New USB-C 2.1 Revision Appears; Capable Of Delivering Up To 240W

The USB-C medium has been both the default and industry standard for a long while. While known for its ultra-fast file transfer speeds, it’s also known for its ability to conduct power delivery simultaneously, albeit at varying power levels between 60W and 120W. Now it appears that the power delivery ceiling will soon increase to 240W, based on a new USB-C 2.1 revision.

According to the paper published by the USB organisation, a new USB-C 2.1 port would support up to 48V at 5A, effectively giving users a peak wattage of 240W. For comparison, current USB-C connectors are only able to deliver wattage as high as 120W, due to them only supporting 20V at 5A.

This increase in power delivery also means that pretty soon, gamers with powerful gaming laptops may be able to ditch the machine’s accompanying power bricks and simply allow their portable machines to be charged and completely powered by a single USB-C cable, including more heavy-duty and demanding activities, such as gaming. As it stands, gaming laptops such as the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, Zephyrus G15, and as well as the Razer Blade Stealth 13 already support 100W USB-C charging, on top of their dedicated power adapters. Of course, it goes without saying that the new cables will also new Extended Power Range (EPR) cable, and not just the Standard Power Range (SPR) cables that we have. 

Sadly, there’s no indication when the new USB-C 2.1 revision will physically be available but hopefully, it’ll be soon.

Alleged Intel Core i9-12900 Appears With ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme Motherboard

We more or less know what the specifications of Intel’s upcoming 12th generation Alder Lake Core i9-12900K are, but little is still known about the processor’s non-K variant, the 12900. That is, until now.

According to Videocardz, evidence of the 12900’s existence made its way online due to what it says was the carelessness of an engineer at the ASUS HQ. Details of the 12900 sprung up on the UserBenchmark site, along with information of the other components it was tested with, chief among them being an ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Extreme motherboard. That, and a single stick of Crucial 16GB DDR5 RAM, clocked in at 4800MHz.

Changes between the 12900K and 12900 are minimal, the main differences being that the non-K variant of Intel’s top-of-the-line Alder Lake CPU isn’t overclockable. To that end, the CPU’s base and boost clock is locked at 2.4GHz and 4.25GHz, respectively. As for its core count, it also retains the same hybrid 16-cores, 24-threads configuration.

Performance-wise, the 12900 scored 114% in the UserBenchmark test, along with a 214 single-core score and 2510 points in the multi-core segment.

On another note, an image of the 12900KF has also leaked, showing both its front and grid array. Again, it shares nearly identical specifications as the 12900K, save for the lack of an integrated Xe graphics core.

Intel is expected to launch its 12th generation Alder Lake lineup sometime next month but did not specify an exact date. However, a recent posting by MSI suggests that that date is set for 4 November.

Alleged Intel Core i9-12900K Details Appears On BaseMark Benchmark

A new CPU entry allegedly belonging to Intel’s 12th generation Alder Lake-S Core i9-12900K CPU recently appeared on the BaseMark database. Contrary to an earlier report, though, the latest information shows the top-tier CPU running with less than 16-cores running underneath the hood.

According to the details, the 12900K listed in the database appears to be running on 12-cores, with all cores running at a speed of 3200MHz. Leakster site Videocardz is of the belief that this could be a simple case of BaseMark having listed the wrong data.

One other thing to note is that the system being used to run the alleged 12900K appears to be an Acer-based system with the product name Z69H6-AM, further adding to the possibility that the system in question is indeed, a Z690 platform.

Other details show that the CPU was tested with 16GB DDR4 RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics card, and the latest beta of Windows 11. As for its performance, the system scored 17744 points.

As it stands, early samples of Intel’s 12900K have reportedly been making their rounds in China. Earlier this month, whispers of engineering samples began to crop up on UserBenchmarks, although no tangible details were revealed. At least, nothing that Intel hasn’t already mentioned.

As these rumours usually go, we advise you to take this new details with a grain of salt and wait until October to hear more about Intel’s plans for its 12th generation CPU lineup.

Alleged Apple iPhone 13 Pro Dummy Unit Appears; Houses Redesigned Notch, Selfie Camera

Apple’s iPhone 13 series is still far beyond the horizon and, understandably, the fruit company isn’t providing any details about what sort of specs it will be sporting. That said, a dummy unit of an alleged iPhone 13 Pro recently made its way online, giving us a glimpse what could be heading our way.

The leaked image comes by way of the Japan-based tech site, Mac Otakara, which claims that their image is that of a 3D printed mockup of the iPhone 13 Pro. More to the point, the dummy unit shows us that the phone could ship out with a smaller notch than what is seen on current iPhone models, housed in a 6.1-inch display. Also, the phone’s selfie camera seems to have been shifted to the left of the notch, instead of staying on the right side.

In terms of measurements, the Japanese tech site says that the iPhone 13 Pro’s notch would be 5.35mm in height and 26.80mm in width.

Apple’s alleged move to introduce a smaller notch with future iPhone models isn’t all that surprising, nor is it anything new. The company from Cupertino has long toyed with the idea of revamping it since the launch of its first notched display on the iPhone X. Apart from that, the iPhone 13 series are also expected to be fitted with ProMotion 120Hz displays, improve colours, and a much faster A15 SoC, among other things.

Alleged Intel Xe HPG Desktop Engineering Sample Appears For The First Time

By now, we’ve heard several rumours and seen several snippets of Intel’s Xe HPG GPU, but never the desktop graphics card form factor that several of us have been hoping to see. That is, until today.

YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead recently published a video on his channel, along with images of what is apparently an engineering sample of the chipmaker’s upcoming Xe-HPG desktop graphics card. According to the YouTuber, the dual-fan cooling solution being shown is just one of three cooler designs that Intel has in store for the lineup.

Moore’s Law is Dead’s video also provides some details about the Xe-HPG, although it’s not information we haven’t heard before; the GPU is expected to have 16GB GDDR6 graphics memory, along with a 256-bit memory bus and TDP of 275W. On the subject of power, the video also shows an image of the card’s PCIe power ports, which are 8-pin and 6-pin. Lastly, the card will also feature 512 Execution Units (EU) and boost clocks of 2.2GHz.

If you’re wondering what all those details equate to in terms of performance metrics for the alleged Xe-HPG, Moore’s Law is Dead says that it should be somewhere between an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 and RTX 3080. Oh, and they also mention that Intel actually has an AI-powered super sampling technology similar to NVIDIA’s DLSS, known as XeSS.

As for the availability, the YouTuber says that at this rate, a launch this year is beginning to look very unlikely, with a 2022 availability now looking far likely. Naturally, this is all merely rumours, so take this with a grain of salt.

Tomb Raider: Definitive Survivor Trilogy Appears Briefly On Microsoft Store

The Microsoft Store has inadvertently been quite the leaker in its own right. A Tomb Raider: Definitive Survivor Trilogy has appeared on the store, following the Far Cry 6 listing from November last year.

GamesRadar+ managed to get a screenshot of what was inside the Definitive Survivor Trilogy before it was removed. And it looks to be a compilation of the reboot trilogy and all of their DLC. The compilation is also reportedly 4K and HDR-ready. The compilation also came with a release date of 18 March, which sounds like a little too soon.

There’s no official price for the Tomb Raider: Definitive Survivor Trilogy yet. That being said, it looks like something for those who have not played any of the games in the reboot series just yet. And it’s definitely a good series to pick up, especially the most recent entry. Of course, it remains to be seen if it will indeed be released on 18 March. Though we can probably expect the compilation to be announced on that date, if anything.

Depending on when it actually gets released though, it would come just in time for the Netflix animated series. Netflix is currently working on one with a plot that continues where the third game left off.