Intel’s next-gen 22nm Ivy Bridge processors are expected to ship en masse in June 2012, rather than April as originally planned.
Intel executive VP Sean Maloney told the Financial Times that the slight delay would allow Santa Clara to spend more time manufacturing the smaller, more complex chips, and emphasized the schedule shift was not due to a lack of demand.
Indeed, as AppleInsider’s Katie Marsal notes, reports suggest Intel will debut a total of 25 new 22-nanometer Ivy Bridge processors at launch, including 17 desktop CPUs and 8 notebook processors.
Initial chips are slated to include models 3820QM ($568) and 3720QM ($378), both of which are potential candidates for an updated MacBook Pro lineup that is likely to boast a radical new Air-inspired design.
The next-gen lineup will also reportedly feature a Retina Display-quality screen resolution of 2,880 by 1,800 pixels – twice that of the 1,440-by-900 display currently found on the 15-inch MacBook Pro.
The Retina Display on the new MacBooks will be made possible by Santa Clara’s Ivy Bridge chipset, as Intel’s next-gen architecture supports 4K resolution, handily facilitating displays that are 4,096 pixels across at a resolution more than twice that of 1080p.
The new Ivy Bridge notebooks will also be loaded with Intel HD Graphics 4000 architecture, with the higher-end of the lineup rumored to be powered by Nvidia-based discrete GPUs.
