Today is the first day of October, which means we’re approaching peak season for tech announcements. Microsoft, Intel, AMD and more have already caused a stir and are expected to do more in the coming weeks. With so much news coming out every week, it’s easy to miss a few stories. That’s why we’re here to round up the biggest news in one roundup.
Intel announces 13th generation desktop processors
After months of rumors, Intel finally announced its 13th Gen Raptor Lake desktop processors this week. The new processors are built with the same big.LITTLE hybrid architecture found in 12th Gen Intel chips. The range includes up to 24 cores and a boost clock of up to 5.8 GHz. These cores are split between Performance and Efficient cores to provide power when needed without always requiring full power consumption.
Intel will launch its new processors on October 20, 2022 with a starting price of $294 for the entry-level Core i5-13600KF. At the high end, the Core i9-13900K starts at $589.
Our editor Cale Hunt shared a full breakdown of the processors as soon as they were officially announced.
CPU | Cores | Son | TurboBoost Max 3.0 | P/E Core Max Turbo | L3/L2 cache | Base/Max TDP |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Core i9-13900K | 24 (8P+16E) | 32 | Up to 5.7 GHz (5.8 GHz cap) | Up to 5.4GHz / 4.3GHz | 36MB / 32MB | 125W / 253W |
Core i9-12900K | 16 (8P+8E) | 24 | Up to 5.2GHz | Up to 5.1GHz / 3.9GHz | 30MB / 14MB | 125W / 241W |
Core i7-13700K | 16 (8P+8E) | 24 | Up to 5.4GHz | Up to 5.3GHz / 4.2GHz | 30MB / 24MB | 125W / 253W |
Core i7-12700K | 12 (8P+4E) | 20 | Up to 5.0GHz | Up to 4.9GHz / 3.8GHz | 25MB / 12MB | 125W / 190W |
Core i5-13600K | 14 (6P+8E) | 20 | N / A | Up to 5.1GHz / 3.9GHz | 24MB / 20MB | 125W / 181W |
Core i5-12600K | 10 (6P+4E) | 16 | N / A | Up to 4.9GHz / 3.6GHz | 20MB / 9.5MB | 125W / 150W |
Intel Arc A770 gets release date and price
Microsoft’s Surface event isn’t the only major tech news taking place on October 12, 2022. On that day, Intel will launch its Arc A770 graphics card. This GPU will have a starting price of $329 and is expected to compete with the NVIDIA RTX 3060 and AMD RX 6650 XT.
Intel had previously shared ray tracing benchmarks for its Arc A770, but we didn’t have a release date or price until this week.
We also got details from Intel for the Arc A750. This GPU will also ship on October 12, 2022, but with a starting price of $289. That price undercut NVIDIA’s RTX 3060, which could help Intel compete with the GPU giant.
As Intel announced release dates for its new Arc graphics, several companies announced PCs with the GPUs inside, including Dell, Acer, and MSI.
Intel Unison to unite phones and desktops
Sticking with Intel, the tech giant has announced an app called Intel Unison that is expected to ship with select laptops in the near future. Intel Unison is similar to Screenovate and Dell Mobile Connect, but it has been optimized by Intel. It connects Android and iOS devices in multiple ways, allowing users to make calls, send texts, and receive notifications on their PC.
Dell bought Screenovate in 2021, so it’s no surprise that an app like this is in the works.
The biggest differentiator of Screenovate is that it works with both iOS and Android devices. If it works as expected, it will provide a similar experience to iOS and macOS integration; except that it will unite iOS, Android and Windows devices.
Our editor Daniel Rubino recently spent time with Intel in Israel. There, he discussed Intel Unison, the tech giant’s new processors, and more.
Android apps on Windows 11 are rolling out to 31 markets
Until recently, Android app support on Windows 11 was limited to Japan and the United States. That changed this week when Microsoft rolled out the Android Subsystem for Windows to 31 additional markets. Now users from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK and many other countries can try Android apps on their PC.
Microsoft also announced that the Amazon App Store on Windows 11 has over 20,000 apps. While this is a big milestone for the company, people will still want to download Android apps using WSA on Windows 11. If you’re tech-savvy, you can even run Google Android apps. Play Store on Windows 11, although it takes a bit of work.
Surface Studio 3 design leaks
Microsoft has a Surface event coming up in a few weeks, but details about the company’s upcoming devices are coming out in droves. This week, an FCC report showed a photo of the Surface Studio 3. From the looks of the device, it appears to have an identical design to the Surface Studio 2, which will likely disappoint some fans.
Our editor Zac Bowden covered the FCC report and added information from his own sources regarding the Surface Studio 3.
Microsoft is expected to announce the Surface Studio 3 alongside the Surface Pro 9 and a new Surface Laptop on October 12, 2022.
Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 details leaked
Speaking of Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5, details were also leaked on these two devices this week. Rather than a single image, the leak included full spec tables for the PCs. Based on the leak, the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 will feature Intel Core i5-1245U or i7-1265U chips when purchased by consumers. Retail versions of the devices will have Intel Core i5-1235U and Intel Core i7-1255U chips with Intel vPro.
The report also confirmed our previous coverage which indicated that the Surface Pro 9 will have a variant with an ARM processor.
As mentioned earlier, Microsoft will hold its Surface event this year on October 12, 2022. There, it will likely announce the Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5, Surface Studio 3, and more. Recent reports suggest that Intel versions of the Surface Pro 9 and Surface Laptop 5 will ship by the end of October, and the ARM-based Surface Pro 9 will be released in late November.
Review Summary
As well as covering the biggest news, our team of experts reviews the latest gadgets and games. Here’s what we watched this week: