The chip you see on the side just might turn out to be the first real confirmation of a MacBook Air with Retina Display, though that was, in fact, the product Intel was planning to announce earlier this week.
Laptop customers have long been in the market for a Retina MacBook Air, and they didn’t quite get that when Apple refreshed the MacBook Air earlier this year. That MacBook Air came with some internal upgrades (emphasis on “some”) and boasted of a lower price tag, but it didn’t come with the all-important spec of Retina Display. However, Intel’s announcement could be a hint at that long-awaited Retina MacBook Air and a holiday release date.
“Intel today disclosed details of its newest microarchitecture that is optimized with Intel’s industry-leading 14nm manufacturing process,” read the official press release, which goes on to add that these chips “will provide high-performance and low-power capabilities to serve a broad array of computing needs”, which is, as it is, already a hint at an imminent MacBook Air with Retina Display release date.
However, it’s later on in the press announcement where Intel really hints at what its new Core M processor could be powering, and when such a machine would be released. According to Intel, the “first systems based on the Intel Core M processor will be on shelves for the holiday selling season followed by broader OEM availability in the first half of 2015.”
This does not make for an official confirmation of a Q4 2014 MacBook Air with Retina Display release date, but it sure comes close. The machine has been making the rounds of the rumor mill since late 2013, and is expected to sport a 12-inch display with 2304 x 1440 resolution, according to a previous note from respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities.