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First Machines Using Kaby Lake Processors Coming This Fall, but MacBook Pro Not Likely Among Them

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At today's Intel Developer Forum, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and other Intel execs showed off its 7th Generation Core, Kaby Lake. While information shared on Kaby Lake was limited, there was an on-screen demo of two machines equipped with Kaby Lake processors, shown editing 4K video and using built-in graphics to play popular Blizzard game Overwatch.

Kaby Lake is hardware accelerated for the HEVC Main10 profile, meaning it can "play the highest quality 4K premium content on the market today without a hitch." An HP two-in-one laptop on stage was used to edit 4K video and a Dell XPS laptop was used to show off Overwatch, which ran seamlessly on the machine thanks to Intel's efforts to "push the boundaries of processor graphics."

For those unfamiliar with Kaby Lake, it is the third chip manufactured using Intel's 14-nanometer process, following Broadwell and Skylake. It's a semi-tock with optimized microarchitecture, offering support for Thunderbolt 3, native USB 3.1, and DisplayPort 1.2.

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According to Krzanich, Kaby Lake processors are already shipping to Intel's manufacturing partners and will launch in new devices coming this fall, something we already knew following a July earnings call. Krzanich did not provide a further breakdown on when chips appropriate for some of Apple's machines long overdue for updates will launch.

Intel often launches low-power 4.5W Y-series chips and 15W U-series chips first, neither of which are suitable for use in the machine that people are most curious about, the MacBook Pro. According to an old Intel roadmap, Kaby Lake chips appropriate for use in the MacBook Pro, the iMac, and the Mac mini won't launch until the very end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017, meaning any Apple machines released in the fall of 2016 may be limited to Skylake chips.

Rumors suggest the MacBook Pro is getting a major overhaul this year, with a slimmer design, Touch ID support, and a built-in OLED touch panel. There's no specific word on a launch date, but it is expected sometime after the September iPhone event and before the end of the year, pinpointing October or November.

During today's event, along with touching on its 7th Gen processors, Intel outlined Project Alloy, a "merged reality" open source hardware project described as "the next version of VR," allowing objects from the real world to be brought into the virtual world and vice versa. On stage, this was demonstrated with a dollar bill that was used to manipulate a virtual object. Intel also announced TXL labs, a production studio "dedicated to pushing the limits of technology for production," and a new drone platform.

Article Link: First Machines Using Kaby Lake Processors Coming This Fall, but MacBook Pro Not Likely Among Them
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/16/first-kaby-lake-computers-coming-this-fall/
If folks are still waiting for Skylake, I wouldn't expect to see Kaby Lake in them right now.

Rumors suggest the MacBook Pro is getting a major overhaul this year, with a slimmer design, Touch ID support, and a built-in OLED touch panel.
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Adding Touch ID support would be fantastic and it could be something I'd actually use to justify buying a new MacBook Pro even though my 2012 model is still working fine.
 
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Intel is making a new 'drone' platform? Really? That's what they identified as a business big enough for them to invest in? I'm surprised they aren't researching a new platform for mixers and blenders...I feel sorry for Intel as they don't see mot have a focus anymore. I'd like to be in the meeting though..." What the hell should we do, now?" "How about drones, I mean lots of kids like those things!" "And it goes so well with our expertise!"
 
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Apple seem to charge customers as if they are incorporating the latest technology, so why isn't Apple incorporating the best tech? Apple seems to appear to be half a year to a year behind in some cases. What exactly is preventing Apple from doing so?
 
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Next year, they'll just do a silent refresh and add Kaby Lake. Not a huge deal right? I'm not sure how much the performance difference is gonna be with Skylate, but it should be a around 15%, right? So, I see no reason to wait another year to get a MacBook Pro.
 
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That's good news. New MacBook Pros using Kaby Lake would have been another quarter of wait at least for very poor effective performances improvement !
 
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Will the cost of a refresh be the loss of a discrete graphics card unless you BTO?
 
Why would Intel ship chips needed by Apple machines so much later than the ones for PCs? Why would they not want to maximize their profit potential???
 
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smacrumon said:
Apple seem to charge customers as if they are incorporating the latest technology, so why isn't Apple incorporating the best tech? What exactly is preventing Apple from doing so?
Click to expand...

Apple can't both release a MacBook Pro this year and have Kaby Lake. Look at the end of the article and read "by the end of 2016 or early 2017".

snowboarder said:
So the long awaited revolutionary new Macbook Pro will be outdated from the start?
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Nope, the MBP will have the latest processor available to them when launched. The processors for the Pro won't be available until the end of the year EARLIEST.
 
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When they did a big refresh of the Macbook Air, they also neglected to update the CPU. They may be able to get away with only Skylake. I don't think anyone will blame them if the chips aren't available.
 
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This is why I really don't understand the rMB update in April. Apart from a Skylake CPU and rose gold, was there anything else added? Performance wasn't really improved that much so why not hold off that update until the Kaby Lake Core M was available for an Autumn launch. The full 4K encode/decode would really help out this little laptop. An April rMBP refresh with Skylake would have allowed a late 16/early 17 Kaby Lake update. Now it looks like being over 18 months between updates...

Of course, there could be a move to the U 15 W chips for the 13" rMBP which could launch this year before the 15" launches early next year.
 
smacrumon said:
Apple seem to charge customers as if they are incorporating the latest technology, so why isn't Apple incorporating the best tech? Apple seems to appear to be half a year to a year behind in some cases. What exactly is preventing Apple from doing so?
Click to expand...
The latest tech isn't ready yet.

MacRumors said:
Intel often launches low-power 4.5W Y-series chips and 15W U-series chips first, neither of which are suitable for use in the machine that people are most curious about, the MacBook Pro. According to an old Intel roadmap, Kaby Lake chips appropriate for use in the MacBook Pro, the iMac, and the Mac mini won't launch until the very end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017, meaning any Apple machines released in the fall of 2016 may be limited to Skylake chips.
Click to expand...
 
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Reactions: fastasleep, volcomvenom, WRONG and 5 others
Apple has in the past had advanced access to new chips. Given how close Kaby Lake and Macbook Pro relative launches are Apple might have the new chips.
 
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