Intel Announces Full Lineup of Kaby Lake Processors for iMac, MacBook Pro, and More

[keysofanxiety]

With Windows 10 shown to be running on ARM and the incredible performance per watt on ARM chips, I question how long Intel will dominate in the mobile CPU race.

I'm sure they'll still have the high-end market with quad i7s, but Intel are releasing appalling current gen Atoms with less horsepower than decade-old mobile Core 2 Duos. Their performance is so poor that an iPhone 7 chip would make mincemeat of it, even with an emulated x86 instruction set.

Who knows, you might even see MS Surfaces running Apple ARM chips in the near future. That'd be a mad twist of fate.

 

[kiranmk2]

This is the whole problem Intel (and Apple) are facing. If you read a bit more you'll find Intel claims the S-series i7-7700K CPU is 25 percent faster than the i7-4770K. - That's 25% gain in 3 years for the desktop chips. The laptop chips are even worse at 20% improvement. Why would anyone with a working 2013 computer upgrade for that? Processing power increases are grinding to a halt...

 

[brendu]

Sounds like no real performance gain for anything that doesn't make heavy use of 3D or 4K video?

Which is why people need to stop complaining so much. For 90% of Mac users the current processor lineup is plenty powerful. The issues with the Mac are more about the ports being updated and the desktops still using ancient hard drives that slow your computer much more than a new processor will help speed it up.

 

[TigerWoodsIV]

So I just read a little more about the chips for the 15" MBP. Will there really be a noticeable difference here? The article makes it sound like it, but besides efficiency, the performance gains don't seem to be anything special. Kinda sucks since I got my 15" MBP a couple weeks ago, but considering CPU wise that's barely faster than the CPU from 2 generations before it, I doubt I'll be missing much when new ones are announced. Anyone with more knowledge chime in por favor.

 

[pat500000]

Not until the day when Mac Pro officially turns 4!

There's one more chip......but.....

 

[Appleaker]

Remember when Apple used to get chips from Intel ahead of everyone else, like in the original MacBook Air? Now they implement them a year later right before they're obsolete.

It's a shame because Intel wouldn't do that with any manufacturer, similar to Nvidia because they have become larger companies and don't have the flexibility. However, AMD can still do this which is one reason why Apple use them.

 

[brendu]

Remember when Apple used to get chips from Intel ahead of everyone else, like in the original MacBook Air? Now they implement them a year later right before they're obsolete.

The new chips are marginally better than the older ones. They are maybe 25% faster than the chips from 4 generations ago. Apple needs to focus on updating the macs but new processors are literally the least important component to be upgraded.

 

[SoyCapitanSoyCapitan]

iMac will have them very soon. I mean...very soon.

Kabylake for MBP will happen at the same time as AMD offer mobile Vega.

 

[Appleaker]

Knowing Apple they are going to stick with skylake and cap RAM at 64GB for desktops.

.... You think they would skip a generation (despite waiting for it's release) to stop users upgrading to 128GB of RAM?

 

[DavidDoyle]

So based on the latest Macbook Pro (Oct 2016) with Skylake processors that were in competitors products (Dell) in November/December 2015 means we'll see Kaby Lake Macbook Pro's in October/November this year.

So just in time for the holiday season! Happy Holidays!

And perhaps with the reduced power draw of the Kaby Lake we might see a reduced battery size to enable it to be made thinner....? Lets hope so!

 

[Andres Cantu]

So you're saying there's a chance...for the Mac mini?

 

[CmdrLaForge]

When can we expect a quad core in the 13" and hopefully the Mac mini?

 

[Firebrand]

No this does not mean we have to wait another year for Apple to actually implement Sky Lake / Kaby Lake. That ’d not be cool ;-) Coming: Spring 2017, GPU’s inc.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidkw...luential-business-leaders-today/#f8d3a4f66a73

Happy 2017!

 

[truthertech]

Everybody here is really negative, but I'm a huge Apple fan and regardless if Apple is slow to updating their Macs, Macs are still everyone's preferred desktop machine.

You could probably replace most of the trolls' comments with "I can't afford these high quality, but expensive Apple products so I better tear them down to make myself feel better about the lower quality competitor's product I was forced to buy. In fact, looking ahead, I am not going to be able to afford one anytime soon so i better attack a product that doesn't even exist yet because I am already feeling really bad! Not fair!"

 

[oneMadRssn]

Remember when Apple used to get chips from Intel ahead of everyone else, like in the original MacBook Air? Now they implement them a year later right before they're obsolete.

That only happened once...

 

[saikyan]

At today's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, Intel formally announced its full lineup of 7th-generation Intel Core processors, known as Kaby Lake. Kaby Lake low-power Y-Series and U-Series processors were announced in late August, but today's unveiling covers notebook and desktop chips that could be destined for many future Apple Macs.

Intel's 7th-generation processors are built on the "14nm+" process, introducing new optimizations compared to previous 14nm Broadwell and Skylake chips.

According to Intel, Kaby Lake will bring "double digit productivity performance increases" of up to 20 percent for gaming notebooks and 25 percent for desktops. With 4K and 360 degree content, customers can expect up to 65 percent faster performance on notebooks. Enhanced security, a new media engine, and improvements in VR and gaming are all advertised features.

Of the chips announced today, the 28-watt U-Series chips are appropriate for a future 13-inch MacBook Pro update, and we could see the 7267U/7287U/7567U used in 13-inch MacBook Pro machines this year. Those same chips are likely what Apple would use in a Mac mini update, as the Mac mini and the 13-inch MacBook Pro have traditionally included the same chips.

Intel's 45-watt H-Series chips are appropriate for a future 15-inch MacBook Pro update. The 7700HQ would be ideal for entry-level machines, while a mid-tier machine would use the 7820HQ and the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro would use the 7920HQ.

There are multiple potential upgrade options for the 27-inch iMac, but the S-Series desktop chips (7500/7600/7700K) are the straight upgrade path from the current Skylake chips used in 27-inch machines.

For the 21.5-inch iMac, Apple normally uses chips with higher-end integrated graphics, but Intel has not released Kaby Lake chips that are a clear upgrade for the smaller iMac machines. Apple could choose to use Skylake chips instead of Kaby Lake chips for the 21.5-inch iMac, and in that case, would likely adopt the 6585R, 6685R, and 6785R chips, released six months ago.

With today's announcement, Kaby Lake chips that are clear upgrades for the iMac, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini will be available to manufacturers in the near future and will be available for Apple's planned 2017 upgrades. Kaby Lake chips appropriate for future MacBook updates are already available.

Rumors suggest we will see refreshed iMacs in the spring, which is also when we may see new MacBooks, and in the fall, we expect to see Kaby Lake refreshes for the MacBook Pro lineup.

Article Link: Intel Announces Full Lineup of Kaby Lake Processors for iMac, MacBook Pro, and More

 

[oneMadRssn]

Intel Announces Full Lineup of Kaby Lake Processors for iMac, MacBook Pro, and More

This title is really misleading. Saying those processors are for the iMac and Macbook Pro implies they are not for other computers. They are for any computer, including many Macs maybe or maybe not.

 

[Mr. Dee]

The new Macs are already obsolete less than two months with an announcement like this. Then again, Apple couldn't wait any longer. Expect updates in March for the MacBook Pro. Apple should have just said, we are waiting on Kaby Lake, give us until March, it will be worth it. Then again, who am I to talk, I am not even in the market for a new Mac. But for those who just spent 4 grand, this probably leaves a bit of a bad taste, since buyers in March will be getting a better deal just for waiting a bit longer.

 

[Shookster]

This is the whole problem Intel (and Apple) are facing. If you read a bit more you'll find Intel claims the S-series i7-7700K CPU is 25 percent faster than the i7-4770K. - That's 25% gain in 3 years for the desktop chips. The laptop chips are even worse at 20% improvement. Why would anyone with a working 2013 computer upgrade for that? Processing power increases are grinding to a halt...

Yes, the performance increases are only substantial compared to older generations. Compared to Skylake, the difference is minimal. Kaby Lake is almost identical to Skylake. The majority of the speed boost does not come from the architecture but the fact that they bumped the clock speed compared to Skylake.

 

[macduke]

The new chips are marginally better than the older ones. They are maybe 25% faster than the chips from 4 generations ago. Apple needs to focus on updating the macs but new processors are literally the least important component to be upgraded.

The article literally just said 25% improvement for desktops in this generation alone.

 

[jonnysods]

Remember when Apple used to get chips from Intel ahead of everyone else, like in the original MacBook Air? Now they implement them a year later right before they're obsolete.

I'm wondering if that was a Steve thing, because I do remember that happening quite a bit, just not with GPUs.

 

[macduke]

That only happened once...

I thought it happened a few times, but I don't have any numbers in front of me. At least they used to upgrade things a lot quicker than they do now.

 

[elmaco]

I'm sure Apple will use these processors. Question is, will it be in 2018 or 2019?

When Jobs ran the show, he got Intel to develop a special motherboard so it would fit Mac Book Air. Now the Apple upgrades happens when the competition is picking up the next generation.

 

[Shookster]

This is the whole problem Intel (and Apple) are facing. If you read a bit more you'll find Intel claims the S-series i7-7700K CPU is 25 percent faster than the i7-4770K. - That's 25% gain in 3 years for the desktop chips. The laptop chips are even worse at 20% improvement. Why would anyone with a working 2013 computer upgrade for that? Processing power increases are grinding to a halt...

Yes, the performance increases are only substantial compared to older generations. Compared to Skylake, the difference is minimal - Kaby Lake is almost identical. The majority of the speed boost does not come from the architecture but the fact that they bumped the clock speed compared to Skylake.

 

[xgman]

Na. The CPU's are good now but Apple are waiting on the right GPU's...

Party pooper...

 

[JesperA]

The article literally just said 25% improvement for desktops in this generation alone.

Thats what they always announce but then when the benchmarks are released by 3rd parties, the performance gains is closer to 2-5%