Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
Those component cost estimates are never worth much.
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True, but the case that the A11/12 chip is going to be much cheaper for Apple than the Intel i5 is pretty solid.
And the possibilities of using an iPad chip in a Mac Mini is going to light some Apple engineer's brain cells on fire, and we might actually get a solid competitor to the Intel NUC/HP Slice. If, for example, at WWDC Apple announced a new iMac with an Ax brain at the midrange, and a new Ax-based Mac Mini/MacBook Air combo at the low end, people will riot in the San Jose streets.
The reason I think this Ax rumour is really plausible is the timing. The A12 will definitely take Apple into desktop-class territory, and that's without even knowing what sneaky modifications they've been hiding in their labs. If Apple had just wanted to test the low-end, they could have made an edu-only laptop model (running iOS) to fight Chromebooks. They've clearly been waiting until the Ax chips had the sufficient power to power most, if not all of the Mac line. That's my thinking anyway.