Hopefully, we’ll see 16-inch MacBook Pros with Comet Lake or Tiger Lake processors this year

Earlier this month Intel teased its new ”Comet Lake H” series 10th-generation processors. I expect to see one in an updated 16-inch MacBook Pro later this year. Or perhaps even a Tiger Lake processor (more on that in a moment).

Comet Lake H are 10th generation Intel Core processors for laptops. According to Intel, they’re tailor-made “to deliver increased productivity and performance scaling for demanding, multithreaded workloads while still enabling thin-and-light laptop and 2-in-1 designs with uncompromising battery life.” 

The company says they bring double digit performance gains compared with the previous generation. The lineup also includes Intel’s first 6-core processor in the U-series, faster CPU frequencies, faster memory interfaces and the industry redefining connectivity with Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and broader scaling of Thunderbolt. 

We certainly need the high-end MacBook Pro (and, heck, all Apple’s mobile devices) to support Wi-Fi 6. According to Intel, the Comet Lake processors range from Intel Core i3 to Intel Core i7 and feature:

° Up to 6 cores and 12 threads; 

° Up to 4.9 GHz max turbo frequency;

° Up to 12MB Intel Smart Cache;

° Configurable up to 25W for maximum performance (U-series);

° Configurable down to 4.5W for 4-core fanless designs (Y-series);

° Up to 1.15 GHz graphics frequency; 

° LPDDR4x, LPDDR3, DDR4 memory. 

Or perhaps the new gen MacBook Pro will sport Tiger Lake processors that are built on Intel’s 10nm+ process and integrated with new Intel Xe graphics architecture. Intel says they’ll “deliver massive gains over 10th Gen Intel Core processors.” The first systems with Tiger Lake processors are expected to ship this year. 

Either of the processors should be a good fit with the MacBook Pro. Of course, it’s only a matter of time before Apple starts putting its own “A” chips that are developed in-house in its Macs, as well as iPhones and iPads.