The latest rumors indicate that in time for the 2016 release date of both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, Apple would shift from Intel to its next-generation A-series mobile processing chip. Any of the A9X, which powers the iPad Pro, and the A10X chip is prime candidate, a new report suggests.
While the Intel Core M or even the Intel Skylake chip fully satisfies Apple's design and roadmap for the MacBook models - slim, lightweight but powerful computing devices - it remains likely that the tech giant will abandon its mobile chip partnership with Intel in favor of its A-series chips that power the iPhones and iPads.
If indeed Apple is dead serious on making its MacBook lines as the future of notebooks then the company could soon exclusively use the A9X or the upcoming A10X application processor, Patently Apple said in a new report.
And here are the reasons why the tech giant will make the jump:
Desktop-class capabilities
Apple has been touting that the A9X boasts of 64-bit desktop-class architecture that will be further improved when the A10X chip comes to town. Any of these chipsets have "the power to easily take on tasks that were once reserved for workstations and PCs," the iPhone maker said, which should be the most solid argument for the eventual switch.
Efficient power use
Yet while the A9X or the A10X is mightily capable, efficient power use is also hardcoded with the chipsets, which means that the device or laptops they will fire up are assured of longer battery life. The current generation of MacBook models assures of at least 10 operating hours that in the near future could be further extended with the A-series chips.
MacBook as a hybrid device or powered by iOS
Replacing Intel, however, with A9X or A10X could also mean that the MacBook is in for a major redesign. Either the notebook will ditch OS X as its operating system for iOS (to be compatible with the A-series chipset) or it will transform into a hybrid device like the Surface Book that Microsoft has recently introduced.
While Apple CEO Tim Cook has already dismissed the likelihood of the company venturing into the hybrid market, Patently Apple reminded that there was a time Cook also downplayed the possibility of the iPhone becoming a phablet. The iPhone 6 Plus was eventually born so it is not remote that a MacBook will roll out in the foreseeable future.