As we mentioned in yesterday 's GreekAppleCast, it is no secret that Apple will be upgrading its Macbook line during WWDC 2013. As Intel does every summer, this year too we had the upgrade of its processors to the Haswell series, and so the Macbooks, as you can imagine, will be among the first machines to use it.
Improved battery life and an 8% boost in processing power are what we're expecting to see with this update, but Intel also had a surprise for us this time around, and it's called "Iris.".
The Iris series of integrated graphics will offer double or even triple the performance of the HD 4000 in Ivy Bridge, although it should be noted that this increase will not be visible across the entire Haswell range. Specifically, Intel will offer five graphics variations: Intel HD, Intel HD Graphics 4600, Intel HD Graphics 5000 and the top-of-the-line Intel Iris 5100 and Intel Iris Pro 5200.
With the 4K UltraHD display resolution of the Iris series, we will be able to have an impressive resolution on Ultrabooks that will reach 3840 x 2160.
So the Macbook Air, both in terms of battery performance and graphics, will be able to comfortably support a Retina display.
So if Apple doesn't face any problems with the autonomy and battery size of the upgraded Macbook Air, then we wouldn't be surprised if we see the first Macbook Air with a Retina display as early as June.
Dimitrios Georgoulas @ GreekAppleNews
