ASUS may be upgrading its ROG Phone 5 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 Plus chip

ASUS seems to be readying an upgraded version of the ROG Phone 5, the company’s gaming-centric smartphone that launched earlier this year with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset. The upgraded version is expected to be powered by the Snapdragon 888 Plus and might be launching soon, as per a product listing on a Chinese online retailer.

A product listing of the ASUS ROG Phone 5S has popped up on AliExpress, revealing some key details about the upcoming phone. As per the store listing, the ASUS ROG Phone 5S may come in two variants — 16GB/256GB and 18GB/512GB — and a single black colorway. The phone is available for pre-order, but there’s no mention of a launch date. The listing further mentions that the ROG Phone 5S will be powered by the Snapdragon 888 Plus and feature a 6,000mAh battery with 65W fast charging support. To be clear, the battery and charging specs are identical to the ROG Phone 5.

When Qualcomm unveiled the Snapdragon 888 Plus in June, ASUS had hinted at using the new chip on a ROG Phone, and the ROG Phone 5S is most likely that.

“By utilizing the latest Snapdragon 888 Plus 5G Mobile Platform in the ROG Phone, we ensure its overall performance is taken to the next level,” said Bryan Chang, general manager of smartphone business unit, ASUS.

Based on the available details, it looks like the ROG Phone 5S will likely not be that big on an upgrade over the original ROG Phone 5 in terms of overall hardware and design. It will most likely feature the same 144Hz AMOLED display, cameras, battery, design and dimensions, and so on.

ASUS hasn’t officially confirmed anything about the ROG Phone 5S yet, but we expect to hear more from the company soon.

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Featured image: ASUS ROG Phone 5

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MediaTek’s Dimensity 920 and Dimensity 810 chips are aimed at mid-range 5G smartphones

Taiwanese chip design firm MediaTek today launched two new products in its Dimensity lineup of mobile SoCs: the Dimensity 920 and the Dimensity 810. The MediaTek Dimensity family of SoCs is comprised of numerous chips designed for mobile devices, and they all feature integrated 5G modems. The latest additions to the Dimensity family are no different and simply provide smartphone makers another cost-effective option to ship 5G devices priced in the mid-range segment.

MediaTek Dimensity 920

The more powerful of the two chips announced today — the MediaTek Dimensity 920 — is fabricated on a 6nm manufacturing node and offers a 9% boost in gaming performance compared to the chip it’s succeeding: the Dimensity 900. The chip has an octa-core CPU, with multiple ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at up to 2.5GHz. The chip also supports LPDDR5 memory and UFS 3.1 storage modules. Its Image Signal Processor (ISP) supports 4K HDR video encoding, quad-camera concurrency, and up to 108MP image capture with zero shutter lag.

In comparison, the MediaTek Dimensity 900 featured 2x ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at up to 2.4GHz plus 6x ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at up to 2GHz. Its GPU was ARM’s Mali-G68 with four cores.

For cellular connectivity, the Dimensity 920’s integrated 5G modem supports dual 5G SIM, dual VoNR (Voice over New Radio), up to 2CC carrier aggregation, and both SA and NSA networking. Other connectivity features include support for 2×2 MIMO Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, and multi-GNSS for navigation.

In its press release, MediaTek also touts several of its proprietary technologies that are supported by the Dimensity 920. These include the company’s “Smart Adaptive Displays” tech which allows for the adjustment of the display refresh rate based on game or UI activity, “5G UltraSave” for improved power efficiency when 5G networking is active, and “HyperEngine 3.0” which, in conjunction with 5G call and data concurrency as well as unspecified connection enhancements and a “Super Hotspot” technology, promises to improve gaming performance.

MediaTek Dimensity 810

MediaTek’s Dimensity 810 chipset is a modest upgrade over the Dimensity 800 it’s succeeding. Featuring 4x ARM Cortex-A76 cores clocked at up to 2.4GHz and 4x ARM Cortex-A55 cores clocked at up to 2GHz, the Dimensity 810 is not much faster than the Dimensity 800, which had four A76 cores clocked at up to 2.0GHz. The Dimensity 810 is aimed at cheaper mid-range 5G phones, though, so this CPU setup is to be expected. The chip supports LPDDR4X memory and UFS storage, and it can handle displays with refresh rates and resolutions up to 120Hz and FHD.

Like the Dimensity 920, the Dimensity 810 is fabricated on a 6nm manufacturing node. Its ISP supports features such as MFNR and MCTF, dual camera concurrency, up to 64MP cameras, and several real-time camera effects like bokeh and AI color thanks to a collaboration with Arcsoft. The chip supports MediaTek’s last-gen HyperEngine 2.0 suite of gaming tech as well as the company’s other networking features.

The Dimensity 810’s integrated 5G modem supports up to 2CC carrier aggregation, mixed duplex FDD + TDD CA, dual 5G SIM, and VoNR.

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MediaTek says the Dimensity 810 and Dimensity 920 will ship in smartphones later this year in Q3.

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These are the best replacement chargers for MacBook Air: Apple, Baseus, Anker, and more

The MacBook Air has been Apple’s most popular, and currently the most affordable, notebook featuring a slim, lightweight design. Apple launched the first MacBook Air back in 2009 and introduced an 11 inch variant the following year. While the smaller version hasn’t seen a refresh since 2015, the 13 inch model received a design change in 2018. Like the MacBook Pro series refresh, Apple introduced its sharper Retina display and moved to a Thunderbolt-only design. While Apple introduced a MacBook Air only last year with its custom-made M1 chipset, there are rumors the next update is expected to bring color options to the range, just like the new 2021 24-inch iMac.

Whether you bought one years ago or got your hands on the latest 2020 model with the M1 Silicon chipset, we’re not going to judge you for losing or breaking your charger. In fact, we’ve got your back! Here are some of the best replacement chargers for your MacBook Air.

Apple 30W USB-C Power Adapter

Original replacement

This is the official 30W USB-C charger replacement from Apple for the all MacBook Air models launched in and after 2018 including the current-gen model with M1 chipset.

Buy at Best Buy

Apple 45W MagSafe 2 Power Adapter

Original MagSafe charger replacement

The official 45W MagSafe-based charger replacement from Apple for all the MacBook Air models launched prior to the 2018 model.

Buy at Best Buy

Amazon Basics 30W One-Port GaN USB-C Wall Charger

Affordable USB-C charger

Amazon sells its own 30W USB-C charger that should charge your MacBook Air just as well as the original charger. It's GaN-based which means it produces less heat and can be used to charge other devices including smartphones as well.

Buy at Amazon

Spigen 40W Dual USB C Wall Charger

Dual USB-C port charger

Spigen's dual-port USB-C charger offers a total of 40W charging speeds. Thus using a single port, you can charge a MacBook Air at full 30W speeds. Using both ports, the speeds are limited to 20W each.

Buy at Amazon

Anker Nano II 30W charger

Super-compact

The Anker Nano II is a highly compact charger that supports 30W charging, which means it can juice up the MacBook Air with no issues. It's said to be up to 59% smaller than Apple's 30W charger reducing the overall bulk of your notebook.

Buy at Amazon

Tecknet 65W GaN charger

All-purpose charger

An all-purpose charger that can be used for charging all sorts of devices including the MacBook Air. It features two USB-C ports and a standard USB-A port with support for up to 65W charging, which means you can charge multiple devices at the same time.

Buy at Amazon

Baseus 65W GaN charger

Top recommendation

A compact 65W charger that allows you to charge multiple devices, including the MacBook Air. At the same time it's fairly compact making it is easy to carry around.

Buy at Amazon

icalla 45W MagSafe Charger

Compact MagSafe Charger

This is a great third-party MagSafe based charger for the MacBook Air. According to the company it supports all MacBook Air models launched between 2012 and 2017.

Buy at Amazon

We would advise you to go for the official chargers because they’re generally less likely to fail. However, there are some reliable third-party options to choose from, which also cost fairly lower Apple’s asking price. The 65W GaN charger from Baseus is quite interesting as it can charge a wide range of devices yet maintaining a fairly compact design.

If you’re planning to invest in a brand new Mac, take a look at our recommendation of the best ones you should buy this year. We also have a list of some of the best Apple products for students that should help you, especially during back-to-school season. Not an Apple person and only trust Windows? Here’s a list of the best laptops to buy in 2021.

Apple MacBook Air

The 2020 Apple MacBook Air is powered by the company's new ARM-based M1 silicon chip.

Buy at Amazon

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Firefox 91 arrives with improved cookie protection, tab changes on Android, and much more

Firefox is one of the few remaining browsers with its own rendering engine, as Opera, Brave, Edge, and others now utilize Google’s Chromium engine. However, Mozilla isn’t having much trouble keeping Mozilla competitive with other browsers, as Firefox is about as fast as Chrome and Edge in real-world usage. Firefox 90 arrived last month with new rendering features and the ability to save credit card information, and now Firefox 91 is starting to roll out.

Firefox 91 on the desktop updates the browser’s Total Cookie Protection, which confines cookies to the site where they were created, with fixes for various data leaks and other improvements. Mozilla has also flipped the switch on HTTPS by Default, which attempts to load all content over HTTPS unless it fails (then it will try again over insecure HTTP). Google started testing a similar feature for Chrome back in June.

Firefox 91 Desktop Changelog

• Building on Total Cookie Protection, we’ve added a more comprehensive logic for clearing cookies that prevents hidden data leaks and makes it easy for users to understand which websites are storing local information.
• Firefox now supports logging into Microsoft, work, and school accounts using Windows single sign-on.
• The simplify page when printing feature is back! When printing, under More settings > Format select the Simplified option when available to get a clutter-free page.
• HTTPS-First Policy: Firefox Private Browsing windows now attempt to make all connections to websites secure, and fall back to insecure connections only when websites do not support it.
• The address bar now provides Switch to Tab results also in Private Browsing windows.
• Firefox now automatically enables High Contrast Mode when “Increase Contrast” is checked on MacOS
• Firefox now does catch-up paints for almost all user interactions, enabling a 10-20% improvement in response time to most user interactions.
• The Visual Viewport API is now supported on desktop platforms.
• Scots (sco) has been added as a locale.
• Fixed various security issues.

Firefox 91 Android Changelog

• New installs will see a “Set Firefox as your default browser” message on their notification pane.
• Added eBay Search to help users with their shopping needs.
• In order to improve tab navigation, the default layout of the tabs tray was changed from List View to Grid View.
• The default autoplay setting has been updated to Blocking Audio Only.
• Opting out of telemetry will now also erase all previously collected usage data.
• Password fields no longer automatically start with capital letter with the Samsung keyboard
• Fixed various security issues.

The Android browser now uses a grid view as the default layout for the tabs tray, but the option for list view isn’t going anywhere. eBay is also now available as a search engine option, just like the desktop app has offered for a while. Finally, Firefox for Android is matching Chrome’s behavior of blocking audio in auto-playing videos by default, instead of blocking video and audio auto-play.

You can download Firefox for desktop platforms from the browser’s official website. The Android version is available on the Google Play Store.

Firefox Browser: fast, private & safe web browser (Free, Google Play) →

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Microsoft rolls out Immersive Reader to Outlook, Teams, and more

Accessibility has been a focal point of many of Microsoft’s products, and part of that is its Immersive Reader feature. Already available in places like the Edge browser, this feature helps users focus on the text on a page, or have it read to them out loud. Now, Microsoft is announcing that this feature has rolled out to four more products in its portfolio.

First off, it’s now available in the Outlook Desktop app for Windows. When reading an email message, there’s now a tab in the top-level menu for enabling the Immersive Reader. Users can customize the background color, text spacing, and use features like Line Focus to make reading easier. The Immersive Reader can also be used when composing an email, so users can more easily detect typos or other errors. This is now available in the Current Channel, and it will roll out to the Semi-Annual Channel later this year.

OneDrive on the web also has this capability fully rolled out now, and it will work for documents and text files stored on the service. You can use the Open dropdown menu to open a file in the Immersive Reader. This comes with similar features, like changing background colors, spacing, and so on. Additionally, for business and education customers, Microsoft has also rolled out support for Immersive Reader in SharePoint pages, including features like translation.

Finally, for Microsoft Teams users on mobile, the iOS and Android apps also now support the Immersive Reader. This will work in chats and posts, so you can more easily keep up with conversations and discussions. Microsoft says the feature has rolled out completely all over the world as well, and it comes with similar capabilities as the other apps.

If you’re wondering what else Microsoft is working on for accessibility, the company recently highlighted some of the Windows 11 features that focus on it. These include new and easier caption settings, along with a refreshed Accessibility page that’s easier to navigate.

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ASUS is updating its motherboard models to enable TPM for Windows 11

Windows 11 is fast approaching, and if you somehow missed it, the system requirements have been an issue for some users. One of the more widely-criticized requirements is the need for a TPM 2.0 chip. Microsoft already required OEMs to include TPM 2.0 support in their pre-built PCs since 2016, but if you custom-built your PC, TPM might be disabled by default. In preparation for Windows 11, ASUS is updating many of its motherboard models to enable the TPM feature built into modern Intel and AMD processors. And it’s not the only company doing so.

To be clear, this isn’t something users couldn’t do by themselves. The option to enable the integrated TPM is available in many BIOS settings, but navigating those pages can be daunting for some users. ASUS is taking the most transparent approach with how it’s enabling the TPM chip. There’s a whole page dedicated to Windows 11-ready motherboards, and there, you can find downloads for BIOS updates that enable TPM support in their respective processors. Dozens of ASUS motherboard models already have updates available to enable TPM and prepare for Windows 11. Others are still labeled as “under testing”, so you may need to wait a little longer.

However, ArsTechnica also notes that ASRock has released some TPM-enabling updates for its own motherboards. If you look through the list of updates here, a lot of them are already focused on enabling TPM support, be it in Intel or AMD processors. It’s just a matter of finding your model, or you can always search for it and see if it has received any updates to enable TPM. Of course, there are many more motherboard makers out there, but hopefully, more of them will follow suit.

Keep in mind that these updates aren’t magically adding support for Windows 11 and TPM. This is enabling a feature that’s already there, just disabled by default. Not every motherboard and processor will support TPM, and thus, you might not be able to get Windows 11. According to Microsoft, Windows 11 is only supported on 8th-generation Intel CPUs or 2nd-generation AMD Ryzen CPUs or newer. Support for the previous generation from each company is still being considered, though.

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Microsoft releases Windows 10 build 19043.1165 – here’s what’s new

It’s once again the second Tuesday of the month, which means that, for Microsoft, it’s Patch Tuesday. The company is releasing cumulative updates for all supported versions of Windows 10. For most users, this only includes Windows 1o version 21H1, 20H2, and 2004, and they all get the same update. That’s because these versions of Windows all have pretty much the same files, just with certain features enabled in newer versions.

If you’re running Windows 10 version 21H1, 20H2, or 2004, the cumulative update you’ll get is labeled KB5005033, and it brings the build number up to 19043.1165, 19042.1165, or 19041.1165, respectively. You can download the update manually here if you’d rather not depend on Windows Update. There’s only a single highlight in this release, and it’s this:

• Updates the default installation privilege requirement so that you must be an administrator to install drivers when using Point and Print.

This fixes a vulnerability in the Windows Print Spooler, and it’s pretty much all that’s new in this release. Microsoft also isn’t mentioning the change that blocks potentially unwanted apps by default, which was announced a few days ago. Here’s a more detailed description of the change:

• Changes the default privilege requirement for installing drivers when using Point and Print. After installing this update, you must have administrative privileges to install drivers. If you use Point and Print, see KB5005652, Point and Print Default Behavior Change, and CVE-2021-34481 for more information.

While the aforementioned versions of Windows 10 are the only ones still supported for general consumers, a handful of other versions are still supported for enterprise users. You can find information about the cumulative updates released for other versions of Windows 10 in the table below.

Windows 10 version	Build number	KB article	Download link	Supported editions
1909	18363.1734	KB5005031	Update Catalog	Enterprise and Education
1809	17763.2114	KB5005030	Update Catalog	LTSC
1607	14363.4583	KB5005043	Update Catalog	LTSB
1507	10240.19022	KB5005040	Update Catalog	LTSB

As per usual, Patch Tuesday updates are mandatory, and they’ll eventually install automatically if you don’t do it yourself. Using the manual installation links above can help you plan when to install these updates. Windows 11 isn’t getting any updates today, since preview builds typically have different schedules from general updates. We’ll likely get another Windows 11 update later this week, though.

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