Apple has reportedly canceled its M6 Pro and M6 Max processors, according to a recent note from Bloomberg's Apple insider Mark Gurman. Behind the scenes, there is a significant shift in Apple's silicon rollout strategy. The company is postponing the launch of its higher-end M6 SoC variants, like the M6 Pro and M6 Max, and is instead moving directly to the M7 processor family. Currently, Apple is testing the M6 SoC in the base MacBook Pro model, with many improvements in CPU microarchitecture and NPU performance for local AI processing. Reportedly, memory is also being upgraded for higher bandwidth, now targeting around 200 GB/s, up from 123 GB/s in the current base M5 SoC. The integrated GPU will see a 20% increase in core count, featuring 12 GPU cores in the M6, which will be a noticeable improvement from the current 10-core configuration in the M5.

Regarding the more powerful versions of the M6, such as the M6 Pro and M6 Max, this will be the first generation of Apple M-Series chips to lack the Pro and Max versions, as these will appear in the next-generation M7 series coming next year. Apple is planning a complete overhaul of the SoCs to bring major performance increases for on-device AI processing, which will first appear with the M7 SoCs. Next year's base M7 processor is expected to arrive in the first half of 2027 and will also upgrade memory bandwidth to about 240 GB/s. As a reminder, this is supposed to be the first Intel-manufactured Apple Silicon design, utilizing 18A-P node. The M7 Pro and M7 Max will arrive in late 2027 with much higher bandwidth and performance. An M7 Ultra version will follow in 2028 for Mac Studio.

Microsoft has already increased the prices of its Xbox Series X|S consoles once in response to the ongoing hardware shortages and prices. On June 25, Microsoft announced that the Xbox console family will receive another round of price increases on August 1, 2026. As of the beginning of August, all 512 GB variants of the Xbox Series consoles will be $100 more expensive than current pricing, and 1 TB Xbox consoles will cost an extra $150 over current pricing. Microsoft will also discontinue the 2 TB Xbox SKUs, likely because pricing simply does not make sense anymore. Microsoft blames the ongoing DRAM crisis for the increases, stating that "console storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2.5x, and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027."

As a result of the price increases, the Xbox Series X|S pricing now plays out as follows: 512 GB Series S: $499.99; 1 TB Series S: $599.99; 512 GB Series X Digital: $749.99; 1 TB Xbox Series X $799.99. For comparison, following the recent price increases at Sony, the PS5 costs $649.99, while the PS5 Digital Edition costs $599.99, and the PS5 Pro costs $899.99. The announcement comes weeks before the close of the 2025 financial year at Xbox, with the price increase taking effect almost immediately after the Xbox fiscal year reports are slated to be published. Following the recent PS5 price increases, Sony saw PS5 sales break 2026 records as a result of a buying rush to get in before the price increases. Recent reports also highlighted that significant layoffs are planned at Xbox Game Studios thanks to overall declines in revenue at Xbox.

Yesterday, Qualcomm announced its High Bandwidth Compute (HBC) product, a memory-compute solution hybrid designed to replace traditional High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) and offer greater performance, efficiency, and throughput. HBC utilizes LPDDR memory, stacking them across multiple layers in a 3D vertical space and interconnecting them with through-silicon vias (TSVs). This approach provides better energy efficiency than traditional HBM, which stacks regular DDR in vertical layers, as the low-power DDR (LPDDR) chips consume less power while delivering similar bandwidth and capacity. Qualcomm has successfully stacked multiple LPDDR layers on top of each other, with the base of the HBC being a compute die that performs near-memory computation and offloads some processing from the main processor.

This technique is similar to what HBM4 memory currently does, with the base die being a logic die to better integrate compute solutions underneath for packet tracing and data preparation for entering and exiting HBM. However, Qualcomm aims to achieve higher efficiency and more optimized data movement, with a 6x increase in bandwidth per watt compared to the current HBM specification, likely HBM4. HBC Gen 1 achieved 133 TB/s of bandwidth on the AI250 accelerator card, a 18x increase over the LPDDR5X currently used in the AI200 card from Qualcomm. The company also claims there is a viable roadmap for using HBC across many Qualcomm AI accelerators, with HBC Gen 1 shipping with the AI250 AI accelerator in mid-2027. The next-generation HBC Gen 2 is expected to yield further significant gains in bandwidth.

Lords of the Fallen 2 (stylized as Lords of the Fallen II) is an upcoming indie dark fantasy RPG with Souls-like combat that was originally slated to launch in fall 2026. According to a new update by CI Games founder, Marek Tyminski on X, Lords of the Fallen II has been moved to Q1 2027. There is still no fixed launch date, however, and Tyminski has provided some insights as to why the launch window was moved, and, surprisingly, it isn't entirely because of GTA VI, although that is certainly part of the reason for the change.

According to the executive, the delay "strategically positions Lords of the Fallen II outside of a highly competitive holiday period," allowing the game to avoid a number of highly anticipated launches coming towards the end of 2026—not the least of which is Grand Theft Auto VI, whose launch has already resulted in countless game launches being moved in order to not be overshadowed by Rockstar's latest outing. Tyminski adds, however, that the development team will use the additional months before launch in order to "further refine and strengthen the overall experience." Supposedly, this will allow the studio to add more polish to the experience and deliver a "worthy successor to the Lords of the Fallen franchise."

It was recently rumored that the development of Persona 6 had been concluded, indicating that the game would likely be launching somewhat soon, and that previous rumor has been somewhat substantiated by the recent announcement and publication of the store pages for Persona 6 on Steam, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles. Notably, there is no Nintendo Switch 2 store page just yet, and it's unclear if Persona 6 will release on the Switch 2. An official release date has not been set, but Atlus West has strongly suggested in a post on X that Persona 6 will launch after Persona 4 Revival, which is slated to launch on February 18, 2027. Current rumors claim a September 2027 launch for Persona 6.

The store pages provide some clues as to the game's themes and aesthetic, with screenshots hinting that Persona 6 will take on a somewhat darker tone than Persona 5 Royal. According to the Steam Store page, Persona 6 will feature "a completely fresh, standalone story and new cast of characters," and players will be confronted with "strange rumors, unsettling urban legends, and occult incidents." Of course, Persona 6 will still follow the party-based, turn-based JRPG combat format combined with relationship simulation and slice of life elements. Atlus is also careful to note that Persona 6 requires no prior Persona experience and is a self-contained story, much like the other numbered entries in the franchise.

According to the latest research from Morgan Stanley, one of the leading investment banks, we have learned that the defect rate for Intel's 14A node is currently reported at D0=0.5. This means that defects in Intel's 14A node production are occurring at a rate of only 0.5, indicating a limited amount of purely non-functional silicon produced during the long and challenging semiconductor manufacturing process. For Intel, this suggests that the 14A node is still in the early stages of ramping up. However, the previous claims that this node is currently surpassing the 18A node at a similar development and ramp time are indeed accurate. For example, Intel plans to target a defect rate of only 0.1 to 0.2 by the first quarter of 2027, when the company intends to start running internal test chips and initiate a slight ramp-up for its own products. This will be followed by risk production in 2028 and high-volume production in 2029.

Looking at Intel's current "Panther Lake" SoC, which integrates multiple smaller dies into a unified package, we observe that Intel has utilized its 18A node for the compute tile's production. This tile measures approximately 8.004 x 14.288 mm, resulting in a silicon area of 114.304 mm². If we take this die size and apply the current parameters of the 14A node, we can estimate that a similar die, with the same surface area but increased density and manufactured on the 14A node, would achieve a yield of 56.45% for designs of that scale. Naturally, the current 18A node is providing better yields due to high-volume manufacturing, but the initial statistics for 14A appear promising. This assumption is based on a die of that specific size, with that particular defect rate, using High-NA EUV half-field exposures in the production process. We believe this is the stage Intel's 14A node is currently at, with room for many improvements. While Morgan Stanley notes in their report that the yield is about 40% for a test chip, its size must be significantly larger than the assumed size of the "Panther Lake" compute tile.

At Computex 2026, we had the opportunity to interview AMD's Chief Software Officer, Andrej Zdravkovic, and Terry Makedon, Senior Director of Software at AMD, to discuss various developments happening in AMD's labs. One of our questions focused on the FSR 4.1 Upscaling algorithm, which is currently exclusive to the RDNA 4 generation with the Radeon RX 9000 series of graphics cards. However, it is expected to be available this July for RDNA 3-based Radeon RX 7000 series GPUs. We were curious whether the FSR 4.1 Upscaling model that currently runs on RDNA 4 would be the same one used on RDNA 3. AMD explained that the underlying model is slightly different, but the end result will be of the same quality. This is reassuring news for millions of RDNA 3 and RDNA 2 gamers worldwide, especially during a time when upgrading PC hardware is more challenging than it has been in years.

For example, we know there are some fundamental differences in the RDNA generations regarding microarchitecture. For RDNA 3, this means there is no 8-bit floating point support in older generations, as only the latest RDNA 4 uses FP8. To run the FSR 4.1 Upscaling model on RDNA 3, AMD must convert this to 8-bit integer data, since RDNA 3 hardware uses INT8 data types without FP8 support. Generally, integer math is sufficient to optimize these models, but the conversion work is necessary, hence the delay between RDNA 4 and RDNA 3 support. This difference requires AMD to completely modify the FSR 4.1 model for the new data type and ensure there is no quality loss in the final visual output. AMD's software officials have confirmed that the company has been working hard on this issue, and more information will be released next month, in July, as the launch approaches.

We previously reported about how some game studios were pushing back game launches over fears of being overshadowed by Grand Theft Auto VI in November 2026, with game developers and publishers explaining that gamers have limited time and money to invest into their hobby all at once, and launching too near such a large-scale launch could negatively impact a game's sales. It appears as though not even Xbox Gaming's highly anticipated Fable is immune to those same fears, as a recent announcement by Xbox on X has confirmed that Fable will now launch in February 2027 instead of its previous "autumn 2026" launch window. It has not been confirmed that GTA VI is the reason for the delay—which is not Fable's first delay, mind you—but Xbox's explanation that the game is being moved "so it can have the dedicated moment it deserves," seems to suggest that GTA VI may at least be one of the factors. The original release of Fable may also have been too close to the launch of Gears of War: E-Day, which is slated to launch in September 2026. The full statement by Xbox follows.

Xbox on XThis is year is packed with incredible games for XBOX players to enjoy, from Halo: Campaign Evolved, Gears of War: E-Day and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 to Control Resonant, Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Grand Theft Auto VI. In order to plan our game launches through the holidays, in a way that works best for players, we're moving Fable to February 2027 so it can have the dedicated moment it deserves. We're excited to be giving players a major new look at Fable, as well as our broader lineup, at XBOX Games Showcase on June 7.

The shift in AI development from large-scale model training toward inference-centric Agentic AI applications is driving a structural expansion in memory demand, according to TrendForce's latest findings on the memory industry. With the resulting supply deficit unlikely to be resolved in the short term, prices are set to rise further.

TrendForce has therefore significantly raised its global memory market forecasts, increasing its 2026 estimate from US$551.6 billion in the previous report to $889.3 billion. Meanwhile, the 2027 forecast has been revised upward from $842.7 billion to more than $1.28 trillion, representing annual growth of approximately 44%.

Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) announces financial results for its fiscal 2027 first quarter and provides guidance for its fiscal 2027-second quarter and full year.

First-Quarter Summary

• Record revenue of $43.8 billion, up 88% year-over-year
• Record diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $5.24, up 282% year over year, and record non-GAAP diluted EPS of $4.86, up 214%
• Record first-quarter cash flow from operations of $4.1 billion

Rumors have long swirled about the development of Persona 6, although nothing has been announced by its publisher, Sega, or developer, Atlus. Fresh rumors from Xiaohongshu, recently shared on X reveal a number of details about the upcoming sequel to Persona 5. For starters, and likely most importantly to most fans of the series, Persona 6 is effectively feature-complete, but the actual launch has reportedly been delayed internally to 2027. It's unclear why the game has been delayed, but it's possible that there are external factors, like the launch of GTA VI and the current doom and gloom surrounding the general gaming industry, at play.

Currently, it seems as though Persona 6 may show up for the first time at the upcoming Xbox Games Showcase scheduled for June 7, or at the upcoming Summer Game Fest, although there are no concrete indications that this will be the case. Further rumors suggest that Persona 6 will feature dual protagonists—one male, with the character confirmed to feature blonde hair, and a female, who will feature red hair.

Amid the controversy about the upcoming California and Colorado age verification laws, System76 CEO, Carl Richell, revealed that he was meeting with lawmakers to champion exemptions that would allow open-source operating systems, like Linux distributions, to forego the inclusion of such age verification systems. As reported by GamingOnLinux, Article 30 of Colorado Senate Bill 26-051, now available online in its final form, now states that the article does not apply to "an operating system provider or developer that distributes an operating system or application under license terms that permit a recipient to copy, redistribute, and modify the software without any platform-imposed technical or contractual restrictions imposed by the provider or developer on installing all modified versions."

For its part, the California Digital Age Assurance Act, bill AB 1856, now contains similar verbiage relating to open-source OS providers, except California excludes open-source developers from the bill entirely. A recent amendment to the bill reads: "'Operating system provider' does not mean a person or entity that distributes an operating system or application under license terms that permit a recipient to copy, redistribute, and modify the software." These exemptions functionally mean that most Linux distributions will not require users to submit information for age verifications, although the water gets a bit murkier with dual-license distributions, like SteamOS. In the case of SteamOS, although the underlying Arch Linux-based distribution is open-source and exempt, the included Steam Client is still a proprietary app store that will likely require age data. Notably there does not seem to be an exception in the California bill for open-source or similarly licensed browsers, which means open-source browsers, like Firefox and Chromium, may still need to build in support to request the signal for age attestation from the operating system.

It's no secret that Embracer Group has had a rough time of it lately, with repeated layoffs and studio sell-offs rocking the game studio for over two years. Now, Embracer Group has announced that it will be spinning up Fellowship Entertainment as separately listed public company on the Stockholm NASDAQ. The new game studio will still be run by Embracer Group, but Embracer's Chair of the Board, Lars Wingefors said in an investor note announcing the move that "the separation is about sharper management focus and clearer accountability," and that it gives "each business the structure and leadership to realize more of its full potential." Fellowship will focus on development, publishing, and licensing, and it will supposedly free up resources and "allow Embracer more flexibility to pursue accretive but opportunistic bolt-on M&A," in order to expand its footholds in niches like mobile, distribution, retro, films, remakes, and remasters, seemingly suggesting that Embracer will continue to acquire more game studios and IPs.

Fellowship Entertainment will house IPs like Darksiders, Dead Island, Kingdom Come Deliverance, Metro, Remnant, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and Tomb Raider, among others. It will also serve as the parent company for 4A Games, Crystal Dynamics, Dambuster Studios, Dark Horse Media, Eidos-Montréal, Fishlabs, Flying Wild Hog Studios, Gunfire Games, Middle-earth Enterprises, Redoctane Games and Warhorse Studios—the latter of which just announced two new games already in the development pipeline. The new company is expected to be listed in 2027, and Embracer Group's CEO, Phil Rogers, and COO, Lee Guinchard, will serve in their respective positions at Fellowship, alongside CFO Müge Bouillon, while Embracer Group will appoint new leadership to those positions before the new company is spun off. For its part, Embracer will be responsible for Aspyr, Beamdog, CrazyLabs, Deca, Demiurge, DPI Merchandising, Limited Run Games, Milestone, PLAION Partners, PLAION Pictures, THQ Nordic (including 35 studios and subsidiaries), Tripwire and Vertigo Games, as well as a number of IPs including Destroy All Humans!, Reanimal, Killing Floor, Biomutant, and Desperados.

According to the sell-side equity research firm GF Securities, Apple is set to utilize both Intel's 18A-P and 14A nodes for its product lineups. As previously reported, the company will employ Intel's advanced 18A-P node for the M7 SoCs that power MacBook Air and entry-level MacBook Pro laptops. Intel's investment in the development and manufacturing ramp of the 14A node will also be beneficial, as Apple plans to use the 14A node for producing A21 SoCs for iPhones. The 18A-P node is ideal for Apple's laptop SoCs, providing a balance between efficiency and speed. It offers a 9% performance increase at the same power level or achieves 18% power savings at the same performance level compared to the standard 18A node, resulting in laptops with good frequency and low power usage. With Apple moving away from TSMC's 3 nm node in the current M5 SoC, the improvements will be significant and are expected to be realized by 2027.

For the A21 iPhone SoCs, Apple will use Intel's advanced 14A node, which promises a generational leap in density, frequency, and power savings. Apple's primary goal is to employ a more advanced node for mobile devices, with plans to have these chips ready by 2028. As this is anticipated to begin in about two years, Apple will likely wait for the final 14A PDK before starting trial production. It remains uncertain whether the company will manufacture its A21 Pro SoC at TSMC and leave the regular version to Intel. However, Apple is gradually diversifying its supply chain with more silicon manufacturers. With advanced packaging, Intel can compete with TSMC in many areas, and we are eager to see the outcomes of this competition.

Stellar Blade was a highly popular game when it launched, and even though it took over a year to make it from PS5 to PC, it managed to reach an all-time peak concurrent player count of 192,078 players on Steam alone. With Stellar Blade 2 now out in the open and well on its way to an expected 2027-2028 expected launch window, the game's developer, ShiftUp, has officially addressed its launch strategy for the sequel in its Q1 2026 earnings report. There are two major upcoming changes to the publishing strategy for Stellar Blade 2.

Specifically, ShiftUp has confirmed that it will likely be self-publishing Stellar Blade 2, and the Korean game studio is also suggesting that it will shift to a multiplatform launch, instead of the previous timed PS5 exclusive, with the goal of reaching "a broad global audience from day one." It was revealed in previous hints from the game studio that it would be catering much of the Stellar Blade 2 experience to Chinese players, going so far as to use locations in real-world China for the game's setting. This shift to a cross-platform launch could be part of the same strategy that motivated the studio's push into China. It's not yet clear exactly which platforms will be on the Stellar Blade 2 launch roster, but it's almost guaranteed that the game will launch on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles. The full quote from ShiftUp regarding the launch plans follows.

According to Economic Daily News, TSMC is overhauling Fab 15A in Central Taiwan Science Park, transitioning it from 28/22 nm to 4 nm production. Old equipment is being cleared out and replaced with new tooling, and the total bill (cleanrooms and machinery included) is expected to top NT$100 billion (US$3.16 billion). The displaced 28/22 nm tools aren't going to waste either, heading to TSMC facility in Dresden, Germany, which is ramping toward mass production in 2027 on mature nodes aimed at the automotive and industrial market. Fab 15B stays on 7 nm for now. Further up the process roadmap, TSMC's 1.4 nm fab at the Phase 2 Central Taiwan site in Taichung is coming together faster than planned. Groundwork is mostly completed and construction bidding is expected to start shortly. If things keep moving at this pace, trial production could start as early as Q3 2027, with full mass production following in the second half of 2028.

There are also talks of 1 nm arriving at the Central Taiwan site earlier than previously expected. Worth noting that 1.4 nm isn't part of TSMC's US fab plans at all. Once all four Phase 2 fabs are running at capacity, the Taichung complex is expected to be the single largest production base for AI and HPC chips anywhere in the world. In April, TSMC introduced its A13 (1.3 nm) process at the 2026 North America Technology Symposium as a direct shrink of the previously announced A14 (1.4 nm) node. The new node offers around 6% area reduction, along with improved performance and power efficiency through design-technology co-optimization. The A13 node remains fully backward compatible with A14 design rules to allow easier migration. TSMC A13 node is expected to enter mass production in 2029, one year after A14.

It seems we are not too far from the next-generation Double Data Rate 6 (DDR6) memory for desktops and servers, as memory manufacturers are working with JEDEC to establish a new standard. According to South Korean media outlet The Elec, major memory makers such as SK hynix, Samsung, and Micron have reportedly begun designing DDR6 in their labs and are gradually coordinating module development with substrate manufacturers. This collaborative effort is taking place under the supervision of JEDEC, the industry authority that oversees standard development and ensures a common foundation for design. Manufacturers could have accessed JEDEC's first DDR6 draft since 2024, but the draft still lacks concrete specifications such as finalized voltage ranges, signal usage, power envelopes, and pinout design. However, this is expected to change as manufacturers are now accelerating standard development.

Last year, we reported that the major players mentioned above had already moved past the prototype stages and embarked on rigorous validation cycles. Perhaps the most interesting aspect is the designated throughput of 8,800 MT/s, with plans to scale up to a staggering 17,600 MT/s, nearly doubling the ceiling of today's DDR5. This increase is driven by DDR6's 4×24-bit sub-channel architecture, which requires entirely new approaches to signal integrity. It also differs from DDR5's current 2x32-bit sub-channel structure. To overcome the physical limits faced by DIMM form factors at higher speeds, the industry is betting on CAMM2 technology. Early indications suggest that server platforms will lead the change, with high-end notebooks following once manufacturing ramps up.

Microsoft has officially announced a Spring 2026 Game Dev Update event scheduled for May 7 at 18:00 UTC. This is a new event by Microsoft—likely part of its new initiative to make Xbox more welcoming to developers, as promised by CEO Asha Sharma recently—and the company will show off a host of updates to projects like DirectX, DirectStorage, Xbox developer tools, and the future of the Xbox Marketplace. Most importantly for consumers, though, Xbox will give us our next look at the upcoming Xbox Helix game console, slated to launch somewhere around late 2027 to 2028.

The Xbox Helix update will cover "details shared at GDC, offering a closer look at Project Helix and what it represents for the future of Xbox," so we may find out more about how Microsoft plans to integrate the more PC-centric features of the Xbox Helix. It seems unlikely that we'll hear anything material about pricing or exact hardware or performance at the event though. Further, Xbox may provide more details about how it plans to handle things like Xbox exclusives in future console generations. The event will be streamed on the Microsoft Game Dev YouTube channel.

Samsung has reported a record quarterly profit for Q1 2026, with chip division operating income jumping to 53.7 trillion won ($36.15 billion), a 49% increase from the 1.1 trillion won ($745 million) posted in the same quarter last year. That figure accounted for 94% of the company's total operating profit of 57.2 trillion won ($38.7 billion), which itself was up from 6.69 trillion won a year prior. Overall revenue rose 69% year over year to 133.9 trillion won ($90.6 billion). Its record profit came mostly from the AI data center sector that pushed demand for advanced memory well beyond what Samsung and its peers can supply. The company has signed multi-year binding supply contracts with customers looking to lock in capacity, though it hasn't disclosed names or terms. Samsung's memory chief Kim Jaejune told analysts that supply is already falling well short of demand, and that based on orders already received, the gap in 2027 is expected to be even wider than in 2026.

On HBM specifically, Samsung said it began mass-production sales of HBM4 for NVIDIA's Vera Rubin platform in February and is on track to more than triple HBM revenue this year versus last. However, rising memory prices are affecting the profit of other Samsung businesses. Mobile and network division profit fell 35% to 2.8 trillion won, due to higher component costs, and the display division saw operating profit drop 20% to 400 billion won ($270 million). Reuters also reports the risk of a strike, with unions representing a large portion of Samsung's South Korean chip workforce considering work stoppages over pay disputes. For the rest of 2026, Samsung expects that increasing demand will keep pushing memory, foundry, and display businesses.

The last time Assassin's Creed Hexe made news, it was revealed that the combat had been scaled back significantly—after nearly four years in development, at that. Now, an Insider Gaming report, citing internal sources, claims that Ubisoft has removed as many as 50 developers from the project. The developers who have been removed from Hexe have supposedly been assigned to what is known internally as the "Interproject team," where they have up to three months to find a new project to work on or potentially be laid off. It's currently unknown whether this will have an impact on the eventual state of the game, but the move appears to be just the latest in Ubisoft's efforts to cut costs, although less forcefully than previously.

It seems as though the development of Assassin's Creed Hexe may not be going as smoothly as Ubisoft would like, which may be problematic given the expected 2027 launch date. It may also be Ubisoft taking a cautious approach, which would echo what has been reported about the future of Assassin's Creed remake projects. The rumor of a smaller dev team on Hexe comes shortly after Ubisoft officially confirmed that Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced would launch in July of 2026, and leaks revealed that an Assassin's Creed 1 remake is likely also in the works. It was also revealed that the as-yet unannounced cozy life sim, Alterra, was cancelled in a recent cost-cutting measure, which is what the Hexe downsizing seems to be as well.

Intel recently unveiled its "Wildcat Lake" Core 300 series of laptop processors, designed for the entry-level market with excellent CPU and GPU capabilities to meet basic needs. By combining two "Cougar Cove" P-cores with four LPE "Darkmont" cores, these processors should provide sufficient CPU power for basic tasks in the entry-level segment. Especially when paired with the NPU 5, Xe display and media engine, and a GPU featuring up to two Xe3 cores, this SoC should handle tasks with ease, including some very light entry-level gaming. Today, the first benchmarks appeared, showcasing what this CPU is capable of and how it compares to industry-leading solutions in this price range, such as Apple's newest MacBook Neo, thanks to the initial PassMark benchmark results.

In the latest benchmark, PassMark recorded the Intel Core 5 320 "Wildcat Lake" with two P-cores running at up to 4.6 GHz and LPE cores with a maximum turbo frequency of 3.4 GHz. This SoC scored about 4,047 points in the single-threaded rating and approximately 15,222 in the multithreaded rating in the PassMark evaluation benchmark. This places its rating just above Apple's first-generation M1 SoC in both single and multithreaded results. Additionally, the design surpasses Apple's A18 Pro SoC in the current MacBook Neo and the A19 Pro SoC that is expected to be included in the second-generation MacBook Neo design scheduled for 2027. Technically, both are based on different architectures, but they serve the same purpose: providing customers with an affordable SoC/laptop design that delivers solid computing power for all basic tasks.

Recent rumors revealed that Microsoft may be ditching APU customization for Xbox Project Helix, its upcoming PC-console hybrid that is expected to launch around the $1,000 mark, opting instead for an off-the-shelf AMD APU that will seemingly be available to other manufacturers as well. Now, per a new rumor by ubiquitous leaker Moore's Law Is Dead on the Broken Silicon podcast, it seems as though that high price may come with a significant performance boost.

Moore's Law Is DeadWhat's even more of a cause for optimism, though, is how much better PS6 and Helix will be. Helix is basically a high-end PC, even using the same silicon as AMD's 70-class or maybe 80-class RDNA 5 GPUs. It isn't an ultra-level of PC hardware, but still far more powerful than consoles usually have. It will have the biggest APU in console history... Yes it will be expensive, but guys, if it's even $1,200, it's like a $2-3,000 gaming PC. That's disruptive.

Intel Foundry seems to be on a roll, as the company has reportedly increased its semiconductor tool orders by 50% compared to last year. This is a significant expansion, especially considering that Intel currently has no official new clients for its Foundry business. It's an exciting development, suggesting that Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, wouldn't invest in significantly expanding its foundry capacity without concrete deals in sight. Last week, UBS Group noted that new foundry commitments are expected this fall, and we can see the supply chain starting to ramp up to accommodate new customers. According to Anue media, many firms in semiconductor manufacturing are expected to be part of this ramp-up. The most well-known is ASML, but there are countless suppliers involved in both front-end and back-end foundry work. This includes companies like KINK Company, which provides inspection, laser processing, and other tools, as well as firms like E&R Engineering, which supplies diamond disks to flatten wafer surfaces.

In reality, semiconductor plants are much more complex than just acquiring EUV machines. Intel is already a major ASML customer for High-NA EUV scanners, which are boosting Intel's expansion for the 14A node. However, many additional tools for chemical treatment, inspection, metrology, and other processes are also needed for Intel to manufacture its 18A, 18A-P, and 18A-PT nodes, while also ramping up the 14A node.

AMD is planning a significant return to establishing new manufacturing ties with its former silicon manufacturing venture, which it sold back in 2008. According to recent reports, AMD intends to collaborate with GlobalFoundries for new Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) for the next-generation Instinct MI500 series of AI accelerators. CPO technology will help AMD remain competitive in the AI data center space, where signal transfer is limited by traditional copper-based wiring. By harnessing the power and speed of light, CPO technology will enable data transfer between multiple nodes, and even multiple facilities, without the speed loss and increased latency associated with copper-based connections. Consequently, AMD is investing considerable effort to secure Photonics Integrated Circuit (PIC) manufacturing with its former partner, GlobalFoundries, which will handle PIC manufacturing, while the actual packaging will be managed by ASE to finalize the CPO design. This approach allows AMD to leverage the strengths of both companies, likely resulting in the best solution for its systems next year.

The Instinct MI500 series of AI accelerators is scheduled for release in 2027, as this year's lineup focuses on the Instinct MI400 series, which includes multiple SKUs for AI and HPC workloads. While these designs are already among the industry's leading AI accelerators, AMD aims to enhance performance further with the 2027 release using CPO technology. This will significantly contribute to delivering a solution that uses less power and offers much higher overall bandwidth compared to traditional copper data transfers. However, AMD is not alone in this CPO push. NVIDIA is also collaborating with semiconductor makers to develop a CPO system for "Vera Rubin," particularly the "Rubin Ultra" variant.

Intel Foundry has been attracting significant attention from the industry lately, with some of the world's largest companies expected to announce new foundry commitments this fall, according to UBS Group. The investment bank has reported that Intel Foundry is on the brink of securing many new contracts scheduled for this fall, citing the release of version 1.0 of the 14A node process design kit (PDK) as a key catalyst. There have been numerous rumors that Apple, AMD, NVIDIA, Google, and Broadcom are considering utilizing Intel's silicon manufacturing, including the 18A, 18A-P, and 18A-PT nodes, as well as the upcoming 14A node. Apple is rumored to manufacture some of its M-Series "Apple Silicon" laptop processors in 2027 using the 18A-P node, while Google might leverage Intel's EMIB and Foveros 3D advanced packaging technology for some of its TPU designs.

Companies regularly evaluate leading industry nodes but often choose TSMC's manufacturing due to its reliability, high volume capacity, and advanced packaging, which has produced numerous high-performance and low-power designs at scale. However, Intel Foundry has been investing significant resources and logistics into attracting external clients, leading UBS to anticipate multiple foundry commitments being announced this fall. Late last year, we learned that Apple was waiting for Intel to release the 18A-P PDK version 1.0 or 1.1, scheduled for Q1 and Q2 of 2026, respectively. As we are now in Q2, we are awaiting further confirmation to see if Apple proceeded with the deal, but UBS expects it did.