Graphics

New iMacs could sport Xeon E3 chips, ECC RAM, Thunderbolt 3/USB-C, new keyboard & more

Following up on a comment from Apple’s Phil Schiller regarding upcoming iMacs with pro-grade features, Pike’s Universum today shared a few specifics on what said upgrades might entail. Citing a “pretty accurate” source, the blog claims next-gen iMacs will feature Intel’s more powerful Xeon E3 chips with up to sixty-four gigabytes of Error-Correcting Code (ECC) RAM, faster flash storage with capacities up to two terabytes, Thunderbolt 3, USB-C and more.

Benchmark GPU performance of your iPhone, iPad and Mac with Geekbench’s updated app

Available on App Store free of charge, Primate Labs’ refreshed Geekbench app now lets you measure the performance of mobile GPUs in iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Mac devices. Geekbench 4.1 brings a new Compute Benchmark to iOS and macOS. Written using Apple’s new graphics API, Metal, it measures the performance of the GPU at executing common compute tasks such as image processing and computational photography.

Apple is developing its own GPU chips

In a bombshell press release issued Monday, UK chip designer Imagination Technologies said Apple told it that it would end a fruitful deal to use Imagination’s blueprints for customized graphics cores in its own A-series chips powering iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch and Apple TV devices.

Apparently, the Cupertino company is now looking to create independent GPU designs that could be ready in about two year’s time. Shares of Imagination immediately plunged over 70 percent to their lowest level since the financial crisis in 2009, wiping over $625 million off the company’s market value.

Nvidia seeking software engineers to help produce “the next revolutionary Apple products”

Apple and the graphics giant Nvidia have had something of a rocky relationship, with the Cupertino company switching between Nvidia’s and AMD’s graphics chips for Mac desktops. Most of the Macs currently shipping use either integrated graphics from Intel or discreet AMD chips, but that could change in the coming years.

As first spotted by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Nvidia is seeking software engineers tasked with helping produce “the next revolutionary Apple products.” According to the job post, the role would require “working in partnership with Apple” and writing code that will “define and shape the future” of graphics-related software on Macs.

Launching apps in low resolution mode on Retina display Macs

When it comes to most modern Macs, they come equipped with ultra high-resolution displays known as Retina displays.

These displays are the same size as standard displays, but come with much denser pixel-per-inch (PPI) specifications than your average display.

In this tutorial, we’ll be showing you how you can launch apps on your Retina display Mac in normal resolution, rather than in its higher Retina display resolution form.

GraphicConverter for Mac gains facial recognition, Collage, Picture Package and more

GraphicConverter by small Germany-based developer Lemkesoft has been dubbed the Swiss Army knife of Mac graphics programs, and for a very good reason: this app converts over 200 different graphic file formats into any of almost 80 graphic formats.

In its latest update, GraphicConverter for Mac was bumped to version 10 and enriched with a trio of major new features—facial recognition for your photos, Collage and Picture Package—along with refinements like support for converting Apple’s Live Photos format into an animated GIF.

Pixelmator for Mac gains precise selection tools, all-new Photos extension and more

My favorite Photoshop alternative, Pixelmator, was updated this morning on the Mac App Store with some notable new features, bug fixes and enhancements. Pixelmator 3.5 for Mac, a free update for those who own the app, includes the new Smart Selection and Magnetic Selection tools, a new Retouch extension for Photos which provides a full set of powerful retouching tools, and more.

Apple looking to buy troubled iPhone graphics provider Imagination Technologies

Ars Technica reported this morning that Apple is in “advanced talks” regarding a possible takeover of British fabless semiconductor maker Imagination Technologies. The chip designer develops GPU blueprints that other companies license and incorporate into their own chips.

Apple owns at least a 9.5 percent stake in Imagination and has long used their PowerVR line of graphics-processing units (GPU) inside its own A-series processors since the emergence of the A4 chip, which powered the original iPad, the iPhone 4 and the fourth-generation iPod touch.