Get ready for the next wave of graphics, machine learning, and parallel computing performance, as Samsung kicks off production of HBM2 DRAM. The new chips, each packing 4GB, use the second-generation High Bandwidth Memory interface and can run as much as seven times the speed of current DRAM.
There were a few disappointed, if not puzzled, people when Apple revealed it hadn't killed off the 16 GB iPhone. While it was indeed cheaper than the other models, that much storage in this day and age is almost negligible. That practically forces many to opt for at least the 32 GB configuration, though the ideal setup is really the pricey 128 GB. Lucky for those in China, there are a few enterprising individuals willing to upgrade that lowly iPhone 6 16 GB memory to 128 GB for as low as $92.
Apple is traditionally mum on some details of its devices' hardware, preferring to talk about how "B is X times faster than A" than raw numbers. It's partly a smart marketing move, using more general but easily understood comparisons than cold, impersonal numbers. But it also relieves Apple from having to concede, much less reveal, how it has sometimes been skimping on some hardware, most notoriously the RAM in even the most recent iPhones. Fortunately, thanks to developer Hamza Sood, there is great news for fans.
Samsung has been steadily improving its semiconductor products, from processors to NAND storage, and now to volatile memory, to help offset its disappointing smartphone sales. While the numbers and names might be a bit confusing thanks to how they're marketed, this 12 Gigabit, not Gigabyte, LPDDR4 RAM is still a notable achievement. By squeezing in more memory in a single chip made with the same 20 nm process, Samsung is practically paving the way for smartphones and tablets to soon have as much as 6 GB of RAM inside.
When id Software's RAGE video game started flaunting "4K textures" around, there was much debate on the practicality of that amount of data versus what our eyes can distinguish and what our beefiest PCs can handle. And now Intel and Micron, two of the biggest names in the semiconductor industry, wants us thinking about 8K games already? That said, it isn't about the absurdity of the idea but about how its new 3D XPoint memory technology can make it possible, beating the hell out of the popular and steadfast NAND flash storage we have today.
The advent of 64-bit processors on mobile was seen to herald support for more RAM inside smartphones and tablets. But to this day, you can probably count on the fingers of one hand the devices that come with even 4 GB of memory. The ASUS ZenFone 2 is one of those, bearing 4 GB of RAM inside. But what does that exactly mean in practice? YouTube user L BS provides a video demonstrating just that, swiftly and smoothly multi-tasking between one of the most resource intensive type of mobile apps: games.
SSD memory is fast. Really fast. It’s also much more stable than spinning drives are, making it pretty desirable for those who want reliable performance from their external drive or on-board memory (and who doesn’t?!). The limited offerings for SSD haven’t yet brought it to the mainstream bulk storage front, but a new technology just might do that. Pioneered by Toshiba and Intel, 3D NAND stacks SSD memory chips to allow for more memory in tighter spots? Early results have given us a 10TB SSD.
As repeatedly mentioned before, with the push for higher displays and CPUs on smartphones slowing down just a wee bit, attention is now being given to the last part of the system to catch up: storage. We are entering a period of not just faster flash memory for mobile devices but also growing densities. Samsung is now trying to pull up even those on lower rungs of the device tier by bringing out the highest density 128 GB eMMC 5.0 storage squarely marketed for mid-range devices.
Apple’s incoming wearable, the Apple Watch, has captured the minds of many. As we parse through what the device is capable of, we also wonder what the spec sheet might hold for us. While we will probably have to wait for a teardown to get the full scope of what’s beneath the glass on our wrists, a new report suggests Apple has confirmed their Apple Watch has 8GB memory across the board. All versions will have this single memory option, with 2GB earmarked for music.
Apple is ready to ask Developers to make improvements to incoming Mac Apps. Through the Apple Developers portal, Apple is asking OS X Developers to change the way their incoming apps treat memory. Rather than ‘Garbage Collection’, Apple is asking Developers to use Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) for memory management. The change applies only to incoming apps, and for apps submitted after May 1. Developers should have seen this coming, though; Apple began favoring ARC over Garbage Collection back in the days on OS X Mountain Lion.
No stranger to lawsuits, Apple has been hit with a new case over the reduced storage iPhones have due to iOS 8. In the new class action suit, claimants are saying the advertised storage space for iPhones isn’t accurate as iOS 8 and above take up more storage space than previous iterations. According to the lawsuit, iOS 8 takes as much as 23.1% of storage space on the phones, which isn’t mentioned in any advertising literature. The complaint covers all devices capable of operating iOS 8.
Samsung has struck up production of 4GB mobile memory, paving the way for smartphones and tablets with more working memory than ever in 2015. The chips, which Samsung Electronics claims are an industry-first of 8 gigabit (Gb), low power, double data rate 4 (LPDDR4) mobile DRAM, are built on 20nm processes, and have not only the benefit of being faster than their predecessors - and, Samsung says, faster than their desktop and server counterparts in fact - also use less power, something unsurprisingly of vital importance when it comes to a mobile device. While it's big news for the chip firm, the implications are broader than just for the next flagship Galaxy, however.