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Apple plans to use its own Apple Silicon processors for its AI servers, which will be used, among other things, to power its Apple Intelligence services in the data center, reportsNikkei. The company has approached Foxconn and Lenovo to build the machines and has specifically asked them to make the servers in Taiwan. While one of Apple’s reasons for assembling these machines in Taiwan is to reduce its reliance on China, another is to tap into the talent and R&D resources that Foxconn leverages for its Nvidia-based AI servers....

An Apple insider has noted that a quartet of new base-level Mac computers, all with at least 16GB of RAM, are being tested.Bloomberg’sMark Gurman says the Macs are currently known by the cryptic model identifiers of “16,1,” “16,2,” “16,3,” and “16,10,” and such devices are usually spotted shortly ahead of their launch. Despitegrowing criticism, Apple has steadfastly sold entry-level Macs with a minimum of 8GB of RAM since 2012. According to Gurman’s report and based on developer test logs he has had eyes on, all the new Macs are M4 Apple Silicon models....

With SSDs outselling hard drives and standing out in a lot of ways, you may be wondering if hard drives are still worth it. Well, it all comes down tostorage and cost benefits vs performance. Hard drives provide high storage capacity at a reduced cost, which makes them a suitable choice if your primary need is storage rather than read/write speed. These includebackups,secondary drivesfor personal data, andlight-purpose NASsetups. But for all other purposes, hard drives are usable but not recommended....

As chipmakers are gearing up for inevitable increase of demand for logic and memory chips in 2024 and 2025, they’re procuring more wafer fab equipment to increase their capacity. As a result, ASML’s Q4 2023 revenue jumped to $7.237 billion — a 12.5% increase year-over-year — while its order intake reached a record €9.186 billion ($10.036 billion) — more than tripling YoY — as makers of memory and logic ordered additionalextreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tools....

Today at Newegg, users can find theASRock CL27FF27-Inch FHD IPS monitor for one of its best prices yet and it hasn’t even been released yet. It’s priced at $109 for pre-orders but also comes with a $40 rebate card which takes the final price down to $69. This is a great deal that’s worth a close look from anyone in the market for a basic display. It’s AMD FreeSync certified which guarantees a tear-free experience while gaming....

Asus has already announced its partnership with Bethesda and a limited-editionROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 OC Doom Editiongraphics card, celebrating the release ofDoom: The Dark Ages,whichlaunched today.Now enhance its appeal, the Doom-inspired graphics card is being released as part of a Doom Edition bundle, limited to just 666 units globally, and available exclusively throughBethesda’s Gear Storefor an incredible $1,999.99, or $1,899.99 without a copy ofDoom: The Dark Ages. The ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5080 16GB GDDR7 OC Edition from the bundle has undergone a significant aesthetic transformation by Asus, adhering to the wholeDoomtheme....

China is assembling the third phase of itsBig Fundto invest in crucial semiconductor projects across the country, a move that aims to accelerate the development of advanced technologies, make China self-reliant in the microelectronics industry, and counteract the United States' efforts to limit China’s technological advancement. The third phase of the National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, or the Big Fund, will pursue the same goal as the first two phases: make China self-sufficient in the semiconductor sector....

China’s server exports to the U.S. have fallen from 18.8% of outgoing servers in 2017 to 1.7% in 2023 — a dramatic plunge underscored by Taiwanese gains in the U.S. market — according toDigiTimes Asia. Taiwan’s data center exports, on the other hand, have grown heavily in the wake of U.S. trade restrictions, which have increased in intensity against China since 2018. In the same five-year period, Taiwan has seen a 900% growth in its share of data centers being sent to the United States: an increase from 8....

Chinese companies have drastically increased their imports of chip production equipment, spending nearly $26 billion in the first seven months of the year, according to aBloombergreport citing data from China’s General Administration of Customs. This surge marks a new record, surpassing the previous peak set in 2021, as these companiesprepare for potential further restrictions from the U.S. and its allieson advanced chipmaking tools. Chinese companies have particularly focused on acquiring lower-end semiconductor equipment used to make chips on mature process technologies from suppliers like ASML Holdings, Applied Materials, and Tokyo Electron....

Beijing Zuojiang Technology, once considered a potential competitor to Nvidia, will be removed from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange due to financial fraud, reports theSouth China Morning Post. This is followed the company’s inability to provide a clean audit report for its 2023 financial results, prompting the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to initiate its delisting, which is set for July 26. Founded in 2007, Zuojiang Technology initially focused on producing cybersecurity hardware. However, the company shifted its focus in late 2022 to develop data processing units (DPUs), inspired by the AI boom in China....

You certainly don’t have to have the fastest SSD to make a competent and speedy gaming PC, but if you want to go for the absolute fastest gaming rig and make it slightly future-proof, then grabbing the best tech available is the only option. This does come with the caveat that you’ll be paying a premium for the privilege and usually it is not the best bang-for-buck. That doesn’t mean you still can’t shave a few dollars off of those components by grabbing them while they are discounted or in a sale, and that’s what we have for you today....

DDR4 prices have been steadily increasing in the past months due to the lack of supply. Top DRAM manufacturers Micron, Samsung, and SK hynix have announced earlier this year that they’receasing production of DDR4 memoryby the end of 2025, with CXMT, China’s largest memory manufacturer,following suit in May. Because of this, pricing for DDR4 chips hastripled in just two months, withComputerBase[machine translated] reporting that 8GB DDR4-3200 chip pricing is going over $5 (versus $1....

If you’re on the hunt for a large OLED monitor for those inky blacks and super-high contrasts, then Dell’s Alienware AW3432DWF is back on sale at the moment. The AW3423DWF is one of our favorite monitors after we reviewed it, and easily one of thebest gaming monitorson the market if you’ve the disposable cash for it. Even at this reduced sale price it’s not the cheapest 34-inch monitor out there, but the AW3423DWF is above average - offering super smooth motion clarity in games with rapid movement, and eye-popping colors thanks to the 107 percent of DCI-P3 coverage....