2019, 2020 MacBook Due For Intel 'Ice Lake' Boost As Computex Nears

Update 5/21/19: On Tuesday, Apple updated its 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros with Intel's latest 8th gen 14nm processors, including the Core i7-8665U (quad core) on the highest-end 13-inch MacBook Pro and the Core i9-9980HK (eight-core) on the highest-end 15-inch MacBook Pro. An eight-core 15-inch MacBook Pro is a first. 

This post was originally published on Sunday May 19 @ 05:26.

Future MacBooks will likely move to Intel’s upcoming 10-nanometer technology, bringing a big boost in graphics performance and power savings — barring a move to Apple’s own processors.

A 13-inch-class MacBook based on Intel’s first 10nm processors, codenamed "Ice Lake," should arrive in the second half of 2019 or the earlier part of 2020. That would follow past Apple practice of incorporating Intel's newest processor and graphics technology into its MacBooks. For example, a future version of the Retina MacBook Air would be a good candidate for 10nm chips as well as a future 13-inch MacBook Pro.

We'll know more about the 10nm Intel processors* later this month when the chipmaker is slated to disclose more details at the Computex trade show. At that time, PC makers will also disclose plans for systems with Ice Lake. Historically, PC makers adopt the technology first and Apple follows suit.

The Ice Lake-U quad-core 10nm processor brings a sweeping internal overhaul: big graphics boost

• Gen 11 GPU with 64 execution units, more than 2X the number in current Intel processors, expected to deliver a TFLOP of graphics performance**
• Support, for the first time, for low-power LPDDR4X memory
• Battery life rated at up to 25 hours
• Native support for Thunderbolt 3 and Wi-Fi 6 (IEEE 802.11ax standard -- boosting max data rates to 9.6 Gbps from the current 3.5 Gbps)
• Typical CPU improvements such as an increase in performance per clock
• 15-watt power envelope (TDP)

Intel moving fast on 10nm

Intel will now move rapidly to 10nm processors, according to a report last month in Anandtech. “Over the past four months, the organization drove a nearly 2X improvement in the rate at which 10nm products move through our factories,” Intel CEO Bob Swan said in the most recent earning conference call, according to Anandtech. And 7nm is on the roadmap now too.

Intel had a very limited release last year of a 10nm Core i3 ("Cannon Lake") CPU but that didn't make into many actual products. Intel has been slow to move to 10nm, producing a series of processors on refinements of the 14nm node since 2014. 

Next, next MacBook: Intel out?

A watershed change would be the switch to Apple's own processors. Performance is already there. Apple's A12X Bionic chip inside the newest 12.9-inch iPad Pro smokes even some recent Intel Core i7 mobile processors.

The initiative to switch to Apple processors is code named Kalamata, according a Bloomberg report last summer. And reporting from Axios said that "developers and Intel officials have privately told Axios they expect such a move as soon as next year [2020]."

Of course, today you can get a taste of a MacBook with an Apple processor if you pick up the latest 12.9-inch iPad Pro and Apple's Smart Keyboard Folio.

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Notes:

*Apple's rumored monster 16-inch MacBook as well as next-generation 15-inch MacBook Pros are good candidates for Intel 9th generation H series mobile Intel processors. Those 14nm chips (including the Intel Core i9-9980HK 8-core processor) are the newest high-end silicon targeted at the most powerful laptops. They began shipping this quarter.

**Based on anecdotal reports it handled games such as Tekken 7 just fine.