Of all of the platform power optimizations, this is the only one that isn’t currently taken advantage of in OS X. I’ve talked about this extensively over the past several months, but it’s effectively a messaging system that allows all devices/controllers within a system to coordinate going into sleep states during periods of idle time. Haswell ULT also enables support for Intel’s Power Optimizer framework. Anyone else smell laptop/tablet convergence coming this way? Last year's model required 16 DDR3L devices, compared to 4 x 32-bit LPDDR3 devices here. Note the impact this has on DRAM device layout on the PCB itself. We’re still dealing with a 128-bit wide memory interface with a 1600MHz datarate. Overall bandwidth remains unchanged despite the move to very low power memory. Apple has historically not had an issue with spending a bit extra to get a better overall experience, so it’s not surprising to see the MacBook Air ship with LPDDR3. LPDDR3‘s power advantage is why it’s frequently used in smartphones vs. LPDDR3 on the other hand drops voltage even further (1.2V) while introducing architectural features to drive power down even lower. Standard DDR3 operates at 1.5V, while low-voltage DDR3L drops that down to 1.35V - the two standards are otherwise identical. The other big change, and one that Apple is among the first (only?) to take advantage of is Haswell ULT’s support for LPDDR3. Haswell ULT supports lower power sleep states (up to C10) than the standard mobile or desktop parts (C6/C7). The combination of Haswell ULT CPU and PCH are both included in the new 15W TDP (there’s a 28W version as well but not used in the MacBook Air). Haswell ULT silicon itself is binned for lower voltage/power operation.
The PCH also moves down to 32nm, helping further reduce power consumption. Bringing it on package reduces the amount of power needed to drive traffic between the CPU and PCH, which in turn helps reduce platform power. The PCH is responsible for all SATA, USB, PCIe 2.0 and other rest-of-system interfaces. Intel is being frustratingly cagey with giving up real details on exactly what’s going on with Haswell ULT, but here’s what I’ve been able to piece together.įor starters, Haswell ULT brings the PCH (Platform Controller Hub) on-package. It turns out that although Intel did a wonderful job of driving down CPU power consumption over the years, it did nothing to make the rest of the platform keep up.
Both have two USB 3.0 connectors, a headphone jack, a card reader, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi Haswell ULT, Intel aggressively focused on driving down total platform power consumption. It offers one extra Thunderbolt 2 port and an additional HDMI one. When it comes to connectivity, the MBP wins hands down.
Apple MacBook Pro 2013 vs Apple MacBook Air 2013: Connectivity As expected they both are devoid of optical drives and have a SDXC card reader. Apple MacBook Pro 2013 vs Apple MacBook Air 2013: Hardwareīoth laptops come with 4GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory and the MacBook Air offers 256GB SSD compared to 128GB for the MacBook Pro. The MBP can drive two displays at 2,560 x 1,600 pixels compared to only one for the MBA and also boosts support for 4K displays albeit at 30Hz. With a monstrous 4.1MP (2,560 x 1,600 pixels) spread over 13.3in, the MBP offers more than three times the pixel density and the absolute number of pixels compared to the MacBook Air. Perhaps one of the reasons behind the relatively low battery life of the MacBook Pro has to do with its 'Retina' display. Apple MacBook Pro 2013 vs Apple MacBook Air 2013: Display Hence, while the 95Whr battery that equips the MacBook Pro may well offer nearly twice the capacity of the one in the MacBook Air, the latter trumps its big brother when it comes to battery life with up to 12 hours worth of wireless web browsing, 50% more.
The processor on the MacBook Air for example is likely to be an ultra low-voltage model which would explain its 100% Turbo Boost capabilities. Having a much more powerful processor and more advanced graphics capabilities means that compromises had been done. Apple MacBook Pro 2013 vs Apple MacBook Air 2013: Battery