devtake.dev — #hardwareArticles tagged hardware on devtake.dev.https://devtake.dev/en-usRenault ditched rare-earth magnets in its EVs in 2012. China's export squeeze made that look smarthttps://devtake.dev/article/electric-motors-no-rare-earths/https://devtake.dev/article/electric-motors-no-rare-earths/A Renault explainer on rare-earth-free EV motors hit Hacker News. Here's how electric cars run without the magnets China controls, and who's shipping them.Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:45:00 GMThardwareevhardwarechinasupply-chainsustainabilityhiro-tanakaGM is spending $900 million on a battery bet that could cut $6,000 off an EV truckhttps://devtake.dev/article/gm-900m-ev-battery-gamble/https://devtake.dev/article/gm-900m-ev-battery-gamble/GM is pouring $900M into a new LMR battery plan, betting a cheaper chemistry gets its EVs to price parity with gas trucks by 2028. Here's the play.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:15:00 GMThardwareevbatterieshardwaregmmanufacturingenergyhiro-tanakaAMD walled off Linux Vivado behind a paid tier. The free FPGA tier is now Windows only.https://devtake.dev/article/vivado-2026-1-drops-linux-free-tier/https://devtake.dev/article/vivado-2026-1-drops-linux-free-tier/Vivado 2026.1 introduces a five-tier licensing model. The free BASIC tier supports Windows only; Linux requires the paid CORE tier. FPGA hobbyists are pushing back.Mon, 25 May 2026 12:15:00 GMThardwareamdxilinxvivadofpgalinuxdev-toolslicensinghardwarehiro-tanakaJapan's NICT shrank picosecond time sync into a phone-sized box. They call it Wi-Wi.https://devtake.dev/article/wi-wi-wireless-time-sync/https://devtake.dev/article/wi-wi-wireless-time-sync/NICT's Wi-Wi prototype hit 30 ns time sync with 20 ps jitter at 900 MHz. It isn't Wi-Fi. Jeff Geerling found a working demo at the NAB show.Sat, 23 May 2026 09:00:00 GMThardwarewi-witime-syncnictptpwirelessradiohardwarehiro-tanakaApple solved the iPhone Fold crease. The hinge is what's stalling production.https://devtake.dev/article/iphone-fold-hinge-crease-production-stalls/https://devtake.dev/article/iphone-fold-hinge-crease-production-stalls/Trial production of Apple's foldable iPhone hit a wall on hinge durability. The crease problem is over; the rattle isn't.Wed, 20 May 2026 09:45:00 GMTappleappleiphone-foldfoldable-iphoneiphone-18-prohardwaremark-gurmaniphonenaomi-parkGoogle and Samsung set Fall 2026 for Android XR glasses. Gentle Monster and Warby Parker are doing the frames.https://devtake.dev/article/android-xr-glasses-samsung-fall-2026/https://devtake.dev/article/android-xr-glasses-samsung-fall-2026/The Android Show confirmed Fall 2026 for Google and Samsung's first AR glasses, plus three new features for the Galaxy XR headset that launched in October.Wed, 20 May 2026 09:30:00 GMThardwaregooglesamsungandroid-xrgalaxy-xrgeminiar-glasseswearableshardwarehiro-tanakaNintendo hiked the Switch 2 by $50. AI data center demand for memory chips drove it.https://devtake.dev/article/nintendo-switch-2-50-price-hike-memory/https://devtake.dev/article/nintendo-switch-2-50-price-hike-memory/Nintendo confirmed a $50 Switch 2 price increase effective September 1 in the US, citing market conditions. The DRAM shortage caused by AI buildouts is the trigger.Mon, 11 May 2026 10:45:00 GMTgamingnintendoswitch-2gaminghardwaredrammemoryai-infrastructureshuntaro-furukawahiro-tanakaValve open-sourced the Steam Controller's shell. Dbrand had a skin ready in 48 hours.https://devtake.dev/article/valve-steam-controller-cad-open-source/https://devtake.dev/article/valve-steam-controller-cad-open-source/Valve published STP and STL CAD files for the Steam Controller and Puck under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 on GitLab. Anyone with a 3D printer can now mod it.Fri, 08 May 2026 09:30:00 GMTgamingvalvesteam-controlleropen-sourcecreative-commons3d-printingmoddinggaminghardwarehiro-tanakaTexas Instruments shipped the TI-84 Evo. $160, USB-C, 3x faster, still exam-approved.https://devtake.dev/article/ti-84-evo-graphing-calculator/https://devtake.dev/article/ti-84-evo-graphing-calculator/TI's first big redesign of the TI-84 in over a decade ships April 28 with a 156 MHz Cortex chip, a 50% larger graphing area, and Python on board. Exam boards still approve it.Tue, 05 May 2026 09:00:00 GMThardwarehardwaretexas-instrumentsti-84graphing-calculatoreducationusb-cpythonedtechhiro-tanaka'Physical buttons are better': Mercedes is retrofitting its steering wheels across the lineup.https://devtake.dev/article/mercedes-benz-physical-buttons-return/https://devtake.dev/article/mercedes-benz-physical-buttons-return/Mercedes software chief Magnus Östberg confirms physical buttons return on the new GLC and CLA, citing software-defined vehicle telemetry from CLA drivers.Mon, 04 May 2026 10:30:00 GMThardwarehardwaremercedes-benzcarsuxautomotivetouchscreenhiro-tanakaAMD's 'Gorgon Halo' refresh leaks with 192GB memory. Strix Halo tops out at 128GB.https://devtake.dev/article/amd-gorgon-halo-ryzen-ai-max-495-leak/https://devtake.dev/article/amd-gorgon-halo-ryzen-ai-max-495-leak/A leaked Geekbench listing puts AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 495 on a 192GB platform with a Radeon 8065S iGPU. The Strix Halo chip it replaces capped at 128GB.Mon, 04 May 2026 09:30:00 GMThardwareamdryzen-ai-maxgorgon-halostrix-halolocal-inferencelaptoplpcamm2hardwarehiro-tanakaFCC just voted to bar Chinese labs from certifying US electronics. 75% of devices are tested there now.https://devtake.dev/article/fcc-chinese-labs-electronics-certification-ban/https://devtake.dev/article/fcc-chinese-labs-electronics-certification-ban/Brendan Carr's FCC advanced the 'Bad Labs' rule on April 30 in a 3-0 vote, kicking off a 60-90 day comment period. The rule covers 126 labs in China and Hong Kong.Sun, 03 May 2026 13:30:00 GMTpolicyfccchinaregulationnational-securitysupply-chainelectronicsbrendan-carrhardwareclara-wexlerApple killed the $599 Mac mini. The cheapest one is now $799 with 512GB.https://devtake.dev/article/apple-mac-mini-base-discontinued-799/https://devtake.dev/article/apple-mac-mini-base-discontinued-799/Apple quietly pulled the 256GB Mac mini from its store on May 1. Tim Cook had warned the day before that demand was outpacing supply for months.Sat, 02 May 2026 09:15:00 GMTappleapplemac-minim4pricinghardwaremaclocal-inferencenaomi-parkPixel 11's Tensor G6 leak: brand-new ARM cores paired with a GPU from 2021https://devtake.dev/article/tensor-g6-pixel-11-leak-cpu-gpu/https://devtake.dev/article/tensor-g6-pixel-11-leak-cpu-gpu/Mystic Leaks pegs Tensor G6 with one C1 Ultra at 4.11GHz and six C1-Pro cores. The GPU is the same Imagination CXTP family that's been in the chip for years.Wed, 29 Apr 2026 08:40:00 GMTandroidgooglepixelpixel-11tensortensor-g6armleakhardwarenaomi-parkAMD Zen 7 'Florence' leak: 288 cores, a separate cache die, and a 25% IPC swinghttps://devtake.dev/article/amd-zen-7-florence-288-core-leak/https://devtake.dev/article/amd-zen-7-florence-288-core-leak/Leaked slides describe Zen 7 EPYC scaling to 288 cores per socket, with all L3 moved off the CCD onto a stacked cache die. Tape-out is October 2026, launch late 2028.Mon, 27 Apr 2026 20:00:00 GMThardwareamdzen-7epycsemiconductorai-chipsipcserver-cpushardwarehiro-tanakaApple's 20th-anniversary iPhone gets a custom 'micro-curved' OLED. Here's what Samsung is actually building.https://devtake.dev/article/iphone-20th-anniversary-micro-curved-oled/https://devtake.dev/article/iphone-20th-anniversary-micro-curved-oled/MacRumors reports the 2027 iPhone will use a Samsung COE pol-less OLED with a crater-shaped diffusion layer. The panel curves on all four edges.Mon, 27 Apr 2026 19:30:00 GMTappleappleiphoneiphone-20oledsamsungleakross-younghardwarenaomi-park$99 Steam Controller leak: a YouTuber broke embargo and Reddit thinks it's too muchhttps://devtake.dev/article/steam-controller-machine-pricing/https://devtake.dev/article/steam-controller-machine-pricing/Tech YouTuber Techy Talk pulled an early Steam Controller review minutes after posting. The leaked $99 price, gyro, and magnetic TMR sticks have already split fans.Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMTgamingvalvesteam-controllersteam-machinegamingleakhardwareperipheralssteam-deckhiro-tanakaAn AI agent built a working RISC-V CPU from a 219-word prompt in 12 hours. Here's what it actually did.https://devtake.dev/article/ai-agent-risc-v-cpu-design/https://devtake.dev/article/ai-agent-risc-v-cpu-design/Verkor's Design Conductor agent went from a 219-word spec to a tape-out-ready RISC-V core called VerCore in 12 hours. The catch: it's still a Celeron.Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:00:00 GMTaiai-agentsautomationrisc-vchip-designllmhardwareedasemiconductordieter-morelliFoldable iPhone: final renders leak as Nikkei warns of 2027 delayhttps://devtake.dev/article/apple-foldable-iphone-final-leak-delay/https://devtake.dev/article/apple-foldable-iphone-final-leak-delay/Jon Prosser posted what he calls the final foldable iPhone design. Hours later, Nikkei reported Apple's hitting hinge and display snags that could push launch into 2027.Fri, 17 Apr 2026 11:30:00 GMTappleapplefoldable-iphoneiphone-foldjon-prossernikkeileakhardwarenaomi-park