Apple this week refreshed its MacBook Air lineup with a scissor switch Magic Keyboard and faster 10th-generation Intel Core processor options, including a 1.1GHz dual-core Core i3, 1.1GHz quad-core Core i5, and 1.2GHz quad-core Core i7.
Jason Snell of Six Colors was provided with the mid-range MacBook Air with a 1.1GHz quad-core Core i5 processor for testing purposes. In his first impressions article this morning, he shared Geekbench 5 benchmark results for this configuration, including a single-core score of 1,047 and a multi-core score of 2,658.
We averaged Snell's results with ten other Geekbench 5 results to end up with a single-core score of 1,072 and multi-core score of 2,714, suggesting that the 2020 MacBook Air with a 1.1GHz quad-core Core i5 is up to 76 percent faster than the 2018-2019 MacBook Air, which was only available with an 8th-generation 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5 chip.
While the new MacBook Air has a lower starting price of $999, many early reviews of the notebook suggest spending an extra $100 on the Core i5 processor, as the base model is limited to a dual-core Core i3 chip. Geekbench 5 results for that configuration are not very consistent yet, so it is hard to paint an accurate picture of performance, but average single-core and multi-core scores are currently 849 and 1,685 respectively, suggesting that the new $999 model could be up to 10 percent faster than the 2018-2019 MacBook Air.
Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October
In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip.
Gurman...
Saturday October 11, 2025 6:59 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's software engineers are internally testing iOS 26.0.2, according to MacRumors logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions.
iOS 26.0.2 will likely be a minor update that addresses bugs and/or security vulnerabilities, but we do not know any specific details yet.
The update will likely be released within the next few weeks.
Last month, Apple released iOS...
Friday October 10, 2025 5:57 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Update: the Naver account appears to be referencing a speculative post on X by Vadim Yuryev, dated October 6. The original article follows.
Apple will announce new products through a series of press releases beginning as soon as next week, according to a dubious claim posted on the Korean blog Naver.
The Naver blog account yeux1122, which aggregates rather than originates Apple...
Saturday October 11, 2025 10:10 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still nearly a year away, a handful of new features and changes have already been rumored for the devices.
Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far.
Smaller Dynamic Island
The standard iPhone 18, iPhone 18 Pro, and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with a slightly smaller Dynamic Island, but the devices will...
Sunday October 12, 2025 9:24 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
After releasing AirPods Pro 3 last month, Apple is already working on the next AirPods Pro, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
It is unclear if the new AirPods Pro would be branded as AirPods Pro 4, or if they would be considered an updated version of AirPods Pro 3. Gurman did not take a position, opting to describe them as a "new version" of the "high-end in-ear buds."
AirPods Pro 2...
Wednesday October 8, 2025 12:30 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus remains the "leading contender" to become the company's next CEO, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Ternus is 50 years old, so he is still young enough to have a long run at the helm of Apple, after current CEO Tim Cook retires. He is already a key decision-maker at Apple, according to Gurman, and he appears to have a charismatic...
Friday October 10, 2025 1:18 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is planning to release a base MacBook Pro with a standard M5 chip before higher-end models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, according to AppleInsider's sources with "knowledge of macOS Tahoe development and hardware testing."
The report said a MacBook Pro with an M5 chip is "nearing release," and Apple has apparently been testing this model with an unreleased macOS 26.0.2 version....
Thursday October 9, 2025 7:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While it is unclear if Apple will host an October event this year, or stick to press releases, rumors suggest it will announce several new products this month.
The graphic for Apple's "Unleashed" event in October 2021
Below, we have recapped everything to know about a potential Apple event this October.
When
The table below outlines when Apple teased its October launches over the past...
Thursday October 9, 2025 4:07 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has taken some inspiration from Apple's Liquid Glass design language for its latest operating system update, OriginOS 6. Unveiled this week, OriginOS 6 has the same rounded buttons and translucent glass look as iOS 26.
In a demo video, a Vivo smartphone features an interface that could be easily mistaken for iOS 26. There's a Liquid Glass clock, Control Center,...
Convinced my girlfriend to finally upgrade her MacBook Pro mid-2011! She's on board to get the i5, but would upgrading to the i7 for an extra $150 be worthwhile? Or a splurge to 16gb ram? Currently toward an i5 8gb model, and weighing what could be worthwhile for longevity. She is not a power user, but as you can see, she tries to keep her device for as long as possible. Thanks.
RAM over CPU if you can't upgrade both. The i5 is only 50 more than the i3, but I'd spend the extra budget for 16GB of RAM before upgrading to the i7. If I had to buy it for myself I'd go for 16GB and 512GB of storage, and at least the i5.
This further confirms how severely under powered the 18-19 models were. I briefly had the 2018 model when it first came out and I saw lots of pinwheels while using it.
proper cpu with proper thernals...not that joke of 2018 model without heat pipe and 7W cpu
I own that joke of a 2018 model and it's been a fabulous computer for me. Typing on it right now, actually pounding on it right now. Zero issues. Runs everything I throw at it perfectly. And I get an average of 15 hours of battery usage. I'm sure the 2020 Air is awesome, but so is the 2018 Air. I have no plans to upgrade.
Very interesting from a price v performance point of view - I suspect the i5 one will make quite a few people think about whether or not they really need a MBP.