A series of leaked specifications has recently made its way online showing Intel's lineup for its upcoming Skylake processors. It also gives us a glimpse into the possible processors that Apple may be planning to integrate into its next-generation 2016 MacBook Air laptop.
Next week, Intel will hold the autumn event for its annual Developer Forum in San Francisco. It is the venue where the iconic chip maker is expected to unveil its new processors. However, some excited folks at Fanless Tech prematurely posted alleged information about the yet-to-be-released Skylake-U series processors.
The leaked specs tell us more about Intel's 15-watt Skylake-U lineup, a series of low-power chipsets designed for thin and lightweight notebook computers. As such, Apple is rumored to utilize some variants of these next-gen processors and furnished them within the 2016 version of its slim and ultralight MacBook Air.
Fanless Tech noted that Intel appears to be restructuring its product lineup to just one Core i3, one Core i5, one Core i7, one Pentium, and two Celerons, not including two vPro chips.
However, it is not clear yet which stock keeping unit or SKU Apple will choose for its new MacBook Air. Possible candidates include chips from the Core i5-6200U series and from the Core i7-6500U line, but it will all depend on how the tech giant will manage pricing for each variant of their thin laptop brand.
Intel is expected to roll out the Skylake-U series later this year, adding fuel to the rumor that an updated model of the MacBook Air will indeed come in 2015.
Should Apple decide to use this upcoming product from Intel, it would provide a needed boost in CPU clock speed. Intel's new 14-nanometer architecture is also said to deliver better battery life and improve CPU performance by 10 to 20 percent. These enhancements will most likely have a noticeable effect on thin-and-light computers like the MacBook Air.
The Cupertino-based company has already released a new MacBook earlier this year. However, it doesn't have the usual "Air" or "Pro" moniker-just MacBook. That model is widely seen as a non-remarkable update because Apple has only made trivial changes to its specs compared to previous models.
Some tech observers, meanwhile, observed that Apply may be taking inspiration from other device makers' strategy of releasing more than one premium device per year. While the 2016 MacBook Air was not expected to land on store shelves until March next year, new reports suggest that Apple may be planning to ramp up its production and launch the product as early as October 2015.
That said, the 2016 model of the MacBook Air may arrive to online stores and retail shops by November, just in time for the holiday season. Given that the cheapest variant of the device starts at $899, it would be wise to wait for a little until the next, more feature-packed version arrives.
