AppleInsider Staff
Chip giant Intel on Tuesday finally unveiled new quad-core mobile processors based on its Broadwell architecture —  six months after the first Broadwell chips rolled out — but it may be too late to snag Apple's recently updated MacBook Pro.
Intel's new chips include the i7-5950HQ, -5050HQ, -5750HQ, and -5700HQ. Each one carries a 47-watt TDP rating with base clock frequencies ranging from 2.5 gigahertz to 2.9 gigahertz.
The processors all contain 4 physical cores — Â or 8 logical cores when using Hyper-Threading — Â and 6 megabytes of L3 cache. The 5950, 5850, and 5750 ship with Intel's Iris Pro 6200 graphics, while the 5700 comes with Intel HD 5600 graphics.
If Apple were to move the 15-inch MacBook Pro lineup to Broadwell, these are the chips they would use. The larger MacBook Pro was recently updated with faster storage and a Force Touch trackpad, however, while sticking with previous-generation Haswell processors.
Given the recent revamp and rumors that suggest Intel's next-generation Skylake platform will debut before the end of 2015, it seems likely that Apple will skip Broadwell in its high-performance notebooks. Skylake will bring performance and efficiency improvements, along with support for WiGig, Rezence charging, and possibly Thunderbolt 3.
Christine McKee
Andrew Orr
Charles Martin
Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
20 Comments
Skylake is where it's at for me. With the updated TB3, USBc, and new CPU on the horizon, there is zero incentive for me to upgrade my iMac right now. Looking forward to finally upgrading my trusty 2009!
I am wrong but it seemed that the Tock in dual competing design teams, was late / missed the target date on the Moore's Law (still upholds it but it falls below and to right of line (doubles every 17 or so months)...
Well, that about seals it: No MBP for me until next cycle.
Well, that about seals it: No MBP for me until next cycle.
Picked up a 2014 model refurb for $600 off. Awesome buy.
What was the quickest Refresh cycle with apple notebooks? Not under 6 months. So I don't see new MBP or iMacs this year anymore. :-(