Intel Announces New 7th Gen Kaby Lake Processors Likely Headed to Mac

Intel has announced its full lineup of 7th generation Kaby Lake processors some of which could be used in future Macs.

With over 40 new performance-class processors, these 7th Gen Intel Core processors and Intel Xeon processors based on Intel’s 14nm+ process technology power some of the best new laptops and desktops.




Here's what Intel is touting for its Kaby Lake processors:

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Increased performance and reliability:
We know performance matters. It’s why we continue to focus on improved performance, delivering double-digit productivity performance increases – up to 20 percent for performance and gaming notebooks and 25 percent for desktops. With 4K and 360-degree content – people can expect up to 65 percent faster performance on notebooks and 35 percent faster on desktops.

Our Intel Core vPro processors have been the gold standard for commercial computing for over a decade. With the latest 7th Gen Intel Core vPro processors, business owners and IT managers can offer new PCs with up to 10 hours of battery life and a 65 percent increase in productivity when compared with a 5-year-old PC1,6. And with many millennials today taking technology into consideration when choosing their workplace8, I’m confident the new 7th Gen Intel Core processor-based 2 in 1s and AIOs will delight them.

Enhanced Security:
7th Gen Intel Core and Intel Xeon processors strengthen security with advancements in hardware-enhanced security and two-factor authentication built in to the silicon. For consumers, this frees up the hassles of remembering and typing in passwords. It also offers secure payments through fingerprint touch-to-pay. For the enterprise, our new Intel Core vPro processors, as well as Intel Core processors for business9, bring Intel Authenticate7 as a hardware-enhanced multi-factor authentication solution.

Intel Authenticate verifies user identity using a combination of hardened factors such as a PIN, a Bluetooth signal from your phone or a biometric identifier like a fingerprint, making your login a million times safer10. We are expanding our security partnership with Microsoft* and plan to integrate Windows* Hello and Intel Authenticate together for a seamless user experience.

4K UHD Entertainment:
Thanks to the new media engine in all 7th Gen Intel Core processors, it is possible to stream 4K UHD movies and TV shows7 on services such as Netflix* on a computer for the first time. This means that critically acclaimed titles like “The Crown” and “Stranger Things” can be watched at home or on the go in brilliant 4K on your 7th Gen Intel Core computer. With the availability of other premium content providers like Sony* Pictures ULTRA, FandangoNOW* and iQiyi* coming in 2017, your 7th Gen-based PC is now a 4K theater.

VR and Gaming: With virtual reality and gaming growing at an incredible pace, the need for computing horsepower everywhere has never been more essential. In gaming and VR, the processor not only provides the power to drive these system-intensive games, but is also responsible for important capabilities like particle physics and object persistence. That’s a technical way of saying it makes objects look and act more lifelike – creating a completely immersive experience. Intel puts the reality in virtual reality. And for those gamers on the go? The new Intel Iris Plus graphics in laptops7 makes it possible to take a game like Overwatch* with you and play in full HD.

Enhanced Content Creation:
Content creators will have the ability to do more from both a creativity and productivity standpoint. 7th Gen Intel Core processors with Intel HD7 and Intel Iris Plus Graphics7 provide laptops the power and graphics to create, stitch and share 4K UHD 360-degree videos and simultaneously transfer and display dual 4K video and fast storage through a single port and cable with Thunderbolt 3.
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The Intel U-Series of processors are appropriate for MacBooks and perhaps the Mac Mini. The H-Series processors would be ideal for the MacBook Pro and the S-Series processors are suitable for the iMac.

Unfortunately, the Kaby Lake processors provide minimal performance improvements over Skylake. Additionally, MacBook Pro users may be disappointed to learn that the H-Series processors do not support LPDDR4. Apple limited the new MacBook Pro to 16GB RAM because the LPDDR3 limit is 16GB/chip and it needed the power savings of LPDDR for battery life. This means we likely won't see 32GB of RAM in the MacBook Pro until Intel's Cannonlake processors which do support LPDDR4.

Hit the link below for more details on the new 7th gen core processors...

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