Speculated lower-end Intel second generation Arc GPUs popped up via SiSoftware Sandra database entries around mid-March—evaluation samples are likely in the hands of trusted hardware partners. Yesterday, momomo_us happened upon another interesting shipping manifest, following a series of AMD-related leaks. The latest list reveals five "Battlemage" products—three utilizing the BMG-21 GPU, and the remaining two being based on the BMG-10 design. These identifiers have appeared in older leaks, although the latter has been viewed in place sight—chez Intel Malaysia's Failure Analysis Lab.

Previous leaks suggest that these second generation Arc models (Xe2) reside within a "High-Performance Graphics" (HPG) discrete GPU family—the Xe2-HPG BMG-10 range is likely targeting an "enthusiast" market segment, while the Xe2-HPG BMG-21 tier is rumored to offer mid-tier performance. Intel staffers have expressed confidence about a possible late 2024 launch window. Back in January, Tom "TAP" Petersen revealed that the Arc hardware team had already moved onto third-gen "Celestial" GPU endeavors: "I'd say about 30% of our engineers are working on Battlemage, mostly on the software side because our hardware team is on the next thing." The first-gen deck has not been cleared fully it seems—the Alchemist family could be joined by two new variants in the near future.

A CPU-Z screenshot has been shared by YuuKi_AnS—the image contains details about an alleged next-gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor engineering sample (ES). The hardware tipster noted in (yesterday's post) that an error had occurred in the application's identification of this chunk of prototype silicon. CPU-Z v2.09 has recognized the basics—an Intel Granite Rapids-SP processor that is specced with 80 cores, 2.5 GHz max frequency, a whopping 672 MB of L3 cache, and a max. TDP rating of 350 W. The counting of 320 threads seems to be CPU-Z's big mistake here—previous Granite Rapids-related leaks have not revealed Team Blue's Hyper-Threading technology producing such impressive numbers.

The alleged prototype status of this Xeon chip is very apparent in CPU-Z's tracking of single and multi-core performance—the benchmark results are really off the mark, when compared to finalized current-gen scores (produced by rival silicon). Team Blue's next-gen Xeon series is likely positioned to catch up with AMD EPYC's deployment of large core counts—"Granite Rapids" has been linked to the Intel 3 foundry node, reports from last month suggest that XCC-type processors could be configured with "counts going up to 56-core/112-threads." Micron is prepping next-gen "Tall Form Factor" memory modules, designed with future enterprise processor platforms in mind—including Intel's Xeon Scalable "Granite Rapids" family. Industry watchdogs posit that Team Blue will be launching this series in the coming months.

Shipping manifests appear to be great sources of pre-release information—only a few hours ago, the existence of prototype AMD "Strix Point" and "Fire Range" mobile processors was highlighted by hardware sleuth harukaze5719. A related leak has appeared online fairly quickly after the discovery of laptop-oriented "Zen 5" chips. momomo_us joined in on the fun, with their exposure of speculated desktop silicon. Two brand-new AMD OPN codes have been linked to the upcoming "Granite Ridge" series of AM5 processors.

100-000001404-01 is likely an eight-core/ sixteen-thread "Zen 5" Ryzen CPU with a 170 W TDP—a stepping designation, B0, indicates engineering sample status. The other listing, 100-000001290-21, seems to be an A0-type engineering sample—leaked info suggests that this a six-core/twelve-thread (105 W TDP) next-gen mainstream desktop processor. AMD is likely nearing the finish line with its Ryzen 9000-series—a new generation of chipsets, including X870E, is reportedly in the pipeline. Additionally, VideoCardz posits that a refresh of 700-series boards could be on the cards. "Granite Range" CPUs are expected to retain the current-gen 6 nm client I/O die (cIOD), as sported by "Raphael" Ryzen 7000-series desktop processors.

The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) managed to herd government representatives and leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry figures together for an important meeting, according to DigiTimes Asia. The report suggests that the main topic of discussion focused on an anticipated growth of Taiwan's ICT industry—current market trends were analyzed, revealing that the nation absolutely dominates in the AI server segment. The MOEA has (allegedly) determined that Taiwan has shipped 90% of global AI server equipment—DigiTimes claims (based on insider info) that: "American brand vendors are expected to source their AI servers from Taiwanese partners." North American customers could be (presently) 100% reliant on supplies of Taiwanese-produced equipment—a scenario that potentially complicates ongoing international tensions.

The report posits that involved parties have formed plans to seize opportunities within an evergrowing global demand for AI hardware—a 90% market dominance is clearly not enough for some very ambitious industry bosses—although manufacturers will need to jump over several (rising) cost hurdles. Key components for AI servers are reported to be much higher than vanilla server parts—DigiTimes believes that AI processor/accelerator chips are priced close to ten times higher than general purpose server CPUs. Similar price hikes have reportedly affected AI adjacent component supply chains—notably cooling, power supplies and passive parts. Taiwanese manufacturers have spread operations around the world, but industry watchdogs (largely) believe that the best stuff gets produced on home ground—global expansions are underway, perhaps inching closer to better balanced supply conditions.

There has been plenty of leaked activity on the Xbox front lately—late last month a couple of extra details emerged regarding the oft-rumored physical media-less Xbox Series S refresh. Exputer's exclusive follow-up piece included a set of very low resolution shots—an insider managed to capture an apparent "white-colored Xbox Series X that features a digital-only format" out in an unknown environment/context. The images were sent via email according to the Exputer report. As expected, the less than adequate photos showcase a white device that shares the existing black Xbox Series X's overall design language, albeit minus a slot for optical media.

Exputer believes that: "peripherals and ports remain pretty much the same," when analyzing the unit's rear section. Many folks were expecting Microsoft to roll out the cylindrical "Project Brooklin" design (leaked in FTC court case documentation), but reports from last month indicated that the refresh would recycle the standard elongated cube aesthetic. Exputer has reiterated a rumored price point of "$50 to $100" below the standard Xbox Series X MSRP of $499. Internal upgrades are speculated to include an improved heatsink and a modernized wireless network card.

Earlier today, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with China's President Xi Jinping—fresh reportage has focused on their discussion of technological trade restrictions. Holland's premier had to carefully navigate the conversation around recent global tensions, most notably the prevention of fancy ASML chipmaking equipment reaching the Chinese mainland. CCTV (China's state broadcaster) selected a couple of choice quotes for inclusion in an online report—Xi remarked that: "the Chinese people also have the right to legitimate development, and no force can stop the pace of China's scientific and technological development and progress." Specific manufacturers and types of machinery were not mentioned during the meeting between state leaders, but media interpretations point to recent ASML debacles being entirely relevant, given the context of international relationships.

ASML is keen to keep Chinese firms on its order books—according to AP News: "China became ASML's second-largest market, accounting for 29% of its revenue as firms bought up equipment before the licensing requirement took effect." Revised licensing agreements have stymied the supply of ASML most advanced chipmaking tools—Chinese foundries have resorted to upgrading existing/older equipment (backed by government funding) in efforts to stay competitive with international producers. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is reportedly racing to get natively designed EUV machines patented (in co-operation with Huawei). Post-meeting, Rutte commented (to press) on the ongoing technology restrictions: "what I can tell you is that... when we have to take measures, that they are never aimed at one country specifically, that we always try to make sure that the impact is limited, is not impacting the supply chain, and therefore is not impacting the overall economic relationship."

Samsung debuted its Mach-1 generation of AI processors during a recent shareholder meeting—the South Korean megacorp anticipates an early 2025 launch window. Their application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design is expected to "excel in edge computing applications," with a focus on low power and efficiency-oriented operating environments. Naver Corporation was a key NVIDIA high-end AI customer in South Korea (and Japan), but the leading search platform firm and creator of HyperCLOVA X LLM (reportedly) deliberated on an adoption alternative hardware last October. The Korea Economic Daily believes that Naver's relationship with Samsung is set to grow, courtesy of a proposed $752 million investment: "the world's top memory chipmaker, will supply its next-generation Mach-1 artificial intelligence chips to Naver Corp. by the end of this year."

Reports from last December indicated that the two companies were deep into the process of co-designing power-efficient AI accelerators—Naver's main goal is to finalize a product that will offer eight times more energy efficiency than NVIDIA's H100 AI accelerator. Naver's alleged bulk order—of roughly 150,000 to 200,000 Samsung Mach-1 AI chips—appears to be a stopgap. Industry insiders reckon that Samsung's first-gen AI accelerator is much cheaper when compared to NVIDIA H100 GPU price points—a per-unit figure of $3756 is mentioned in the KED Global article. Samsung is speculated to be shopping its fledgling AI tech to Microsoft and Meta.

An intriguing offshoot of Intel's Meteor Lake generation of processors has been discovered by hardware sleuth momomo_us—an iBase MI1002 motherboard specification sheet contains references to a 14th Gen Core Ultra (Meteor Lake-PS) family, with a next-gen LGA1851 socket listed as the desktop platform. The industrial iBase Mini-ITX workstation board is "coming soon" according to a promotional image—this could signal a revival of Meteor Lake outside of laptop platforms. 2023 was a bit of a rollercoaster year for MTL-S SKUs (on socket LGA1851)—one moment Team Blue confirmed that it was happening, then a couple of days later it was disposed of. The upcoming Arrow Lake processor generation seems to be the logical taker of this mantle, but the (leaked) existence of Meteor Lake-PS throws a proverbial spanner into the works.

iBase's MTL-PS-ready boards will be niche "industrial/embedded" items—according to Tom's Hardware: "Intel hasn't officially revealed Meteor Lake PS, but given the "PS" designation, these upcoming processors target the IoT market, similar to Alder Lake PS. Therefore, it's safe to assume that Intel is bringing the mobile Meteor Lake processors to the LGA1851 socket...Although the motherboard has (this) socket, no chipset is present because Meteor Lake PS is the spitting image of the Meteor Lake chip and doesn't need a PCH." Team Blue is hyping up Arrow Lake (ARL-S) as its next-gen mainstream desktop platform, with a launch window set for later in 2024—by sharp contrast, Meteor Lake PS parts are highly unlikely to receive much fanfare upon release.

Intel is quietly working on second generation Arc GPUs—we have not heard much about Xe2 "Battlemage" since CES 2024. Back in January, Tom "TAP" Petersen—an Intel fellow and marketing guru—casually revealed during an interview conducted by PC World: "I'd say about 30% of our engineers are working on Battlemage, mostly on the software side because our hardware team is on the next thing (Celestial)...Battlemage has already has its first silicon in the labs which is very exciting and there's more good news coming which I can't talk about right now." Intel appears to be targeting a loose late 2024 launch window; Petersen stated that he would like to see second generation products arrive at retail before CES 2025's commencement. The SiSoftware Sandra database was updated around mid-March with two very intriguing new Intel GPU entries—test systems (built on an ASUS PRIME Z790-P WIFI mainboard) were spotted running graphics solutions "equipped with 20 Xe-Core (160 EU) and 24 Xe-Cores (160 EU)."

Michael/miktdt commented on the freshly discovered database entries: "some smaller versions are on Sisoft...I guess they are coming. Single-float GP Compute looks quite good for just 160 VE/192 VE. Doesn't tell much about the release though, I guess anything between Q4 2024 and Q2 2025 is a possibility." Both models seem to sport 11.6 GB VRAM capacities—likely 12 GB—and 8 MB of L2 cache. Wccftech has guesstimated potential 192-bit memory bandwidth for these speculative lower-level GPUs. Team Blue has a bit more tweaking to do—based on leaked figures—but time is on their side: "the performance per core for Alchemist currently sits an average of 16% faster than the alleged Battlemage GPU which isn't a big deal since driver-level optimizations and final silicon can give a huge boost when the retail products come out."

NVIDIA completed its last round of GeForce NVIDIA RTX 40-series GPU refreshes at the very end of January—new evidence suggests that another wave is scheduled for imminent release. MEGAsizeGPU has acquired and shared a tabulated list of new Ada Lovelace GPU variants—the trusted leaker's post presents a timetable that was supposed to kick off within the second half of this month. First up is the GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, with a current designation of AD104-251—the leaked table suggests that a new variant, AD103-175-KX, is due very soon (or overdue). Wccftech pointed out that the new ID was previously linked to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER SKU. Moving into April, next up is the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti—jumping from the current AD106-351 die to a new unit; AD104-150-KX. The third adjustment (allegedly) affects the GeForce RTX 4060—going from AD107-400 to AD106-255, also timetabled for next month. MEGAsizeGPU reckons that Team Green will be swapping chips, but not rolling out broadly adjusted specifications—a best case scenario could include higher CUDA, RT, and Tensor core counts. According to VideoCardz, the new die designations have popped up in freshly released official driver notes—it is inferred that the variants are getting an "under the radar" launch treatment.

ITHome has highlighted several third-party protective cases listings for 12.9-inch iPad Air and Pro 2024 models—the Amazon product pages state that these accessories "will be on the shelves on March 26." The publication believes that this date could align with an official Apple unveiling—Mark Gurman, a Bloomberg reporter, predicted a planned announcement "around the end of March or April" in a recent "Power On" newsletter. MacRumors has tracked relevant activity on Weibo—based on claims made by Instant Digital (a well known Chinese leaker) they reckon that a possible March 26 presentation could be used to introduce: "pre-order availability, with shipping dates to follow."

We last heard about the rumored 2024 lineup of iPad Pro and Air models sporting some "revised physical dimensions." It was speculated that an upgrade to OLED panels has granted slimmer profiles—these possess fewer layers when compared to custom mini-LED parts on current generation premium tablets. LG is reported to be contracted for mass manufacturing of upcoming 13-inch iPad OLED tech, while Samsung (allegedly) takes care of 11-inch panels. With the launch of their M3 chipset-equipped MacBook Air 2024 range out of the way, Apple can concentrate on its next wave of new generation portable products.

Yesterday, South Korea's National Radio Research Agency certified a brand new and very mysterious Xbox Development Kit—naturally, the "Xbox News for Koreans" social media account took credit for this intriguing discovery: "this means that you can use the device in Korea. It is likely to be distributed to game developers in Korea soon." The model's serial code—2089—does not correspond to any of Microsoft's current Xbox Series (X|S) development kits. The tipster shared a short history lesson: "Xbox Series X|S dev kit consoles were certified by the National Radio Research Agency on June 10-11, 2020. The release of the Xbox Series X|S console in Korea was on November 10, 2020." By referencing the current generation's five-month gap—between registration and release of finalized retail units—it is speculated that something new could be arriving around August time.

Industry experts reckon that the leaked devkit is not linked to a rumored "All-Digital" White Xbox Series X Refresh—the latter likely contains unchanged basic hardware designs. Windows Central posited that an Xbox handheld is another possibility—leaked product roadmaps (of 2022 vintage) revealed that Microsoft was considering a move into portable gaming segments. A month ago, Xbox leadership discussed the platform's future—Sarah Bond stated: "there's some exciting stuff coming out in hardware that we're going to share this holiday, and we're also invested in the next generation roadmap...and what we're really focused on there, is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation." Many media outlets believed that an Xbox Series "Pro" model was teased during the special Official Xbox Videocast.

Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson believes that Sony PlayStation leadership will tighten up development conditions, following recent leaks pertaining to the technological underpinnings of the heavily rumored "PS5 Pro" home console. An IGN report and another Henderson-authored article posit that last week's revelations are "legit," according to their respective networks of industry moles. Apparently top secret information was extracted from a technical document—reports suggest that Sony sent this paper to its third-party development partners, alongside a new batch of development kits.

Industry experts think that (slated) repercussions could affect smaller development houses—Henderson tweeted: "as expected, Sony has launched an internal investigation into the leaked documents on Trinity as it leaked during a third-party rollout...Not sure on the implications yet as I don't think they can catch one individual, but Sony could reduce its third-party developer pool for new tech as a result." Rumors of a "mid-gen hardware refresh" have been swirling for almost a year and a half, but PlayStation bosses seem to be rattled into action (this week). Microsoft maintained a cool exterior following the leak of next-gen Xbox details, but that information emerged from unredacted court documents. Phil Spencer and his colleagues claim that future Xbox product roadmaps are in constant flux.

The International Data Corporation (IDC) has been tracking sales of Sony's PlayStation VR2 virtual reality headset since launch time (February 2023)—a new report claims that a backlog of unsold units has accumulated. Bloomberg's analysis of IDC data reveals that PS VR2 sales have consistently declined each quarter, despite promising early numbers—the publication alleges that Sony Group Corporation has paused production of its ($550 MSRP) PS VR2 headset: "until it clears a backlog of unsold units, according to people familiar with its plans, adding to doubts about the appeal of virtual reality gadgets." Anonymous industry moles reckon that manufacturing facilities have pumped out over two million examples since launch time. Sony is unlikely to admit, publicly, that it is having a tough time shifting its second generation virtual reality headset—Bloomberg's network of insiders believe that "stocks of the device are building up."

The lack of AAA content, developed exclusively for the PS VR2's ecosystem, is cited as big stumbling block—Bloomberg (alongside numerous publications) reckons that sales have suffered due to an absence of system-selling titles. Horizon: Call of the Mountain (2023) was an impactful launch title, but the headset's software portfolio contains a lot of "novelty" items, casual experiences and glorified tech demos (according to community feedback). Late last month, Sony admitted that it was exploring options beyond the VR2's normal mode of operation (PS5 acting as host): "We're pleased to share that we are currently testing the ability for PS VR2 players to access additional games on PC to offer even more game variety in addition to the PS VR2 titles available through PS5. We hope to make this support available in 2024, so stay tuned for more updates." This surprising announcement arrived mere days before the firing of (around) 900 PlayStation employees. Company leadership revealed that Firesprite's headcount would be reduced. This VR-oriented studio collaborated with Guerrilla Games on the development of Horizon: Call of the Mountain. Sony's London Studio will be closed down—its team had previously worked on PlayStation VR Worlds (2016) and Blood & Truth (2019)—compatible with Sony's first generation headset.

Jensen Huang's opening GTC 2024 keynote is scheduled to happen tomorrow afternoon (13:00 Pacific time)—many industry experts believe that the NVIDIA boss will take the stage and formally introduce his company's B100 "Blackwell" GPU architecture. An enlightened few have been treated to preview (AI and HPC) units—including Dell's CEO, Jeff Clarke—but pre-introduction leaks have not flowed out. Team Green is likely enforcing strict conditions upon a fortunate selection of trusted evaluators, within a pool of ecosystem partners and customers.

Today, a brave soul has broken that silence—tech tipster, AGF/XpeaGPU, fears repercussions from the leather-jacketed one. They revealed a handful of technical details, a day prior to Team Green's highly anticipated unveiling: "I don't want to spoil NVIDIA B100 launch tomorrow, but this thing is a monster. 2 dies on (TSMC) CoWoS-L, 8x8-Hi HBM3E stacks for 192 GB of memory." They also crystal balled an inevitable follow-up card: "one year later, B200 goes with 12-Hi stacks and will offer a beefy 288 GB. And the performance! It's... oh no Jensen is there... me run away!" Reuters has also joined in on the fun, with some predictions and insider information: "NVIDIA is unlikely to give specific pricing, but the B100 is likely to cost more than its predecessor, which sells for upwards of $20,000." Enterprise products are expected to arrive first—possibly later this year—followed by gaming variants, maybe months later.

Speculative NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series "GB20X" GPU memory interface details appeared online late last week—as disclosed by the kopite7kimi social media account. The inside information aficionado—at the time—posited that the "memory interface configuration of GB20x (Blackwell) is not much different from that of AD10x (Ada Lovelace)." It was inferred that Team Green's next flagship gaming GPU (GB202) could debut with a 384-bit memory bus—kopite7kimi had "fantasized" about a potentially monstrous 512-bit spec for the "GeForce RTX 5090." A new batch of follow-up tweets—from earlier today—rips apart last week's insights. The alleged Blackwell GPU gaming lineup includes the following SKUs: GB202, GB203, GB205, GB206, GB207.

Kopite7kimi's revised thoughts point to Team Green's flagship model possessing 192 streaming multiprocessors and a 512-bit memory bus. VideoCardz decided to interact with the reliable tipster—their queries were answered promptly: "According to kopite7kimi, there's a possibility that the second-in-line GPU, named GB203, could sport half of that core count. Now the new information is that GB203 might stick to 256-bit memory bus, which would make it half of GB202 in its entirety. What this also means is that there would be no GB20x GPU with 384-bit bus." Additional speculation has NVIDIA selecting a 192-bit bus for the GB205 SKU (AKA GeForce RTX 5070). The GeForce RTX 50-series is expected to arrive later this year—industry experts are already whispering about HPC-oriented Blackwell GPUs being unveiled at next week's GTC 2024 event. A formal gaming family announcement could arrive many months later.

According to TPU's SSD database, the Microsoft Z1000 M.2 22110 form factor solid-state drive launched back in 2020—last week, well-known hardware tipster, yuuki_ans, leaked a set of photos and specifications. Their March 7 social media post showcases close-ups of a potential enterprise product—sporting a CNEX Labs CNX-2670AA-CB2T controller, Toshiba BiCS4 96-layer eTLC NAND flash dies and 1 GB Micron MT40A1G8SA-075:E DDR4 RAM cache. The mysterious storage device appears to be an engineering sample (PV1.1)—an attached label lists a possible manufacturing date of May 18, 2020, but its part number and serial code are redacted in yuuki's set of photos. PCIe specifications are not disclosed, but experts reckon that a 4.0 standard is present here (given the prototype's age).

The long form factor and presence of a CNEX Labs controller suggest that Microsoft has readied a 960 GB capacity model for usage in data servers. Unoccupied spaces on the board provide evidence of different configurations. Extra BGA mounting points could introduce another DRAM chip, and there is enough room for additional capacitors—via solder pads on both sides of the Z1000's PCB. It is speculated that 2 TB and 4 TB variants exist alongside the leaked 960 GB example—a "broad portfolio" of finalized Z1000 products could be in service right now, but the wider public is unlikely to see these items outside of Microsoft facilities.

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has insisted (on multiple occasions) that leaked Xbox product roadmaps are not a true representation of currently in-progress hardware at the company's Redmond, Washington headquarters. Internal documentation (from 2022) suggested that Microsoft had long term plans for physical media-less next-gen Xbox consoles, as well as a 2024 launch of an "adorably all-digital" Xbox Series X refresh. Early February news reports suggested that a few retail outlets had stopped selling Xbox physical media, due to low sales and a perception that Microsoft's console ecosystem prioritizes digital purchases. Spencer addressed ongoing rumors during a discussion with Game File: "We are supportive of physical media, but we don't have a need to drive that disproportionate to customer demand...We ship games physically and digitally, and we're really just following what the customers are doing. And I think our job in running Xbox is to deliver on the things that a majority of the customers want. And right now, a majority of our customers are buying games digitally."

Exputer's eXtas1s—a tipster specializing in all things Xbox, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard—reckons that the aforementioned Xbox Series X refresh is due to launch this summer: "Microsoft is currently working to release a white-colored Xbox Series X with no disc reader, sources close to eXputer have revealed...This all-digital console is expected to be released sometime between the upcoming months of June and July, but there are chances for a slight delay on that front as well." Allegedly, confidential footage has been distributed within insider networks. The Exputer report suggests that the proposed digital refresh could be "$50 to $100" cheaper than the current MSRP of $499.99 for an Xbox Series X 1 TB model. An improved heatsink and modernized wireless network card are mentioned as possible internal upgrades. Games industry watchdogs reckon that Microsoft is attempting to compete with Sony's digital-only PlayStation 5 models—the Xbox Series S is not considered to be a direct competitor here, due to its lesser specifications.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree is the second chapter to the feverishly popular fantasy action RPG by Hidetaka Miyazaki, with world-building by George RR Martin. Publisher Bandai Namco is going to publish its first gameplay trailer later today. A reliable source with franchise leaks, billbil-kun, claims that the the game releases on June 21, 2024. It's likely that this date is part of the gameplay reveal trailer which the studio is posting today. The trailer is said to contain some three minutes of gameplay footage captured within engine.
We will update this story with more insights when the trailer comes out.

DigiTimes Asia has reached out to insiders at fabrication toolmakers in an effort to delve deeper into claims made by industry analysts at the start of 2024—both SemiAnalysis and China Renaissance have proposed that TSMC is unlikely to adopt High-NA EUV production techniques within a five year period. The latest news article explores a non-upgrade approach for the next couple of years: "TSMC has not placed orders for high-numerical aperture (High-NA) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) tools and is unlikely to use the technology in 2 nm and 1.4 nm (A14) process manufacturing." Intel Foundry Services (IFS) will be one of the first semiconductor manufacturers to go online with ASML's latest and greatest machinery, although no firm timeframes have been confirmed. Team Blue's Taiwanese rival (and occasional business partner) is seemingly happy with its existing infrastructure, but industry watchdogs propose that cost considerations are key factors behind TSMC's cautious planning for the next decade.

The DigiTimes insider sources believe that TSMC will not budge until at least 2029, possibly coinciding with a 1 nm production node—analysts at China Renaissance reckon that High-NA EUV machines could be delivered in the future when facilities are readied for an "A10" codenamed process. TSMC published a very ambitious "transistor count" product timeline in early January (see below)—the first "1 nm" products are supposedly targeted for a 2030 rollout, but this schedule could change due to unforeseen circumstances. Intel is expected to "phase in" its fanciest ASML gear collection once the 18A process becomes old hat—Tom's Hardware thinks that 2026 - 2027 is a feasible timeframe.

We are well aware that NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER graphics cards are next up on the review table (January 31)—TPU's W1zzard has so far toiled away on getting his evaluations published on time for options further down the Ada Lovelace SUPER food chain. This process was interrupted briefly by the appearance of custom Radeon RX 7600 XT models, but today's attention soon returned to another batch of GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER cards. Reviewers are already toying around with driver-enabled GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER sample units—under strict confidentiality conditions—but the occasional leak is expected to happen. The appropriately named Benchleaks social media account has kept track of emerging test results.

The Geekbench Browser database was updated earlier today with premature GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GPU test results—one entry highlighted by Benchleaks provides a quick look at the card's prowess in three of Geekbench 5.1's graphics API trials: Vulkan, CUDA and OpenCL. VideoCardz points out that all of the scores could be fundamentally flawed; in particular the Vulkan result of 100378 points—the regular (non-SUPER) GeForce RTX 4080 GPU can achieve almost double that figure in Geekbench 6. The SUPER's other results included a Geekbench 5 CUDA score of 309554, and an achievement of 264806 points in OpenCL. A late morning entrant looks to be hitting the right mark—an ASUS testbed (PRIME Z790-A WIFI + Intel Core i9-13900KF) managed to score 210551 points in Geekbench 6.2.2 Vulkan.

Best Buy Canada's site listed—by mistake—an entry for a Version 2.0 of Sony's venerable PlayStation 5 DualSense controller—the retailer proceeded to remove the leaked information and imagery, but several news outlets have preserved crucial details. The nixed page advertised a yet to be released "PlayStation 5 V2 DualSense Wireless Controller," that looks identical in appearance to Version 1.0—it even shares the same pricing of CA$89.99. Hooray for no price hiking, if this info is indeed accurate. A couple of internet sleuths have noticed that a Swiss retailer has listed V2 controllers (in white or camo)—these web pages became active back in December 2023.

The standout revelation from this leak appears to be much improved battery life—the Best Buy Canada website entry mentioned V2 being capable of lasting 12 hours on a single charge. Folks familiar with the current PS5 DualSense controller are accustomed to around six hours of usage, before a wired recharge session is required. The listing also outlined a Dual Sense charging station being bundled with Sony's V2 game controller. The sleuths also noted that the next iteration has an advertised weight of 280 g—CFI-ZCT1W AKA "V1" comes in at 360 g. Several online publications have contacted Sony PlayStation for a comment on the situation.

TSMC has gained the Taiwanese government's approval to invest $4.5 billion in its main North American manufacturing hub—Fab 21 is located in the greater Phoenix area. Mass production at the Arizona foundry has been delayed into 2025 due to behind-schedule equipment installations and various workforce-related issues, but a limited trial run is reported to begin early next year. Mid-last month, the TSMC executive board sought approval from Taiwan's Investment Commission for an additional overseas spend (the Arizona operation is registered as a subsidiary company).

This request was approved by the commission yesterday (September 18)—a $3.5 billion cash injection was already given the thumbs-up back in March. Exact areas of expenditure have not been declared to the public, but Taiwanese media outlets believe that the second phase of funds will be marked for working capital expenses at the North American division. Short-term business costs include the purchase of inventory (e.g raw materials), day-to-day operating expenses and resolvement of short-term debts. Mark Liu, TSMC's chairman, recently expressed optimism about goings-on at Arizona's Fab 21—mentioning significant progress made over the spring and summer period.

A comprehensive leak of documents—from a FTC versus Microsoft case—has exposed short and long-term plans in the world of Xbox. It seems that a relatively mild refresh of current generation Xbox Series X and S is lined up for the second half of 2024, but presentation material (dated April 2022) also reaches far into the future with strategies for next-gen gaming hardware. The bigwigs at Xbox were projecting a "full convergence" of their proprietary "xCloud" gaming platform and physical console hardware to deliver "cloud hybrid games" for 2028—schemes and priorities could have shifted in the interim, given various legal challenges and takeover bids.

One of the slides points to Microsoft getting the technical nitty-gritty sorted by CY2023—with two main options presented for consideration: a licensed ARM 64 design or a "Zen 6-based" AMD 64 processor. The next-gen Xbox's GPU aspect could incorporate a Navi 5 design (RDNA 5)—weighing up either a co-operation with AMD, or an IP license of said graphics architecture. VideoCardz theorizes that: "the latter option seems more likely if the ARM 64 chip is chosen over the Zen 6 APU." A key goal in this area seems to be an implementation of "Next-Gen DirectX Ray tracing" and "ML-based Super Resolutions" features. A Neural Processing Unit (NPU) is marked as a key provision for the 2028 console—granting some nice-to-have perks including: latency compensation, frame rate interpolation and various enrichments of the user experience.

A hefty information dump—originating from documents relating to a Microsoft vs. FTC legal case—has revealed plans (dated April 2022) for an upcoming refresh of current generation Xbox Series X and S consoles. Microsoft Gaming's head honcho, Phil Spencer, dismissed the need for a mid-gen refresh of the more powerful model—his summertime 2023 declaration came after the rumor mill coughed up speculative details of Sony working on a more potent PlayStation 5. The leaked roadmap and slides points to a refreshed Xbox Series X console lined up for launch in October 2024. The new cylindrical design is codenamed "Brooklin" and features an all-digital entertainment scheme—internal upgrades include a 2 TB SSD, plus support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. An "improved sustainability story" suggests that the refresh will consume less power.

A 6 nm die shrink of the current Xbox Series X "Scarlett" APU with Zen 2/RDNA2 setup is reportedly in the cards. It seems that Microsoft is not preparing something that could compete with a theoretical "PlayStation 5 Pro." The leaked roadmap states that Brooklin's projected MSRP is $499—so no price hike over the original. The refreshed Xbox Series S—codenamed "Ellewood"—retains the existing Series S aesthetic, along with its entry-level $299 price tag. Microsoft's roadmap has it launching earlier than "Brooklin"—August 2024. Internal storage is set at 1 TB, and an updated southbridge grants support for Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. A low-power standby mode is said to consume only 20% of the current gen model's sleepy intake. The 2022 roadmap also mentions a refreshed "Sebile" Xbox controller, with the aim to get it launched by May 2024, so several months before the projected arrival of revised X and S consoles.