The announcement of the jump to ARM by Apple, with the consequent abandonment of Intel, has generated a lot of speculation about a possible cheap MacBook, a team that could come later this year and that it would have, as its main objective, to boost sales of the MacBook series taking advantage of its low cost and the Christmas season.
I know what you are thinking, that “cheap” and “Apple” do not fit in the same sentence. Well the truth is that in this case yes, and quite well, since we would be talking about a really cheap MacBook, Equipped with a fairly powerful hardware configuration and “dressed” with a very careful design and quality of finishes.
At the design level, we would be a little update on the 12-inch MacBook that Apple launched a few years ago equipped with ultra-low consumption Intel Y-series processors, whose performance was, of course, no wonder, although it fulfilled in most cases and stood out for offering good autonomy and a very contained weight. Its chassis would be finished in aluminum, a light and resistant premium material, but relatively affordable.
Cheap MacBook with 12-core CPU: how is that possible?
The key is in the jump to ARM, I explain. As we have already told you on previous occasions, a processor such as the Intel Core i7 1068G7, manufactured in a 10 nm + process and equipped with four cores and eight threads, has cost $ 426. It is clear that Apple could negotiate with Intel a lower price, but it would be equally high.
However, the expected Apple A14X SoC will have, according to the latest leaks, a high-performance six-core and six high-efficiency core design, leaving us with a total of twelve cores. It will be manufactured in a 5 nm process and will have an approximate cost of $ 75. Indeed, only $ 100, as we can see the difference in cost between the two chips would be huge.
This is precisely where the key lies that could make possible that cheap MacBook with a 12-core CPU, a laptop that will have a base price of $ 799, and that, if confirmed, will mark a new turning point in the Apple catalog. . Its price for exchange in Spain, after applying taxes and currency conversion, should be around the maximum 899 euros.
If you’re concerned about performance I think you have to start changing “the chip”, And never better said, since an A12Z SoC, which in theory should be much less powerful than Apple’s A14X SoC, offers very good performance when compared to other low-power and mid-range chips, such as the Intel Core i7 1065G7.
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