Benchmark results uploaded to Geekbench 3 last last week have sparked a new wave of speculation regarding the prospect of a next-generation MacBook Pro that makes use of Intel’s Skylake technology. However, it seems that these readings may well be fake, likely being taken from a Hackintosh — a PC that’s been modified to run Apple’s OS X.
Results apparently coming from a 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro were uploaded to the cross-platform processor benchmark tool on January 14. The machine in question is described as using a 3.3GHz Intel Core i7-6567U processor, which has been announced but is as-yet-unreleased, according to a report from MacRumors.
Intel released its first Skylake components late last year, and it’s expected that Apple will being integrating these chips into its upcoming products imminently. However, several aspects of the report uploaded to Geekbench raised some questions about whether the benchmark was performed on a legitimate MacBook.
A build number raised suspicions, failing to fit the pattern previously established by pre-release systems used by Apple for test purposes. The model identifier and motherboard ID listed alongside the benchmark also did not line up with what would be expected for a pre-release version of an upcoming piece of Apple hardware.
There were also some inconsistencies with what was being reported under the hood. The single-core and multi-core scores given for the supposed Skylake processor were well below those of an early 2015 model MacBook fitted with a Broadwell chip. Similarly, the 6GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM seems like a step back from the current model’s specs.
At this point, it seems very likely that the benchmark readings came from a Hackintosh — a non-Apple computer running a modified version of OS X. However, it wouldn’t be all too surprising to see Apple announce a new iteration of its MacBook complete with a Skylake processor over the coming months.
