Intel has followed up its recent launch of two of its new Skylake processors by introducing the full lineup as part of its IFA presentation in Berlin. The announcement, which focuses entirely on the company’s latest range of processors codenamed “Skylake”, outlines the company’s intention to target all categories of machines, ranging from high-powered custom-built gaming machines, to standard desktop, laptop, tablet/convertible computers, and even modern powerful smartphones.
Intel’s sixth-generation Core processors aim to set a new standard by being the company’s “best processor ever”. The revamped designs are slimmer than ever, with a capability to spring to life in approximately half a second. A focus on integration within laptops makes perfect sense considering that a Skylake CPU can serve up 2.5-times the performance of its predecessor, as well as triple the battery life when compared to a number of machines that are widely used today.
The introduction of the latest family of processors, which are built using Intel’s Skylake microarchitecture, also sees a revision of the standard naming conventions, with the lineup being broken down into subcategories. Intel has introduced four new low energy processors as part of the announcement; a 900MHz Core m3, two 1.1GHz Core m5 versions, and a 1.2GHz Core m7 variant. The m5 Skylake options will differ on account of Intel vPro and TXT support. All four of the announced processors come equipped with Turbo Boost capabilities, as well as Intel HD Graphics 515. The ‘Y’ series can boast up to 10 hours of battery life, whilst increasing graphics performance by up to 40-percent.
Next up, we have the ‘U’ series of Core i3, i5, and i7 processors. Core i7 options come in at clock speeds of 2.2GHz, 2.5GHz, and 2.6GHz, while the i5 offers 2.8GHz, 2.9GHz, 3.0GHz, and 3.1Ghz. The entry-level i3 is a lone option for now at 2.3GHz. According to Intel, the ‘U’ series processors are up to 10-times faster than the previous generation, and offer 35-times the graphics performance.
The ‘H’ series meanwhile with a TDP of 45W is truly performance intensive. The Core i7 comes in at 2.6GHz, 2.7GHz, and 2.9GHz, while the i5 will be available at 2.3Ghz and 2.6Ghz, with the dual-core option coming in at 2.7GHz.
Intel has also announced the first Xeon mobile processor, which comes in at 2.8GHz, and 2.9GHz.
A number of reports are suggesting that Intel has already made the Core m processors available to manufacturers, including Apple and other large PC producers. If this is accurate, then the likelihood is that we should start seeing a new breed of lightning fast, power conscious machines filtering through to the market within the next few months. With that said, it remains to be seen if the likes of Apple will be encouraged to refresh a MacBook lineup on the back of Intel’s announcement, or wait until 2016 to integrate the new Skylake offerings in its notebooks.
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