ARM

A South Korean media outlet reports Samsung Foundry has achieved promising results with its upcoming SF2 (3 nm class) node. A test batch of the Exynos 2600 resulted in 30% yields, meaning there's a good chance it could debut alongside the Galaxy S26 next year.

A South Korean media outlet reports Apple's M5 chip has entered mass production. It is expected to debut alongside a new iPad Pro later this year.

The HP OmniBook X 14 features a 2.2K touch panel, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Plus chipset, 16 GB of memory, and a 512 GB SSD. A 5-megapixel webcam and USB4 support complete the package, with the laptop being available for just below $550 for a limited time.

Following an announcement at CES 2025, Asus has begun selling the Zenbook A14, its first Zenbook model with a Snapdragon X series processor. The configuration currently available has the less-powerful Snapdragon X (X1-26-100) processor but lots of RAM and storage.

Microsoft is quick to jump on DeepSeek R1 integration for developers as it is bringing a distilled version of the AI to Snapdragon X powered systems. This will allow developers to more effectively create AI-powered applications that run on device.

Two of Qualcomm's next-generation Snapdragon X series chipsets have appeared in early leaks. With Qualcomm having already teased that Oryon V3-based will arrive this year, it now seems that something called the Snapdragon X2 Ultra Premium could also be in the pipeline.

The Asus ProArt PZ13 might be the ideal choice for users undecided between a laptop and a tablet. The hybrid features a 13.3-inch OLED touchscreen with stylus support, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X1P-42-100 chipset, a 1 TB SSD, 16 GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel camera on the back, and a pair of USB4 ports.

Qualcomm and Samsung have now shared details about the new Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset, codenamed SM8750-AC. Allegedly a 'completely custom' chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy falls short of hitting its overclocked CPU and GPU figures in early post-release benchmark results.

The Stargate AI investment project is equity-funded by MGX, OpenAI, Oracle, and Softbank, and partners with Arm, Microsoft, and Nvidia to create the necessary AI infrastructure to maintain America's leadership and dominance in the field of AI.

CheckMag The combination of the Snapdragon X processor and Windows 11 24H2 has given the Windows on ARM platform a significant performance boost. But do older ARM laptops also benefit from the improved version of Windows 11?

Raspberry Pi has updated the Raspberry Pi 500 with a new model. Sold for $30 more than the Pi 500 itself, the new SKU adds a few essential accessories for getting started in the Raspberry Pi ecosystem.

Previously, it was rumoured Samsung wanted to mirror Intel's strategy and use TSMC as a stop-gap solution for its Exynos chips. That won't happen now because the Taiwanese chipmaker has apparently rejected the deal.

CheckMag When I got the notification that my Nighthawk R7000 reached "end of life" I started down the rabbit hole of looking to install custom firmware to keep what is otherwise perfectly functioning hardware secure. While I didn't manage to keep my R7000 in service, I did find this hidden gem of a router.

China's XiangShan open-source processor, set for 2025 release, demonstrates impressive performance metrics within eight percent of Arm's Neoverse N2 CPU core.

Based on the Debian 12.9 "Bookworm" base, MX Linux 23.5 includes the Xfce 4.20 core packages and multiple other updates, including visual tweaks and security fixes. The Xfce, KDE, and Fluxbox ISOs come with the 6.1.123 kernel, while AHS takes advantage of the 6.12.8 liquorix core.

The naming convention for a mystery Lenovo Yoga 2-in-1 laptop suggests that Nvidia may be getting into the laptop CPU space soon, as Windows on Arm finally gains traction.

The Snapdragon 8s Elite is set to arrive this year as a successor to last year's Snapdragon 8s Gen 3. A new leak has now revealed performance and configuration details of the chipset, ahead of its March/April debut.

A case manufacturer has seemingly leaked the design of the Nintendo Switch 2, once more confirming changes to the Joy-Con design and significantly reduced screen bezels compared to the original Switch.

Eight years after the debut of its first in-house chipset, Xiaomi is finally set to make another attempt at delivering an SoC of its design. Supposedly, the Surge S2, codenamed "XRing" is set to launch this year and power the Xiaomi 15S Pro flagship phone.

While Intel and AMD seems to be content to serve their newest CPU technology only in the high-end part of the market, Qualcomm is attempting to capture the low end as well. The new Qualcomm Snapdragon X, with its eight Oryon CPU cores, is meant to take market share in the sub $600 device class.

Geekom has several new mini PCs innovations on display at CES 2025. The QS1 is the world's first ARM-powered mini PC featuring the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC for unmatched performance and power efficiency. Also on display are the A9 Max powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 that offers a total of 80 TOPS AI performance and the A6, which offers excellent cost effectiveness at the $500 mark.

Apple has long held the performance crown for mobile SoCs. However, the tech giant has recently found itself in hot water in the smartphone silicon race, thanks to the strides made by Qualcomm's Snapdragon and MediaTek's Dimensity in recent years. As suggested by a fresh leak, the story is likely to remain much the same next year as well.

The dispute between semiconductor developer Qualcomm and licensor ARM has been settled. According to the Delaware District Court, Qualcomm's takeover of Nuvia did not infringe the licensing agreement with ARM. An important legal dispute has thus been resolved in Qualcomm's favor.

Apple could be giving a server-grade uplift to its upcoming M5 series of chips, according to analyst Ming-chi Kuo. Kuo expects higher end M5 SoCs such as the M5 Pro, M5 Max, and M5 Ultra to employ TSMC's 2.5D SoIC-mH packaging with separate CPU and GPU designs that do not use the unified memory architecture.

Specifications of the MediaTek Dimensity 9500 have leaked online. The SoC reportedly features a new "Travis + Gelas" CPU architecture with eight cores. The leak also alleges a big clock speed boost for the SoC with the Dimensity 9500's two big cores alleged to reach up to 4 GHz.

While the successor to the Snapdragon 8 Elite may still be quite far from launch, new information has now surfaced in the wild about the next-gen flagship chipset from Qualcomm. Reportedly, the Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 will arrive earlier in the year than its predecessor, and with significant performance upgrades on the GPU side.

The Orion O6 is a new mainboard intended to be open source and offer a wide range of possible applications. PCIe expansion cards can be fitted and several high-resolution screens can be connected simultaneously.

Earlier this month, a redditor claimed that they had a Nintendo Switch 2 engineering sample in-hand, followed by promises to show off pictures of the gaming handheld on Christmas. Those images have now been posted online, and along with questions of their authenticity, the contents are just underwhelming to the community.

The 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro with M4 Pro SoC is substantially discounted on Amazon. The MacBook Pro features a bright mini-LED display, one of Apple's most powerful SoCs to date, and 24 GB of unified memory. At the discounted price, it even undercuts the base M4 MacBook.

Grml, an Austrian Linux distribution based on Debian, has returned with version 2024.12. While it drops x86 support, this update is the first to bring this minimal, live Linux distro to 64-bit ARM hardware. In addition to these, Grml 2024.12 also comes with fresh Debian 13 software packages alongside many minor tweaks and fixes.

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Gen 9 laptop with a 3K OLED touch panel and a Snapdragon X Elite SoC can now be yours for less than $800. With decent performance, a beautiful display, and long battery life, the Yoga Slim 7x is a solid option for multimedia buyers on a tight budget.

The final release of the year sees Kali Linux dropping support for 32-bit kernels while sporting GNOME 47 and Python 3.12. Additionally, the update labeled 2024.4 comes with 14 new tools, a major refresh to the Kali NetHunter store and website, as well as more supported devices, pushing the list up to a total of 100.

While no details about the particular processor (or processors) developed so far, Chinese media has just unveiled that Gree Electric is now producing its own chips, six years after announcing its plans in this field. All research, design, and manufacturing efforts were funded without the government's involvement.

The new M4 Max SoC increases performance in all areas by 20-30%, further extending its lead over other comparable laptops. In addition to impressive single-core performance, the M4 Max is also one of the fastest chips in multi-core tests and even outperforms the GeForce RTX 4090 laptop in video processing.

Those looking for a compact tablet that doesn't need to be plugged in all the time are advised to take a closer look at the Xiaomi Redmi Pad SE 8.7. The affordable tablet has a number of other appealing qualities, as revealed in our review.

A lot of Apple Silicon enthusiasts were likely expecting to see an M4 'Extreme' variant launched alongside the upcoming Mac Pro set for a WWDC 2025 launch. Unfortunately, however, a recent report appears to have poured cold water on those expectations.

The Dimensity 8400 might be touted as the best new silicon for the new mid-range Android smartphones of the near future soon. Now, a famous leaker claims to outline its configuration and speeds in detail. The SoC is also now said to launch just before 2025 starts with ex-flagship performance.