Month: November 2018

Use Battery Settings on macOS

Apple’s MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro laptops don’t have a battery slider, although many of the same settings described above are present in the Energy Saver preferences.

To open it, click on the Spotlight magnifying-glass icon in the upper right corner of the screen, search for Energy Saver, and then click on the Battery tab. If you want to approximate the Windows Better Battery or Battery Saver modes, make sure that the options “Put hard disks to sleep when possible” and “Slightly dim the display while on battery power” are checked, and the option “Enable Power Nap while on battery power” is unchecked. (With Power Nap enabled and your MacBook asleep, the machine will wake up now and then to check for updates. Disabling it keeps your MacBook fully asleep when it is asleep—until you choose wake it up.) On recent MacBook Pro laptops, the display brightness adjusts to 75 percent when you unplug the computer from power if you have “Slightly dim the display while on battery power” enabled.

So, if you want the best battery life, should you use Battery Saver all the time? Not exactly. Because Battery Saver mode disables some useful features, you might want to use it only when your battery is below 20 percent and a power outlet isn’t near. Likewise, turning off Power Nap can mean it will take longer to catch up on notifications you’ve missed while you’re away from your MacBook. That’s why most users should use the Better Battery setting and enable Power Nap most of the time.

Use the Windows Battery Performance Slider

The first stop on our battery-life betterment tour is the Windows battery performance slider, a recent addition to Windows 10. It aims to group all of the settings that affect battery life into a few easy-to-understand categories. The company that made your PC determines exactly which settings the battery slider controls. But in general, keep these guidelines in mind:

  • The Best Performance mode is for people willing to trade off battery runtime to gain performance and responsiveness. In this mode, Windows won’t stop apps running in the background from consuming a lot of power.
  • The Better Performance setting limits resources for background apps, but it otherwise prioritizes power over efficiency.
  • Better Battery mode delivers longer battery life than the default settings on previous versions of Windows. (It’s actually labeled “Recommended” on many PCs.)
  • Battery Saver mode, a slider choice that will appear only when your PC is unplugged, reduces the display brightness by 30 percent, prevents Windows update downloads, stops the Mail app from syncing, and suspends most background apps.

Perfect Battery Life Estimates Are Impossible

Battery life is always hard to estimate. Even while you’re using a laptop, Windows might go from saying you have five hours left to only two hours depending on what you’re doing. That’s because performing more demanding activities on your laptop increases power consumption. A laptop won’t use much power while it’s just playing hardware-accelerated video on low brightness but increase the brightness level, and it’ll draw more power. If you start a demanding task that requires CPU power, it will draw even more power. That’s the real problem. Laptop battery life varies dramatically depending on what you’re doing. Manufacturers have decided to take the most unrealistic number they can find, but there’s no single battery life estimate that would work for everyone. However, a battery life test that simulates normal web browsing would be much more accurate and useful for most people.

Video Playback Uses Less Power Than Other Tasks

Constant video playback isn’t representative of regular use. Who is going to sit down with a laptop and watch 16 hours of non-stop video without doing anything else?

Manufacturers don’t care whether this represents your experience or not. They use this benchmark because it produces the longest battery life.

Modern laptops (and smartphones) use hardware-accelerated video decoding. The laptop has special hardware in its graphics processor unit (GPU) that efficiently decodes the video while using as little power as possible, keeping CPU usage down. For example, when you play an MP4 video—even if it’s on a website or in an app—this kicks into gear and saves you power.

This is a great feature. It helps save battery life and keeps your laptop (or smartphone) running cool while you watch videos. However, manufacturers abuse it by using this number to boast about battery life. Anything else—whether it’s browsing a single website or just writing a document in Microsoft Word—will use more battery power than playing videos.

PC manufacturers often benchmark battery life using Windows 10’s included Movies & TV app, which is always set up to use the PC’s hardware acceleration, if available. This feature is not available in every video player, and may not always be enabled by default if it is.

Intel’s Upcoming 5G Modem May End Up in iPhones in 2020

Intel has moved up the launch date for its new 5G modem chip, which means it could end up in next-generation iPhones, but not until 2020.

On Monday, the company said the Intel XMM 8160 modem will start shipping to tech vendors in the second half of 2019, about six months earlier than previously scheduled. But despite the new rollout date, the XMM 8160 won’t arrive in commercial devices until the first half of 2020, the company added.

 

Intel’s modem will offer download speeds of up to 6 gigabits per second, making it about three to six times faster than current LTE modems found in many smartphones. It’s a good bet that Apple will use the new modem. The company has been favoring Intel’s radio technology at a time when Apple is locked in a legal battle over stolen trade secrets with Qualcomm, another provider of 5G modem tech.

Last week, Fast Company reported that Apple was planning on releasing a 5G iPhone in 2020, using what it called an Intel “8161 modem chip.”

The 2020 arrival date may be a little disappointing, given that the first 5G mobile networks will start going live across the US next year. Intel’s competitor, Qualcomm, is seeking to capitalize on this with its own 5G modem, the X50, which is slated to land in smartphones during the first half of 2019.

Qualcomm’s X50 supports up to 5 gigabit per second speed and can be easily paired with the company’s Snapdragon mobile processer chips. Vendors including HTC, OnePlus, and ZTE say they plan on using the X50 modem in upcoming products.

Microsoft Makes a 4G LTE Version of the Surface Go

Microsoft’s Surface Go is getting a 4G LTE model that’s available for pre-order today.

The new model will cost $679 for consumers and $729 for business customers. It’ll officially go on sale in the US and Canada on Nov 20. Another 21 markets will get the device on Nov. 22.

The LTE model is configured with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. A 256GB version is also available for business customers at $829, making it the priciest Surface Go configuration you can get.

The high costs for the new unit may seem a little much, given that you can simply tether the standard version of the tablet with your smartphone’s portable hotspot. But in a blog post, Microsoft said the new LTE model will be ideal for business workers, who are often out on the field and need quick access to the internet.

The LTE model also weighs a little more than the Wi-Fi version; it adds 0.02 pounds for a total weight at 1.17 pounds. Microsoft says the device’s battery life can last up to 8.5 hours on a single charge, or about thirty minutes less than the standard model.

In July, Microsoft introduced the Surface Go, which starts at $399, as an attempt to offer an affordable 10-inch Windows tablet. In contrast, the Surface Pro 6 starts at $899.

2018 MacBook Air hands-on measurement: talk about the six advantages of the upgrade

Since its debut 10 years ago, the MacBook Air has been popular with users. Even if other brands of laptops have been upgraded, Apple has never removed many of its products.

I still remember that four years ago, Xiaobian was friends with Amway Apple MacBook Air (2014 version) this laptop, nowadays, at this moment, Xiaobian is also using it, the device is very smooth and clear. I like it more.

Every year, Apple brings its new MacBook Air laptop. At the Apple conference on the evening of October 30th, Apple introduced the product called “the most environmentally friendly” in history – 2018 MacBook Air . How is environmental protection? It is reported that this notebook is made of 100% recycled aluminum alloy material, and is also equipped with Intel’s eighth-generation i5 processor.

What are the upgrades to the new MacBook Air? A reporter from Forbes magazine conducted a preliminary assessment.

 

Display upgrade to IPS

The latest MacBook Air is equipped with a 2560×1600 resolution display, which is consistent with other notebooks. In addition, the display has also been changed from the previous 1440 × 900 TN screen to IPS, IPS images have higher stability and close to sRGB 100% color, the visual feeling is significantly higher than the old models.

 

Lightweight and easy to carry

The new laptop body is also made of aluminum. And compared to the old MacBook Air, the weight is reduced by 100g, the weight of 1.25kg and the thickness of 15.6mm is suitable for those who value portability, but the above does not represent the thinnest standard of the current notebook. Further, weight and thickness are critical to the performance of the hardware.

 

Color matching options

The new MacBook Air laptop comes in three colors to choose from, silver, space gray, and new gold.

 

Very good connectivity

The new MacBook Air interface has been replaced with a USB Type-C that supports charging and data connectivity. The two USB Type-Cs on the left support lightning 3, and the 3.5mm interface is reserved on the right, but the SDXC card slot is removed.

Under the shallow design, Apple also replaced the butterfly keyboard and the Force Touch trackpad. Unfortunately, there is no Touch Bar above the keyboard. The foreign media said that it is difficult to show the honor.

 

Long battery life

Apple previously said that the new MacBook Air’s 50.3Wh battery can continue to access the Internet for 12 hours. Apple’s power is that their laptop’s actual battery life is likely to be much higher than the nominal battery life. Need to pay attention, the old MacBook Air battery capacity is 54Wh battery, um, right, low-power processor is a meritorious service in this regard.

 

Super T2 coprocessor

The new MacBook Air also uses Apple’s T2 coprocessor, which was created to handle hardware performance not available with Intel CPUs, including Hey Siri, FaceTime image processing, hardware video encoding, Touch ID security zones, and more. At the same time, the T2 coprocessor also includes impressive high-speed SSD reading and writing. Due to the deep customization of hardware and functions, the T2 design is actually much simpler, and it may also prepare Apple for the development of independent chips.

In short, the new generation of MacBook Air has been upgraded and upgraded in terms of value, performance, battery life and even interface. The price/performance ratio is also the highest. Therefore, friends who have been watching silently can start.

New aluminum air battery comes light weight 5/6 volume reduction 1/2

Recently, Science published a paper on the battery. If the lithium battery is fully charged, the battery will lose 5% if it is not used for one month. If it is an aluminum air battery, it may lose 80% due to corrosion of aluminum. However, the researchers developed a new type of aluminum air battery, which lost only 0.02% a month, and the progress was quite obvious. In short, the new battery is five-fifths lighter and half smaller than a conventional battery.

Between the negative electrode of the battery and the positive electrode, there is generally a liquid electrolyte. When the ions move from the positive electrode to the negative electrode, the electrolyte collects electrons to form an electric current. In an aluminum air battery, the positive electrode is aluminum and the negative electrode is air. Because the air can be extracted from the environment, the aluminum resources are abundant, the weight is light, and the price is cheap, so the future of the aluminum air battery is bright.

Unfortunately, the electrolyte will corrode the aluminum after mixing and will corrode when used. If a non-corrosive electrolyte is used, the battery performance will be degraded. When the battery is re-used and the electrolyte is extracted, it will be found to be unusable because aluminum is hydrophilic (absorbent). The researchers found a solution: rinse the electrolyte with oil.

Between the positive and negative electrodes, the new battery has a thin film, and the two poles of the battery are filled with electrolyte. Once the battery is no longer in use, the oil will flush near one pole of the aluminum, which will protect the aluminum because the electrolyte has a lot of water and it cannot mix with the oil. When we use the battery again, the oil is replaced by the electrolyte. Because the oil does not melt in aluminum, there is no oil left.

The researchers tested the batteries under semi-realistic conditions. They used up a small portion of the battery, then placed the batteries unused, waited a day or two, and repeated the previous process. This test is somewhat similar to the use of urban electric vehicles. The researchers found that the battery lasted for 24 days and was eight times longer than traditional lithium-ion batteries.

Can aluminum air batteries replace lithium batteries in the next few years? No, no. There are some complications to solve when charging the battery, so the original aluminum air battery may not be a rechargeable battery, or the number of times of charging is small. There is also a possibility that the battery can be easily replaced. In the service station, the robotic arm takes the car battery out and replaces it with a fully charged battery so that we can charge it with more complicated mechanical methods.

One more thing to say is that the aluminum air battery does not seem to be shared with the lithium battery. In a hybrid car, gasoline can be shared with the car. However, we can extend the cruising distance with an aluminum air battery. When the owner forgets to charge the main battery, the aluminum air battery can be temporarily used. As one researcher puts it, the future of aluminum air batteries is bright. He said: “You can use it, then drive the car into the driveway, stop for a month, then start the car, the battery still has a lot of power.”

Huawei Mate20Pro has 5 functions that Samsung Note9 does not have.

With the release of the 1T mobile phone 6T, the flagship machines of the major mobile phone manufacturers this year have basically appeared. Although in the past 2 months, every manufacturer released a smartphone has the urge to buy, but the difference is still very large. Before the release of Huawei Mate20Pro, Samsung Note9 is recognized as the Android machine emperor. However, due to Samsung’s lack of innovation in appearance and function, the position of the Emperor was successfully replaced by the more amazing Huawei Mate20Pro. Recently, the foreign media also took stock of the five features that Huawei Mate20Pro owned and Samsung Note9 did not. This also proves that the machine Samsung Note9 was pulled down by Huawei Mate20Pro.

1. Unlock the fingerprint on the screen

 

Although Samsung has been researching fingerprint scanning technology for ultrasound screens for several years, it has not been used in Samsung mobile phones. Even Samsung Note9, which has been highly anticipated this year, is still behind fingerprint recognition. The screen fingerprint unlocking currently used by Huawei Mate20Pro is an optical sensor. The recently released one-touch mobile phone 6T has a similar fingerprint unlocking principle. A closer comparison reveals that the smartphones that are currently unlocked by the screen are domestically produced. Samsung Note9 represents the highest level of technology in South Korea, and now it is also in the hands of domestically produced machines.

2.3D face recognition

 

At present, Samsung Note9 uses 2D face recognition to unlock, so the unlocking method has a very big security risk. Huawei Mate20Pro is equipped with 3D face recognition unlocking function for the first time this year. It may not be perfect, but in most cases, the speed of unlocking is not only fast, but also convenient and safe. The unlocking method of Samsung Note9 is still used for unlocking the rear fingerprint, unlocking the iris, and unlocking the face. It has been used for several years, and there is still no change.

3. Fast charge and wireless charging

 

Huawei’s Mate20Pro with a battery capacity of 4,300 mAh is definitely an innovative pioneer in smartphones. Equipped with a 15W wireless charging speed, it is scary enough, and now there is a 40W super fast charge. Samsung Note9 currently uses its own fast charge for nearly 2 hours to fully charge 4000 mAh, while Huawei Mate20Pro takes 69 minutes to fill a 4200 mAh battery. How big the gap is, a comparison will know. More critically, Huawei Mate20Pro also has reverse wireless charging technology, and can also charge iPhone XS and XSMax, Samsung S9+ wireless.

4. Three lenses

 

Huawei Mate20Pro’s Leica three lens is definitely the most enviable feature of Samsung users. Although Samsung released the Samsung A9S with 4 lenses, it is not as effective as the three-shot Huawei P20Pro. The Samsung Note9 camera effect is indeed very powerful, and the dual lens encounters the Leica three lens and only accepts the loss. At present, the three-lens mobile phone is only Huawei, but the Samsung Note9 does not. The future Samsung Note series will not carry three lenses, this is hard to say.

5.7 nm process processor

 

This is definitely the most envious of Samsung Note9 users. Although Samsung Note9 is equipped with the self-developed Orion 9810, but the actual speed test was hoisted by the 7-nanometer Kirin 980 processor, Samsung Note9 equipped with the Snapdragon 845 processor, is also crushed. The Kirin 980 processor is the world’s first 7-nanometer processor. At present, Samsung has not got rid of its dependence on the Snapdragon 845 processor. It is believed that Samsung will still be envious of the processor in the next few years.

Guo Minghao: Apple will update Face ID and iPhone antenna design next year

On November 10, 2018, analyst Guo Minghao released an investor forecast report related to the new iPhone antenna technology. He predicted that Apple will replace the antenna material and design, and will add a new Face ID to the iPhone released in 2019.

 

In the report, Guo Minghao mentioned the liquid crystal polymer LCP antenna technology that Apple used on iPhone X. The production process of such an antenna is also complicated, and there are fewer suppliers that can be produced. In the face of this situation, Apple’s control over the price is also limited. Faced with this situation, Apple will probably add a polyimide (MPI) technology antenna to the new iPhone released next year.

MPI antennas are not as “fragile” as LCP antennas, and production costs are lower than LCP. And because production requirements are lower than LCP, there are five suppliers that offer MPI antennas, more than LCP. In this case, when Apple talks with suppliers about the price, the space will be larger than before, and the cost has the opportunity to be controlled.

Although there are points of view, LCP is better than MPI antenna in performance stability and power consumption control. However, some analysts pointed out that the performance of the MPI antenna is also improving, and the performance gap between the two will not be too large.

 

In this regard, Guo Mingxi also indicated that Apple’s replacement should not have much impact. Instead, he is more optimistic about the MPI antenna in the report, thinking that this antenna will become the mainstream antenna for future iPhone models.

He expects that the 2019 iPhone will use a combination of four MPI antennas and two LCP antennas to replace the current six LCP antennas.

 

In addition to the antenna, Guo Minghao expects Apple to update Face ID. The update will improve the iPhone’s recognition ability in the dark environment. The new version of Face ID will appear in the new iPhone released next year.