Leaked Intel Skylake info reveals future MacBooks will gain graphics boosts, better battery life

Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited July 2015
Newly-leaked Intel presentation slides suggest that the company's upcoming Skylake processors could bring important performance and power consumption improvements to future Macs.




The slides, obtained by FanlessTech, state that Skylake's 14-nanometer architecture should improve CPU performance by 10 to 20 percent over Broadwell systems, while simultaneously advancing battery life by as much as 30 percent. In a given example, a laptop with 8.5 hours of battery life could jump to 11.3 hours.

Integrated graphics chip performance should be anywhere between 16 and 41 percent faster, with the biggest boost coming to Y-Series Skylake chips, suitable for ultra-mobile laptops like the 12-inch MacBook. Reviews have often criticized the MacBook's ability to handle graphics-heavy apps.







U-Series chips could conceivably be adopted for future versions of the MacBook Air, while the H-Series is intended for higher-end laptops like the MacBook Pro. The desktop-level S-Series could theoretically make it into the iMac or Mac mini.

Apple has already updated several Mac lines in 2015, which could mean that few if any Skylake Macs will be released this year. The 15-inch MacBook Pro is still on Haswell architecture though, and the iMac lineup has not seen any major changes beyond price reductions. The Mac mini was last updated in October 2014.

Past rumors have hinted that Skylake laptop processors could ship in October, which might be in time for one of Apple's usual fall press events, as well as the launch of OS X El Capitan.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    john.bjohn.b Posts: 2,742member
    [QUOTE]The slides, obtained by FanlessTech, state that Skylake's 14-nanometer architecture should improve CPU performance by 10 to 20 percent over Broadwell systems, while simultaneously advancing battery life by as much as 30 percent. In a given example, a laptop with 8.5 hours of battery life could jump to 11.3 hours.

    Integrated graphics chip performance should be anywhere between 16 and 41 percent faster, with the biggest boost coming to Y-Series Skylake chips, suitable for ultra-mobile laptops like the 12-inch MacBook. Reviews have often criticized the MacBook's ability to handle graphics-heavy apps.[/QUOTE]

    Improved CPU: Check.

    Improved GPU: Check.

    Improved battery life: Check

    Second USB port?
  • Reply 2 of 32
    ds92jzds92jz Posts: 90member
    Macbook Air will go away. So will anything with the "Air" moniker because touting lightness will be a moot point from here on out.
  • Reply 3 of 32
    saareksaarek Posts: 1,520member
    No shit. The new computers will be faster with better graphics, what a scoop.
  • Reply 4 of 32
    romanmarromanmar Posts: 32member

    I'm waiting for this processor at the moment, so I can upgrade my 2013 retina to macbook 12.  Hopefully they'll support thunderbolt display, since this processor promises to have that, but not a deal breaker.

  • Reply 5 of 32
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member
    Quad-core 13" machine?

    Pretty please?
  • Reply 6 of 32
    So basically more of the same incremental optimization that each generation of Core processors has delivered with each year. Got it. I thought it was the second coming of silicon Jesus, but that was just the hardware enthusiasts repeating Intel's marketing hype. It is safe to buy a Mac at any point in the CPU upgrade treadmill. Not necessary to wait.
  • Reply 7 of 32
    schlackschlack Posts: 719member
    wow if the 13 MBP goes from 10 hrs of battery time to 13 hrs!
  • Reply 8 of 32
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post



    So basically more of the same incremental optimization that each generation of Core processors has delivered with each year. Got it. I thought it was the second coming of silicon Jesus, but that was just the hardware enthusiasts repeating Intel's marketing hype. It is safe to buy a Mac at any point in the CPU upgrade treadmill. Not necessary to wait.



    Nope, nope, nope. This brings Thunderbolt 3 and a host of new technologies. Thunderbolt 3 makes external GPU's possible and supported. It also supports faster PCIe lanes (faster storage), and other goodies.

     

    And the 12" MacBook is like every other Apple product; wait for the second generation, as it will be much better. The original Air lost support after Lion, meanwhile the Late 2008 is still supported.

  • Reply 9 of 32
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    Thunderbolt 3?
  • Reply 10 of 32
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    saarek wrote: »
    No shit. The new computers will be faster with better graphics, what a scoop.

    It is the fact that this is a major generational improvement that makes SkyLake so important. A significant number of subsystems have been improved to make this chipset well worth waiting for.
  • Reply 11 of 32
    wizard69wizard69 Posts: 13,377member
    Seriously?

    So basically more of the same incremental optimization that each generation of Core processors has delivered with each year.
    These are not incremental changes, many of the improvements coming in SkyLake are, are new technologies that much of the industry will be moving to in the next few months.
    Got it.
    Nope you missed the point completely.
    I thought it was the second coming of silicon Jesus, but that was just the hardware enthusiasts repeating Intel's marketing hype.
    All that is required is to be able to read the slides and digest the information. In this case the hype is well worth considering as these chips off considerable advantage to any number of users.
    It is safe to buy a Mac at any point in the CPU upgrade treadmill.
    Sure it is "safe", that doesn't mean it is wise!
    Not necessary to wait.
    Waiting is the only rational thing to do if you don't need the new hardware right this minute. By doing so you put yourself into what is clearly next gen hardware that will be part of the industry for some years into the future.
  • Reply 12 of 32
    sphericspheric Posts: 2,544member

    Will the power savings be enough to fit a quad-core in the 13" 'books' thermal envelope?

  • Reply 13 of 32
    Dudes! It ALWAYS makes sense to wait to buy new hardware, because it always gets better. Duh, everyone knows that. However in the case of SkyLake I am gonna make an exception. The new iMac has to have SkyLake in it. Bow wow wow! So stoked.
  • Reply 14 of 32
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    I am definitely waiting for Skylake.

    Thunderbolt 3 is exciting too as it uses USB-C port with the Thunderbolt speed yet will work with any USB devices.
  • Reply 15 of 32
    imac.usrimac.usr Posts: 29member

    I am going to try to hold out for Kaby Lake to upgrade my 2012 Air (i7 version) since it'll hopefully be a more refined 14nm process even without the accompanying shrink.

  • Reply 16 of 32
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by John.B View Post





    Improved CPU: Check.



    Improved GPU: Check.



    Improved battery life: Check



    Second USB port?

    Don't really care of additional USB-C port. First 3 already have me saved my next $1300 for the gold version.

  • Reply 17 of 32
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by saarek View Post



    No shit. The new computers will be faster with better graphics, what a scoop.

     

    Yep stop the presses!!  More battery life too.  Who saw that coming....?!?

     

    It's all welcome, though.

  • Reply 18 of 32
    techlovertechlover Posts: 879member

    It appears that Intel has done more for performance per watt than software and battery advancements combined.

  • Reply 19 of 32
    gtbuzzgtbuzz Posts: 129member
    Show me the Chips and the Product - Please
  • Reply 20 of 32
    _rick_v__rick_v_ Posts: 142member

    Often overlooked is that Skylake also introduces support for DDR4 memory modules.  DDR4 promises to double the access speed over the current DDR3, as well as lower power consumption.  Everything else being equal, this by itself has potential to dramatically increase performance as RAM is bottleneck for processors.  

     

    Here's an infographic from Crucial:

    http://www.crucial.com/wcsstore/CrucialSAS/pdf/product-flyer/crucial-ddr4-infographic-en.pdf

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