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Intel has no Arc GPUs for Arc Scavenger Hunt winners, CPUs instead

Intel has no Arc GPUs for Arc Scavenger Hunt winners, CPUs instead 02 | TweakTown.com

Intel kicked off its Xe HPG Scavenger Hunt in early 2021, and a rather large 18 months later we have no Arc graphics cards in the wild… meaning no Intel Arc graphics cards to give away to Arc Scavenger Hunt winners.

Intel has no Arc GPUs for Arc Scavenger Hunt winners, CPUs instead 02 | TweakTown.com

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The company is now offering an alternative prize because there are simply no Intel Arc GPUs, so instead of an Intel Arc A7-series graphics card (Intel was giving Grand Prize winners an Intel Arc A770, while the first place prize was an Intel Arc A750 ) winners can now opt for an Intel Core i7-12700K and Core i5-12600K processor.

Intel sent an email to its winners, explaining to a Xe HPG Scavenger Hunt Top 300 prize winner that they would be provided with an alternative to the original hardware prize, in addition to the standard merchandise and swag prizing. The company confirms that the winners only have a few days to decide — up to August 19 — if you want to switch over your Arc GPU to an Intel 12th Gen Core “Alder Lake” CPU.

But now, this is the clincher: if you opt back into the original GPU pricing, Intel warns that you will have to do so with the understanding that such pricing is tied to the launch timeline of Intel Arc A7-series GPUs. Because we don’t know when that happens, and neither does Intel, you could be waiting a while.

Intel has no Arc GPUs for Arc Scavenger Hunt winners, CPUs instead 01 | TweakTown.com

Intel does note that while they anticipate that the hardware should get to you ahead of Intel Arc A7-series GPU availability, Intel “cannot guarantee that to be the case, as Intel is very close the Intel Arc A7-series GPU launch“. I guess Intel means to say in that email that they are “very close to the Intel Arc A7-series GPU launch”. Mistakes everywhere, Intel.

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iOS 16 Battery Percentage, Google vs Apple on RCS, and VESA Studio Display on the AppleInsider Podcast

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AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content.

Apple brings battery percentage back to the status bar in iOS 16 beta 5, Google puts Apple on blast over RCS adoption, we review the VESA mount Studio Display, and more on the AppleInsider podcast.

We discuss how the new battery percentage indicator may be Apple’s most disruptive feature of iOS 16. Many Apple fans are excited by the new feature, though neither of your hosts Wesley and Stephen will be turning it on.

Next, Google’s latest campaign for Apple to adopt RCS continues to push a narrative that’s missing a lot of details. The hosts dive into what’s wrong with RCS today and what it would take for Apple to consider the new messaging platform.

Meanwhile, Stephen’s Studio Display has arrived and he shares some controversial opinions about its speakers and webcam — they’re fine. Also, your hosts consider what it would take for them to upgrade from the existing Studio Display and whether Apple would introduce such a product anytime soon.

The latest product rumors point to new HomePods arriving sometime soon, and the new entry model iPad may see big changes in 2022. There’s also a quick discussion of Apple TV+ and the new animated film “Luck.”

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Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast — and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, “Hey, Siri,” to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple’s Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.

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Telegram CEO claims Apple is delaying update that will ‘revolutionize’ messaging

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AppleInsider is supported by its audience and may earn commission as an Amazon Associate and affiliate partner on qualifying purchases. These affiliate partnerships do not influence our editorial content.

Telegram CEO Pavel Durov claims that Apple has been delaying an App Store update to the app that will “revolutionize how people express themselves in messaging.”

In a Telegram message on Thursday, Durov says that the upcoming update has been stuck in Apple’s review process for two weeks with no explanation from the iPhone maker about the holdup.

“If Telegram, one of the top 10 most popular apps globally, is receiving this treatment, one can only imagine the difficulties experienced by smaller app developers,” Durov wrote.

The Telegram chief executive also hit Apple and Google for charging a 30% commission on app and in-app purchases. Durov says the app review delay is just another harm on the commission, which he likes to a “tax.”

“The regulators in the EU and elsewhere are slowly starting to look into these abusive practices,” he said. “But the economic damage that has already been inflicted by Apple on the tech industry won’t be undone.”

This isn’t the first time that a Telegram update has been stuck in Apple’s app review process. Back in 2018, Apple delayed global updates after Russian authorities demanded the Cupertino tech giant remove the secure messaging app from the App Store.

Other app developers and executives have complained about Apple’s App Review process in the past. In 2021, Hopscotch CEO Samantha John called Apple’s review process “Kafkaesque.”

Apple has made moves to amend its App Store policies in recent years, including updated App Review processes and rules and the introduction of a lower 15% commission for apps making less than $1 million.

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Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 203 | TweakTown.com

Wondershare launched UniConverter 14 recently, with greatly improved conversion speeds, compressing speeds, and other features and functions that are super-powered in the UniConverter 14 update.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 203 | TweakTown.com

VIEW GALLERY – 16 PICTURES

The new Wondershare UniConverter 14 ushers in up to a huge 50% improvement in video converter speeds, as well as up to 50% speed bumps in 4K + 8K HDR video full-process GPU acceleration. Video editors will be happy with those upgrades, especially given that those improvements are just the beginning.

Wondershare also makes it easy for someone without video editing skills to be able to do things that someone with a much larger skill set does: we’re talking about converting and compressing video, editing, recording, saving, and merging videos, as well as burning videos to permanent media like DVD, and so much more.

We all know there are competing video editing suites on the market, but Wondershare makes complicated jobs like video editing, so much easier for end users. Wondershare also makes having power video editing tools at your fingertips cheaper than the competition, too.

Wondershare UniConverter 14 supports Apple Mac M1 native acceleration, for the new M1-powered Apple products in the wild, while there’s also multi-threaded GPU acceleration for Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA GPUs. UniConverter 14 has support for VP9, ​​AV1, HEVC (H.265) encoder. Wondershare also provides support for WEBM, MP4 format video with alpha channel output which is good news for video editors.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 103 | TweakTown.com
Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 201 | TweakTown.com

Wondershare UniConverter 14 supports popular web formats including YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, eBay, are all included. There’s support for a variety of 4K, 8K, and HDR video formats including MP4, AVI, MOV, MKV, and more. Wondershare has also added MP4 (CFHD)/MOV (HEVC)/MKV (AV1)Webm (VP9/AV1).

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 401 | TweakTown.com

UniConverter 14 uses lossless conversion technology which is powered by “APEXTRANS” technology, which Wondershare says converts videos with zero quality loss or video compression. GPU acceleration helps speed things along, with 4K + 8K + HDR and other HD video full-process GPU acceleration.

Wondershare says its new UniConverter 14 is 50% faster than its predecessor, and 120x faster than “other video converters”.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 402 | TweakTown.com
Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 501 | TweakTown.com

You can convert multiple videos in batches, all with GPU acceleration speeding things along with a single click of your mouse. Depending on your system and the settings you’ve got for the video and its conversion process, it’ll be super-speeded by Wondershare UniConverter 14.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 102 | TweakTown.com

Wondershare’s new UniConverter 14 has no size limits in the video compression department, where if you are looking for the ultimate software toolkit to compress video then you’re safe here.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 101 | TweakTown.com

No size limits and custom compression ready to go in UniConverter 14, with new features inside of the update including support for lossless compression of audio files, Wondershare has bumped compression quality by 80% while the compression time is reduced 90% without losing quality. There are multiple compression modes in UniConverter 14, which were added to meet the compression requirements of various scenarios.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 703 | TweakTown.com

You can watch videos in all formats through the Wondershare HD Video Player, which is capable of playing HD, Full HD, 4K + 8K video smoothly. The video player is an independent process to UniConverter 14, which is capable of playing 1000+ formats of video in the wild.

Wondershare HD Video Player has the playback effects that you’d get out of the VLC professional player, not too damn bad at all, huh?

Powerful AI features in UniConverter 14 make everything easier

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 702 | TweakTown.com

Wondershare bakes in some new AI features that make UniConverter 14 even easier, with the Noise Remover function taking care of audio recordings and video that feature a lot of noise. This is perfect for post-processing tasks like recording meetings, editing videos, and recording audio for podcasts.

  • Noise Remover: Remove background noise from video/audio batch.
  • vowel remover: Automatically separate vocals from music.
  • Watermark Editor: Add or remove watermarks from your video.
  • SubtitleEditor: A powerful subtitle editing tool.
  • Smart Trim: Automatically trim your videos and make video editing easy.
  • Auto Crop: Automatically resize videos for different social networks.
  • AI Portrait: Change video background with AI.
  • Background remover: Automatically remove the background from images.

There’s also the vowel removewhich will separate your vocals from music… again: perfect for video editors.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 601 | TweakTown.com

Wondershare keeps things on the cheap with its UniConverter 14 pricing: things start at $39.99 per year on an annual plan, while you’ll get “forever to use” UniConverter and all of its features for a $79.99 one-time fee. This means a single purchase can unlock it all, where you get access to 6 add-on features: Smart Trimmer, Watermark

Editor, Subtitle Editor, Auto Reframe, AI Portrait, Intro & Outro (Standard Subscription).

If you are flexing between Windows and Mac operating systems, then you could look at buying UniConverter in a bundle. Wondershare offers UniConverter on an annual plan for $71.98 per year, where you’ll get WonderShare UniConverter for Windows, and Wondershare UniConverter for Mac.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 701 | TweakTown.com

There’s also UniConverter + DVD Creator, UniConverter + Filmora, and UniConverter + DemoCreator bundles that make things cheaper if you’re using multiple software suites from Wondershare.

Wrapping things up, if you’re editing or working with videos then Wondershare’s updated UniConverter 14 video editing suite could be for you. There’s so much here for under $100 it’s not funny, especially when competing software suites can’t do for much more money on the table.

Wondershare UniConverter 14: the complete video toolbox for your needs 202 | TweakTown.com

Wondershare provides super-easy everything-including-the-kitchen-sink features with video editing, converting, compression, recording, downloading, and more with UniConverter 14.

If you are working on multiple videos on the daily, then Wondershare’s batch utility in UniConverter 14 is a huge asset to you. This is highlighted if you’ve got the PC hardware to handle it all, with the GPU acceleration pumping speeds through the roof.

Wondershare’s new update with UniConverter 14 makes it a formidable video toolbox, packed with features that you can get on the cheap.

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Technology

Intel Arc GPU story goes live, global launch ‘later this year’

Intel Arc GPU story goes live, global launch 'later this year' 01 | TweakTown.com

Intel is continuing its “marketing” for their upcoming Arc GPUs with something that leaker Moore’s Law is Dead talked about: the Arc desktop GPU story. There’s not much new here, but it’s interesting that it’s all playing out like this.

Intel Arc GPU story goes live, global launch 'later this year' 01 | TweakTown.com

VIEW GALLERY – 4 PICTURES

You can check out the “story” on Intel Arc GPUs on the official intel website, where we find out that ex-PC Perspective owner and reviewer Ryan Shrout has a major hand in Arc. Shrout seems to be the Arc GPU ship, as the Intel website itself says that “Intel Gaming Access met steering with Ryan Shrout, Senior Director of Graphics and HPC Marketing at Intel”.

Intel explains that “when it came to the creation of Intel Arc, Ryan and Intel’s engineers had plenty of graphics experience to call on”. Interesting, it seems that Ryan was integral to the entire Arc GPU process … so this marketing plan is his, and he’s calling the shots.

The post continued, with Ryan adding: “We’ve had integrated graphics in Intel CPUs for over a decade, but high-performance discrete graphics are a whole different game, if you’ll excuse the pun. Integrated graphics have given our engineers a lot of learnings to use in dGPUs; for example, a version of the modern Xe microarchitecture that Intel Arc is built on, first appeared in 11th Gen Intel Core processors. The architecture scales up from low-power iGPUs (Xe-LP), through Intel Arc GPUs as Xe-HPG (high-performance graphics), and even all the way up to data-centers and supercomputing“.

Intel Arc GPU story goes live, global launch 'later this year' 02 | TweakTown.com

Where will Intel Arc GPUs “shine” according to Ryan? DX12 games… where he explains: “is where the Intel Arc graphics cards are going to shine. DX12 and Vulkan are modern rendering APIs, which means there is a thinner software layer between the game code and the GPU. Older APIs, like DirectX 11 and 9, do more of the work for programmers, but have more layers between the game and GPU.”

I do find it rather amusing, and worrying, that Intel has a specific disclaimer at the bottom of Ryan’s post on Intel’s website. It reads: “no product or component can be absolutely secure” and that “all product plans and roadmaps are subject to change without notice”.

Intel Arc GPU story goes live, global launch 'later this year' 04 | TweakTown.com

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Technology

Intel Tejas Project: Pentium 5 CPU at 7GHz to 10GHz story explored

Intel Texas Project: Pentium 5 CPU at 7GHz to 10GHz story explored 03 | TweakTown.com

If you’re old enough then you’ll remember the GHz race of the day between Intel and AMD, the race towards 1000MHz (1GHz) was a huge deal… and then we went to dual-core CPUs, and the Pentium brand was left behind for entry-level CPUs in the last decade.

Intel Texas Project: Pentium 5 CPU at 7GHz to 10GHz story explored 03 | TweakTown.com

But man, did Intel have a huge plan for the Pentium CPU family with Project Tejas and Jayhawk, where after all of these years we’re hearing about the next-gen Pentium 5 projects that were headed towards 7GHz. Intel kicked off Project Tejas in 2003, expected in 2004 and later pushed into 2005 after issues forced Intel to redesign the chip. Before the company could do that, the Tejas Project was shelved on May 7, 2004.

Intel Prescott CPUs could hit 5GHz+ but had huge power and temperature numbers, but Tejas was expected to clock higher than Prescott — with Intel chasing the huge 10GHz CPU clocks within 10 years between 2000 and 2011 — but it ended up not happening at all . AnandTech was the last to report on the Tejas processor, but now Fully Buffered has a new video after getting his hands-on Tejas and Jayhawk processors from John Culver of CPU Shack (eBay) for an “undisclosed amount” of money.

Steve Fischer was one of the Intel engineers that worked on the Tejas and Jayhawk CPUs, who explained: “Tejas was primarily led and developed by an engineering team based in Austin, and the Folsom processor development team playing a large existing role. Folsom had more is and designed for manufacturability expertise based on earlier P6 and P4 derivative product developments, while the Austin team was newer to intel but with some different microarchitecture expertise brought in from the outside like former Power PC engineers.“.

Fischer continued: “I came into this project late having spent a couple of years doing something completely different at one of intel’s acquisitions during the .com boom […] after returning to intel I focused on microcode development. With these efforts are first being applied on Prescott and then later on Tejas the latest and greatest P4 product. The thing had a pipeline depth of around 50 stages and an expected clock target at one point north of 7 GHz“.

“I call the thing “the Death Star of processors” and half-jokingly reasoned that consumer acceptance of liquid-cooled chassis would not be a big deal. By mid-2004, I believe I’d moved on to lead the microarchitecture activities [at Intel]“.

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AI asked to create an image of what death looks like

AI asked to create an image of what death looks like 01 | TweakTown.com

An artificial intelligence has been asked to create an image of what death looks like, and the results are simply stunning.

The artificial intelligence (AI) that was asked to create the images seen in the above video is called MidJourney, which was created by David Holtz, co-founder of Leap Motion, and is currently run by a small self-funded team that has several well-known advisors such as Jim Keller, known for his work at AMD, Apple, Tesla, and Intel, Nat Friedman, the CEO of Github, and Bill Warner, the founder of Avid Technology and inventor of nonlinear video editing.

MidJourney is an incredible piece of technology, and it recently went into open beta, which means anyone can try it by simply heading over to its dedicated Discord server. Users can enter “/imagine“, followed by a text prompt of what they want the AI ​​to produce. Users have been testing the AI’s capabilities by entering descriptive words such as HD, hyper-realistic, 4K, wallpaper, and more. All of which work perfectly.

As for the predictive capability of MidJourney, none of the images seen in this article or any other source should be taken as a prediction. MidJourney was created to expand the human species’ imaginative power, not predictions.

Using MidJourney’s image generation algorithms, users are able to create ultra-realistic images of whatever they wish. The possibilities are truly endless, and with accurate text inputs, you can create wallpaper-worthy images. I tested the AI ​​and created several images that are now being used as wallpapers, but what was more impressive was what the other users in the Discord were making. Below are some examples of what I found and what the user inputted into the AI ​​to get the result.

Use MidJourney AI here.

AI asked to create an image of what death looks like 01 | TweakTown.com

VIEW GALLERY – 6 IMAGES

– A detailed futuristic soldier portrait gas mask, slightly visible shoulders, explosion in background

AI asked to create an image of what death looks like 02 | TweakTown.com

– A detailed oil painting of final fantasy XIII versus battle of light and darkness

AI asked to create an image of what death looks like 03 | TweakTown.com

-universe

AI asked to create an image of what death looks like 04 | TweakTown.com

– A young boy sleeping on a mat, smiling at the camera, big brown eyes, hyper realistic, 4K, very clear

AI asked to create an image of what death looks like 05 | TweakTown.com

– Cyberpunk cat, 4K, red glasses, ultra realistic

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Intel loses first AIB, won’t make Arc GPUs over ‘quality concerns’

Intel loses first AIB, won't make Arc GPUs over 'quality concerns' 01 | TweakTown.com

We’ve been hearing all sorts of bad news about Intel’s new Arc GPUs where I’ve been reporting on news that Intel would outright cancel their Arc GPUs altogether over how bad it has gotten, and now Intel has reportedly lost their first AIB.

Intel loses first AIB, won't make Arc GPUs over 'quality concerns' 01 | TweakTown.com

The first AIB to stop production of custom Intel Arc GPUs has reportedly made history, becoming the first AIB to pull out of Intel’s new Arc GPUs before they even really began. The news is coming from Igor Wallossek at Igor’s Lab, who reports that the first of the big board partners have “stopped the production of Intel cards completely” which his sources say are “due to quality concerns”.

Igor reports: “At least one of the big board partners has even stopped the production of Intel cards completely (“due to quality concerns”), as I could find out yesterday and today. […] Other board partners have at least already completely capped their marketing activities, and it does not currently look as if there will be any real launch offensives from the board partners in the time window I mentioned between August 5, 2022 and September 29, 2022. What will really arrive on the market (as retail) will be seen in the next few weeks. From the customer’s point of view, I can only hope for the best, I alone lack faith“.

So all that “negativity” that I’ve been accused of, which is me just doing my job: reporting the news, the rumours, and everything in between… seems to be true. Intel has been a mess for a while now, with miscommunication about its Arc GPUs reportedly happening both inside, and outside of the company. Intel is telling some of its departments one thing while having a different external message.

We might see this particular AIB partner spool up the production of Intel Arc GPUs in the future, but I’m sure they’ll be wanting to wait to see how Intel’s new Arc GPUs go in the coming 6-18 months. Game compatibility, driver issues, hardware and software issues, and a million other things that I’m sure AIBs are scared of… warranties and returns will happen.

AIBs will take a huge hit when that happens, and I’m sure Intel isn’t worried about its brand (it’s big enough, they’ll survive… but the image of their GPU marketing will be almost beyond destroyed, all credibility gone) but it’ll cost them in the end in terms of consumer confidence, market confidence, and I’m sure many more ways that the company will experience throughout the end of this year and into 2023.

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Technology

ASRock Releases Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC in China

ASRock Releases Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC in China


ASRock Releases Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC in China

Mid-June, Intel announced the A380, a China-exclusive Arc Alchemist desktop graphics card. ASRock’s Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC joins the hardware party and brings a bit of competition to the Gunnir Arc A380 Photon 6GB OC.

ASRock detailed their new Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC on its Chinese site. It’s an overclocked model like the Gunnir. The ASRock card’s GPU boost frequency however is 200 MHz lower than its rival’s.

A better cooler can assist sustain top GPU frequencies, while the ASRock’s GPU is 8 percent slower than the Gunnir’s. Chinese critics say the Gunnir is a well-built device, therefore the ASRock Challenger may not be its biggest rival. Intel partners Acer, Asus, Gigabyte, HP, and MSI should release Arc A380 graphics cards soon. ASRock’s OC card is still 250 MHz faster than reference.

ASRock’s card has slower GDDR6. We can’t be sure about this spec, but the bullet point highlights imply it’s 15.5 Mbps GDDR6. The same product page lists two different prices. ASRock’s ITX form factor is two slots wide but 190mm long, allowing it to fit in smaller chassis. The Challenger ITX OC’s striped axial fan improves airflow. ASRock’s 0dB technology stops the fan when not under stress. ASRock says it pays great attention to minutiae like thermal paste (it utilizes nanotech paste) and screw torques for maximum heat dissipation.

ASRock’s Intel Arc A380 Challenger ITX 6GB OC is on sale now on China’s JD.com(opens in new tab) for 1,299 Chinese Yuan (roughly $192), including the 13% sales tax.









Arc A380 reference

Gunnir Arc A380 Photon OC

ASRock A380 Challenger ITX OC

GPU clock

2,000MHz

2.5450MHz

2,250MHz

Memory

15.5Gbps GDDR6

15.5Gbps GDDR6

15.0Gbps GDDR6

Size

N/A

222 x 114 x 42mm

190*124*39mm

Weight

N/A

668g

400g

Power

75W

1x 8-pin, 92W

1x 8-pin, N/A

ports

eDP 1.4, DP 2.0 up to UHBR 10, HDMI 2.1, HDMI 2.0b

1x HDMI2.0, 3x DP (up to 2.0)

1 x HDMI 2.0b, 3 x DisplayPort 2.0 with DSC





Click here to post a comment for this news story on the message forum.

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The Hidden Way to Monitor Your Mac’s Temperature for Free

The Hidden Way to Monitor Your Mac's Temperature for Free

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photo: pisaphotography (Shutterstock)

Apple silicon—including the M1 and new M2 chips—has a reputation for staying cool even under intense workloads. Intel Macs, on the other hand, run notoriously hot. They’re still capable computers, but they heat up fast, which, in turn, slows things down. If you have an Intel-based Mac, you’ve probably experienced this computational heatwave for yourself. Rather than guessing how hot your computer is getting, however, there’s a hidden monitor built into every Intel-based Mac that lets you know exactly what the internal temperature is.

Why your Mac overheats (and why it’s bad)

I talked about this subject beforewhen I mostly focused on laptops. Whether you have a MacBook or an iMac, however, the general principle is the same: You don’t want your machine to overheat.

Computers heat up because the internal components, namely the CPU and GPU, generate heat as they work. Depending on your computer, you might not notice it while performing light tasks. Once you start pushing the machine, however, you’ll feel the temperature ramping up.

It’s not that this heat will damage or break your computer. I mean, it absolutely could, but manufacturers make sure that will never happen. A little heat is okay; the parts are designed to operate normally within a wide range of temperatures. However, when the chips start to get too hot—usually around 90 degrees FAhrenheit—your computer will slow down its processing speed in order to cool things down, a process referred to as “throttling.”

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Throttling sucks, because it means you’re not getting the performance you expect from your machine. Truea slow machine is better than a burnt and broken one, but avoiding the overheating problem in the first place can help you prevent throttling before it kicks inand push your Mac to its maximum potential.

While there are many ways to combat overheating, one is to keep tabs on your Mac’s temperature. And if you have an Intel Mac, you already have a monitor built right into macOS.

macOS’ hidden temperature monitors for Intel Macs

You won’t find these temperature monitors by searching through the apps installed on your Mac. You won’t even find them in Activity Monitor, as useful a utility as it is. Rather, your Mac’s temperature monitor is found in Terminal. Using Terminal likely seems intimidating to many users, because it allows you to control your Mac using only text-based commands. But you don’t actually need to memorize any of thosee commands to use Terminal; a copied and pasted command works just as well.

There are plenty of useful Terminal commands everyone can use (we covered many of them in this piece) but we’re focusing on the temperature monitors this time. There are two commands you can use here. The first lets you see temperature stats for your Mac’s CPU. Copy and paste the following command exactly as-is into a new Terminal window (quotation marks and all):

sudo powermetrics —samplers smc |grep -i “CPU die temperature”

If done right, Terminal will ask for your password. Enter it (you won’t be able to see what you’re typing, unfortunately), then press the return key. After a moment, you’ll begin seeing temperature readings, updating roughly every five seconds. The temperatures are written in Celsius, so you’ll need to convert to Fahrenheit on your own, but, after a while, you start to pick up which temperatures are cool, warm, hot, and too hot.

Speaking of which, you will also get access to one of my favorite data points in macOS: When things start to get too hot and your Mac decides it needs to cool things down, you’ll see (fan) written next to the temperatures (if your Mac has fans, that is). That lets you know the fans are starting to work harder to move hot air out of your machine. Fans are obviously a good tool for cooling computers, but they aren’t perfect: If your CPU is still heating up to unsafe levels—usually 98 degrees Fahrenheit, going by my experience in Terminal—you’ll start to see (power) instead. When this reading appears, it means macOS is throttling your CPU to keep the temperature from going overboard.

You can also check your GPU temperatures with the following command:

sudo powermetrics –samplers smc |grep -i “GPU die temperature”

Notice that you won’t see (fan) or (power) appear on this Terminal windowonly temperature readings.

Options for Apple silicone

While Apple’s suite of silicon chips don’t face as many heat ramps as Intel-based Macs, they can still overheat and throttle like any other chip. Unfortunately this built-in Terminal command won’t work on M1 and newer, since those chips are designed differently than Intel chips in how they handle heat.

The only solid temperature monitor for Apple silicon available rright now is TG-Prowhich comes at a cost. It’s usually $20, though at the time of this writingit’s on sale for $10. If you’re looking for a temporary solution, the app offers a two-week free trial, so you can monitor your temperatures on M1, M2, or any other Apple silicon variant for 14 days free of charge.

Hopefully, as Apple silicon is adopted by more and more of the Mac user base, developers will write more temperature monitoring apps for the platform. Hey, maybe Apple will even make their own—for free.

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