Core i5 Availability to Delay MacBook Air Upgrade?

[Paul Daniel Ash]

Apple's ultra-thin MacBook Air has not seen an upgrade since June, but the MacBook and MacBook Pro models may get speed-bumped before the Air does due to delays in the availability of low-draw versions of the Intel Core i5 processor, according to speculation by the French site Hardmac.

Intel has reportedly had to push back the release date of its low-draw 1.06GHz i5-520UM behind its full-power counterparts. As a result, Apple may not have the chips it needs to release an upgrade for the MacBook Air at the same time it ships MacBook Pros with the full-power Core i5. The website does note, however, that Apple has enjoyed priority access to new processor releases from Intel in the past, and suggests that may occur with the i5-520UM.

Apple will have to delay the update of the MacBook Air by couple of weeks. It is still possible that Intel ships first samples to Apple, in small quantities, at a premium price. It is true that the MacBook Air does not look really sexy anymore when compared to the MacBook Pro 13.3"... maybe not for long.

The MacBook Air can only support processors with about half the power consumption of the regular MacBook line. The i5-520UM - like the 1.06GHz i7-620UM and 1.2GHz i7-640UM - draw 18W of power, even though the chips incorporate integrated graphics processing units right on the main processor die. Despite the low rated clock speeds, the Core i5 and i7 can ramp up to speeds between 1.86GHz and 2.26GHz with Turbo Boost technology and can rival quad-core performance through hyperthreading support.

image via Laptoping

[ty22]

Wow... my 08 MBA is going to be outdated fast.... why did I get it last May? Right before the 09 came out, and now the 10. Now I know apple like a book... Agh....

[MetallicaFan1991]

^MB's dont really get out of date.

Any rumours on any of the MB's having a Blu Ray drive with an HDMI output, with sound!!
Apple should really try somehow fitting a super slim blu ray drive in there.

[moon#pie]

^MBP's dont really get out of date.

Any rumours on any of the MB'shaving a Blu Ray drive with an HDMI output, with sound!!
Apple should really try somehow fitting a super slim blu ray drive in there.

MBA for air not "p" for pro

[The Maestro]

^^ surley you don't know the diffrence between your netbook and a core i5

[smuggler]

I would like to place an order for a 13.3" mbp with i7, please

[LeeDude]

Yeah, it's not about who has the most Ghz anymore. It hasn't been for a while. Your netbook is operating on a single core processor that bottlenecks your entire system due to poor cache and bus speeds, among other things. And hyperthreading is amazing. <3

[santaf]

^MB's dont really get out of date.

Any rumours on any of the MB's having a Blu Ray drive with an HDMI output, with sound!!
Apple should really try somehow fitting a super slim blu ray drive in there.

i agree i wish they would put a blu ray in there, not gonna happen for almsot alllllll lap tops the reason being that there is almost litteraly no point for a company to put this into their laptops, think about the size of the screen, you cant really tell the difference of blu ray tha tmuch on it, i think they should still do it, because i know lots of people, such as myself, who hook up their laptops to a monitor or tv screen, on my tv screen i can deffinently tell the difference between blu ray and normal hah. i'm supposed to be getting a pro soon... i wish they would put the blu ray in the next update but obviously that's not gonna happen haha

[staterunner180]

1.06GHz? Is that some kind of cruel joke? My netbook is substantially faster than that!

The MacBook Air can only support processors with about half the power consumption of the regular MacBook line. The i5-520UM - like the 1.06GHz i7-620UM and 1.2GHz i7-640UM - draw 18W of power, even though the chips incorporate integrated graphics processing units right on the main processor die. Despite the low rated clock speeds, the Core i5 and i7 can ramp up to speeds between 1.86GHz and 2.26GHz with Turbo Boost technology and can rival quad-core performance through hyperthreading support.

You do realize that there is a huge difference between i5 processors and whatever Intel Atom chip you have in your netbook right? the 1.05GHz i5 is easily faster then the 2.6GHz single core Pentium 4 processor that's in my old desktop.

[tudtran]

Is intel core i5 a good processor?

[moon#pie]

^is your mother the woman who gave birth to you? Yes it is

[rhekt]

@santaf
i agree a blueray isnt going to show much difference on a laptop as it would on a larger screen. i think most people would just like the ability to play their disks that they allready have [on their laptops] thats my guess.