The Apple Special Event for the third time this year will be remembered over a long time. Reason? In this event Apple, for the first time showcased its Mac lineups with its own chip called M1. That means, the Cupertino giant left its dependency on intel, not fully, but mostly. Apple, today introduces the new MacBook Air, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro all power by the M1 chip. It’s obvious, the consumers are going to get a never before experience from now. Alongside, Apple entered into a new era with the M1 for Macs.
If you want a powerbomb in a small shape and size, Apple developed Mac Mini just for you. It is capable of delivering almost the same Mac desktop experience is very small and compact size. Before diving deeper have a look at how M1 changes Mac Mini’s performance statistically.
3x faster CPU performance than the earlier version
6x faster graphics performance
1/10th in size than the top-selling PC desktops in similar price tag
5x faster than the top-selling desktops
15x faster machine learning performance
So you already get what the exact changes the new Apple chip for Macs, M1 brings to the Mac Mini. Though, it’s not the only thing to consider, especially the macOS Big Sur.
Though Apple is shifting with its own M1 chip, it still provides an intel version for the common fans of Apple and intel. Let discuss the M1 variant first.
In the M1 version, having 8-core CPU, 8-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine, consumers will get two further options to choose from, in terms of storage capacity. There is 8GB of RAM with the reconfigurability to 16GB and either 256GB SSD or 512GB SSD. Users can go for up to 2TB of storage later, as per their needs. Through the variety of ports, connecting screens with a 60Hz refresh rate and up to 6K resolution is possible now.
In the case of the intel variant, there are only 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD option available. If the consumer wants, s/he can expand the RAM to up to 64GB and up to 2TB SSD. Forget to mention, the 6-core i5 chip is equipped in it. The rest of the other details are more or less the same as the M1 version.
Coming to the pricing and availability, all the variants are available now. In India, the M1 variants cost INR 64,900 and INR 84,900 for 256GB and 512GB storage variants respectively. The Mac Mini powered by the Intel i5 processor costs INR 1,04,900. All are available through the Apple Online Store.
Okay, so Apple has finally announced its flagship M1 chip that will be the heart of all the new Apple devices, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and the Mac Mini. Built on the latest 5nm process, Apple’s new chip delivers breakthrough performance at ultra-lower power consumption.
Needless to say Apple has brought all of its expertise in making its outstanding smartphone chips into the new M1 chip. Features like Neural Engine, Secure Enclave has helped Apple built an ecosystem of new Macs that are both powerful and secure, running on the new macOS Big Sur.
Yes, Apple is genius in combining hardware and software, so this helps them getting the best performance out of its software even if they are new to this business. The time and effort made to build this new incredible chip proves the bold reason to ditch Intel as they hardly gave any performance advantage over the years.
Using ARM architecture on an x86 system is not an easy task because Qualcomm has previously done this but failed to deliver best performance and efficiency. However, Apple has used the latest 5nm process to stuff 16 billion transistors, much like what they did on A14 Bionic, and used 8 core design as well.
Although Apple has not revealed anything about the clock speed higher clock speeds are expected and Apple did claim that its cores are world’s fastest. Now, that’s a bold claim that needs further inspection, however, the 4 performance cores in the M1 chip have:
192KB instruction cache,
128KB data cache,
Shared 12MB L2 cache
This on paper looks pretty great and using 5nm process, Apple can further tune their chips as well. Whereas the 4 high-efficiency cores come with:
128KB instruction cache,
64KB data cache,
Shared 4MB L2 cache
This combo of high performance and efficiency cores helps Apple to cram in more battery life for its MacBooks without many upgrades. The chip at the heart of every Mac is just great on paper and the performance also looks promising as well.
The architecture behind all of this is interesting as well, because this is a new approach which only Apple could have thought having made Apple Bionic chips for quite sometime now. It connects the cores with the cache and uses a unified memory architecture to give the highest memory bandwidth to both the CPU and GPU cores.
The cache is accessible to all cores, something that AMD has done in Zen 3 architecture, and the GPU and the Neural Engine are all connected with a fabric, which should be fast enough. The inclusion of a Neural Engine will have its own advantage as things will be much faster in Machine learning-based applications.
Apple says the efficiency of its new CPU cores are huge because we see Apple is telling it delivers 2x performance than latest laptops consuming just 1/2 the power. The CPU performance per Watt is claimed to be the best in the market and it wouldn’t be impossible because of the ARM architecture on a 5nm process.
Apple has also used a 8-core GPU that promises best integrated graphics performance in the industry. It comes with 128 execution units, running up to 24,576 concurrent threads, delivering 2.6 teraflops of graphics performance. This is a heck lot of GPU horsepower for an integrated graphics design.
Apple does claim its new M1 chip to deliver the best-in-class integrated graphics that lets you edit 4K videos, use heavy applications like Adobe Premiere Pro, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro at highest resolutions, support for 6K displays, media encoding and decoding engines and what not. Truly, getting this level of GPU performance on a Mac is amazing.
This makes the new Macs much more useful and powerful than Intel-powered ones that cannot match this kind of all-around performance undoubtedly. In a nutshell, the new Apple M1 chip shows its engineering prowess, and what Apple has achieved in a short time is comparable or say a bit advanced than Intel as well.
The inclusion of 16-core Neural Engine into the new M1 chip helps to deliver great AI and machine learning performance which was never heard or used of. Developers can use this horsepower to make its applications even more useful and fast, capable of executing 11 trillion operations per second.
Secure Enclave is a new way of defining Apple’s class leading security and this time too Apple has kept special attention to the security of its chips.
As a whole, the new Apple M1 chip is a never-seen or heard of tiny package that is much efficient, powerful, and useful, could be the best chip made for professionals who love Mac products or always wanted to get one.
Bringing needed features like Thunderbolt / USB 4 controller, Wi-Fi 6, HDR video processor, high-efficiency audio processor, and much more, makes the new M1 chip even more valuable. Retaining efficiency, Apple has promised a lot in its event which will be a point to figure out in the coming days.
Getting such power on a thin and light MacBook Air or getting more out of a cheaper Mac Mini has never been heard before is indeed possible, thanks to the new Apple M1 chip. Obviously, this transition will not be that fast, but the future of computing on Apple Silicon indeed looks promising!
Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below…😁
We know that AMD’s next-gen RDNA 2 based graphics cards will soon be custom adopted by the OEM’s. As such, we can quickly expect to hear a lot about them in the coming days. Recently, Sapphire officially announced its next-generation Nitro+ and PULSE Radeon RX 6800 series graphics cards. It includes three Nitro+ and two PULSE series cards, which has both Radeon RX 6800 XT & RX 6800 variants.
The Sapphire Radeon RX 6800 series graphics card line up is split into the Nitro+ and PULSE series. The Nitro+ is the premium lineup and comes in both RX 6800 XT & RX 6800 flavors. It even includes one additional Special Edition ‘SE’ variant for the Radeon RX 6800 XT graphics card.
Sapphire RX 6800 XT & RX 6800 Nitro+
Sapphire’s Radeon RX 6800 XT Nitro+ is a massive triple-fan cooled graphics card. Two of the fans feature nine blades each, while the last one features 12 fan blades. The menu also features a gigantic metal backplate. A cutout at the backside allows air to pass through the aluminum fins of the cards. The card is said to feature a 2.7 slot design, and, from the looks, it features a large aluminum heatsink beneath the shroud, which features six massive heat pipes.
Sapphire RX 6800 XT Nitro+ SE ‘Special Edition’ Graphics Card
The main difference between the Sapphire Nitro+ SE and the Nitro+ variants is the fans that feature RGB LEDs. The Special Edition also seems to be the only variant to feature a USB Type-C connector. The rest of the Nitro+ line is configured with three DP and a single HDMI port. The SE variant feature’s higher factory overclocks and a slightly better PCB.
The PULSE variants come with Radeon RX 6800 XT & RX 6800 series. The PULSE series have a triple-fan solution, which is comprised of 9-fan blades. The heatsink has one less Heatpipe for the PULSE variant. PULSE cards feature a dual 8-pin connector configuration, and the display outputs also include the standard 1 HDMI and triple DP ports. There are no RGB LEDs present for the PULSE series.
With the launch of Sony’s next-gen console, many developers are gearing up to reveal their upcoming titles. All these titles will be exclusively available for launch on the next-gen console. Now, Sony has announced its latest release window for two of the PlayStation 5’s biggest upcoming games. A new video posted to the company’s PlayStation YouTube channel confirmed the news.
According to Sony’s announcement, the upcoming sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn, called Horizon Forbidden West, has a release window of the second half of 2021. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, on the other hand, is now confirmed to be in the first half of next year. However, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is also reported to arrive during the next-gen console’s “launch window.”
Sources also confirmed the launch day releases of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the Demon’s Souls remake. The video posted on the PlayStation YouTube channel also mentions the updated release windows of Guerrilla Games’ HZD sequel and Insomniac’s new Ratchet & Clank. It is also reported that Gran Turismo 7 and Returnal are again coming in the first half of 2021.
Microsoft’s new Xbox Series X / S consoles and Sony’s PS5 has brought forth many changes in the gaming industry. Both the next-gen consoles support old hardware libraries and hence will receive support for cross-generation games. However, both the consoles are said to have only a handful of next-generation games. However, it is said that they would soon receive support for new games in the coming months.
Most of the games available for Microsoft’s next-gen console is also playable on Windows PC and Xbox One. Sony, on the other hand, is offering only a small handful of accurate PS5 exclusive titles. It includes Demon’s Souls remake, and a remaster of 2018’s Marvel‘s Spider-Man.
The game against Valencia was quite literally, an insult to injury for Real Madrid. More specifically, for midfielder Fede Valverde.
The Uruguayan was diagnosed with a fissure in the posterior tibial spine of the right leg on the back of the match at the Mestalla. The youngster posted on Twitter, hoping that the weeks pass by soon and that he is able to take to the field again.
Empezando la recuperación y esperando que se pasen rápido estas semanas para volver ⚽️ Me toca no poder acompañar a la selección con tremenda tristeza pero vamo arriba hay que ser positivos 🙌🏼🙌🏼
The midfielder has been given the lion’s share of minutes when compared to all the three star-midfielders, Kroos, Casemiro and Modric.
The player has repaid his manager’s faith in him by putting up some stellar performances, whilst scoring three very important goals against Barcelona, Huesca and Real Betis.
Zidane will have to do without the Uruguayan’s services in the difficult matches against Villareal, Alaves and Sevilla in La Liga. In addition, he will also miss the Champions League clashes against Shakhtar and Inter.
The Midfield Picture
Casemiro is currently recovering from Covid-19 and will be available after the international break. However, it is likely that Zidane will give minutes to Martin Odegaard for the Norwegian to prove his worth.
The wonderkid impressed in his spell at Real Sociedad and offers a different aspect to the game. While Valverde is more accustomed to a holding midfield role, Odegaard offers the attacking output that Real need as of now.
He could also put in the shift when Modric is having an off day, or as a regular should Zidane change his approach.
Zidane could also offer a chance to Isco to prove his worth in a Real Madrid shirt one more time. However, the Spaniard’s dismal performance and poor attitude along with the lack of minutes have probably signalled the end for the Spaniard at the Spanish capital.
Zidane could also offer minutes to 18-year-old Sergio Arribas or 20-year-old Marvin in the place of Valverde.
Despite being 35 years old, Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably Juventus’ most important player. He is the man that makes things happen and truly shows up when his team needs a leader.
There were rumours that Juventus were concerned regarding the player’s contract situation and wanted to sell him next summer than lose him for free when his contract expires in 2022.
Ronaldo is the highest-paid player at Turin and getting the Portuguese forward’s wages off the book could open up options for Juventus to invest elsewhere.
PSG has been rumoured as the next possible destination for Ronaldo. This is mainly because they are one of the few clubs in the continent who can afford Ronaldo’s astronomical wages, and it is unlikely that the player will be taking a pay cut.
The former Madrid superstar was brought in to help the Bianconeri win the Champions League. However, that has not happened in the two years that Ronaldo has already spent at the club.
When asked about the possibility of signing Cristiano Ronaldo during an official Q and A session, here is what PSG Sporting Director Leonardo had to say:
“Cristiano Ronaldo? If he wakes up and says, ‘I’m going to another club’. How many clubs can he play in? There are 3, 4, 5, 6 clubs. It is a closed circle. PSG is in it.” (Transcribed by Foot365)
While it doesn’t mean anything in particular, Leonardo could be putting out the fact that the Parisians are well capable of having Ronaldo on their books.
He has been very instrumental in luring Kylian Mbappe and Neymar to Paris and could add Ronaldo to the list of big names to play for the club if Juventus decide to part ways with their star player.
However, nothing is set in stone yet and the player could end up staying in Italy, or renew his contract as well.
Cryptocurrency is an extremely volatile digital currency. It can either be purchased or mined by solving computer algorithms. We have already seen the mining craze created during the launch of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3090 GPU. It is undoubtedly the current fastest card in terms of Cryptocurrency mining.
A recent report has surfaced online related to the mining of this digital currency. According to an alleged message on QQ, AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 non-XT is 1.5x faster in cryptocurrency mining than GeForce RTX 3090.
According to sources, NVIDIA’s Geforce RTX 3090 is currently the best GPU in terms of profit. The CPU can quickly generate 3.37 USD worth of cryptocurrency each day, which means it can easily reach 100 USD per month.
If Radeon RX 6800‘s rumor is about 1.5x better in mining performance, then the graphics card could reach 5 USD per day. Which means the GPU can potentially cross the 100 USD per day mark of Nvidia. The RX 6800 non-XT has a retail price of 579 USD, while Nvidia’s RTX 3090 costs at least 1499 USD.
It is all just a rumor; hence it must be taken with a grain of salt. But if the words did come true, we could very well see another GPU mining craze going up in the market. But AMD’s Radeon RX 6800 non-XT model has a limited number of supplies now, and the rumors will take some more time to be proven. However, both Nvidia and AMD are struggling hard against each other in the GPU market. Nonetheless, it would be interesting to see who takes the lead.
AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series processors deliverdouble the cores, up to 2x the performance-per-wattand an estimated 15% IPC upliftover the previous generation
AMD has finally launched its next-generation Ryzen Embedded processors for professional usage based on their revolutionary 7nm based Zen 2 architecture. The company targets enterprise customers who want the best in class performance at lower TDPs.
The AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series provides a new class of performance with 7nm technology, incredible power efficiency, and continues to deliver enterprise-class security features for embedded customers. These new processors come with up to eight CPU cores and seven GPU compute units.
A single AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series processor provides 2×4 the multi-threaded performance-per-watt, up to 30% better single-thread CPU performance, and up to 40% better graphics performance over the previous generation. For customers and applications that need high-performance display capabilities, the Ryzen Embedded V2000 series can power up to four independent displays in 4K resolution.
Apart from performance, these processors come with advanced security features, helping to defend against unauthorized access to memory or critical software. Sapphire, is utilizing the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series to target the Mini PC and other segments.
“The AMD Ryzen Embedded products have been an excellent choice for us building platforms with leading performance and features. The V2000 series sets a new standard for embedded designs and allows us to offer the performance to support four independent displays in 4 resolution while maintaining a secure host connection. We are excited to bring the embedded industry the performance and features from the Ryzen Embedded V2000 series with our new 4×4 and 5×5 motherboards and the new Simply NUC Mini PC,” said Paul Smith, senior director of Business Development for Embedded Products at Sapphire.
AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 Series Processor Overview
Model
TDP Range
CPU Core / Thread Count
CPU Base Freq. GHz
1T CPU Boost Freq. GHz @80C (Up to)
Radeon Graphics Compute Unit Count
Graphics Freq. GHz (up to max)
Max no of simultaneous displays
L2 Cache
DRAM ECC
V2748
35-54W
8 / 16
2.9 GHz
4.25 GHz
7
1.6 GHz
4
4 MB
3200
V2546
35-54W
6 / 12
3.0 GHz
3.95 GHz
6
1.5 GHz
4
3 MB
3200
V2718
10-25W
8 / 16
1.7 GHz
4.15 GHz
7
1.6 GHz
4
4 MB
3200
V2516
10-25W
6 / 12
2.1 GHz
3.95 GHz
6
1.5 GHz
4
3 MB
3200
The AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 will support AMD Memory Guard, a suite of security features including Secure Boot and Secure Memory Encryption, in which stored memory is encrypted to help prevent an attacker from accessing the data, as well as helps to mitigate cold boot attacks.
Initial launch partners of the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2000 series will include Advantech, ASRock Industrial, iBase, Sapphire, and other ecosystem partners. Learn more about AMD Ryzen™ Embedded Family from here.
YouTube is the world’s largest video platform that provides access to millions of digital content online. It supports every operating system, and its app is exceptionally famous across Android and iOS devices. But on its latest iOS, it has been missing an important feature. It lacked the support for HDR playback on some of its latest tools. But things are finally changing.
YouTube for iOS now supports HDR playback on all Apple devices. Apple’s latest smartphones, namely the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max, support this feature.
HDR YouTube has been around for iPhone X, iPhone XS, and iPhone 11 Pro. But now, YouTube for iOS has also been upgraded to support Apple’s latest smartphone, namely the iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The feature works. Any HDR video on YouTube can be searched and played. Upon running, it will start instantly playing in HDR. Users can quickly determine an HDR video as the video portion on display will exclusively go up in brightness.
The feature has been launched for all users and is available as of today. But some might still find some technical issues. In that case, a refresh of the app is recommended. As of now, the feature only supports devices that have an OLED display, so if your device meets the criteria, then head over to the app store and download the YouTube for iOS that is available for absolutely free.
One of the more exuberant and loyal fanbases across the entirety of the nation, Kerala Blasters have been blessed to have that kind of support. But as the pandemic plagues the protocol against any kind of fans entering the stadium, the Blasters will have to carry their campaign on to provide enough cheers for them.
However the question remains, can they put up a good enough fight to challenge the ISL royalty? We take a brief look at how they stack up ahead of the season –
TRANSFERS
One of the more prolific signings happened at left-back for Kerala, with a record fee for Bengaluru defender Nishu Kumar. The Blasters have also supplemented it with ex-Sparta Praha centre-back Costa Nhamoinesu and Sandeep Singh from I-League club TRAU. Bakary Kone also recently signed up for the 2020-21 season.
Among the departures, none were more significant than Ogbeche and Sandesh Jhinghan who have moved to Mumbai and ATK Mohun Bagan respectively. But regardless, Kerala have enjoyed a decent transfer window ahead of the start of the league.
SQUAD LIST
GOALKEEPERS
Bilal Hussain Khan
Albino Gomes
Prabsukhan Singh Gill
Muheet Khan
DEFENDERS
Abdul Hakku
Bakary Kone
Costa Nhamoinesu
Nishu Kumar
Jessel Carneiro
Sandeep Singh
Lalruatthara
MIDFIELDERS
Arjun Jayaraj
Ayush Adhikari
Jeakson Singh
Vicente Gomez
Givson Singh
Ritwik Das
Rohit Kumar
Sahal Abdul Samad
Rahul KP
Sergio Cidoncha
Seityasen Singh
Yendrembam Denechandra
Nongdamba Naorem
Prasanth Karuthadathkuni
Lalthathanga Khawlhring
FORWARDS
Facundo Pereyra
Gary Hooper
Jordan Murray
Naorem Mhesh Singh
Shaiborlang Kharpan
STRENGTHS
Kerala have never had any discomfort in scoring goals with some good attackers gracing the club in recent times. Even this time they have the likes of Gary Hooper, Jordan Murray and Naorem Mahesh, who are very much capable of taking on the goalscoring burden on their shoulders. Considering last season they scored 29 goals in 18 games, this should be a position of strength for Kerala.
WEAKNESS
They have been continually let down by defensive and goalkeeping mistakes, with miscommunication also a factor in that process. There has also been culpability of conceding goals late into the games wherein there was a sense of complacency as well. Hence, with a renewed defence there should be an improvement in this regard.
KEY PLAYER
23-year-old Sahal Abdul Samad has really emerged from the academy ranks to become a senior first-team player at Kerala. Recently also becoming a part of the Indian national team, the attacking midfielder has everything in his arsenal to become a top star for the team. Although he has to improve on his attacking output, there is no doubt that Samad has the potential to fulfil that and be Kerala’s talisman.
PREDICTED TABLE FINISH
6th Place – Kerala definitely have a good squad and will grow further into the competition, but they might lack the experience needed to finish Top 4.
