web, watching videos, and messaging, the iPhone chip would be more than sufficient. Besides potentially costing less than the $999 M4 MacBook Air—many believe this new low-cost MacBook could replace the $650 Walmart-exclusive M1 MacBook Air—there could be some major upsides to using a phone chip inside of a laptop. Allow me to get nerdy for just a second: The A18 Pro chip is built with a 3-nanometer (nm) process compared to the M1's 5nm. The newer node process means there are more transistors on the chip. More transistors mean more performance; the newer and smaller process means lower power efficiency. Put them together, and you get a killer combo for good-enough performance with potentially even longer battery life. For most people who don't need a beefy GPU for heavy workloads like gaming, 3D modeling, or AI, laptop performance has been offering diminishing returns for years now. What people want most is longer battery life so that they don't need to plug in as frequently. Imagine for a minute if Apple decided to tout class-leading battery life with even longer hours than its own M4 MacBook Air. What if such a MacBook had a full day of battery life or days of battery life from a single charge? And if Apple can package that in a clamshell design that's even thinner and lighter and costs less? And then sell them in more fun colors like 'silver, blue, pink, and yellow,' as Kuo says Apple is considering? Oh man, you've got a recipe for a laptop that would crush sales. And crush sales, Apple reportedly needs to do. Kuo says that this low-cost MacBook could help Apple return to its peak of shipping around 25 million MacBooks annually. Snell does note one downside to using the A18 Pro chip if Apple decides to go that route: the laptop would likely only support USB-C data speeds and not faster Thunderbolt. That's just the limitation of the A18 Pro chip spec versus an M-series chip. The tradeoff for incredible battery life and an affordable price would be worth it, though.
Phone Arena
27-06-2025
- Phone Arena
Google Search has something new that could totally change what you see online
Google just introduced a new way to take more control over what you see in Search. It is still in the experimental phase for now, but it definitely looks like something with potential to stick around. Google is testing a new way to filter your Search results Search is still the place most of us go when we need to find something (there are around 16.4 billion searches on Google every day!). It is so second nature now that 'just Google it' is practically built into how we talk. But the big new thing here? An experiment called Preferred Sources. This feature is currently being tested in Search Labs (available in English in the US and India) and it basically lets you prioritize which sites you want to see more of in the Top Stories section. So, if you always read a particular tech blog, a certain news outlet or your favorite sports site, now you can make sure their stories show up more often. Here is how it works: if you are part of the experiment, you will see a little star icon next to the Top Stories heading. Tap that and you can choose your preferred sources – assuming those sites are actively publishing fresh content. Once set, their articles will show up more often when they are relevant to your search. They will also be clearly labeled and you will still get stories from a mix of other sources, too. News from your preferred sources will appear in the search results. | Image credit – Google Right now, this feature is only available to those who join the Labs experiment, but if past Google rollouts are anything to go by, it might not be long before this goes mainstream – at least in the US and India. But here's the thing… is this good or bad for news? On the surface, Preferred Sources sounds like a win. It helps cut out low-effort or spammy sites, lets you focus on outlets you trust and it could make your Search results way more relevant. But I can't help thinking – if you only ever read one side of the story, how do you know what's really going on? I mean, sure, it's great to see more from sources you like. But if everyone starts filtering out perspectives they don't agree with, that could seriously mess with how informed people actually are. Sometimes, the truth isn't on one side or the other – it is somewhere in the middle. And if we're all stuck in our own little echo chambers, it becomes harder to see the full picture. So yeah, I think the idea is smart and helpful, but it is also something we should use with a bit of caution. Trusted sources are great – just don't forget to occasionally peek outside the bubble. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
