Are octo core Macbook Pros a possibility with Skylake?

[mustgroove]

Or will octo core chips for Macbook Pros come a lot further down the track?

 

[dmccloud]

Or will octo core chips for Macbook Pros come a lot further down the track?

Given that the quad core Broadwell parts haven't even been released yet, talking about octo-core setups is jumping the gun by a large degree.

 

[leman]

Or will octo core chips for Macbook Pros come a lot further down the track?

I am not aware about any plans to release laptop-suitable octo-core CPUs from Intel.

In addition, 8-core does not make much sense for laptops, at least not from current technology standpoint. Multi-core CPUs are a hack to work around scalability issues of single core designs. If we were able to scale up the performance of single cores arbitrary, nobody would even care about multi-core designs right now.

However, in a laptop, you are limited by the thermals. So basically, its a balance between two limits: how much heat can I dissipate vs. how many cores can I use. To fit into the thermal envelop of a MacBook Pro, an octa-core CPU would need to be severely under clocked. So any performance benefit over a quad-core might become dubious. A 2Ghz quad-core is a more flexible design than a 1Ghz octal-core.

 

[Quu]

Zero chance. Intel isn't even putting 6 or 8 cores on their mainstream 1151 Skylake socket and the mainstream uses the same core dies as mobile, just binned for lower voltages.

 

[magbarn]

I am not aware about any plans to release laptop-suitable octo-core CPUs from Intel.

In addition, 8-core does not make much sense for laptops, at least not from current technology standpoint. Multi-core CPUs are a hack to work around scalability issues of single core designs. If we were able to scale up the performance of single cores arbitrary, nobody would even care about multi-core designs right now.

However, in a laptop, you are limited by the thermals. So basically, its a balance between two limits: how much heat can I dissipate vs. how many cores can I use. To fit into the thermal envelop of a MacBook Pro, an octa-core CPU would need to be severely under clocked. So any performance benefit over a quad-core might become dubious. A 2Ghz quad-core is a more flexible design than a 1Ghz octal-core.

Yup, it'll be akin to the cheap Chinese Android phones that have 8 core cpus, yet slow as heck...