While there may be a little bit of a bias here, coming from a site called MSPoweruser, Microsoft’s own CFO did in fact reveal that “pricy Windows machines are beating out Apple more often than previously.” This is also backed up by recent financial data, which saw gains due to a higher mix of premium devices. I guess what this means is that the Surface line has been a huge hit, and Panos is getting an even bigger desk. As morale continues to lift, you can be sure that the profits of Windows OEMs will benefit as well.



The result of Apple taking its eye off the ball has been the recent release at the end of October 2016 of the new Macbook Pro, with its biggest innovation being the touch bar and the removal of a large number of essential ports, to be replaced with USB-C slots, resulting in the device being famously slated as another example of Apple’s “dongle-hell” obsession. Now Microsoft ‘s CFO Amy Hood has confirmed that this malaise has resulted in Windows OEMs making gains in Apple’s so far hallowed high margin terrain. Microsoft’s financial results also confirmed as much, noting that Windows licensing revenue from OEMs for consumer devices grew 5% primarily due to a higher mix of premium devices. Microsoft famously claimed that with the announcement of the Surface Studio, which caused many to claim Microsoft is more innovative than Apple, and Apple’s announcement of the disappointing MacBook Pro “more and more Mac users were switching to Surface.”

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Apple’s New MacBooks Officially A Flop, Windows PCs Take High-End Market Share

Gaming Nexus is strongly suggesting that MSI’s M.2 Shield feature is a gimmick that does the opposite of what its marketing materials claim: While the “heat shield” is supposed to lower the temperature, it actually does the exact opposite. The author insists that thermal performance is worse overall, and that the shield would only be effective if it wrapped around an SSD entirely. You may find our review on the MSI Z270 here, where we found different results.



The idea that the “shield” can perform two opposing functions—shielding an SSD from external heat while somehow simultaneously sinking heat from within—seems like it’s written by marketing, not by engineering. …MSI thought that adding this “shield” to the M.2 slot would solve the issue of hot M.2 SSDs, but it’s got a few problems that don’t even require testing to understand: (1) the “shield” (or sink, whatever) doesn’t enshroud the underside of the M.2 device, where SMDs will likely be present; (2) the cover is designed more like a shield than a sink (despite MSI’s marketing language), and that means we’ve got limited surface area with zero dissipation potential.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – MSI’s M.2 “Heat Shield” Claimed To Increase SSD Temperature

At the risk of getting a resounding “duh,” as I haven’t been keeping up with Ryzen all too much, I will nevertheless point out this report that suggests it might be foolish to expect a six-core version of Ryzen any time soon. Heck, this article isn’t even in English and a poor Google translation may make it even worse than your typical rumor, but since there are existing murmurs and wishes of a six-core model, I suppose this may be relevant to at least some prospective buyers. Click here for the translated version.



Thai website zolkorn.com has gathered from “reliable” sources that the first Ryzen CPUs will only be offered with four or eight cores. The website’s staff was present at the Taipei Game Show, where Biostar presented its AM4 motherboards with X370 and B350 chipsets—if you ask the right people at such events, you may get some information after one or two beers.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Rumor: No Six-Core AMD Ryzen CPUs At Launch

The bigger news to me is that Toshiba built nuclear power plants ( or is that common knowledge? ), but the company has decided to spin off and sell part of its flash memory business due to a poorly thought out acquisition within its US nuclear division. This follows that sort-of-recent accounting scandal, where the company had to plan for massive layoffs after they discovered they would be losing $4.5 billion. But for me, Toshiba’s biggest failure will always be HD-DVD (which I still have a stack lying somewhere, collecting dust). Despite that, I am still cool with the company thanks to their low-cost, high-storage hard drives ( X300, etc. )—I can only hope that division sticks around.



Toshiba plans to split off the memory business (including the SSD business, but excluding the image sensor business) by March 31. The company has yet to decide which assets and liabilities will be split off, though it plans to sell less than 20 percent of the business, Reuters reports. Toshiba’s NAND flash memory business makes up most of Toshiba’s operating profit and is the world’s second largest, behind Samsung. The company needs cash, it explained, to make up for losses related to an acquisition within its US nuclear division that “could reach several billion US dollars.” “Splitting off the Memory business into a single business entity will afford it greater flexibility in rapid decision-making, and enhance financing options, which will lead to further growth of the business and maximize the corporate value of Toshiba Group,” the company argued.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Toshiba To Sell Off Part Of Its Memory Business