Intel's Skylake Processor Lineup for MacBook Air Unveiled - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Intel's Skylake Processor Lineup for MacBook Air Unveiled

Details on Intel's upcoming 15-watt 6200U - 6600U Skylake processor lineup were shared today by Fanless Tech, giving us a look at what we can expect from the processors that will likely be used in Apple's next MacBook Air update.

skylake1larger

Click to view larger version

The 2.3GHz i5-6200U and the 2.4GHz i5-6300U chips are appropriate for the lower-end MacBook Air models, while the 2.5GHz i7-6500U and the 2.6GHz i7-6600U would be used in the higher-end MacBook Air models. All four chips include Intel HD 520 graphics. With Skylake, Intel has opted to simplify its graphics naming scheme, adopting 3-digit numbers instead of 4-digit numbers.

skylake2larger

Click to view larger version

It is not clear when Intel plans to release the Skylake chips appropriate for the MacBook Air, but with full specs now available, it seems launch is imminent, perhaps planned for next week's Intel Developer Forum.

According to the information available, 28-watt chips appropriate for the 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro will not be launching until 2016. Launch dates are equally unclear for the rest of the Skylake lineup, as today's leak only covers chips that would be used in the MacBook Air.

skylake3larger

Click to view larger version

Intel's Skylake processors are expected to offer a 10 to 20 percent boost in CPU performance over Broadwell, plus lower power consumption and improved Intel HD integrated graphics performance. Better energy efficiency will also lead to up to 30 percent longer battery life.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Tags: Intel, Skylake
Buyer's Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Popular Stories

iPhone 18 Pro Deep Red Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Wednesday March 18, 2026 7:39 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another six months or so, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component...
imac video apple feature

Apple Released Yet Another New Product Today

Friday March 20, 2026 2:39 pm PDT by
Apple has unveiled a whopping nine new products so far this March, including an iPhone 17e, iPad Air models with the M4 chip, MacBook Air models with the M5 chip, MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the all-new MacBook Neo, an updated Studio Display, a higher-end Studio Display XDR, AirPods Max 2, and now the Nike Powerbeats Pro 2. iPhone 17e features the same overall design as...
ios 26 4 yellow

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for iOS 26.4

Wednesday March 18, 2026 11:56 am PDT by
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of iOS 26.4 and iPadOS 26.4, which means we're going to see a public launch as soon as next week. The RC versions of the software include Apple's official release notes, giving us final details on what's included in the update. Apple Music - Playlist Playground (beta) generates a playlist from your...

Top Rated Comments

sw1tcher Avatar
139 months ago
I hope they will ditch the MBA series, make MB with skylake in 12' and 14'(2 USBC). And focus on a new stunning MBP.
How would one carry around a 12 foot or 14 foot MacBook?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
139 months ago
It's not going to happen, but boy do I wish Intel would do something about their confusing naming schemes.

It was bad enough that we're now up to six generations of "Core i3/5/7" processors, the only way to differentiate between which is a somewhat random part number that means nothing unless you look it up in Intel's Ark, or an arbitrary code name that isn't printed anywhere on the box.

Now they've dropped a zero from the GPU model numbers they've been using for years, which adds additional confusion to anybody who doesn't actively follow these things. "No, no, that's a 520, which is newer and much faster than a 5200."

It's not that the information is impossible to come up with in most cases (apart from computers that come with a "Core i5" CPU without specifying in any way what generation or model it is), but it's needlessly confusing, particularly for the not-wildly technical. "Well, yes, they both say "Core i7" on them, and the GHz number is the same, but this one is way faster because it's actually three generations newer." or "Yes, they both say "i5", but this one has two cores and is a low-power mobile part, while this one has four cores and is a high-power desktop part. And also the generations are completely different."

Even Apple, masters of opaque product names, has a model year associated with each "iMac", has neatly sequentially numbered A-series processors, and their arbitrarily-named OSes have a simple version number to make it clear.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nepalisherpa Avatar
139 months ago
Give me 11" Air with Skylake and retina display, please!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
139 months ago
i think intel is purposeful delaying skylake chips.
It is a well-known fact that Intel hates money.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vdgroodt Avatar
139 months ago
I hope they will ditch the MBA series, make MB with skylake in 12'' and 14''(2 USBC). And focus on a new stunning MBP.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CheesePuff Avatar
139 months ago
Wow, take a look at the difference in performance of the current Intel HD 6000 vs. the new Intel HD 530 graphics:

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/three-generations-intel-hd-graphics-tested/
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)