Intel’s Core M, the processor that will finally let laptop makers create fanless devices that are slimmer than anything that has been done before, has been launched… again. After unveiling it in early June at Computex 2014, and then in mid-August when it announced the Core M is ready for mass production, Intel on Friday announced the device yet again, mentioning that devices packing Intel Core Ms will feature “razor-thin, fanless designs with the optimal blend of beauty, performance and battery life.”
Furthermore, Intel confirmed that these devices will be available “Holiday 2014,” suggesting again that Apple’s rumored MacBook Air redesign might also ship by Christmas.
Even so, while Intel has given Apple preferential access to its chips in the past, the company has not named the MacBook maker in its press release as one of the companies that will launch such a fanless laptop this year. But Intel did say that Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Toshiba may manufacture Intel Core M-based designs.
Intel has further revealed that the Core M will let OEMs design laptops that are just 9mm thin, “thinner than an AAA battery and today’s sleekest laptops,” adding that the machines will still offer up to 50% faster compute performance, and 40% faster graphics performance than predecessors. At the same time, the smaller Core M design will significantly improve battery life adding up to 1.7 hours of battery life to a laptop compared to previous-generation Intel devices.
Intel may have not been able to confirm that an Apple Intel Core M MacBook Air is on the way, but the company detailed various devices from the aforementioned laptop makers, including the Acer Aspire Switch 12, the Asus Zenbook UX305, the Dell Latitude 13 7000 Series, the HP Envy x2 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Helix, all shipping later this year.
A video showing Lenovo’s brand new ThinkPad Helix follows below, with Intel’s full press release available at the source link.
