Apple Releases tvOS 12.0.1 Update for Fourth and Fifth-Generation Apple TV

Apple today released tvOS 12.0.1, a minor update for the tvOS operating system designed for the fourth and fifth-generation Apple TV models. tvOS 12.0.1 comes just one week after Apple released tvOS 12, the latest version of tvOS.

tvOS 12.0.1 can be downloaded over the air through the Settings app on the Apple TV by going to System -> Software Update. Apple TV owners who have automatic software updates turned on will be upgraded to tvOS 12.0.1 automatically.

It is not clear what features or bug fixes are included in tvOS 12.0.1, but given that it’s a minor 12.x.x update, it has likely been released to address issues discovered in the tvOS 12 update.

If we discover what’s new in tvOS 12.0.1, we’ll update this post with info, but Apple often provides little detail on tvOS updates.

tvOS 12.0.1 follows tvOS 12, an update that introduced support for higher-quality Dolby Atmos sound, zero sign-on, and new aerial screensavers created in collaboration with the International Space Station.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 12Buyer’s Guide: Apple TV (Neutral)
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Apple Releases macOS Mojave With Dark Mode, Stacks, Dynamic Desktop and More

Apple today released the newest version of its operating system for Macs, macOS Mojave, to the public. macOS Mojave is a free download that’s available today for anyone who has a compatible Mac, and it comes after 11 rounds of betas.

macOS Mojave can be downloaded from the Mac App Store, with a direct link to the download available here.

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macOS Mojave is a significant update to macOS, introducing a new systemwide Dark Mode, with Mojave users able to choose between a light theme or the new dark theme, which changes the color of the dock, menu bar, apps, and other elements.

Dark Mode is accompanied by Dynamic Desktops, aka wallpapers that subtly change throughout the day to mimic the progress of the sun across the sky outside.

In the afternoon, for example, the lighting of the Mojave Desert wallpaper is at its peak brightness and the image of the desert is depicted as it would be if you visited it in the daytime with well-lit sand dunes and a bright blue sky.

At night, the sky in the wallpaper shifts to darker blue to reflect that it’s now evening. The shift between daytime and nighttime happens gradually over the course of the day, so you’ll see subtle changes each time you look at your Mac’s display. It’s a neat new feature that can be enabled in the Desktop & Screensaver section of preferences.

macOS Mojave also includes Stacks, a new desktop organization system that keeps desktop files neat and organized to cut down on clutter. The Finder window has been enhanced with a new Gallery View for previewing larger versions of photos and documents, a Sidebar for easier navigation, a revamped Quick Look option for quick document editing, and Quick Actions, so you can do more in the Finder window than ever before.

Screenshots that you take on the Mac can now be edited using built-in Markup tools and a new management options that also allow for easy screen recording. Continuity camera, a useful new feature, allows you to import photos and document scans directly from an iPhone or iPad to the Mac.

The Apple News, Stocks, Home, and Voice Memos apps have been ported from iOS to macOS as part of a multiyear project Apple is working on to make it easier to bring iOS apps to Macs, and Apple has introduced several new privacy protections to keep your data safer than ever.

Apple is also making it harder for websites to track you with a range of new Safari tools, and it’s also easier to make and store secure, hard-to-guess passwords for each and every website.

Apple has added an entirely revamped Mac App Store to macOS Mojave that makes it easier to discover apps with a featured section and specific categories for games, creative apps, productivity apps, apps for developers, and more.

macOS Mojave was initially supposed to include a Group FaceTime feature that includes support for chatting with up to 32 people at one time, but it was removed in the macOS Mojave beta and will be introduced in a future Mojave update.

macOS Mojave drops support for many older Macs compared to macOS High Sierra and it is compatible primarily with machines manufactured in 2012 or later. A full list of Macs that can run Mojave is below:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)
• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)
• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)
• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)
• iMac Pro (2017)
• Mac Pro (Late 2013, plus mid 2010 and mid 2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU)

For more details on all of the features included in macOS Mojave, make sure to check out our macOS Mojave roundup.

Related Roundup: macOS Mojave
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Salesforce Partners With Apple, Will Release SDK for iOS Later This Year and Redesigned iOS App in Early 2019

Apple and Salesforce today announced that the two companies have reached a strategic partnership in customer relationship management.

Working with Apple, Salesforce has agreed to redesign its mobile app to take full advantage of iOS features like Face ID, Siri Shortcuts, 3D Touch, Apple Business Chat via iMessage, and more. The new app, slated for release by early 2019, will also better adhere to Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines.

Salesforce will also be releasing a new SDK for iOS by the end of 2018. Optimized for Apple’s programming language Swift, the native SDK will enable businesses and developers to build and deploy apps for iPhone and iPad on the Salesforce Lightning Platform, and distribute them through the App Store.

To support developer learning and career growth, Apple is launching a new Get Started with iOS App Development course on Trailhead, Salesforce’s free, web-based learning platform. The course, which will teach anyone how to build native iOS apps in Xcode with Swift, is available starting today.

Attendees of the Dreamforce 2018 convention can get an early look at the new Apple and Salesforce offerings in the Salesforce Campground, in the Moscone South Halls ABC, or the Trailhead Area in Moscone West Level 1.

Tag: Salesforce
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SiriusXM to Acquire Pandora for $3.5 Billion

SiriusXM today announced that it will acquire Pandora for $3.5 billion in an all-stock transaction, creating “the world’s largest audio entertainment company,” according to Pandora’s press release on the news. The transaction has been unanimously approved by both the independent directors of Pandora and by the board of directors of SiriusXM, and is now expected to close in Q1 2019.

The companies explain that through the acquisition SiriusXM will use Pandora’s platform to “significantly expand” its presence beyond vehicles, and into the user’s home and smartphone devices. Still, it’s promised that there will be no immediate change in listener offerings after the acquisition is completed.

Both CEOs of SiriusXM and Pandora commented on the announcement:

Jim Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of SiriusXM, said, “We have long respected Pandora and their team for their popular consumer offering that has attracted a massive audience, and have been impressed by Pandora’s strategic progress and stronger execution. We believe there are significant opportunities to create value for both companies’ stockholders by combining our complementary businesses. The addition of Pandora diversifies SiriusXM’s revenue streams with the U.S.’s largest ad-supported audio offering, broadens our technical capabilities, and represents an exciting next step in our efforts to expand our reach out of the car even further. Through targeted investments, we see significant opportunities to drive innovation that will accelerate growth beyond what would be available to the separate companies, and does so in a way that also benefits consumers, artists, and the broader content communities. Together, we will deliver even more of the best content on radio to our passionate and loyal listeners, and attract new listeners, across our two platforms.”

Roger Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Pandora, said, “We’ve made tremendous progress in our efforts to lead in digital audio. Together with SiriusXM, we’re even better positioned to take advantage of the huge opportunities we see in audio entertainment, including growing our advertising business and expanding our subscription offerings. The powerful combination of SiriusXM’s content, position in the car, and premium subscription products, along with the biggest audio streaming service in the U.S., will create the world’s largest audio entertainment company. This transaction will deliver significant value to our stockholders and will allow them to participate in upside, given SiriusXM’s strong brand, financial resources and track record delivering results.”

Likewise, Pandora is expected to get a boost to in-car audio using SiriusXM’s relationships with the automotive industry. The companies are planning to release audio packages that combine the two services’ offerings, including SiriusXM’s radio stations and Pandora’s ad-supported and new subscription tiers.

Specifically, SiriusXM ensures that it will “support and strengthen” Pandora’s brand, and further enhance its existing Pandora Premium on-demand music streaming service. Pandora Premium will get new promotional campaigns for emerging and established artists, which will be personalized and targeted at relevant users based on their listening habits.

Pandora Premium was announced in late 2016 and then launched in the spring of 2017, allowing Pandora users to listen to music on-demand for the first time at a price of $9.99 per month. Similar to Apple Music and Spotify, Pandora Premium subscribers can create playlists, like/dislike tracks, browse personalized new music suggestions, and more.

Tags: Pandora, SiriusXM
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Kuo: iPhone XS Max Significantly Outselling iPhone XS, 256GB Most Popular, 512GB Subject to Serious Shortage

In a research note obtained by MacRumors today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has provided launch-weekend takeaways for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4, all of which went on sale Friday.

Kuo says that iPhone XS Max demand is “better than expected,” with the 6.5-inch model outselling the iPhone XS by three to four times. He says the 256GB storage option is most popular, with the 512GB configuration subject to a “serious shortage” due to Samsung being the only reliable supplier.

We have determined that the demand for XS Max is better than expected (3–4 times that of XS). The gold and space-grey colors are significantly more popular than the silver. 256GB is the most popular, and 512GB is subject to a serious shortage because only Samsung can currently ship NAND Flash well. We are positive that XS Max shipments will grow steadily in 4Q18 thanks to demand from Asia market and the gift season.

The well-known analyst believes Apple Watch Series 4 demand is “much better than expected,” with supplies likely to remain tight until Compal begins mass production starting from November, as a secondary supplier alongside Quanta.

Apple Watch Series 4 demand is much better than expected. The capacity of the assembler Quanta is full already; therefore, the supply cannot improve significantly until second supplier Compal’s mass production for Apple Watch Series 4 starting from November. We have increased the Apple Watch shipment forecast in 2018 from 18mn to 18.5–19.5mn units.

Kuo believes the iPhone XR will be a hot seller, with more customers upgrading to that model than the iPhone 8 series spurred last year. He is also confident that the device’s display-related production bottleneck will “markedly improve” beginning in mid to late October. iPhone XR pre-orders begin October 19.

Kuo expressed similar opinions following the first weekend of iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and Apple Watch Series 4 pre-orders last week.

Related Roundup: iPhone XSTags: Ming-Chi Kuo, TF International Securities
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Apple Watch Series 4 Teardown: 4% More Battery Capacity, Hidden Barometric Sensor, and Streamlined Internals

iFixit has completed a teardown of the Apple Watch Series 4, providing a look inside a larger 44mm model with LTE.

Image Credit: iFixit
The repair experts believe that while the original Apple Watch was awkwardly layered together and used too much glue, the Series 4 lineup feels “much more thoughtfully laid out,” likening it to the iPhone 5.

Apple pundit John Gruber has compared this to the leap in design brought by the iPhone 4, and we might even go a bit further and call it an iPhone 5: a device that knows its priorities, and wants to look as elegant inside as out.

At first glance, the internal design of Series 4 models looks more or less the same as previous models, with the battery and Taptic Engine taking up most of the space. Dig deeper, however, and the changes become evident.

Image Credit: iFixit
Teardown highlights:

• 291.8 mAh battery, which is 4% more capacity than the 279 mAh battery in 42mm-sized Apple Watch Series 3 models.
• A thinner and longer Taptic Engine, but iFixit says it still takes up a lot of space that could have gone to a larger battery.
• The barometric sensor may have been relocated to the speaker grille for access to the outside atmosphere. The sensor had its own dedicated hole beside the microphone on Apple Watch Series 3 models.
• The new Apple S4 chip is secured only with screws, whereas the processor is also “fiercely glued” in previous Apple Watch models.
• The golden ring is likely a streamlined antenna system, as iFixit says it has not seen the usual fiddly brackets or golden gaskets.
• The entire rear casing pops off more easily.
• The display is not only larger, but also thinner.

iFixit says the Apple Watch Series 4 is nearing iPhone levels of repairability, with the highly-glued display being the primary remaining obstacle. Beyond that, they say the battery is straightforward to replace.

Image Credit: iFixit
All in all, the Series 4 received a “solid” 6/10 on iFixit’s repairability scale, with 10 being the best possible score. That’s the same repairability score iFixit gave the iPhone XS and XS Max in its teardown of those devices.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5Tags: iFixit, teardownBuyer’s Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
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Tim Cook Shares Photos Shot on iPhone XS by New Owners

Apple CEO Tim Cook marked the launch of the new iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max this weekend by tweeting out a series of photos that were all taken by Apple users on the new line of iPhones.

First was an image posted by photographer Erin Brooks, who captured her image using the iPhone XS and edited it in Adobe Lightroom on iOS.

Photo via Erin Brooks
Next was a photo shot on iPhone XS by Yuntao Lu at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington. As a comparison, Lu managed to capture an image with a similar angle and lighting conditions on the iPhone 6s Plus one year prior.

Taken on iPhone XS (left) and iPhone 6s Plus (right), via Yuntao Lu
In the last tweet, lifestyle and travel photographer Andrew Kearns shared a series of photos that he took on a beach along the Oregon coastline using the iPhone XS. Kearns documented his photo shoot in a vlog shared on YouTube as well.

Photo via Andrew Kearns

Straight out of camera, no edits #iPhoneXS #ShotOniPhoneXS #shotoniphone pic.twitter.com/jaH7FreDW3

— Andrew Kearns (@andrewtkearns) September 22, 2018

Now that the iPhone XS and XS Max have been out for a few days, more and more photos captured using the new smartphones are being shared online. Prior to their release, photographer Austin Mann shared some of the first images taken on the iPhone XS, including images he captured on a trip to Zanzibar.

The iPhone XS and XS Max have a few improvements in their cameras compared to last year’s iPhone X, particularly including a new image signal processor that integrates with the Neural Engine to introduce Smart HDR. This feature allows photos to have more detail in their highlights and shadows, introducing images that are more sharp overall.

Along with a 32 percent larger wide-angle camera sensor and more sophisticated bokeh (which you can now control after you take a photo using the new Depth Control feature), iPhone XS and XS Max allow for some of the best photos taken via iPhone yet.

Related Roundup: iPhone XS
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iPhone Storage is ‘Absolutely the Most Profitable iPhone Feature’ says Analyst

A new report out this morning by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman and Ian King takes a look into Apple’s pricing strategy for the storage capacities on the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Specifically, Bloomberg says that the biggest upsell for the iPhone XS and XS Max is the new 512GB storage option, which will help Apple make $134 more per iPhone than the 64GB option.

512GB is the highest storage capacity that Apple has yet to release on an iPhone, and the company charges customers a lot more for NAND storage chips than it pays suppliers. IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam explains that storage costs Apple about 25 cents per gigabyte, and the company charges customers about 78 cents per gigabyte. Because of this, Lam says that storage “is absolutely the most profitable iPhone feature.”

In research compiled by Bloomberg, the 64GB iPhone XS cost Apple $23.68 for the NAND storage specifically, the 256GB cost $66.24, and the 512GB cost $132.48. In terms of revenue, the 512GB storage option is estimated to make Apple $134 more per iPhone than the 64GB tier, an increase from $107 for the 2017 models.

According to data from InSpectrum Tech, the market price of NAND flash memory is half of what it was a year ago, but Apple’s storage tiers for the iPhone have not reflected these savings.

“Storage is one of their levers to create more revenue and is absolutely the most profitable iPhone feature,” says Wayne Lam, an analyst at researcher IHS Markit Ltd. Adding more isn’t much work for Apple, because it just means swapping a chip, he adds, “whereas when you increase the screen size, you have to completely re-engineer the phone.”

The 78¢-per-gig charge hasn’t budged since last year. Of course, Apple uses contracts to lock in the price of such components as Nand flash, so it may not be benefiting yet from recent price declines. So far, though, storage costs customers more on an iPhone than on, say, a Samsung Note 9. Samsung Electronics Co. charges 65¢ a gig to move from the 128GB Note 9 phone to the 512GB model.

With more storage, users can save more photos, videos, documents, music, movies, podcasts, books, and more on their iPhones, without having to worry about deleting old items for more space. Of course, Apple also offers iCloud storage at $0.99/month for 50GB, $2.99/month for 200GB, and $9.99/month for 2TB. This means that if a 512GB iPhone XS or XS Max user wants to back up most of the content on their device, they will need to opt for the $9.99/month option.

In terms of the prices for these new iPhones, which begin at $750 for the not-yet-released iPhone XR and increase to $1,449 for the 512GB iPhone XS Max, Apple CEO Tim Cook has said that the company is aiming to “serve everyone.” In an interview with Nikkei, he explained that “if you provide a lot of innovation and a lot of value, there is a segment of people who are willing to pay for it,” referring to the steeper prices of this year’s iPhone XS and XS Max.

Related Roundup: iPhone XS
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Armani Exchange’s smartwatch is for those who want their tech to be dapper

The influx of new Wear OS smartwatches continues with the Armani Exchange Connected, the brand’s first touchscreen smartwatch, which combines a modern design with the latest smartwatch technology. While we say “the latest,” don’t get too excited — this watch is powered by the Snapdragon Wear 2100 platform, not the new Snapdragon 3100. You’ve got to be patient for those.

If you’re scratching your head about this being the first Armani smartwatch, when we’ve seen others in the past, the reason is this is the first to come from the Armani Exchange division. Previously, we’ve tried out Emporio Armani smart and hybrid watches. To help understand the branding, it’s helpful to know that a year ago, Giorgio Armani announced it would concentrate on three brand names — Giorgio, Emporio, and Exchange — rather than the seven it had until that point. Exchange is the entry point into the world of Armani, and appeals to those who still want the look, without the massive price tag. Ideal for a smartwatch.

What about the watch itself? It’s designed beautifully, with a distinctive but not over-the-top style, and available in gold, black, silver, and coal colors. The case is quite large at 46mm — that’s only a millimeter smaller than the Diesel On Full Guard 2.5 — making it look modern, and provide plenty of on-the-wrist presence. The AMOLED screen is 1.2 inches, so it doesn’t overpower the watch’s case. We’re advocates of the smaller screen on Wear OS watches, as they remain usable without stretching the overall size of the watch itself.

Like other designer smartwatches released recently, the Armani Exchange Connected has GPS inside so you don’t need your phone when out for a hike or run, plus there is a heart rate sensor on the back of the case. These two features join NFC for Google Pay, and swim proof water resistance too. Google’s Wear OS operating system is installed, complete with Google Assistant, and we imagine the watch will receive an update to the new version of the software, which greatly improves usability. The 300mAh battery is likely to be good for a day before needing a recharge.

If you’re tempted, you don’t have to wait for the Armani Exchange Connected watch, as it’s available to buy from armaniexchange.com now, and through selected retailers too. The color is the only differentiating factor between the four models — all have a metal bracelet — and to get one you’ll pay $295.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Techy and trendy? That’s the new Emporio Armani Connected smartwatch
• The best Wear OS watches
• Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 3100 chip will finally make Google’s Wear OS competitive
• Mobvoi Ticwatch Pro Review

How Razer forged the Blade 15, the slim gaming laptop nobody else could build

Take a walk down the shopping hub of downtown San Francisco, and it’s hard to miss Razer’s street-level storefront. People off the sidewalk are invited in to be dazzled by the spectacle of the live DJ’s thumping music and flashing lights. That’s certainly represents one aspect of Razer’s ethos.

But just a few blocks away is a non-descript, mid-level high-rise where the magic behind Razer’s designs are crafted. Secured doors conceal prototypes, sketches, and mockups for products that have yet to be launched — and like other tech companies in the Valley, employees treat the space as their own garage. Strip away the thumpa-thumpa music and the club-like decadence, and you’ll find the simpler aspect of Razer’s approaches design – methodical, purposeful, and devoid of unnecessary excesses.

That was the space Razer invited us into to hear the story of how the Blade 15 came to be. It’s a gaming laptop that fully embodies that design philosophy both in terms of how it looks and how it performs.

Learning from the smartphone

Minimalist black with green accents highlighted by the familiar three-headed serpent emblem — it’s an aesthetic gamers have come to trust over the years. Quite often, if it weren’t for the darkened silhouette, the two spines on the top of the lid, and Razer’s logo, you’d never know these were laptops that could game. But Razer’s challenge in launching the Blade 15, was moving away from this familiar look into a new design language that’s as much about function as it is about form.

Razer

That’s according to Razer’s Director of Industrial Design, Stephane Blanchard. The French designer has been working on Razer products for over twelve years now, and has been a central figure in cultivating Razer’s unique design aesthetic over the years. He led us through the halls of the company’s design studio where we learned about Razer’s new design directive.

“What we wanted is something that looks good but isn’t screaming that gaming is all we’re doing”

“The choice has been quite obvious from our perspective,” Blanchard said. “It was a trend in a way, and I feel that’s where we’re going, and it’s being driven by phone.” With the phone, Razer knew it wanted to maximize the front of the device to showcase the display and give gamers front-firing stereo speakers, and Blanchard’s team felt that a flat design with minimal curves was the best approach.

In fact, the Blade 15’s angular design originated several years ago alongside the design of the Razer phone, but Razer decided to launch its phone first. And when it came time to working on the next generation of laptops, the team knew they wanted to port over this design language to the Blade 15.

This new design is apparent the first time we saw the Blade. Rather than follow in the footsteps of other gaming brands, Razer has bucked the trend of more flash, opting for more conservative designs.

Stephane Blanchard, Razer’s director of industrial design

You won’t find ostentatious speakers, massive grills, or aggressive vents on any Blade, a conscious design decision that the company made to allow its gaming laptops to easily transition between game room and board room environment.

Part of this approach is to design a product that is powerful enough for gaming, but is still utilitarian. At the end of the day, people still write emails, create PowerPoint presentations, and analyze Excel spreadsheets on the laptop, even if it’s one that’s built for gaming.

“What we wanted is something that looks good but isn’t screaming that gaming is all we’re doing,” Blanchard said. “And showing off an aggressive gaming design isn’t all we’re doing.”

But in order to accomplish that goal, the designers at Razer would need to start chopping some of the excess from their designs.

Cutting the fat

With a new mission intact, Blanchard and his team of designers spread across Singapore, San Francisco, and Taipei saw a new opportunity to refine and distill the company’s approach to design. Just like the CNC machined aluminum manufacturing process that shapes and sharpens the Blade’s more angular edges this year, Blanchard wanted to extrude away everything that wasn’t crucial to the Blade 15. Removing anything was unnecessary allowed Razer to focus on performance and perfecting the smaller details.

Early concept art for the Blade 15 featuring designs for the laptop’s bezel, edge, and hinge. Razer

“It’s really hard work to get to the point where we have to remove everything that is not necessary, so there is really that focus of do we need this design element?” Blanchard said as he showed off the Blade 15’s flat lid and blocky frame. This meant that the two signature spines that adorned the top of every previous Blade model are now gone.

Initially, the team experimented with various spine designs on early plastic prototypes. “For a long time, we were considering whether we were keeping it, not keeping it,” Blanchard said of these lid ridges. “We also studied different ways of doing it — shorter, longer, raised, flat, embossed, not at all.” Ultimately, the team felt that Razer’s design identity is still strong enough that gamers could still identify the Blade as a Razer product, thanks to the signature black and green colorway and the glowing three-headed serpent logo on the lid, and the spines were dropped.

An attention to detail and Razer’s understated approach to design that earned the Blade 15 comparisons with Apple’s MacBooks.

While the spines served a functional purpose, allowing users to quickly grip the laptop when pulling the Blade out from a bag, the detail was inspired by the contouring on top of car hoods. Having studied automotive design in school, Blanchard pulled from his background in cars when designing the Blade 15 and the Core V2 eGPU. You can see the results of that in the laptop’s vents and grills, the bead-blasted anodized black finish, and how light rolls off the surface. On the laptop, the automotive inspiration resulted in rounded edges derived from the idea of continuous curvatures.

To find the right shape for the laptop, designers used plastic mockups to visualize how the Blade 15 would look when it’s held in the hands or sitting on a desk. Early concepts include a wedge-shaped design, chamfered edge detailing, and prototypes with curvier edges on the bottom to give the illusion of an even slimmer design.

Like previous Blades, the team chose to continue using machined aluminum again this year, despite experiments with other materials – including plastic, magnesium, and carbon fiber – Blanchard explained that the material was a great fit in creating a slim laptop with a sturdy feel. “Going with the CNC aluminum really helped us to achieve a really flat surface,” he explained. “If we were going with a plastic enclosure, then potentially you’ll see some marks. It will not be perfectly flat.”

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Zoomed out view of the underside with the new hinge design. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

A table of Blade 15 prototypes made from ABS plastic showcasing lid mockups. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

A table of Blade 15 prototypes made from ABS plastic showcasing lid mockups. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

The Blade 15’s keyboard prototype without the full-sized arrow keys. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

An early angular concept for the Blade 15 with spines on the lid. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

An etching from the underside of the Blade 15’s lid. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

A concept for the spines on the Blade 15’s lid using a debased technique. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

Razer had to switch away from the barrel-style hinge to this new hinge design with the more angular Blade 15. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

An early machined lid from aluminum that hasn’t yet been sandblasted to give it the final texture. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

Side view showing ports on a nearly finished Blade 15 prototype. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

A near-finished but non-functioning prototype of the Blade 15. Razer was still considering the two spines on the lid on this design Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

A table of Blade 15 prototypes made from ABS plastic showcasing lid mockups. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

Blade 15 keyboard design showing full-height arrow key arrangement. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

Underside of the Blade 15’s lid with stamping and details for circuitry Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

Side angle view of a Blade 15 prototype showing new hinge design, ports, and unfinalized lid design with the spine elements. Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

This attention to detail, a solid unibody construction, and Razer’s understated approach to design that earned the Blade comparisons with Apple’s MacBooks. “We are a definitely a designed-focus brand, versus a purely engineering company,” Razer senior manager of public relations Kevin Allen explained. “Otherwise we wouldn’t spend so much time on design.”

Comparisons between the Blade and Apple’s MacBooks aren’t unwarranted, and Razer has earned its spot as one of the leading designers of notebooks. Arguably, like the MacBook Air — which was a pioneer in the thin, light, and powerful notebook space – Razer has replicated Apple’s success by applying similar philosophies in the Blade’s design to address the needs of gamers. Like the Air, the Blade 15 is an unassuming notebook that’s not much thicker than a standard thin-and-light ultrabook. And just like how the Air could be mistaken for a netbook when it debuted, the Blade packs in plenty of processing and graphics power for its small size.

This new, thin design could have only been possible with the right mix of technologies at hand. Most importantly, powerful chips small enough to fit into the Blade 15’s thin chassis and a thermal system to keep temperatures down.

An engineering puzzle

When combined with the large array of ports, the Blade 15’s use of Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 graphics processor helps it to become one of the slimmest virtual reality-friendly laptops on the market. To keep the chassis slim, Razer worked closely with partners Intel and Nvidia to hone in on the design, relying on the former’s Max-Q reference design for pushing the slim envelope with a 1070 GPU.

“Ultimately, the question has been when should we introduce a new design language,” Blanchard said. “And that’s something that we knew while working closely with Intel and Nvidia with the new processors that this is something that will happen on the Blade 15.”

“… We want users to be able to open up the back of the laptop and look inside and see that there is an attention to details.”

As designers pushed to slim down the Blade, engineers were working overtime to try to accommodate the powerful CPU and GPU inside. “We knew we have to dissipate heat, but we try to not add vents every on every surface,” Blanchard said. “We are really fighting — not just to the millimeter, but to 0.01 millimeter.” As a result, engineers ported the vapor cooling chamber that debuted on the Blade 17 over, and the team worked on a new fan.

To address problems with heat, all the internal components were scrutinized to see if their height and placement impeded with airflow. A transistor that’s just a millimeter too tall, for example, could create turbulence and overheat the Blade. Engineers sought out the perfect component to work with the Blade’s design and height requirements, and the team found that they needed to re-architect the fan design to deliver better airflow.

But no component is allowed to exist outside the Razor’s relentless design efforts — even on the inside. Once everything has been thoroughly thermal tested, Blanchard’s team examined the system’s vents, grills, and openings. Any internal component that could be seen from the outside had to be replaced with black-coated parts to ensure that the Blade 15 is sleek.

Chuong Nguyen/Digital Trends

“Over the years, we pushed forward to get the black motherboard — black PCB, black elements,” Blanchard explained. “With the latest Blade 15, we offer the user the ability to upgrade their RAM, so we want users to be able to open up the back of the laptop and look inside and see that there is an attention to details.”

Setting out to create a laptop like the Razer Blade has inherent compromises factored into the equation. The issue of heat and throttling is one that’s always been a battle for thin gaming laptops, and even for Razer’s own laptops in the past. But this time around, Razer felt prepared to deliver the level of performance and aesthetics that its fans want.

Blanchard’s team learned a few important lessons when they experimented with the Blade 17’s mechanical keyboard.

Managing the heat output on the Blade 15 was no easy feat. It’s a problem for every laptop, but especially challenging given the combination of the laptop’s slim size and powerful internal components. Razer experimented with a number of different fan designs and placements, and ultimately decided on two bottom-facing fans to pull air in and a vapor chamber, an innovation on top of the traditional heat pipes.

“We make a couple of concepts and prototypes to see which one performs the best,” Blanchard described the process of designing the Blade 15’s thermals. “After selecting the best design, we focused on vents in order to have the lowest skin temperature in certain areas. Obviously, the forehead – the area just above the keyboard – is a low-touch area, so we can afford to have slightly hotter temps. The keyboard, palm rest, and trackpad are areas where we try to control. So all the thermals is very complex work to figure out because there’s a lot of testing and simulation.”

Making the necessary compromises

The solution presented in the Razer Blade 15 won’t please everyone. Those looking for the absolute best game performance will have to look to laptops with bulkier chassis and huge vents. But the balance between performance and portability is a tightrope the Blade walks better than any other gaming laptop we’ve ever seen.

Riley Young/Digital Trends

Aside from heat and performance, the keyboard is another important consideration as designers looked to slim down the Blade’s design. Unlike the larger 17-inch Blade, Blanchard’s team had to make the concession of shipping the Blade 15 without a mechanical keyboard.

“Ultimately technology brings us to a point where we can have a thinner stack up for the keyboard and still have a good experience,” Blanchard said of the membrane keyboard. Razer experimented with different key actuation forces, click sounds, key shapes, and keyboard layouts before settling on the final design that offers decent key travel with good actuation force given its demographics of gamers.

The Blade 15’s story is a labor of love that can be traced back to Razer’s careful planning, attention to detail, and a mix of happenstance.

Blanchard’s team learned a few important lessons when they experimented with the Blade 17’s mechanical keyboard. Because it wasn’t possible to create half-height keys, the Blade 17 was the first Razer notebook to ship with full-height arrow keys. And because the full-height arrow keys were well received, Razer brought the keyboard design over to the Blade 15. However, because of the Blade 15’s slimness and fan placement, designers ultimately decided against a mechanical keyboard — Blanchard’s team was unwilling to make the Blade 15 thicker.

And even though designers struggled over the keyboard on the Blade 15, typists felt that the keyboard layout with full-height arrow keys wasn’t suited for productivity. Instead of dropping the arrow keys down a row to accommodate full-sized up and down keys, Razer opted instead to move the up-arrow key up a row, positioning it between the question mark and a shrunken right shift key. Touch typists who rely on the right shift key now have to reach further.

“I’ll be perfectly honest, this is not something that’s easy for me,” Blanchard confessed, noting that muscle memory can be retrained over time to adjust to the new layout. “It’s just a decision from our perspective of what works the best.”

The story of the Blade 15 is a labor of love — careful planning with an unwavering attention to detail, coupled with a mix of happenstance given that the right set of technologies was finally available.

This trend towards thin, light, and powerful is just beginning. At IFA, we’re seeing more manufacturers implement on this trend, and thanks to the maturation of powerful technologies – like faster processors and Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 2000 graphics – we’re going to see a race to slimming down. Devices like the MSI Stealth Thin, Gigabyte Aero, and Asus ROG series prove that Razer is setting a new trend in gaming laptops.

With a boxier design that maximizes the Blade’s internal volume, we expect to see gaming manufacturers iterate and innovate to bring even more performance in slimmer packages. One thing we know for sure: Razer will be the company leading the conversation well into the future.

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