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Apple updates MacBook Air, MacBook Pro with Intel Broadwell CPUs, improved graphics

As expected, Apple today brought Intel’s latest Broadwell Core i5 and Core i7 processors to the MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro families, beefing up both laptops with additional CPU and graphics power.

Apple’s updated 11″ and 13″ MacBook Airs are shipping today with up to 2.2GHz CPUs, plus Intel’s HD Graphics 6000 GPUs, which are smaller, markedly faster, and capable of superior shading/texturing than the 5000-series GPUs they replace. They have Thunderbolt 2 ports, doubling the bandwidth of prior-generation Thunderbolt. The 13″ MacBook Air also has new flash storage that’s up to twice as fast as the prior Air’s. Apple is pricing the 11″ Air at $899 for 1.6GHz/4GB RAM/128GB SSD, or $1,099 for 256GB of SSD storage. The 13″ Air is $999 for 1.6GHz/4GB RAM/128GB SSD or $1,199 for 256GB of SSD storage, with faster processors, more memory, and more SSD space at premiums.

Also shipping today is the updated 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display. This machine will have fifth-generation Intel Core processors with speeds of 2.7 to 3.1GHz, and Intel Iris Graphics 6100 GPUs. Additionally, the Retina MacBook will get the new Force Touch trackpad introduced in the all-new 12″ MacBook today – including Taptic Engine feedback – as well as 1.6GBps flash memory, and 10-12 hour battery life (shorter for regular use, longer for iTunes movie playback). Pricing starts at $1,299 for a 2.7GHz/8GB RAM/128GB SSD model, with double the SSD storage for $1,499, a 2.9GHz/8GB RAM/512GB SSD model at $1,799, and further customizations at premiums.

Prior to the official announcements, a seemingly authentic spec leak showed a new version of the 13″ MacBook Air with an updated Intel Core i5-5250U 1.6GHz CPU, Intel HD Graphics 6000 GPU, and roughly 4% larger 7422mAh battery.

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Comments

  1. golfersal - 10 years ago

    Guys, not one site or article is clueing up in on what USB C is and how it works with this mac.
    We see the end of a cable to goes into the Mac, but we don’t see the other end.
    Does it go to the power adapter?
    Does it go no place and you need some kind of adapter to go to the power supply, USB hard drives, Video out and so forth.
    I also guess you can’t do thunderbolt with this machine.

    We would just like to know how this machine utilizes USB C?????

    Someone please help

    • iphone6splus - 10 years ago

      You can use thunderbolt with USB-C, so expect base stations with all types of ports connected through USB-C.

      • anentropic - 10 years ago

        Not Thunderbolt, but DisplayPort only

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