Intel unveils new Broadwell chips bound for Apple’s MacBook Pros and that rumored Retina Air

Monday, chip giant Intel took the wraps off a range of “Broadwell-U” processors poised to find their way into a MacBook near you. The fifth-generation Intel Core processor family utilities Intel’s 14-nanometer manufacturing process to deliver more speed and lower power consumption.

The new chips could possibly pave the way to a rumored MacBook Air model with a Retina display measuring twelve inches diagonally (the current Air models come in 11.6 and 13.3-inch varieties).

Intel says that the battery life could improve across the board by 1.5 hours, while also enabling faster wake times and a boost to the overall graphics performance.

Interestingly enough, the new chips are also designed with voice-activation tools in mind, as well as built for “more immersive experiences.” The new chips come in a variety of titles, as usual, with the Intel Core i3, Core i5, Core i5 vPro, Core i7 and Core i7 vPro. Intel even launched a new series of Celeron and Pentium processors based on the 14nm process as well, with these chips falling under the Cherry Trail codename.

The lineup includes four 28-watt processors from Celeron to Core i7, ranging from 2.5 GHz to 3.1 GHz and using 12 to 48 ­execution units for the integrated graphics.