Huh? What am I missing here, the non-touch bar 13" MBP and touchbar 13" MBP have the same chassis, no?
I think you're telling me Apple won't, not can't. It's obviously possible for them to put that chip in the 13" nTB MBP.
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Apple May Have Considered Releasing a 2018 MacBook Air With Faster Core i7 Processor
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Huh? What am I missing here, the non-touch bar 13" MBP and touchbar 13" MBP have the same chassis, no?
I think you're telling me Apple won't, not can't. It's obviously possible for them to put that chip in the 13" nTB MBP.
Except this i7 chip doesn't officially exist. The i5-8210Y is so far exclusive to Apple and in fact, Intel only acknowledged its existence once the MacBook Air had been announced. Similarly, the i7-8510Y would also be exclusive to Apple as it is unlike any other 8th Generation Y chip that other companies are using but shares a lot of features with the i5-8210Y.
i7 *should* be an option. They did it in 2015.
https://www.apple.com/us_smb_78313/...nch-macbook-air-22GHz-dual-core-Intel-Core-i7
https://www.apple.com/us_smb_78313/...nch-macbook-air-22GHz-dual-core-Intel-Core-i7
I think you’re tech savvy enough to understand that Intel naming two processors 4 generations apart “core i7” has no technical meaning whatsoever.
Hi,
Thanks for this article because when I saw the product announcements I was wondering why the new Air Retina came out with an i5 if I have an early 2015 Air with 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7? wth? But the non-retina version has the i7 option, specifically the 2.2GHz dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz, with 4MB shared L3 cache. And the retina version of the Air can ONLY come with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, with 4MB L3 cache.
I'm guessing the i5-only option is to make up for the additional battery drain of the retina display.
So is it safe to say that from my early 2015 Air (for which I think I paid what the Retina version is worth now), Apple is actually releasing a lower performing Retina model and an almost identical (albeit cheaper) non-Retina version of the one I have ? What is the tendency here ? If the Air is not getting any considerable upgrades in 3 years (and the drop in price for the non Retina) could this be signalling that Apple planning on retiring it ?
What is the strategy here? to phase-out the Air and replace it with the iPad Pro (to compete head to head with Surface Pro) and force software engineers like me to jump on the MacBook Pro ? I reviewed the 2018 MacBook Pro specs and there is no incentive for me to upgrade to one of those either. So what is going on ??
I have no need for the Retina display and the Air is the perfect light-weight computer with a long battery life for software engineers on-the-go like myself. Maybe our particular use case is small compared to the overall market tendencies, but IMHO there is a strong and loyal niche a faster non-Retina version of the 13 inch Air for SEs. I really hope Apple doesn't retire the Air, but this latest release of it is really disappointing.
Bottom line, is that after 3 years, Apple is not presenting any options worth upgrading to. This is not a sentiment of just myself, but also of all the SEs in my company and others I've asked in my network. So what gives?
Thanks for this article because when I saw the product announcements I was wondering why the new Air Retina came out with an i5 if I have an early 2015 Air with 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7? wth? But the non-retina version has the i7 option, specifically the 2.2GHz dual-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz, with 4MB shared L3 cache. And the retina version of the Air can ONLY come with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz, with 4MB L3 cache.
I'm guessing the i5-only option is to make up for the additional battery drain of the retina display.
So is it safe to say that from my early 2015 Air (for which I think I paid what the Retina version is worth now), Apple is actually releasing a lower performing Retina model and an almost identical (albeit cheaper) non-Retina version of the one I have ? What is the tendency here ? If the Air is not getting any considerable upgrades in 3 years (and the drop in price for the non Retina) could this be signalling that Apple planning on retiring it ?
What is the strategy here? to phase-out the Air and replace it with the iPad Pro (to compete head to head with Surface Pro) and force software engineers like me to jump on the MacBook Pro ? I reviewed the 2018 MacBook Pro specs and there is no incentive for me to upgrade to one of those either. So what is going on ??
I have no need for the Retina display and the Air is the perfect light-weight computer with a long battery life for software engineers on-the-go like myself. Maybe our particular use case is small compared to the overall market tendencies, but IMHO there is a strong and loyal niche a faster non-Retina version of the 13 inch Air for SEs. I really hope Apple doesn't retire the Air, but this latest release of it is really disappointing.
Bottom line, is that after 3 years, Apple is not presenting any options worth upgrading to. This is not a sentiment of just myself, but also of all the SEs in my company and others I've asked in my network. So what gives?
1) MacOS does not run on Apple's CPUs.
2) Please post your source for the longer battery life of the A12X vs i7 running on a Mac (or any other device that runs both)
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Here are some examples of spec bumps in the same calendar year (e.g., same year)
MacBook 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
MacBook Pro 2011, 2013, 2015
iMac 2013, 2014, 2015
iPad 2014
There are quite a few more if you look at a rolling 12-month period (i.e., not same calendar year).
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Let me fix that for you:
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And that's a lot!? MacBook, not since a decade ago. MBP, there was only one release in 2015 (the 13" and 15" are two different models). So none in the current or previous generation. Same for iMac. None in the past three years? iPad only had one release in 2014, the Air2. The MacBook Air, Mac Pro, and Mini don't even get annual updates (when they should). Never said they've NEVER done more then one update in a year, but it's very rare.
i5 et al is just a silly marketing moniker. Within a class and generation of CPUs, a higher number will be better. However, the new MBAir is several generations ahead of the old one.
Again, comparing those only works within one and the same microarchitecture.
No; there exists an i7 option with the same power draw.
Yes and no. It’s 11% faster in single-core and 8% in multi-core. That’s not much, and the GPU got slower. But storage speed is way, way up.
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LLVM is quite real-world. As for comparable, I don’t know why this myth keeps coming up. The whole point is to allow comparisons to be made.
... which I'm sure is exactly why they didn't!I would consider a new MacBook Air over a pro if they did bring out a I7 version
What is competing with the Macbook Pro is the price rather than the specs...
Way overpriced computer. Who ships a computer with 128ssd anymore...?
I guess Apple only is innovating in price only this days...
Wow, thanks for sharing your expertise!! as you can see, my hw knowledge is very basic. So all in all, as a software developer, the 2018 lineup seems to have nothing major that I can benefit from unless I had expensive storage operations.
Thanks again,
Alex
I’m sure they did but does it even matter? Other than a couple hundred more in revenue the difference is so small that it’s irrelevant. The MBA was designed to be a low power ultraportable and that’s exactly what it is.
If someone wants a fast processor in an Apple notebook the only option is the MBP. It has always been this way since they came out in 2006. Before portability had to be sacrificed for performance but that is no longer the case. The 13” MBP weighs almost nothing at 3 lbs (1.3 kg).
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They are definitely more expensive than comparable notebooks. In fact there are many notebooks out there with the 2.2 head i7 for $800 or a little less especially Black Friday weekend.
The thing is Apple’s notebooks have a premium construction. Think BMW 320i. Really weak inline 4 in comparison to their twin turbo 6 but the build quality is already superior to slow cars from cheaper manufacturers.
Windows is all about utility. Apple has a completely different vision for computing where aesthetics are equally as important as function. This can be seen with all of the eye candy in Quartz/CoreGraphics.
Windows notebooks are also available with premium construction but they usually come with close to top of line chips instead of the quality chassis and display paired with a weak CPU. (Weak in comparison to quad and hexa core i5/i7/i9. The reality is even this low power dual core i5 is enough for most general computing. While desktop chips are still light years ahead, it’s similar to RAM. Although the numbers keep doubling every couple of years, 8 and 16 GB are really a sh*tload of RAM. It’s just that everything is prettier and consumes more resources. Just compare Photoshop CS6 to Photoshop CC 2019. Almost the same product but the latter is more “bloated” so to speak).
If someone wants a fast processor in an Apple notebook the only option is the MBP. It has always been this way since they came out in 2006. Before portability had to be sacrificed for performance but that is no longer the case. The 13” MBP weighs almost nothing at 3 lbs (1.3 kg).
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They are definitely more expensive than comparable notebooks. In fact there are many notebooks out there with the 2.2 head i7 for $800 or a little less especially Black Friday weekend.
The thing is Apple’s notebooks have a premium construction. Think BMW 320i. Really weak inline 4 in comparison to their twin turbo 6 but the build quality is already superior to slow cars from cheaper manufacturers.
Windows is all about utility. Apple has a completely different vision for computing where aesthetics are equally as important as function. This can be seen with all of the eye candy in Quartz/CoreGraphics.
Windows notebooks are also available with premium construction but they usually come with close to top of line chips instead of the quality chassis and display paired with a weak CPU. (Weak in comparison to quad and hexa core i5/i7/i9. The reality is even this low power dual core i5 is enough for most general computing. While desktop chips are still light years ahead, it’s similar to RAM. Although the numbers keep doubling every couple of years, 8 and 16 GB are really a sh*tload of RAM. It’s just that everything is prettier and consumes more resources. Just compare Photoshop CS6 to Photoshop CC 2019. Almost the same product but the latter is more “bloated” so to speak).
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Have you ever seen Aero? (DWM is Windows’s equivalent to Quartz.)
Incidentally, while Mojave removes the blue from the login screen, Windows 10 1903 will add blur to its login screen.
In any case, I don’t see what makes you think of this dichotomy. Windows since Vista has had quite a few silly visual effects as well.
Faster storage, along with the faster Wifi benefits the operation speed of the computer in pretty much every area since IO is so important. Granted, it's diminishing returns with today's tech, but I'd say you'd still be able to feel the difference.
Also the display is now much better. That's definitely a major point.
Sure but how long did it take to release Aero? Apple already had Aqua back in 2000 and no matter what Windows does, macOS will always have more pop. I think this is the reason why many people are seduced and even go as far as building a Hackintosh.
Aero started with Longhorn (Vista) but honestly the effects were crap compared to Tiger and Leopard. Much of the Windows UI was still pretty ugly. Even compared to Linux with Gnome 2.
MS has now been designing nice machines themselves but only recently and after Apple gained a lot of ground with mobile (MacBook and iPad).
Which is why I don't recommend buying it. It run a cellphone processor and isn't good for anything beyond web browsing.
All I want is a non-touch bar MacBook Pro with Touch ID or a MacBook Air with a more powerful cpu