Oliver Haslam·

Low-Cost MacBook To Use Intel’s 8th Gen-Kaby Lake Processors

Apple’s notebook lineup is a little bit unclear right now and that has been the case for a couple of years now. With the MacBook, MacBook Air, and two flavors of MacBook Pro on offer (more if you count screen sizes, too) there is an argument to be made that the whole lineup needs work. That may be on the cards, with a new, low-cost MacBook of sorts said to be in the works although it’s unclear yet whether it will be called MacBook, MacBook Air or indeed something else. All we can really say for sure is that it will be cheaper than the MacBook Pro.

Now we might also have an idea of what CPU will be included in the unannounced computer after Economic Daily News shared a report in which it claims that the new device will use Intel’s eighth-generation Kaby Lake CPUs that were released during the second half of last year. This, according to the report, is a decision that Apple made because Intel continues to experience delays during its move to Cannon Lake chips, based on a 10nm process. For comparison’ sake, the older Kaby Lake parts are 14nm chips, making them more power hungry and less heat efficient.

The current Kaby Lake lineup includes quad-core i5 and i7 chips with base clock speeds ranging from 1.6GHz to 1.9GHz with Turbo speeds starting out at 3.4GHz before topping out at a respectable 4.2GHz. All chips include integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and support up to 32GB of DDR4 or LPDDR3 memory.

All this is to say that any refreshed MacBook Air lineup using these chips would see a significant speed boost over the existing computers, something that MacBook Air fans have been crying out for.

If Apple can hit a price point that the MacBook Air now seems to occupy while giving users the added power these chips would afford, it’s possible we could see the much maligned computer receive a new lease of life. This is especially the case if rumors of a Retina display also prove to be accurate.

(Source: Economic Daily News [Google Translate])

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