While Intel's next-generation Broadwell processors for most Macs are not shipping until early 2015 or even later, the company began shipping some ultra low-power Broadwell chips known as Core M a couple of months ago. These chips are designed to run at just 4.5 watts and are intended for next-generation fanless PCs and tablets, fitting perfectly with circulating rumors of a thinner, fanless 12-inch MacBook Air, potentially with a Retina display.
The first batch of Core M chips launched in early September consisted of the 5Y10/5Y10a running at a base frequency of 800 MHz with a maximum of 2 GHz turbo, along with the more powerful 5Y70 running at 1.1 GHz with a max turbo of 2.6 GHz. But as pointed out by CPU World, Intel now appears to have quietly added several new processor options to the Core M family. Internal roadmaps had targeted an early 2015 launch for these chips, but Intel's chip database shows the new chips as having launched this quarter.
The new chips, which we understand Apple has indeed been testing with the upcoming 12-inch MacBook Air, include a new high-end 5Y71 chip running at 1.2 GHz with a max turbo of 2.9 GHz, two new mid-range chips arriving as 5Y51 and 5Y31, and a new low-end 5Y10c variant. As noted by CPU World, all of the new chips offer faster graphics than the initial batch of Core M chips, with base graphics frequencies moving from 100 MHz to 300 MHz across the board and turbo frequencies in some cases rising slightly to as high as 900 MHz.
Lenovo's Yoga 3 Pro is the first PC to take advantage of the first batch of Broadwell Core M chips, and performance has been lackluster. It is unclear, however, whether the issues are due more to Core M's limitations for the sake of power efficiency or to Lenovo's design decisions. Still, the new second batch of Core M chips appears to mark a significant step forward from the earlier versions while maintaining the same low power draw.
The launch timing of Apple's rumored 12-inch MacBook Air remains up in the air, with one rumor pointing to a likely mid-2015 launch. But with Intel moving forward on its Broadwell Core M chip lineup and perhaps accelerating its launch plans for those chips, it will be interesting to see if Apple looks to launch the new, thinner MacBook Air earlier in the year.
Apple's recently announced CarPlay Ultra promises a deeply integrated in-car experience, but not all iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature.
According to Apple's press release, CarPlay Ultra requires an iPhone 12 or later running iOS 18.5 or later. This means if you're using an iPhone 11, iPhone XR, or any older model, you'll need to upgrade your device to access...
Apple is expected to launch an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17 Air later this year, and while there have been plenty of rumors about the camera's overall design and thinness, we haven't heard any details about the device's weight and battery capacity until now.
According to the leaker going by the account name "yeux1122" on the Korean-langauge Naver blog, the 6.6-inch iPhone 17 Air has a weight ...
Apple today announced that its next-generation CarPlay experience, now dubbed "CarPlay Ultra" begins rolling out today, starting with Aston Martin vehicles.
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CarPlay Ultra is now available with new Aston Martin vehicle orders in the U.S. and Canada. It will also be available for existing models that feature the brand's next-generation ...
Apple today announced the launch of CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles.
CarPlay Ultra features deep integration with a vehicle's instrument cluster and systems, built-in Radio and Climate apps, customizable widgets, and more. The interface is tailored to each vehicle model and automaker's identity, and drivers can also adjust...
Apple today announced a more detailed schedule for its annual developers conference WWDC, which runs from June 9 through June 13. The schedule confirms that Apple's keynote will begin on Monday, June 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with a live stream to be available on Apple.com, in the Apple TV app, and on YouTube.
During the keynote, Apple is expected to announce iOS 19, iPadOS 19, macOS 16,...
Apple has big plans to improve Siri over the next few years, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett report.
Some Apple executives are now reportedly pushing to turn Siri into a true ChatGPT competitor. A next-generation, chatbot version of Siri has reportedly made significant progress during testing over the past six months; some executives allegedly now see it as "on par" with recent...
Apple plans to mostly stop announcing new features more than a few months before they are ready to launch, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and Drake Bennett. The pair of reporters revealed this noteworthy tidbit towards the bottom of a lengthy report about Apple's artificial intelligence shortcomings today.
This alleged change in strategy comes after Apple was forced to delay its more...
Introducing the 2015 MacBook Air. It has a processor speed from a decade ago, the same amount of RAM as a decade ago, the same amount of storage as a decade ago and finally to round things up it has the same price as a decade ago.
Introducing the 2015 MacBook Air. It has a processor speed from a decade ago, the same amount of RAM as a decade ago, the same amount of storage as a decade ago and finally to round things up it has the same price as a decade ago.
And introducing the "new" Apple logo, rainbow-colored.
We might as well buy old PowerBooks at this point. :rolleyes: