As expected, Apple took advantage of the spotlight at its annual Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) this morning to refresh its thin-and-light MacBook Air laptops with the latest Intel processors. The new computers retain the same basic design the laptops have had since their 2010 refresh. Intel’s new CPUs (codenamed Haswell) are the new laptops’ biggest internal upgrade, and the processors’ new integrated GPUs should provide a fair-sized boost to graphics performance. Apple promised up to 40 percent faster graphics and smarter low-power states. Both the 11-inch and 13-inch models ship with a 1.3GHz Intel Core i5-4250U, which includes Intel’s new HD 5000 GPU. If those lower base CPU clock speeds make you worry that this year’s Airs will be significantly slower than last year’s 1.7GHz CPUs, keep two things in mind.
About Shelly Palmer
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.