By Tom Krazit
Monday, August 18 2008 10:50 AM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,62044966,00.htm

Phone News has reported that the MacBook Air will get a new Penryn chip that will improve performance at the cost of battery life.

The MacBook Air's performance does not really compare to that of the rest of the MacBook lineup, but it was designed to be thin and light, not as a gaming rig. Adding one of the new Penryn chips to the MacBook Air could help improve performance for things such as video playback, noted by some as an issue with the early MacBook Air units.

The standard Penryn chip consumes more power than the chip currently used inside the MacBook Air, but Phone News speculated that Apple will compensate for the increased power draw with a larger battery and a more powerful charging adapter.

Engadget pointed out that Intel will probably have low-voltage and ultra-low voltage Penryn-class chips out fairly soon, in line with Intel's historical product segmentation. That would ease some of the power concerns, although the lower voltage chips have historically underperformed their standard counterparts.

This article was first published as a blog on CNET News.com.