If you thought Apple's Pro Display XDR was exciting, get ready for DisplayPort 2.0 to usher in a whole generation of 8K screens and beyond. Freshly published by VESA, the standards association responsible for defining the connection, DisplayPort 2.0 brings with it a threefold increase in data bandwidth performance.
Laptops are getting thinner and some PCs are getting smaller. While that may be a boon for portability and space economy, there's only so much you can cram inside of them. Thanks to technologies like Thunderbolt 3, however, you can keep computers small and slim and offload the brunt of the work to external components. With Razer's latest Core X Chroma, Windows laptop and MacBook users can not only offload graphics intensive work to the GPU enclosure but even charging and data transfer as well.
Those waiting for the newest Galaxy Note-like device with an S Pen will find it in the Samsung Notebook 9 Pen. Meanwhile the Samsung Notebook 9 Pro looks about as sleek and refined as any Samsung notebook has ever before. Both devices were first revealed back at CES 2019. Both devices are now set to be available on March 17th, 2019.
The USB Implementers Forum has had a busy week. At the tail end of February, it seemed to go to great lengths to make USB 3.2 as confusing as humanly possible, and today, it announced the upcoming release of the USB4 specification. At the moment, we've only got a draft specification for USB4, with the final spec to be delivered in the middle of 2019.
Samsung may have brought a few new monitors to Gamescom last week, but that doesn't mean it's heading to IFA 2018 empty-handed. Indeed, the company is launching its new curved monitor in Berlin this week, and if you find yourself running out of screen real estate as you work on your projects, this definitely seems to be something to consider.
If you're picking up a new MacBook Pro today you might want something to plug into one of its Thunderbolt 3 ports, and so Blackmagic has just the external GPU for you. The new Blackmagic eGPU was designed in collaboration with Apple to make perfect use of those high-bandwidth ports, packing a Radeon Pro 580 graphics card and a full suite of ports to be your Mac's desk-side buddy.
This morning NVIDIA revealed their latest graphics card enclosure - Razer Core X - complete with Mac compatibility. Apple isn't about to release a product completely dependent on 3rd-party hardware - but that's never stopped Razer! The Razer Core X AND the previously-release Razer Core V2 will begin to work with Macs starting this week. Below we're running down the differences between the two.
Lenovo's ThinkPad line-up is getting a refresh for CES 2018, with updated X1 Tablet, X1 Carbon notebook, and X1 Yoga models, together with a brand new 27-inch Thunderbolt 3 display. While they may be ostensibly targeting businesses and mobile pros, the combination of speedy 8th Gen Intel processors and features like Amazon Alexa mean there's likely to be plenty of interest among consumers, too. As for that ThinkVision X1 display, it might be the Thunderbolt 3 display-hub you've been waiting for.
Elgato just revealed their newest in a line of docks made for Thunderbolt-loving computer enthusiasts. This dock is called Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock, and it's very tiny, and very full of ports. Much like past Elgato products, this one's clearly made to look good right next to your Apple computer - color matching!
It probably comes as no surprise that LG's 34-inch 5K UltraWide monitor is a joy for the eyes; just make sure you have an up-to-date prescription for your glasses. Announced last month, the pixel-dense display again made us question why Apple is leaving other companies to make the accessories we really think it should be responsible for, but having set eyes on the 34-incher at CES 2018 today we can't really complain about whose logo is on there.
ASUS is expanding its range of external graphics docks today with the announcement of the XG Station Pro. Perhaps meant to be the more subtle brother of the gaming-focused ROG XG Station 2, the XG Station Pro's purpose is to bring desktop-level graphics power to your more portable notebook. The design of the XG Station Pro is certainly more subdued than that of the ROG XG Station 2, but both of them share some non-aesthetic similarities nonetheless.
The computer monitor battle has been constantly moving from one arena to another. First, it was TN against IPS, then LCD versus OLED. It became a war of megapixel numbers before it became a debate between flat and curved. Now Samsung is bringing that history to the present battleground: input connections. At CES 2018, the consumer electronics giant will be showing off its new, ultrawide CJ791, which it touts is the first monitor to combine QLED, not OLED, display technology, smooth curves, and, most importantly, Thunderbolt 3 connectivity.