Hardware of MacBook Air

Question

Hardware of MacBook Air

Why did Apple downgrade the CPU from a Dual-Core i7 to a Quad-Core i5? This change has negatively affected the performance of the early 2020 MacBook Air model.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Mar 17, 2021 11:12 AM

Reply

Answer 1

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,210 points

Mar 17, 2021 11:54 AM in response to CatalinaThunderbird

OK... try to wrap your head around this...

An auto manufacturer offers a vehicle with a choice of a V8 or a V6.

Shortly before introducing the next model year of that vehicle, which will contain a V10, they discontinue the V8.

The did not "downgrade" the vehicle to a V6. The V6 was always available....

They did not "downgrade" the MBA.

Reply

Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,210 points

Mar 17, 2021 12:34 PM in response to CatalinaThunderbird

Because there were replacing it with a version containing their own silicone.

Just like they will eventually discontinue every intel based Mac in the lineup when they have new Apple Silicone models ready to go.

Reply

Answer 3

KiltedTim

Level 10

225,210 points

Mar 17, 2021 11:49 AM in response to CatalinaThunderbird

They did not "downgrade" it. They simply stopped offering the i7 based model.

Reply

Answer 4

Mar 17, 2021 11:22 AM in response to CatalinaThunderbird

I'm not aware of Apple currently offering any MacBook Air models with any Intel chips. The only ones I see are with Apple's new M1 chip. See: https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/specs/

Reply