MacBook Air 2018 CPU

[Standard]

I know it's far fetched to assume anything but, since this is what we discuss here I thought I'd ask anyway.

Do you think there is a decent chance that Apple will upgrade the CPU's in the MBA with quad cores that the new MBP 13"s have? Or will that be too overpowered for a budget machine? Are quad cores of any type out of the question for the new MBA?

Would something like this for a max build to order be reasonable to assume or should I forget this idea?

Quad Core
16 GB RAM
New SSDs
Retina Screen

Cheers

 

[Johnny365]

No idea.

 

[gaanee]

Sometime back there was a news that Intel will announce 8th gen processors suitable for Macbook and Air in October. 8th gen i5 are quad-core, so if Apple could that in time. It also depends on TDP at least for Macbook.

 

[Standard]

No idea.

=) We can only wait and hope, right?!

Sometime back there was a news that Intel will announce 8th gen processors suitable for Macbook and Air in October. 8th gen i5 are quad-core, so if Apple could that in time. It also depends on TDP at least for Macbook.

Interesting, thanks. We shall find out relatively soon, I think.

 

[Yvan256]

I think I'd rather have a lower-cost quad-core i3 than a more expensive quad-core i5 with hyperthreading that is so full of security holes that software patches make it run barely any faster than the non-hyperthreaded i3.

 

[gaanee]

9th-gen Intel chips are dropping hyper-threading for i3 and i5.

I think I'd rather have a lower-cost quad-core i3 than a more expensive quad-core i5 with hyperthreading that is so full of security holes that software patches make it run barely any faster than the non-hyperthreaded i3.

 

[Yvan256]

9th-gen Intel chips are dropping hyper-threading for i3 and i5.

According to this, all the CPUs except the i9 will drop hyperthreading. However, according to the same page the i3 will have four cores, i5 will have six cores and i7 will be eight cores. That would be a really nice and easy way for Apple to make clear cuts between all three tiers of computers. And I'd be more than happy with a quad-core i3 for the entry-level MacBook Air 2018.

 

[Scarpad]

I picked up a windows 10 asus with an I5-8550 in it its a quad core chip it also had 8gb DDR4 ram and a slow 1 TB Hard drive (i'm replacing it eventually) and i aid around 490 for it surely the same config could be in a MacBook air for around $799 no ?

 

[Johnny365]

It's not whether you can find a cheaper laptop with better CPU/specs, it's whether Apple themselves will put a comparable CPU in the redesigned Air.

 

[Mrbobb]

As long as they are able to remove the hot air out properly in that thin package AND not compromise battery in any big way. History shown, Apple cares more about noise, heat, battery life OVER performance.

 

[Ma2k5]

I know it's far fetched to assume anything but, since this is what we discuss here I thought I'd ask anyway.

Do you think there is a decent chance that Apple will upgrade the CPU's in the MBA with quad cores that the new MBP 13"s have? Or will that be too overpowered for a budget machine? Are quad cores of any type out of the question for the new MBA?

Would something like this for a max build to order be reasonable to assume or should I forget this idea?

Quad Core
16 GB RAM
New SSDs
Retina Screen

Cheers

It won't have the quad core's the touch-bar 13" have (which are 28w rated). It will however have the 15w variants that most Window laptops use, it will basically be similar to the non-touch bar but 8th gen CPU instead of 7th (and the 8th gen adds two cores).

1 -So quad cores are guaranteed as all 8 gen 15w CPU's are quad core and the previous Air's also ran on 15w CPU's. I think they was hoping to wait for cannonlake 15w CPU's but will now make do with the 15w Coffeelake (e.g i5/i7 8xxx series).

2 - I see no reason why it can't have a 16 GB Ram option, I'd be surprised it it didn't

3 - New SSD's are a given

4 - Retina screen again is a given

Think of this as a non-touch bar MacBook Pro Coffeelake update - with some design changes (potentially?). They will likely decommission the non-touchbar MacBook Pro.

 

[Standard]

It won't have the quad core's the touch-bar 13" have (which are 28w rated). It will however have the 15w variants that most Window laptops use, it will basically be similar to the non-touch bar but 8th gen CPU instead of 7th (and the 8th gen adds two cores).

1 -So quad cores are guaranteed as all 8 gen 15w CPU's are quad core and the previous Air's also ran on 15w CPU's. I think they was hoping to wait for cannonlake 15w CPU's but will now make do with the 15w Coffeelake (e.g i5/i7 8xxx series).

2 - I see no reason why it can't have a 16 GB Ram option, I'd be surprised it it didn't

3 - New SSD's are a given

4 - Retina screen again is a given

Think of this as a non-touch bar MacBook Pro Coffeelake update - with some design changes (potentially?). They will likely decommission the non-touchbar MacBook Pro.

Interesting. Looks like this could be a solid contender for the XPS 13?

 

[Ma2k5]

Interesting. Looks like this could be a solid contender for the XPS 13?

Definitely - along with pretty much every Window laptop in the 13/14" category (and even many 15" like the Surface Book 2/LG Gram 15/HP x360 15 etc, which despite their size, didn't choose to employ 45W CPU's like say the XPS 15).

I really hope they don't skimp on battery life, 56WH+ with 60WH being very good. The original Air was famous for it's ridiculous battery and I would hate if they went the way of the Pro series of 2016 where they slashed all the capacities greatly to make a thinner laptop...

 

[Standard]

Definitely - along with pretty much every Window laptop in the 13/14" category (and even many 15" like the Surface Book 2/LG Gram 15/HP x360 15 etc, which despite their size, didn't choose to employ 45W CPU's like say the XPS 15).

I really hope they don't skimp on battery life, 56WH+ with 60WH being very good. The original Air was famous for it's ridiculous battery and I would hate if they went the way of the Pro series of 2016 where they slashed all the capacities greatly to make a thinner laptop...

Now you got me really eager to see what this machine brings. I've been pretty set on picking up a new 15" MBP. Ideally I'd love to grab the 13" for portability but cost wise it just doesn't make sense when you are only a few hundred off from the 15" for the power it offers.

Battery life should still be great, I hope. Otherwise it's like you said, they will be killing a primary feature that the Air is famous for.

Currently with what's on the market, I am considering the XPS 13 for it's ultra portability, great performance and plug and play with eGPU's.

This new Air could be a game changer for Apple, I think. Do you guys think it's likely they will shrink the bezels further than existing MBP's?

 

[upandown]

I would say the quad core 15watt chip is certain.

 

[Ma2k5]

Now you got me really eager to see what this machine brings. I've been pretty set on picking up a new 15" MBP. Ideally I'd love to grab the 13" for portability but cost wise it just doesn't make sense when you are only a few hundred off from the 15" for the power it offers.

Battery life should still be great, I hope. Otherwise it's like you said, they will be killing a primary feature that the Air is famous for.

Currently with what's on the market, I am considering the XPS 13 for it's ultra portability, great performance and plug and play with eGPU's.

This new Air could be a game changer for Apple, I think. Do you guys think it's likely they will shrink the bezels further than existing MBP's?

Part of me thinks the whole laptop could be very similar to the existing non-touch MacBook Pro, but Apple could really surprise us with a very huge redesign and anything is possible including thinner bezels, maybe even the return of the tapered design (I wouldn't mind that as the 13" Pro's dig into my wrist, a problem that didn't exist with the Air).

I am hoping you are right about battery, I have a feeling they could get tempted to shrink it to a sub 50wh battery to get it to be lighter/thinner and they seem to have a different idea of what 10 hours battery life means (going by the direction of the MacBook Pro lineup).

 

[frou]

There were a bunch of news stories claiming they will be using the "Kaby Lake R", which confusingly have 8xxx model numbers.

https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/cores/kaby_lake_r#Kaby_Lake_R_Processors

The alternative is "Whiskey Lake U", which is the low(er) power counterpart to Coffee Lake:

https://en.wikichip.org/wiki/intel/cores/whiskey_lake_u#Whiskey_Lake_U_Processors

 

[Dave245]

Apparently Apple had plans to announce the new MacBook Air in late 2017 BUT Intel had issues with the 10nm so Apple delayed it and have been working on getting the 14nm as they plan to announce it this year. As for what processors they will be i'm not sure, it will all depend on what Apple do with the Air's design? will they thin it down even more? keep it the same, we know that they are reducing the bezels on the screen (Mark Gurman from Bloomberg reported it) but it will still remain a 13" Air.