Intel Launches New Broadwell Chips Appropriate for MacBook Air and 13-Inch MacBook Pro

[ctyrider]

But IMHO it's more likely than not that there will be Skylake Macs significantly before mid-2016. Like I said: If you can wait. Any time is good for a Mac if you need one.

Early 2016 would be the soonest we will see any Skylake-based MacBooks. Sure, if you don't need a new Mac this year - go ahead and wait. That same rule applies to any new generation / upgrade / refresh.

There is nothing special or unique about Skylake that makes it a "must", not any more so than any other iteration of Intel CPUs.

 

[mi7chy]

Apple doesn't use Intel x86 processors in their tablets, so I do not see how this is relevant. And here, we are specifically talking about MacBooks.

Rumors of Mac OS X hybrid tablet/laptop as an answer to Surface Pro 3, Thinkpad Helix2, etc. type devices.

 

[wizard]

I really hope Apple will release the 13" ahead of the 15", but the most likely scenario is that they will wait until the quad core parts become available for the 15" and update both of them at the same time. This will be in or shortly after summer.

Actually SkyLake could put quad cores into a 13" MBP.

 

[apolloa]

They could shock us. Considering Apple is gutless in this regard we probably won't see an update until the 15" MBP has suitable chips.


I don't know about that. The latest rumors is that Intel will not release high performance Broadwell based chips suitable for the MBP's. Instead they will move SkyLake based chips into those lines. So we might not see a MBP update until mid summer when SkyLake starts to ship.

Eh? Skylake isn't shipping this summer! Intel have only announced the desktop version of Broadwell will be shipped this summer..

What’s more, the wait isn’t fully over: the chips launched today are all dual-core mobile models with TDPs of 28W and below. While some OEMs will doubtless stick these into all-in-ones and compact NUC-style devices, proper desktop chips with quad-core designs and TDPs of 45W and above won’t be with us until the middle of the year.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/processors/1000218/intel-launches-broadwell-14-new-cpus-but-do-we-care

 

[Trubador]

So, when do the new 21" Retina iMacs arrive...

Just wondering if these Broadwell chips will be used in the eventual release of the 21" Retina-iMac (and, if so, when would that be)?

I, too, gave up on the MacMini when Apple released what they did a few months ago. So, I'm waiting for the 21" Retina-iMac with a Broadwell chip to replace my aging iMac.

 

[mi7chy]

On the other hand cooler operation should allow them to run longer without throttling. That may be a big bonus here that has yet to be demonstrated.

Broadwell, even the 4.5W TDP variant, still throttle under load from iGPU but not as bad as Haswell with active cooling. It probably won't be until 10nm and/or "tock" rearchitecture that will enable consistent non-throttled performance.

 

[name99]

Too little too late? If one can, wait for Skylake at this point.

This assumes Skylake is following the previous schedule, that it won't also be shifted by eighteen months. Which is not at all clear.

(a) IF (we still don't know) the problems with Broadwell are at the design level more than at the process level, Skylake may have similar design issues. (Obviously not the exact same issues, but the issue of a level of complexity that has spiraled beyond Intel's control. Note that we still don't know what led to HWTM being shut off in Haswell, but we do know that, contrary to the original claims of Intel supporters, it can't be easily fixed through a microcode patch, and it isn't [as far as I know] fixed in Broadwell.)
The general assumption has been that Broadwell issues are process, but that's never been proved, and, based on what Intel management have said publicly (which can be used against them in court), they have on more than one occasion said that their 14nm process was proceeding at the same rate (yields, problems, etc) as their previous process.

(b) Regardless of what the cause of the Broadwell delays are, will Intel will try to get as much money out of this sad little chip as they can? Or will they just accept that it's a tainted brand and try to move on ASAP?
I think we honestly don't know how their marketing people will view the situation.

 

[ctyrider]

Rumors of Mac OS X hybrid tablet/laptop as an answer to Surface Pro 3, Thinkpad Helix2, etc. type devices.

There are exactly zero credible rumors of such product being actually developed by Apple.

 

[wizard]

Eh? Skylake isn't shipping this summer! Intel have only announced the desktop version of Broadwell will be shipped this summer..

What announcement was that. Further how does that invalidate what I've said?

What’s more, the wait isn’t fully over: the chips launched today are all dual-core mobile models with TDPs of 28W and below. While some OEMs will doubtless stick these into all-in-ones and compact NUC-style devices, proper desktop chips with quad-core designs and TDPs of 45W and above won’t be with us until the middle of the year.

Exactly my point, there isn't even a performance laptop chip in this bunch. The rumor has Intel releasignSkylake into these markets instead of Broadwell. It actually makes sense. Broadwell simply brings nothing to the market as far a CPU performance goes, the only way devices like the 15" MBP will get the performance boost they need to to have a SkyLake based processor planted in them. Otherwise we may see three years in a row of lackluster CPU performance increases.

Broadwell has lots of potential in things like the MBA but it is hardly ready for the performance desktop market these days. So the question is how will Intel address that. My money is on a series of SkyLake based processors mid year suitable for the MBP.

 

[Bodie CI5]

It’s about time we had a Mac Pro refresh?

How the hell does a discussion related to MBAs and MBPs as they pertain to mobility chips, relate back to Xeon chips as used by the MP????????

 

[Yebubbleman]

I really hope Apple will release the 13" ahead of the 15", but the most likely scenario is that they will wait until the quad core parts become available for the 15" and update both of them at the same time. This will be in or shortly after summer.

Given that they always issue an update 8-10 months from the most recent update, odds are REALLY good that they'll continue to adhere to this and release whatever they want to in two to four months from now as that will be 8-10 months from the last refresh. That's not what's in question. What's in question is when will each machine get Broadwell.

 

[wizard]

Just wondering if these Broadwell chips will be used in the eventual release of the 21" Retina-iMac (and, if so, when would that be)?

I really doubt it! But come on these are clearly targeted for the low end laptop market and are in fact only dual core chips. Why would you think Apple would put these in a 21" Retina iMac?

I, too, gave up on the MacMini when Apple released what they did a few months ago.

While I'm not pleased with the move, the new Mini's are no where near as bad as people indicate. They I fact seriously beef up the GPU performance which is what the majority of Mini users can most take advanatge of.

So, I'm waiting for the 21" Retina-iMac with a Broadwell chip to replace my aging iMac.

You will have a long wait from what I can see. These are simply not suitable for a desktop machine that even remotely pretends to have serious performance. They might go into a low end iMac but I don't see respectable performance and infant the machine might be outclassed by a Mini.

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Broadwell, even the 4.5W TDP variant, still throttle under load from iGPU but not as bad as Haswell with active cooling. It probably won't be until 10nm and/or "tock" rearchitecture that will enable consistent non-throttled performance.

It isn't the process that allows non throttled performance it is the cooling methods. In any event you missed my point, a color running chip can run in high performance mode much longer than a hotter running chip (given the same cooling effort).

----------

How the hell does a discussion related to MBAs and MBPs as they pertain to mobility chips, relate back to Xeon chips as used by the MP????????

Especially considering that a suitable new generationXeon has been out for awhile now. If it isn't in the Mac Pro Apple is likely holding off to address an array of issues with the Mac Pro.

But honestly talking about the Mac Pro here makes about as much sense as talking about theses new chips in a fanless laptop.

 

[wiredup72]

It will be interesting to watch Intel's stock over the next few weeks as more and more PC makers don't line up for Broadwell and hold out for Skylake. They really bungled Broadwell.

 

[ctyrider]

It will be interesting to watch Intel's stock over the next few weeks as more and more PC makers don't line up for Broadwell and hold out for Skylake. They really bungled Broadwell.

And why would PC makers "hold out for Skylake"? That just makes no sense whatsoever.

 

[cube]

I wish Intel would stop wasting Silicon Space on these dam on-board GPU's.

Even in the "Proper" PC Computing world where people naturally buy proper graphics cards, you still have these dumb GPU's forced onto the chips we don't want.

I'm happy they make them for those with minimal requirement, but PLEASE Intel put this space to better use for proper Desktop users.

This is what I thought when I saw the die picture. 2/3 wasted space for non-entertainment laptops that would do better with 4 cores, still having 1/3 left for integrated graphics.

 

[Piggie]

This is what I thought when I saw the die picture. 2/3 wasted space for non-entertainment laptops that would do better with 4 cores, still having 1/3 left for integrated graphics.

Given the amount of "tiny chipper" that must be in that GPU past of Intels current Chips.

And Given there are literally millions of people who just want CPU's to be CPU's and have proper Graphics cards by AMD and NVIDEA.

Surly Intel can do something else with this silicon space to make the CPU's better for those who simply don't want or use this.

It's seems such a pointless waste.

 

[apolloa]

What announcement was that. Further how does that invalidate what I've said?

Exactly my point, there isn't even a performance laptop chip in this bunch. The rumor has Intel releasignSkylake into these markets instead of Broadwell. It actually makes sense. Broadwell simply brings nothing to the market as far a CPU performance goes, the only way devices like the 15" MBP will get the performance boost they need to to have a SkyLake based processor planted in them. Otherwise we may see three years in a row of lackluster CPU performance increases.


Broadwell has lots of potential in things like the MBA but it is hardly ready for the performance desktop market these days. So the question is how will Intel address that. My money is on a series of SkyLake based processors mid year suitable for the MBP.

Erm... Intel said so today? When they announced the new CPU's today. And it makes no sense to release Skylake and they won't release it till next year. The article I posted to even states don't expect Intel to make any huge performance leaps, like you are implying with Skylake, for several years, they are not able to keep up the momentum of the Tick Tock business model anymore. Your last comment makes no sense as I said, Intel announced today they will be shipping desktop Broadwell CPU's middle of this year, they are NOT going to launch Skylake then no matter how much you want it.

 

[Col4bin]

They will only perform better where the GPU will be leveraged. By Intels own admission you may get 4% better CPU performance and since Intel is always optimistic in this regard you will likely not even notice the difference for CPU bound apps. Apps that leverage the GPUs though will be nicely enhanced. Given the right chip, GPU performance hovers around 200 GFlops double precision, that is impressive in such a low power laptop chip.

On the other hand cooler operation should allow them to run longer without throttling. That may be a big bonus here that has yet to be demonstrated.

Very nice, thank you for that. My concern is for my power hungry apps like Adobe Creative Suite that tend to suck up lots of RAM and generally bog down the entire system. I need a MBP upgrade soon but don't think I can wait another 1-2 years for Skylake to be fully implemented into the platform. Broadwell it will most likely be I guess.

 

[cube]

Given the amount of "tiny chipper" that must be in that GPU past of Intels current Chips.

And Given there are literally millions of people who just want CPU's to be CPU's and have proper Graphics cards by AMD and NVIDEA.

Surly Intel can do something else with this silicon space to make the CPU's better for those who simply don't want or use this.

It's seems such a pointless waste.

If they want me to buy a new laptop, it better be 6-core and just leave the graphics job to a discrete chip.

And I would choose a chip without crippled OpenCL, that is AMD.

When I say 6-core, I mean 6 FP units, not 3. And SMT.

 

[Freyqq]

Early 2016 would be the soonest we will see any Skylake-based MacBooks. Sure, if you don't need a new Mac this year - go ahead and wait. That same rule applies to any new generation / upgrade / refresh.

There is nothing special or unique about Skylake that makes it a "must", not any more so than any other iteration of Intel CPUs.

Roadmap says that intel is releasing Skylake on a shortened schedule because broadwell was delayed. So, waiting for skylake is actually a pretty reasonable idea. Skylake is also getting thunderbolt 3, so there's that too.

 

[macs4nw]

I would like to know how the Intel HD 6000/6100 compared to the Intel 5000 or Iris/Iris Pro integrated graphics.

Same here. It probably won't take very long before tech sites such as Anandtech post the results of their in depth evaluations.

 

[linkgx1]

Possibility of a release in March or a retina MBA or updated pro? I really need a laptop now, but not sure if I could wait much longer.

 

[doronbt]

Oh no! not again dual core!

I wish that Apple will finally treat Macbook Pro 13" as a Pro product and will start shipping it with quad core (here's a crazy idea, why not allowing the same processors of the 15"?)

Yes, I know it consumes more power, but these days the processors are efficient, and sometimes you want that extra power (well, i bought a Macbook PRO!).

Just because I like the small size of the 13", doesn't mean I'm willing to compromise on the performance (but I'm willing to compromise on battery life).

Apple, give us the freedom to choose!

 

[Cloudsurfer]

I wish that Apple will finally treat Macbook Pro 13" as a Pro product and will start shipping it with quad core (here's a crazy idea, why not allowing the same processors of the 15"?)

Yes, I know it consumes more power, but these days the processors are efficient, and sometimes you want that extra power (well, i bought a Macbook PRO!).

Just because I like the small size of the 13", doesn't mean I'm willing to compromise on the performance (but I'm willing to compromise on battery life).

Apple, give us the freedom to choose!

The 13" is simply not designed to handle the high TDP quad core chips. I don't think intel will offer 28w quad core chips for the foreseeable future, maybe around 10 or 7nm?

 

[Exhale]

Yes, I know it consumes more power

Which means it produces more heat, which the 13'' RMBP is not capable of handling.

Every laptop on the market is already incredibly tight on the thermal budget; the leap you're suggesting is simply not feasible - as it'd have to severely throttle back every time you actually attempted to make use of the higher throughput.