Intel’s newest and fastest processors for laptops are sired by Haifa team
US semiconductor giant promises 12x faster connectivity and twice the performance of a 5-year-old PC
Shoshanna Solomon was The Times of Israel's Startups and Business reporter
Intel Corp., whose processors power most of the world’s computers, on Tuesday announced new additions to its 8th generation processors, targeted at super-thin and light laptops, with the promise of up to 12 times faster connectivity speeds and twice the performance of a 5-year-old PC. The design of the new processors was led by its development team in Haifa, Israel.
The new U and Y series — codenamed Whiskey Lake and Amber Lake respectively — are designed for “the next wave of mobile computing,” Chris Walker, vice president of the Client Computing Group and general manager of Intel Mobile Client Platform. said in a statement.
They will optimize connectivity in thin, light laptops and in 2-in-1 computers — laptop-tablet hybrids — for the first time, Intel said in a statement. The processors also provide a long battery life, the statement said, as the US semiconductor giant announced the new processors at the 2018 Internationale Funkausstellung (IFA) consumer electronics exhibition in Berlin.
Laptops with the series U processors will for the first time include Gigabit Wi-Fi, which enables connectivity speeds 12 times faster than previous generations.
The “new 8th Gen Intel Core U-series and Y-series processors raise the bar for connectivity, performance, entertainment and productivity for today’s laptops and 2 in 1s,” the statement said. “The 8th Gen Intel Core U-series processors bring integrated Gigabit Wi-Fi to thin and light mainstream laptops for the first time, delivering up to 12x faster connectivity speeds. They also offer up to 2x better performance, compared to a 5-year-old PC.”
The processors will also offer double-digit gains in office productivity for everyday web browsing and light content creation over the previous generation of processors, the statement said.
The new processors will enable consumers to download shows and movies “in under a minute, create, edit and share 4K/360 video content 6.5x faster,” and also stream and play “popular games on the go, including ‘World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth’ and ‘World of Tanks,’” Intel said.
The processors will deliver fast connectivity options, including fast Wi-Fi and LTE capabilities, to the some of the thinnest and lightest laptops and 2-in-1 computers in the market, “with double-digit gains in performance compared to the previous generation,” the statement said, enabling fresh and new designs with extended battery life. Batteries can last up to 16 hours on a single charge, with power-optimized systems targeted to achieve about 19 hours, the statement said.
Both the U and Y series allow more intelligent interactions with the computers, the statement said. The U series supports a variety of voice services while the Y series enables better touch and stylus interactions.
“Our engineers have worked closely with the industry to ensure that all the important elements in the system are working properly,” said Ran Senderovitz, a VP at Intel and the general manager of Intel Israel Development Centers, in a Hebrew statement.
With the new processors, computers will switch themselves to low-power mode and back to normal operation, when needed, to achieve a balance between energy efficiency and performance, he said.
Intel has also added to the new processors an Audio DSP platform, which supports voice services like those of Alexa and Cortana.
Laptops and 2-in -s powered by the new 8th Gen Intel Core U-series and Y-series processors will be available from PC manufacturers beginning this fall, Intel said.
