What you need to know
- Leaked internal documentation reveals Intel is specifically targeting Apple's 14-inch MacBook Pro as a rival.
- A slide pertaining to Intel's Arrowlake chips suggest it is targeting Apple's powerful MacBook Pro.
- The chips will likely be 3nm with new performance and efficiency cores.
Leaked internal documentation reveals that Intel is specifically targeting the 14-inch MacBook Pro as a performance rival by late 2023.
The leak comes from Adored TV by way of Wccftech which writes:
With Arrow Lake, it looks like Intel is prioritizing mobile over desktop first and while there will be both Arrow Lake-S and Arrow Lake-P CPUs, the company is aiming to specifically produce its 15th Gen mobility CPUs first to tackle Apple's next-generation MacBook 14" laptops
As you can see from the image the first key takeway pits new Intel Halo squarely against Apple's premium 14-inch laptops with a noted date of August 2023. It's not clear if that date is a release date, or some kind of production target. However, the report says that engineering samples might well be ready by later this year with shipping and final production to begin in Q3/4 of 2023.
The report further notes that the new chips will feature Intel's new performance and efficiency cores, dubbed Lion Cove and Skymont respectively and be based on TSMC's 3nm process.
Now, it's clear from Intel's internal documents that it sees Apple's MacBook Pro (2021) as a direct competitor/benchmark for its own chips. However, what isn't clear from these documents is whether Intel is referring to Apple's current M1 Pro and M1 Max-powered MBP, or if it hopes to match Apple's next iteration of the MacBook Pro at the time of the release. If Intel is targeting the current model and performance, Apple will no doubt have surpassed this with the release of its M2 chips and will likely have upgraded the MacBook Pro by then.
