Steam Deck internal memory mod could negatively impact the console

If you’ve been thinking about modifying the internal storage of your Steam Deck, it seems like you might not want to do that. Lawrence Yang, who is part of the Valve design team, commented on modifications popping up online and cautioned against this.

According to Yang, “the charger IC gets very hot” which is a great reason why heat dissipation elements should be kept in place. The problem comes from a PC Gamer article that showed off a mod being performed by Twitter user TheSmcelrea. The user proceeded to move thermal pads in order to fit a NVMe PCIe M.2 2242 card. Yang states that while it might appear to work, but the aforementioned M.2 drive isn’t meant to be used in the Steam Deck and that it draws more power. Because of this, it can also get much hotter than what the Steam Deck is meant to accommodate. All of this combined can shorten the life of the console.

A NVMe PCIe M.2 2242 card will fit, but it’s not meant for the Steam Deck

Of course, if you need more space, there are options. The easiest being to just pop in a microSD card into the Steam Deck. In various tests, it is shown that external cards work relatively well when it comes to read and write speeds. If you insist on upgrading the internal storage, you’ll want to try and find one that is compatible with the console’s NVMe PCIe M.2 2230 slot. These are not the fastest, but the are affordable and available through various retailers.

Recently, Valve announced that it would complete Q2 pre-orders of the Steam Deck and start shipping Q3 2022 orders. The firm also announced that it would be increasing shipments of the console in Q3, more than doubling the current weekly output. This is great news for anyone still waiting to get their hands on a Steam Deck console.

Source: Lawrence Yang (Twitter)

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Sony’s InZone brand delivers new headphones and monitors aimed at gamers

Today, Sony announced InZone, a new gaming brand that puts its focus into audio and visual products. Sony states that the main concept of the brand is “Immersion and Victory”. The firm announced a total of five products, two monitors and three headsets.

The InZone M9 and InZone M3 are both 27-inch monitors. The InZone M9 features 4K resolution with a refresh rate of 144Hz. It also features Full-Array Local Dimming, DisplayHDR 600 certification, Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, and more. The InZone M3 features 1080p resolution with a refresh rate of 240Hz. It also offers a 1ms response time and variable refresh rate. Both monitors feature the same shape and design, with lots of space under the monitor to setup a gaming space.

The InZone H9 is a wireless headphone, featuring noise-cancelling capabilities, 360 spatial audio, and a comfortable design thanks to its use of a wide head band and supple leather earpads. Sony has likened the product quality to its highly popular Sony WH-1000XM5. The InZone H7 are also wireless, while the InZone H3 are wired – both feature 360 spatial audio and nylon materials for its earpads. Each of the headphones features a design that offers low side pressure, which means that they can be worn for hours without fatigue.

For more details about each product, you can head to Sony’s InZone product page. Although Sony did not announce pricing or availability during its presentation, the products are now available directly from Sony for pre-order in the United States and the UK. The devices are expected to ship towards the beginning of July.

Currently, pricing from the Sony UK site is as follows:

• The InZone H3 is priced at £89
• The InZone H7 is priced at £199
• The InZone H9 is priced at £269
• The InZone M3 is unavailable
• The InZone M9 is priced at £999

Currently, pricing from the Sony US site is as follows:

• The InZone H3 is priced at $99
• The InZone H7 is priced at $229
• The InZone H9 is priced at $299
• The InZone M3 is unavailable
• The InZone M9 is unavailable

Source: Sony (YouTube)

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How to set up the MacBook Air M2 (2022) for working from home

Apple revealed the MacBook Air M2 (2022), along with macOS Ventura, during the main keynote of WWDC22. This lightweight notebook comes with a completely redesigned chassis and upgraded internals. Available in four mesmerizing finishes to choose from, the MacBook Air (2022) is packs the all-new Apple M2 chip. It’s mighty, efficient, and reimagines what a MacBook Air can be. Furthermore, it reintroduces the beloved MagSafe 3 port — which conveniently charges your powerful Mac and safely disconnects if you trip over it. It truly is the epitome of design and performance excellence that has gradually matured over the years. What’s so great about this notebook is that it features a fanless structure. So you won’t be hearing any noise coming from it when you’re focused on a task. Here’s how to set up the Apple MacBook Air M2 (2022) for working from home.

Set up the MacBook Air for working from home

Download the essentials

Depending on the company you work for, you will find yourself needing to install a certain set of productivity apps. These could include downloading Chrome on your Mac, in addition to Slack, Microsoft Office, Adobe products, Zoom, etc. It really depends on your work field and workplace, plus the tools they expect you to use. You might find some of them on the Apple App Store, and you can download the rest from their respective websites. It’s also a good idea to take a look at the best apps for Apple silicon. That’s because your new MacBook Air packs the M2 chip and these applications will be working smoothly on it.

Set up Focus

Focus is Apple’s Do Not Disturb (DND) 2.0. Through Focus modes you get to create your own work (or play) environment, in which you filter out distractions of your choice. If you’re not sure how to use it, we’ve prepared a guide on how to use Focus. The process is straightforward — yet powerful enough to make a difference when it comes to your productivity. You can silence notifications from everyone excluding your coworkers, and you can mute apps that aren’t related to work. This way you decide what comes through and what doesn’t.

Use your iPhone as a webcam

If you’re running macOS Ventura and iOS 16, you can use your compatible iPhone as a wireless webcam for your notebook. Working on a MacBook Air means attending plenty of meetings. This gives you the flexibility of moving your camera around and use advanced camera features like Desk View or Center Stage. If you’re not sure how to use the Continuity Camera feature, we also have a guide to get you started.

Make it grow a limb or two

The MacBook Air (2022) harnesses the power of Apple’s M2 chip to execute its tasks. However, it’s very lacking when it comes to port variety. You get a headphone jack, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a MagSafe 3 charging port. That’s not a lot. To further utilize the M2’s might, you might want to buy a dock or two. This way, you get a wider variety of ports at your disposal. So whether your work requires you to connect cameras, SD card, microphones, or an external display — you will have a compatible port for it, through the dock.

Take advantage of Universal Control

Universal Control allows you to control your iPad or another Mac through the main MacBook’s keyboard and trackpad. It’s perfect for the multitaskers who want to work on several tasks simultaneously. If Universal Control isn’t what you’re looking for, there’s also Sidecar. This feature allows you to mirror your MacBook Air’s display to the iPad — which acts as a wireless external display (and supports the Apple Pencil).

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The MacBook Air M2 (2022) is a great device for working from home. It’s light, portable, powerful, and reasonably priced. In fact, I personally use a MacBook Air to do my job — and it’s undoubtedly excellent!

Apple MacBook Air (2022)

The 2022 MacBook Air offers the M2 chip and a redesigned chassis with MagSafe support. Best Buy can notify you when it's available.

View on Best Buy

Do you prefer working from home or at an office, and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Apple readies M2 Ultra and M2 Extreme, will rely on M2 for mixed reality headset

Apple is preparing a slew of new devices and it looks like a majority will be powered by more powerful variants of the recently announced M2 processor. While this is kind of a given at this point, one other interesting thing to note is that Apple is also relying on the M2 SoC for its upcoming mixed reality headset.

According to Bloomberg, there will be more M2 products coming down the pipeline soon. As far as laptops go, we can expect a new MacBook Pro 14 and MacBook Pro 16. These models will be powered by the unannounced M2 Pro and M2 Max. At some point, Apple will also announce two new models of the Mac Mini and two models of the Mac Pro. The latter will feature M2 Ultra and M2 Extreme chips.

It comes as no surprise that the M2 processor will be finding its way into other Apple computing products. It also isn’t much of a surprise that Apple will utilize this SoC whenever possible. According to new information, the current iteration of Apple’s rumored mixed reality headset currently features an M2 SoC and 16GB RAM. Of course, the device is not retail-ready and things could change before its release. Nonetheless, this is an encouraging sign that this headset will pack quite a punch.

Despite the M2 still being quite fresh, Apple is already hard at work on its next generation of products, with the expectation that they will be powered by Apple’s M3 processor. The firm could also introduce a new laptop to its lineup with the release of a 15-inch MacBook Air. Furthermore, there are also reports that a smaller 12-inch MacBook is also in development. Luckily, we won’t have to wait too much longer for Apple’s next set of products, with the expected unveiling of new iPhones and Apple Watches coming this fall.

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Source: Bloomberg

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Apple MacBook Pro M2 SSD performance falls short of its M1 predecessor

Apple’s recently announced MacBook Pro 13 (2022) hit retail shelves this past week, which means it not only got into the hands of eager customers but also got into the hands of more reviewers. This latter part is important because apparently, testing of the base model has revealed what could be a major drawback for some.

YouTube creators Max Tech and Created Tech ran tests on the latest Apple MacBook Pro 13 and found that the storage speeds of the new base M2 model were slower when compared to the older M1 MacBook Pro 13. Now, this wouldn’t be a huge deal if it was a small difference, but according to Max Tech, the difference is pretty major. Running the test numerous times using Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test app, he was able to find that the write speed of the M1 MacBook Pro was 2,215, while the M2 MacBook Pro scored 1,463. On read speed, the former scored 2,900, while the latter scored 1,446.

Apple’s latest isn’t its greatest when SSDs are involved.

Max Tech took things a step further by opening up both laptops and checking the physical differences in hardware. They spotted an immediate difference with regards to the SSD count. In the older M1 MacBook Pro 13, there are two soldered SSDs, while the newer M2 MacBook Pro 13 has just one SSD. Max Tech explains that having two chips working in tandem is much more efficient than having just one SSD chip shouldering the load. This is probably not what many would expect, but it is something to consider when purchasing the newer model.

These tests were performed on the base model, and reports have shown that higher models have better and faster SSD scores. What will be interesting is to see how well the upcoming MacBook Air 13 (2022) will perform when it is released. Be sure to check out our full review of the MacBook Pro 13 (2022).

Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2022)

The Apple MacBook Pro 13 with M2 processor

Purchase from Best Buy

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Source: Max Tech and Created Tech (YouTube)
Via: MacRumors

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Apple MacBook Pro M2 SSD performance falls short of its M1 predecessor

Apple’s recently announced MacBook Pro 13 (2022) hit retail shelves this past week, which means it not only got into the hands of eager customers but also got into the hands of more reviewers. This latter part is important because apparently, testing of the base model has revealed what could be a major drawback for some.

YouTube creators Max Tech and Created Tech ran tests on the latest Apple MacBook Pro 13 and found that the storage speeds of the new base M2 model were slower when compared to the older M1 MacBook Pro 13. Now, this wouldn’t be a huge deal if it was a small difference, but according to Max Tech, the difference is pretty major. Running the test numerous times using Blackmagic’s Disk Speed Test app, he was able to find that the write speed of the M1 MacBook Pro was 2,215, while the M2 MacBook Pro scored 1,463. On read speed, the former scored 2,900, while the latter scored 1,446.

Apple’s latest isn’t its greatest when SSDs are involved.

Max Tech took things a step further by opening up both laptops and checking the physical differences in hardware. They spotted an immediate difference with regards to the SSD count. In the older M1 MacBook Pro 13, there are two soldered SSDs, while the newer M2 MacBook Pro 13 has just one SSD. Max Tech explains that having two chips working in tandem is much more efficient than having just one SSD chip shouldering the load. This is probably not what many would expect, but it is something to consider when purchasing the newer model.

These tests were performed on the base model, and reports have shown that higher models have better and faster SSD scores. What will be interesting is to see how well the upcoming MacBook Air 13 (2022) will perform when it is released. Be sure to check out our full review of the MacBook Pro 13 (2022).

Apple MacBook Pro 13 (2022)

The Apple MacBook Pro 13 with M2 processor

Purchase from Best Buy

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Source: Max Tech and Created Tech (YouTube)
Via: MacRumors

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OnePlus 9RT finally gets its first OxygenOS 12 Open Beta based on Android 12

Although the OnePlus 9 family was the first series from the company to receive the OxygenOS 12 update, the OnePlus 9RT was left out for some reason. So, while OnePlus has rolled out a couple of OxygenOS 11 updates for it over the last few months, owners of the OnePlus 9RT haven’t had the opportunity to get a taste of Android 12, unless they opt for the custom ROM route. That changes now, though, as OnePlus has finally started offering the first OxygenOS 12 Open Beta build for the device, giving users the option to test new features before they roll out with a stable Android 12 update.

As per a recent post on the OnePlus Community forums, the first OxygenOS 12 Open Beta release for the OnePlus 9RT is now available for download. The underlying build number is C.03, and the Android security patch level is June 2022. The release includes a handful of new features and several under-the-hood changes.

Below you can find the complete changelog of the first Open Beta build:

• New design
  • Optimized desktop icons with improved textures, by using a design inspired by brand-new materials and uniting lights and layers
• Performance
  • Newly added Quick launch, a feature that detects the apps you use frequently and pre-loads them so you can open them quickly
  • Newly added a chart to display your battery usage
  • Optimized the auto brightness algorithm to adapt screen brightness to more scenes for a comfortable screen reading experience
• Dark mode
  • Newly supported three adjustable levels, bringing a more personalized and comfortable user experience
• Shelf
  • Newly added style options for Cards, making data contents more visual and easier to read
  • Newly added Earphone Control Card with Bluetooth earphone one-click adjustment
  • Newly added access to OnePlus Scout in Shelf, allowing you to search multiple contents on your phone, including Apps, Settings, Media Data, etc
  • Newly added OnePlus Watch Card in Shelf, to easily glance at your health status
• Work Life Balance
  • Newly added Work Life Balance feature, allowing you to effortlessly switch between Work and Life mode via quick settings
  • Supported automatic Work/Life mode switching, based on specific locations, Wi-Fi network, and time, also bringing customized App notification profiles according to the personalization
• Gallery
  • Newly supported switching between different layouts with a two-finger pinch gesture, intelligently recognizing the best-quality pictures, and cropping the thumbnail based on the content, making the gallery layout more pleasing
• Canvas AOD
  • Newly added diverse styles of lines and colors, for a more personalized lock screen experience with inspiring visuals
  • Newly added multiple brushes and strokes and support for color adjustment
• Games
  • Optimized the gaming experience in team fight scenes
  • Newly added the HyperBoost end-to-end frame rate stabilizer
• Camera
  • Optimized the display of camera modes on the menu bar
  • Optimized the experience of zooming in or out when shooting videos with rear camera
• Accessibility
  • Newly added visuals to text instructions for an intuitive understanding of accessibility functions
  • Newly supported more system apps in TalkBack, including Photos, Phone, Mail, and Calendar
  • Optimized categorization of functions by grouping them into vision, hearing, interactive actions, and general

Keep in mind that this is still beta software, and it’s not necessarily worth installing on your daily driver just yet. If you install the Open Beta build, you will not be able to get an OTA to switch to a stable build. OnePlus also recommends making a full system backup before proceeding, as while the update does not wipe your phone, there’s always the potential for something to go wrong.

OnePlus 9RT XDA Forums

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Download OxygenOS 12 Open Beta 1 for the OnePlus 9RT

Before installing the beta software, ensure that your device has a minimum of 30% battery and 4GB of available storage space. Furthermore, the device must be on OxygenOS 11’s A.08 build. The local update APK needs to be separately downloaded and installed, otherwise you can’t sideload the release.

• OxygenOS 12 Open Beta 1:
  • India

If you wish to roll back to the stable release at any point, you can download the rollback package from the link below. Notably, this will wipe all your data, so you should take a backup before proceeding.

• Rollback package:
  • India

Thanks to XDA Senior Member Some_Random_Username for the tip!

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Source: OnePlus

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