Apple and Intel are reportedly testing chip designs with TSMC's 3-nanometer process and could be first to market with the technology, according to Nikkei. Intel may be planning to use the chips in next-gen notebooks and data centers, while Apple could be first to market with a 3-nanometer processor in future iPad models. Taiwan-based TSMC will reportedly start manufacturing processors for both companies as early as next year.
TSMC is currently manufacturing 5-nanometer chips for Apple's iPhone 12, and in 2022 will build next-gen AMD Zen 4 chips. It has targeted 3-nanometer volume production for the second half of 2022 with products likely coming along in 2023.
TSMC expects the new tech to deliver 10-15 percent greater performance at the same power levels, or reduce power 25 to 30 percent at the same transistor speeds over 5-nanometer tech. The company also has a 4-nanometer N4 process set to arrive in 2022, offering an evolution over 5-nanometer with minimal changes required by chip designers.
Apple's iPad will reportedly be the first devices powered by 3-nanometer chips, according to Nikkei's sources. The next generation of iPhones rolling out next year will supposedly use 4-nanometer tech for scheduling reasons.
Currently the chip volume planned for Intel is more than that for Apple's iPad using the 3-nanometer process.
The situation with Intel is perhaps more interesting. Intel confirmed to Nikkei that it would work with TSMC for its 2023 product lineup and has previously said that it would subcontract some chip manufacturing out to the Taiwan-based company, though it didn't say which technology it would use.
As it stands now, Intel has only just started rolling out its 10-nanometer chips (which are broadly equivalent to chips made with TSMC's 7-nanometer process), and has delayed 7-nanometer production until 2023.
According to Nikkei, TSMC will produce more chips for Intel than Apple. "Currently the chip volume planned for Intel is more than that for Apple's iPad using the 3-nanometer process," a source said. Intel plans to use TSMC to build processors for notebook and data servers "in an attempt to regain market share it has lost to Advanced Micro Devices and NVIDIA over the past few years," the story reads.
If the rumors prove accurate, Intel could possibly beat AMD to 3-nanometer tech, as AMD plans to use 5-nanometer chips for its next-gen Zen 4 processors. AMD now relies on TSMC for its processor and GPU chips, as its previous supplier GlobalFoundries decided not to manufacture 7-nanometer or smaller chips back in 2018.
TSMC is building a $12 billion chip fab plant in Arizona and plans to use its current 5-nanometer manufacturing technology. Intel, meanwhile, plans to invest $20 billion in two Arizona factories.
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Suing a video game rom site and being awarded $2.1 million in damages doesn’t mean much if the defendant can’t pay. Apparently, Nintendo’s having trouble collecting from RomUniverse founder Matthew Storman, who’s already missed a $50 monthly sanctions payment to the video game publisher.
Neverwinter developer Cryptic Studios has announced that it’s shutting down its MMO action-RPG Magic: Legends on October 31st. The game, which was available in open beta on PC, will no longer be coming to the PlayStation and Xbox as previously planned.
In a letter to fans, Cryptic Studios said that its vision for Magic: Legends “missed the mark.” However, the studio learned “valuable lessons” from the experience that it plans to implement during game development in the future. In a FAQ, Cryptic said that it currently has no plans to revive Magic: Legends at a later time.
The letter reads:
It is with heavy hearts that we announce Magic: Legends will be shutting down on October 31, 2021. All players who spent money in-game across Arc and the Epic Games Store during the open beta will be refunded their full purchase amounts. Servers will remain open for play until closing day, however we will be closing the Zen Shop effective immediately. Later this week, all items will instead be purchasable using Aether, our free in-game currency.
Our vision for Magic: Legends missed the mark, but we are proud of what we achieved. Thanks to Wizards of the Coast, we got to bring the expansive Magic: The Gathering Multiverse to a wide audience and explore new angles within the established action RPG genre. We learned several valuable lessons along the way, and we will use them to improve Cryptic’s future development efforts.
Most importantly, we’d like to thank all of the players who explored the Multiverse with us and provided feedback during the Alpha and Beta testing phases. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you!
Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter have committed to battle online abuse and improve women's safety on their platforms. The four tech giants made the promises during the UN Generation Equality Forum in Paris.
The pledge follows four consultations arranged by the Web Foundation that took place over 11 months. The organization then ran a few policy design workshops in April to "develop prototypes that center the experiences of women most impacted by online abuse." Two core themes emerged: Curation, with a broad recommendation to "build better ways for women to curate their safety online," and Reporting, with a call to "implement improvements to reporting systems."
The tech companies promised to offer users more granular settings over who can see, comment on, reply to or share posts. Easier navigation and access to safety features, simpler and more accessible language across the user interface and "proactively reducing the amount of abuse" that women encounter are also among the commitments.
As for reporting, Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter say they'll enable users to have the option of tracking and managing the reports they file as well, as having more ways for women to access support and help as they go through the reporting process. The other commitments include "enabling greater capacity to address context and/or language" and "providing more policy and product guidance when reporting abuse."
According to the Web Foundation, the companies pledged to implement their solutions within a certain time frame. They'll provide insights and data on how they're carrying out those commitments. The Web Foundation will publish annual reports on their progress as well.
More than 200 prominent figures have signed an open letter to the CEOs of the four companies, urging them to take action based on the promises. Among those who have signed the letter are actors Emma Watson and Gillian Anderson, UK Members of Parliament Diane Abbott and Jess Phillips, Creative Commons CEO Catherine Stihler and ex-Australia prime minister Julia Gillard.
The Web Foundation says 38 percent of those who identify as women have experienced online abuse. The figure rises to 45 percent for Gen Z and Millennial women. Women of color, and those in LGBTQIA+ and other marginalized communities often experience much worse abuse.
Meanwhile, Facebook just opened a Women's Safety Hub that explains the platform's tools for bolstering privacy and security. It will also run training sessions to help people harness those tools. In addition, the hub has resources for victims of abuse. Facebook developed the hub with the support of nonprofit partners around the globe. The hub's resources will soon be available in 55 languages.
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Vinyl has been on a resurgence for some time, and the pandemic somehow only accelerated that. It’s got many out there looking to upgrade from a cheap Crosley turntable and build out their first HiFi system. Of course, there are multiple pieces that go into building a decent stereo, but perhaps the most important is the speakers. If your speakers don’t sound good, it basically doesn’t matter what you connect them to.
This is understandably the part of their setup that people likely spend the most time researching. And you have to make a number of choices. One of the biggest is: active or passive? Both have their advantages, but for the sake of this guide we’re going to focus on passive speakers, which require a separate amplifier.
Active speakers have an amplifier built in. Usually, the two things are specifically designed to work together, which means you're getting a more faithful version of the manufacturer’s aural vision. And since you don’t need an external amplifier, active speakers also take up less room. While active speakers are more expensive than passive, the fact that you need to buy an amplifier to power passive speakers means the savings aren’t as great as they might initially seem. The primary benefit of passive is greater flexibility. You can’t go out and buy a new high-end amplifier and connect your active speakers to it; you’re stuck with what’s built in. Also, since active speakers require power, you’ll have to make sure they’re near an outlet.
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
We’re also putting a cap on our spending for this guide: a somewhat arbitrary $600. Anything over that and you’re starting to get into budget audiophile territory. It also basically limits us to bookshelf speakers between five and six inches. While you can certainly get floorstanding speakers for that much, the quality of the drivers will likely be better on bookshelf speakers at the same price point.
A note about testing
Obviously, I could not test every set of five to six inch bookshelf speakers under $600, but I’ve tried enough and done enough research to feel confident in my recommendations. I’m sure there are other good speakers out there, but I don’t think anyone is going to regret buying the sets here.
Additionally, speaker preference is largely subjective. But I did my best to be as objective as possible. All of the speakers were connected to a Pyle PSS6 switcher with the same wire for quick side-by-side comparisons. After I’d tested them all myself I enlisted multiple people to listen blindly and then rank them based on their preference to see if their opinions lined up with my own. Testing included playing new and vintage vinyl, as well as streaming songs from Spotify.
Also worth noting: I am not an audiophile. This is not a guide for audiophiles. I want my music to sound good, but I’m not about to drop the price of a used sedan on my stereo. My setup includes an Audio Technica Audio-Technica AT-LP120 and a Chromecast Audio running through a Technics SA-EX110. This is not fancy stuff, but it is certainly an upgrade from a Crosley Suitcase turntable or even a higher-end Sonos system.
The best for most people: Audioengine HDP6
Honestly, a lot of the speakers I tested sounded eerily similar to each other. But not the $399 Audioengines. They had a much brighter sound and a lot more clarity than all the others, with the exception of a significantly more expensive KEF pair. The particular pair I tried also came in a gorgeous “walnut” enclosure that helped them stand out in a sea of utilitarian black.
The HDP6s deliver especially strong mids that shine when it comes to vocals and guitars. But they sound quite balanced across the entire spectrum. Towering compositions like Nine Inch Nails “The Day the Whole World Went Away” sprung to life and revealed nuances that, frankly, I’ve never noticed before even on headphones. And Promises, the recent album from Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra, was so enveloping it made me want to throw my current floorstanding speakers in the trash.
While no bookshelf speakers on their own are going to be able to deliver the sort of room-shaking thump that floorstanding speakers or a subwoofer can deliver, the HDP6 performed admirably with bass-heavy songs. They didn’t have the most low end of my test units, but drums and bass were still punchy and clear.
If your number one concern is sound quality, regardless of anything else, check out the Q150s. These are the entry-level option from noted audiophile brand KEF and the only speakers that beat out the Audioengines in any of my blind taste tests. They didn’t come out on top every time, and some people had trouble deciding between the two, but ultimately I think the KEF’s have the slight edge in pure sound quality. They had a bit more volume at the extreme lower and higher ends of the spectrum. It added a certain sparkle to tracks like the Beach Boys’ “Wouldn’t it Be Nice,” while Run the Jewels’ “JU$T” hit a little bit harder than on the HDP6s. The difference can be subtle depending on what you’re listening to, but it’s undeniable in side-by-side testing.
The audio profile of the KEF is similar to that of the Audioengines. They’re both much brighter and with a lot more treble and midrange than all the other speakers in this roundup. If you’re into listening to classical or jazz on high quality vinyl, these are going to deliver exactly the sort of frequency response you’re looking for.
What stops the Q150 from topping this list is the list price. At $600 they're essentially tied for the most expensive speakers I tested. (The Polk R100s were $599, but didn’t make the final cut.) While the Q150s sounded slightly better than the HDP6s to my ears, they weren’t necessarily $200 better. At the time of this writing, however, the Q150s were on sale for $400, making them a compelling option to the Audioengines.
The JBLs were pretty consistently in the middle of the pack when it came to listener preference. They’re not as bright as the KEFs and the Audioengines, but not quite as muddy at the lowend as the Polk S15s. If you’re just looking for a decent set of speakers and don’t sweat over spec sheets, or if you’re primarily listening to streaming music and only putting on vinyl occasionally, these are a great option if you can find them on sale.
The A130s aren’t a bad deal at the list price of $300. But I’ve seen them discounted to as little as $180, at which point they’re a downright steal.
For those that need more bass: ELAC Debut 2.0 DB6.2
Terrence O'Brien / Engadget
Ok, so these speakers break our rules a bit but, if you opt for the slightly larger 6.5-inch DB6.2s, instead of the DB5.2s, you get a lot more thump at the bottom end. The Debuts can’t quite match the Audioengine or KEFs when it comes to clarity, but you’ll feel every 808 hit a lot more. Backxwash’s new album I Lie Here Buried with my Rings and my Dresses raged harder on the ELACs than it did on the Polks, JBLs or even the KEFs. And they only cost $350, which isn’t bad at all.
If you’re primarily listening to electronic music and modern hip hop, you might consider the Debut 2.0 DB6.2s.
If you can’t find the JBL A130s on sale, and really want to save as much money as possible, you could snag the Polk S15s. The S15s don’t sound bad, but the JBLs are definitely superior. They don’t have as deep of a soundstage as the other speakers I tested and the lowend can be a little undefined. These are probably better suited as part of a home entertainment system than a stereo. At a list price of $229 they might seem like a bargain, but I’d save your pennies for a bit longer and spring for something better.
Polk R100
The Polk R100s are decent sounding speakers. Perhaps slightly better than the JBLs, though with a sound profile closer to the Polk’s own S15. The problem is they’re $600, tying them for the most expensive I tested. At half the price these might be a solid option, but the $600 KEFs and $400 Audioengines were ranked higher than the R100s by every tester.
Q Acoustics 3020i
I have no doubt that these are very good speakers: They’re currently Wirecutter’s top choice. But I could not test them and therefore cannot vouch for them.
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