maximumpc.com JAN 2020 MAXIMUMPC 13
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APPLE HAS LAUNCHED the most powerful
notebook it has ever made, the MacBook
Pro 16, and it’s pretty tasty. The 3072x
16-inch Retina display is the largest yet,
although it’s actually only 0.4 inches
larger than the Pro 15. The graphics are
handled by an AMD Radeon Pro 5000M
chipset, and the numbers crunched by an
Intel Core i9 or i7 processor. Good modern
silicon; Apple has previously been a little
behind the curve here. Inside, there’s a
six-speaker sound system, including two
bass units that cancel out each other’s
vibrations. It’s one of the best sound
systems you’ll find in any laptop.
All this is powered by a 100Wh battery
(up from 83Wh in the Pro 15), enough for
up to 11 hours of video playback or web
browsing. And, of course, it is sleek, albeit
slightly thicker than previous designs.
There’s up to 8TB of solid state storage,
and up to 64GB of RAM; the base model
has 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.
The keyboard uses a new scissor
mechanism—the previous “butterfly”
design was notoriously fragile. Last year’s
attempt to fix things using a membrane
was the last straw, and it has admitted
defeat. The change also means more key
travel and a better feel. To counter the
thermal throttling that blighted previous
models, there’s a larger heatsink,
increased airflow, and more attention
paid to where the air is going.
The MacBook Pro answers most of
the criticisms made of the MacBook
Pro 15. Better battery, modern silicon,
and a keyboard that won’t stop working
because a piece of dust worked its way
under a key. The bigger screen is a minor
upgrade—it’s all the other changes that
make this easily the best MacBook yet.
The downsides? It ain’t cheap. Prices
start at $2,399, but if you click on all the
options, you can hit $6,099. –CLLatest Apple notebook
has biggest screen yetMACBOOK PRO
IS 16-INCHER
Autonomous
Car Failure
The official report by the NTSB
(National Transportation Safety
Board) into the death cased by
an autonomous Uber car last
year has put the blame on human
error and software failure. The
safety driver failed to monitor
the road ahead, and the car’s
software failed to recognize that a
pedestrian was crossing the street
until it was too late. It detected
the victim six seconds before the
impact, but initially took no action
because it was not at a designated
pedestrian crossing point, so
did not register the person as a
hazard. Uber has since upgraded
the software and resumed testing.
The NTSB has urged federal
legislators to review the process
of testing autonomous vehicles on
public roads. – CLLasers Hack
Smart speaker
Researchers at the University of
Michigan and University of Electro-
Communications in Tokyo have
hacked into a home smart speaker
using a laser. Smart speakers
use sensitive silicon microphones
that respond to light in a similar
way to sound, so can be remotely
activated by shining a laser at
them, and modulating its intensity
to mimic the required phrase. The
hack, dubbed Light Command, can
be made at 300 feet or more with
a powerful laser, or up close using
a laser pointer. No need to worry
unduly; it’s a “proof of concept”
hack for now, but it does highlight
a weakness in such systems. It
doesn’t matter how the wake-up
phrase is delivered, it will work. A
simple solution to this method is a
shroud to block the laser. – CLHalf-Life Goes VR
VIRTUAL REALITY has been the Next Big Thing for so long it’s gone beyond a joke. We
look at the state of play in the VR market on page 46, and one conclusion is that VR
still needs a game that makes you want to jump on board just to play it—the killer app.
Valve may be about to provide such an incentive: a A A A VR exclusive, Half-Life: Alyx.
It’s set between the first and second main Half-Life games, follows the adventures
of Alyx Vance, the secondary character from Half-Life 2, and promises to be the same
mix of tense combat, puzzles, and strong story line. You interact with the world via a
pair of disembodied hands, which looks a little strange at first. The Gravity Gun makes
an appearance, and so-called Grabbity Gloves enable you to manipulate objects at a
distance. The game has been built from the ground up using Valve’s Source 2 game
engine, the first big title to do so. The release is due in March 2020. It’ll set you back
$60, or if you spring for a Valve Index headset, it’ll come as part of the bundle. However,
this high-end tethered system costs a buck short of a $1,000. Ouch.
This has been some time in coming—back in February 2017, the head of Valve, Gabe
Newell, said the company was working on three new “full” VR games. We shall see
if it’s been worth the wait, but the material we’ve seen so far does look mighty fine.
Half-Life was the game that made Valve as a company, perhaps this new installment
can help make VR, too. All good stuff, but can we also have the final part of the story,
please? Episode 3 remains tantalizingly elusive. –CLDelve into the strange
world of the Combine
and G-Man again, this
time exclusively in VR.