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Tesla Model S/X gets updated MCU for faster, more responsive touchscreen display

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Tesla is reportedly using an improved MCU on newer versions of the Model S and X, replacing the aging NVIDIA Tegra-3 chip on the flagship sedan and SUV with a more powerful x86_64 processor. As could be seen in a side-by-side video comparing the performance and speed of the old and new media control unit, the updated hardware provides a smoother, faster, and more responsive experience on the Model S and X’s touchscreen.

The speed and fluidity, or lack thereof, of the Model S and X’s MCU has been a pain point for Tesla owners for a while, considering that the vehicles were equipped with 2011-era NVIDIA Tegra-3 chips. The shortcomings on the Model S and X’s interface became even more prominent when Tesla began switching from NVIDIA to Intel hardware to power its infotainment system, as evident on Model 3’s far more responsive touchscreen.

A Tesla spokesperson has confirmed with Teslarati that the company has recently introduced hardware changes to the onboard displays on the Model S and Model X. The update is part of the company’s overall initiative to introduce minor hardware changes and over-the-air software updates over time to continuously improve upon its vehicles. The latest update, unrelated to Autopilot, should not dramatically affect the user experience. Still, some new Tesla owners are reporting noticeable improvements in the browsing experience on the vehicle’s 17-inch touchscreen.

As could be seen in a recent collaboration video uploaded by YouTube’s My Tesla Adventure, the display of a recently-manufactured Model S seems to be on par with the speed and fluidity of the Model 3’s center touchscreen. In the side-by-side video, the Model S, which is equipped with an older Tegra-powered MCU, could be seen loading information a few seconds slower than the newer car. The touch panel on the newer Model S is also very vibrant, with the display featuring accurate color reproduction. A screenshot of the CPU information in the newer car also includes references to an x86_64 processor, something that is absent on older vehicles. 

A screenshot of the MCU from a new Model S showing references to an X86_64 chip. [Credit: MaxKW/Reddit]

Apart from a smoother user experience, the Model S and X’s upgraded MCU also features a pleasant surprise — a usable web browser. As could be seen in a brief test by Model S owner and r/TeslaMotors member u/MaxKW, the browser on his Model S is actually usable. It’s still not on par with the speed of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, but the internet browser is already far more useful than the web explorer installed in older cars.

An enhanced browser for the Model S and X was teased by Elon Musk in a tweet back in December. As we noted in a previous report, Musk, who was responding to one of his followers on Twitter, admitted that the browser on the Model S and X was “terrible.” He did, however, assure his followers that major upgrades for the web explorer would be rolling out “in a few months.”

“Yeah, it’s terrible. Had to upgrade old Linux OS and a bunch of drivers first. Major browser upgrades coming to all cars in a few months. Note, will be slower at first until code is optimized.”

Watch the side-by-side comparison of the old and new MCU for the Model S and X in the video below.

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Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk’s answer to Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey got way more specific

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Elon Musk escalated his monthslong feud with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey this week, pledging that his own AI video tool will produce a competing version before the year is out. Responding to a fan-made, AI-generated clip of the ancient epic, Musk wrote on X, “Before this year ends, Grok Imagine will make a full-length movie of The Odyssey that is historically accurate and true to the art of Homer.”

In June, Musk quoted an xAI-shared trailer built entirely with Grok Imagine Video 1.5, a two-minute-plus reimagining of The Odyssey styled after a 1970s classical Hollywood epic, and predicted “full movies by the end of the year,” as Teslarati reported at the time. That trailer, built from 36 consistent shots by a single creator, was Musk’s proof of concept. This week’s pledge turns that prediction into a specific commitment, tied directly to Homer’s text rather than a generic demo.


When a fan separately proposed that Musk fund a live-action alternative, to “give Mel Gibson $100 million to film an Odyssey adaptation with painstakingly historically accurate ships, armour, weapons, and casting, with all dialogue taken straight from the original poem and delivered in Homeric Greek,” Musk replied with two words: “I’m down.”

The Grok Imagine pledge lands as the tool’s underlying infrastructure has changed hands. Grok is no longer a standalone product, it folded into SpaceXAI after SpaceX’s acquisition of xAI closed in February, meaning the compute behind any Odyssey production traces back to the same Colossus supercomputers now bundled into SpaceX’s pitch to investors. Musk has separately said SpaceX’s own engineering data is being fed into the next major Grok training run, a two trillion parameter model he’s called the “2T run.”

Whether Grok Imagine can sustain a feature length narrative, rather than a series of impressive individual shots, remains the open question.

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Tesla Mobile App gets a new feature that wrap fans are going to love

Tesla’s Summer Update removes the USB drive step from customizing your car’s digital wrap design.

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Tesla’s latest 2026 Summer Update quietly closes out one of the more tedious steps in personalizing a Tesla’s digital appearance. Uploading a custom wrap design used to require a USB drive. Now it doesn’t.

The feature is listed in Tesla’s release notes as “Send Custom Wraps from Mobile App.” The company described it plainly: “Skip the USB drive and upload a custom wrap of your car from the mobile app. Instructions for creating a custom wrap here: github.com/teslamotors/custom-wraps.”

The digital wrap tool has been around since Tesla’s 2024 Holiday Update, when it launched for Cybertruck owners first, as Teslarati reported at the time. Getting a design onto the car meant formatting a USB drive, creating a folder named exactly “Wraps,” dropping in PNG files sized between 512×512 and 1024×1024 pixels and under 1 MB each, then plugging the drive in and applying the wrap through Toybox. Tesla expanded the tool to other models and renamed it from “Colorizer” to “Paint Shop” with the 2025 Holiday Update, while also adding license plate and window tint customization alongside the wraps.

The latest Summer Update removes the USB step from that process. Owners will be able to pull a design from wherever they saved it, whether that’s a download from social media or something built from Tesla’s own GitHub templates, and push it to the car directly through the app.

Tesla reveals 2026 Summer Update with crazy fixes to Nav and more

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It’s a small fix relative to the rest of this latest release, which also included expanded Grok voice commands, automatic navigation that learns regular routes, and self-driving stats inside the mobile app, all detailed in our rundown of the full Summer Update. The USB requirement was one of the more common complaints about Paint Shop since it launched. Tesla did not say when the wrap upload change would reach individual vehicles, only that the broader update is rolling out now in waves.

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Elon Musk

Tesla Diner is throwing a birthday party with a Franz-signed special treat

Tesla Diner turns one on July 21 with Optimus, roller skates, and a Franz-signed hat.

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tesla diner

Tesla is throwing its Hollywood Diner a first birthday party on July 21 and the celebration comes with a guest list of unique items, including a limited run of Tesla Diner birthday hats personally signed by Tesla Chief Designer Franz von Holzhausen for the first 50 customers who place an in-car order at midnight.

One year after lines wrapped around the block on Santa Monica Boulevard for a diner that most of the restaurant industry did not take seriously, Tesla is making the case that the concept was worth the years it took to build. The concept had been in Musk’s head since at least 2018, when he floated the idea of “an old school drive-in, roller skates and rock restaurant” on X, describing it years later as “‘Grease’ meets ‘The Jetsons’ with Supercharging.”

Tesla Optimus Gen 3 is coming to the Tesla Diner with new ambitions

 

What made the diner genuinely different from any restaurant that came before it was not the menu or the nostalgia. It was the ordering model. Tesla owners could place food orders directly from their vehicle’s touchscreen before arriving, a small feature that hints at something much larger on the horizon. As the Cybercab and unsupervised FSD expand across major cities, the diner model becomes a template for an entirely new kind of commerce. A robotaxi pulling in to charge does not need a human to walk up to a counter. The vehicle places the order, the food is ready on arrival, and the passenger never interrupts the experience of being driven somewhere else. It is the first glimpse of what drive-through commerce looks like when the car is doing the driving.

As Teslarati has reported, Musk signaled immediately after opening that the Hollywood location was only the beginning, posting that Tesla would expand the concept to major cities worldwide and along Supercharger corridors on long-distance routes if the first location proved successful. One year in, the birthday celebration on July 21 makes a strong case that it has. Tesla announced a full day of events including a Cybercab on display, a birthday menu, Optimus in attendance, face painting, a photo booth, roller skating servers, a light show, a Skypad DJ, and complimentary collectibles.

If Musk’s ambition holds, the Hollywood diner is year one of something much bigger. The birthday party is the proof of concept. The robotaxi fleet is the business model waiting behind it.

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