Is the MacBook Air's i5-8210Y effectively just a rebadged i7-7Y75 at 7 Watts?

[EugW]

The Intel i5-8210Y is an oddball. Not only did it not exist until the MacBook Air was announced, its specs don't quite fit in with the rest of the 8th generation Amber Lake lineup.

Moreover, its specs are exactly the same as the i7-7Y75 (in the 2017 MacBook) when configured at 7 Watts. The 7 Watt TDP up setting for the i7-7Y75 is exactly 1.6 GHz base and 3.6 GHz Turbo.

Could the i5-8210Y simply just be minimally modified TDPup version of the i7-7Y75, perhaps with a small process change (14++ nm instead of Kaby Lake's 14+ nm)?

 

[curmudgeonette]

Could the i5-8210Y simply just be minimally modified TDPup version of the i7-7Y75, perhaps with a small process change (14++ nm instead of Kaby Lake's 14+ nm)?

Previously, the Y series and the no-eDRAM U series were twins separated at birth. They're the same die, just that one is tested at 15W while the other at 5W. Also, the Y-series is put in a lower pincount package.

Now with Amber Lake, there is no U series twin. Intel likely created this oddball chip so that Apple could use it like a dual core U series.

 

[EugW]

Previously, the Y series and the no-eDRAM U series were twins separated at birth. They're the same die, just that one is tested at 15W while the other at 5W. Also, the Y-series is put in a lower pincount package.

Now with Amber Lake, there is no U series twin. Intel likely created this oddball chip so that Apple could use it like a dual core U series.

Yes, that makes sense. The U series i5 models have gone quad-core, and Apple doesn't want to use i3 branded chips.

Going quad-core for the Air doesn't make sense for their marketing department either, since that basically makes it a Pro.

 

[EugW]

Hmmm... The A12X in the iPad Pro May be twice as fast.

https://browser.geekbench.com/v4/cpu/10567048

This means an ARM MacBook would be fast enough to run existing Mac software in emulation.

 

[EugW]

Hmmm... If this is real, then basically the i5-8210Y performs like a Core i7-7Y75 (or worse than it in fact) in Geekbench 4.