Apple, aiming to boost sluggish computer sales, is preparing to overhaul its entire Mac line with a new family of in-house processors designed to highlight artificial intelligence.

The company, which released its first Macs with M3 chips five months ago, is already nearing production of the next generation — the M4 processor — according to people with knowledge of the matter. The new chip will come in at least three main varieties, and Apple is looking to update every Mac model with it, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans haven’t been announced.

The new Macs are underway at a critical time. After peaking in 2022, Mac sales fell 27 percent in the last fiscal year, which ended in September. In the holiday period, revenue from the computer line was flat. Apple attempted to breathe new life into the Mac business with an M3-focused launch event last October, but those chips didn’t bring major performance improvements over the M2 from the prior year.

Apple also is playing catch-up in AI, where it’s seen as a laggard to Microsoft, Alphabet’s Google and other tech peers. The new chips are part of a broader push to weave AI capabilities into all its products.

Apple is aiming to release the updated computers beginning late this year and extending into early next year. There will be new iMacs, a low-end 14-inch MacBook Pro, high-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros, and Mac minis — all with M4 chips. But the company’s plans could change. An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Apple shares climbed 4.3 percent to $175.04 on Thursday in New York, the biggest single-day gain in 11 months. They had been down 13 percent this year through Wednesday’s close.

The move will mark a quick refresh schedule for the iMac and MacBook Pro, as both lines were just updated in October. The Mac mini was last upgraded in January 2023.

Apple is then planning to follow up with more M4 Macs throughout 2025. That includes updates to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air by the spring, the Mac Studio around the middle of the year, and the Mac Pro later in 2025. The MacBook Air received the M3 chip last month, while the Mac Studio and Mac Pro were updated with M2 processors last year.

The M4 chip line includes an entry-level version dubbed Donan, more powerful models named Brava and a top-end processor codenamed Hidra. The company is planning to highlight the AI processing capabilities of the components and how they’ll integrate with the next version of macOS, which will be announced in June at Apple’s annual developer conference.

The Donan chip is coming to the entry-level MacBook Pro, the new MacBook Airs and a low-end version of the Mac mini, while the Brava chips will run the high-end MacBook Pros and a pricier version of the Mac mini. For the Mac Studio, Apple is testing versions with both a still-unreleased M3-era chip and a variation of the M4 Brava processor.

The highest-end Apple desktop, the Mac Pro, is set to get the new Hidra chip. The Mac Pro remains the lower-selling model in the company’s computer lineup, but it has a vocal fan base. After some customers complained about the specifications of Apple’s in-house chips, the company is looking to beef up that machine next year.

As part of the upgrades, Apple is considering allowing its highest-end Mac desktops to support as much as a half-terabyte of memory. The current Mac Studio and Mac Pro top out at 192 gigabytes — far less capacity than on Apple’s previous Mac Pro, which used an Intel Corp. processor. The earlier machine worked with off-the-shelf memory that could be added later and handle as much as 1.5 terabytes. With Apple’s in-house chips, the memory is more deeply integrated into the main processor, making it harder to add more.

The big focus for Apple this year is to add new artificial intelligence features across its products. The company is planning to preview a slew of new features at its June developer conference. A large swath of those features are designed to run on the devices themselves — rather than in remote servers — and speedier chips will help drive those enhancements. Apple is also planning to make AI-focused upgrades to this year’s iPhone processor.

The company’s switch to in-house chips was part of a long-running initiative known as Apple Silicon. The tech giant started using its own semiconductors in the original iPad and iPhone 4 in 2010, before bringing the technology to the Mac in 2020. The goal has been to better unify its hardware and software with underlying components and move away from processors made by Intel.

So far, the effort has been a success, helping boost performance and ease the redesign of devices such as the latest MacBook Air, iMac and MacBook Pro. Apple’s Mac chips are based on the same underlying Arm Holdings Plc architecture as the processors in the iPhone and iPad, enabling thinner products with better battery life and less need for cooling fans.

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After dominating the foldables segment for the past few years, South Korean manufacturer Samsung appeared to be taking a backseat, with Chinese smartphone giants delivering new and improved designs, beating the brand at its own game (at least in terms of sales). A new report indicates that Samsung is indeed working on a Huawei Mate XT-like tri-folding smartphone to take its foldables game to the next level. While the manufacturer did win patents for its tri-fold device a few days ago, there’s more information about this upcoming device’s design and display.

According to a report by Korean publication ET News, Samsung is indeed working on a dual-fold (or a tri-folding) design for an upcoming foldable smartphone. The source states that Samsung is looking into new form factors and, citing industry sources, claims that it will unveil this new breed of foldable device in the coming year. It also stated that the design of this device will be locked down by the end of this month.

The report also claimed that Samsung has indeed added a “double-fold smartphone” to its development lineup and that partners are also working on developing solutions for the same.

The new foldable will reportedly have a double-fold screen, which uses an “infolding” design, which should make it a bit different from the Huawei Mate XT Ultimate Design. The upcoming device is said to have a main display that will measure 9-10 inches when unfolded, which will be about 2-inches larger than its current top-end foldable, the Galaxy Z Fold Special, which was recently announced for the South Korean market. When unfolded, this device will feel similar to an iPad or medium-sized Android tablet. When folded, it will take on a rectangular shape, much like a regular smartphone.

The move to a tri-folding device, according to the publication, is an effort from Samsung to keep the immediate competition (Huawei and Apple) distanced. Moreover, it will also help Samsung differentiate its product line in its foldables segment, which currently includes single-folding devices in book-style and clamshell form factors. We reviewed both of Samsung’s foldables launched this year. You can read about the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Galaxy Z Flip 6 here.

Borderlands developer Gearbox is reportedly up for sale by parent company Embracer Group. As per Reuters, the Swedish conglomerate is looking to restructure following a $2 billion (about Rs. 16,586 crore) deal with Saudi Arabia government-funded Savvy Games Group that fell through, earlier this year. The fallout resulted in the former cutting down on spending, in addition to closing down studios and laying off its employees. Having been acquired merely two-and-a-half years ago, Gearbox is now the latest victim, with some alleged third-party publishers expressing interest in acquiring the developer. No names were mentioned, though they were described as “international gaming groups.”

Following the original Reuters report, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier noted that it’s not confirmed whether Gearbox would be sold off, but Embracer is certainly looking to part ways with it. In an email sent to staff, Gearbox CCO Dan Hewitt said, “The base case is that Gearbox remains a part of Embracer. However, there are many options under consideration, including Gearbox’s transfer, taking Gearbox independent, and others. Ultimately, we’ll move ahead with whichever path is best for both Gearbox and Embracer.” Earlier this month, Embracer offloaded the Saints Row studio Volition, essentially shutting it down after 30 years in the game development space — possibly to do with the critical and commercial failure of its latest open-world reboot, as Embracer mentioned in its 2023 financial report.

Embracer has spent the last few years swiping game studios through a series of non-stop acquisitions and building an empire, bringing together coveted developers like Tomb Raider’s Crystal Dynamics, Remnant II’s THQ Nordic, Dead Island 2’s Deep Silver, franchising rights to The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and more. This obviously cost a lot of money, which was initially covered by the aforementioned Savvy Games Group through a $1 billion investment. But in May, the latter backed out, leaving Embracer to deal with the debt.

Earlier this year, Embracer Group confirmed that The Lord of the Rings was getting an MMO adaptation developed by Amazon Games’ Orange County Studio — the same developers who previously worked on New World. The title is in the early stages of development and will feature stories from the LOTR and The Hobbit written material from author J.R.R. Tolkien. A bit before that, in February, the conglomerate confirmed that it had five video games based on the Middle-earth franchise in development, one of them being the critically panned The Lord of the Rings: Gollum game, whose failure resulted in Daedalic Entertainment closing down its development division.

Amidst all this restructuring drama, Crystal Dynamics put out an open letter assuring fans that the Embracer restructuring program will have no impact on the development of the upcoming Tomb Raider game. The parent company is also behind the long-gestating Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, which switched studios from Aspyr Media to Saber Interactive, in August 2022, following the firing of two top employees.

Oppo Find X8 and Oppo Find X8 Pro were launched in China on Thursday as the company’s latest X-series flagship smartphones. They run on Android 15-based ColorOS 15 and are powered by MediaTek’s new 3nm Dimensity 9400 chipset, along with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of inbuilt storage. The Oppo Find X8 series is equipped with up to four 50-megapixel wide, ultrawide, and periscope telephoto cameras tuned by Hasselblad. They are equipped with silicon carbon batteries with support for 80W charging.

According to the company, the newly unveiled Oppo Find X8 series will also be launched in global markets — including India. More details about the arrival of these handsets will be announced by Oppo’s regional subsidiaries in the coming weeks.

Oppo Find X8, Oppo Find X8 Pro Pricing and Availability

Oppo Find X8 pricing starts at CNY 4,199 (roughly Rs. 49,600) for the base model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The handset is also available in 16GB+256, 12GB+512GB, and 16GB+512GB variants that cost CNY 4,399 (roughly Rs. 51,900), CNY 4,699 (roughly Rs. 55,500) and CNY 4,999 (roughly Rs. 59,000), respectively. Customers can also purchase the handset in a 16GB+1TB option priced at CNY 5,499 (roughly Rs. 64,900).

Oppo Find X8 colour options
Photo Credit: Oppo

On the other hand, the Oppo Find X8 Pro is available with 12GB of RAM and 256GB for CNY 5,299 (roughly Rs. 62,600). It can also be purchased in 12GB+512GB, and 16GB+512GB configurations priced at CNY 5,699 (roughly Rs. 67,300) and CNY 5,999 (roughly Rs. 70,800), respectively. The top-of-the-line 16GB+1TB storage model is available for CNY 6,499 (roughly Rs. 76,750), while another variant with satellite connectivity will cost CNY 6,799 (roughly Rs. 80,300).

Customers can pre-order the Oppo Find X8 series handsets and will go on sale via the company’s website on October 31. The standard model will be sold in Bubble Powder, Chasing Wind Blue, Floating White, Hoshino Black (translated from Chinese) colour options, while the Find X8 Pro will be available in Clear Sky Route, Walking in Clouds, and Hoshino Black colour options (translated from Chinese) colourways.

Oppo Find X8, Oppo Find X8 Pro Specifications

The Oppo Find X8 and Find X8 Pro are dual-SIM (Nano) smartphones that run on Android 15 with the company’s ColorOS 15 skin on top. The standard model sports a 6.59-inch (1,256×2,760 pixels) LTPO AMOLED screen with 460ppi pixel density, while the Pro variant has a 6.78-inch (1,264×2,780 pixels) LTPO AMOLED screen with 450ppi pixel density. The displays on both handsets have a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 4,500nits peak brightness level.

The company has equipped the Oppo Find X8 and Find X8 Pro with a 3nm octa-core Dimensity 9400 chipset from MediaTek, along with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM. You get up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage on both models in the Find X8 series.

Oppo Find X8 Pro packs a larger 5,910mAh silicon carbon battery
Photo Credit: Oppo

For photos and videos, the Oppo Find X8 series is equipped with up to four Hasselblad-tuned rear cameras. Both models feature a 50-megapixel ultrawide camera with a 120-degree field-of-view and an f/2.0 aperture, along with a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-600 periscope telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and an f/2.6 aperture that uses Oppo’s Triple Prism Folded lens technology to keep the periscope lense setup compact.

The standard model has a 50-megapixel Sony LTY-700 primary camera with an f/1.8 aperture, while the Pro variant has a main 50-megapixel LYT-808 sensor with an f/1.6 aperture as well as a 50-megapixel Sony IMX858 periscope telephoto camera with an f/4.3 aperture and 6x optical zoom. On the front, both phone feature a 32-megapixel camera for selfies and video calls. Oppo has also included its HyperTone Image Engine that is claimed to improve output. 

Connectivity options on the Oppo Find X8 include 5G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC, dual band GPS, and a USB Type-C port. The Pro model comes with a USB 3.1 Type-C port for faster data transfers, and both phones have an infrared (IR) transmitter. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and an optical fingerprint scanner.

The Oppo Find X8 and Find X8 Pro pack 5,630mAh and 5,910mAh silicon carbon batteries, respectively. Both handsets offer 80W (Super Flash Charging) and 50W (Wireless Flash Charging) charging support, and they have IP68 and IP69 ratings for dust and water resistance.

The stock market has punished Apple Inc. this year for failing to offer a vision of where its future growth will come from. The shares caught a bid Thursday after the tech giant took a step toward providing an answer.

Apple’s decision to overhaul its Mac computer line to focus on artificial intelligence, as reported by Bloomberg, struck a chord with investors, sending the stock up 4.3% and adding $112 billion in value in its best performance in nearly a year.

“Any announcement that pushes AI into consumer hardware could be very beneficial for Apple,” said Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise Financial. “However, the impact is yet to be determined.”

That will be key for assessing whether this latest rally can be sustained. Before Thursday’s announcement, the stock was down 15% from its record high set in December, wiping out more than $460 billion in market value. Trading close to its cheapest level in about a year, bargain-hunters clearly could justify taking a chance on Apple’s latest stab at AI relevance.

Sustaining this momentum, however, will depend on Apple’s ability to deliver on the promise of growth. For the Cupertino, California-based tech giant, that likely means getting AI into the iPhone.

The stock gained 0.5% on Friday.

Trading at Discount

“We think Apple will come back,” said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s wealth management market research and strategy team. “It is hard to bet against some of the perennial winners forever.”

Apple has paid mightily for its recent stagnation. It’s one of the weakest performers among the so-called Magnificent Seven this year, trailing only Tesla Inc. That has made it relatively cheap.

The stock trades at 26 times earnings, a discount to megacap peers such as Microsoft Corp. It’s less expensive than the Nasdaq 100 benchmark, which has an average multiple of 27, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The underperformance reflects the lack of a defined AI strategy and several quarters of weak trends, despite the company’s strong financial position and proven revenue generation.

“It has all these defensive qualities, like its cash flow, balance sheet and buybacks,” said Skelly. “It will start outlining more clarity and visibility around its AI pipeline, and while it may not be this year, expectations are building for an AI-enabled iPhone. In other words, it is becoming increasingly attractive.”

Hedge Fund Enthusiasm

JPMorgan Chase & Co. sees rising enthusiasm for Apple among hedge fund investors, as its reduced valuation and AI tailwinds offset challenges in China and the company’s services business.

Hedge funds are eyeing the headwinds for an entry point while “increasingly warming up to the opportunity of the AI upgrade cycle,” according to JPMorgan analyst Samik Chatterjee, who has an outperform rating on the stock, in a recent note.

The broader hope for Apple investors is that AI will be the catalyst that spurs a re-acceleration of growth. Margins are tight as revenue has declined in four of the past five quarters, and analysts expect sales to contract by 4.6% in its second-quarter results, which will be released in coming weeks. While this represents some of Apple’s weakest growth in decades, the upside is revenue is expected to gradually rebound later this year.

“Investors have historically underestimated Apple’s gross margins and it appears that it is happening again,” Bank of America Corp. analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a note to clients. “We see gross margins at Apple headed significantly higher, driven by increased mix of services within the overall portfolio,” he added.

© 2024 Bloomberg L.P.

The UK government is advancing efforts to integrate blockchain technology into its financial systems. In a recent announcement, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves revealed plans to pilot a digital gilt instrument in the country. This initiative will utilise Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), commonly known as blockchain. Gilt instruments, a type of government bond widely used in the UK and other Commonwealth nations, are regarded as low-risk investment options.

In her first Mansion House speech this week, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced that the UK Treasury is developing a “Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.” As part of this initiative, the government aims to showcase how technologies like blockchain can enhance the nation’s fintech ecosystem.

As per a post by UK Finance, the office has received feedback from financial institutions that a sterling-denominated digital gilt would garner broader investor participation.

“We believe this provides a way for the UK capital markets to guard against firms moving elsewhere to invest in new technologies and capital in jurisdictions where the government approach and regulatory environment has been historically nimbler,” the post said.

The UK’s leadership is exploring blockchain technology to support this initiative for several reasons, as outlined in the ministry’s statement. For the upcoming gilt instrument, the UK seeks to utilise Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to enable automation, smart contracts, and seamless management of the entire securities lifecycle. Moreover, blockchain’s immutable and permanent data storage capabilities can enhance transparency within financial systems.

“The objective is likely to have an established Digital Financial Market Infrastructure (D-FMI) to run a DLT based platform for the end-to-end trade lifecycle. The strategy involves using an integrated DLT platform for primary issuance, allocation, settlement, and custody, with potential for secondary market trading among pre-approved participants,” the post explained.

The UK plans to initiate trials of the digital gilt instrument within six months, with a broader rollout to follow in gradual phases.

Apart from fintech, UK firms working across other verticals are also finding ways to put the blockchain technology to use. Vodafone, for instance, is looking to integrate DLT with its operations.