The start of the IFA 2018 is just around the corner, and Intel wanted to anticipate a few days to let us know the latest update to its eighth generation processors, which if we see it coldly is more an update with respect to what was presented the previous year. That is, Intel has made specific changes to justify the change from Kaby Lake to this Whiskey Lake.
This update comes to the range of Intel processors of the U Series (Whiskey Lake) and the Y Series (Amber Lake), which are aimed at low consumption portable devices, such as the famous convertible or ‘2 in 1’, as well as those with light and thin design. Let’s know the models and their main novelties.
Performance, connectivity and autonomy
For these new processors, Intel claims to have focused on three major factors: performance, connectivity and autonomy. Therefore, the company claims that they will have twice the performance, they will be up to 1.8 faster in web browsing tasks and up to 10.5 faster when displaying a video in high resolution, this if we compare them with the generation above.
In terms of connectivity, the new eighth generation processors of the U Series and the Y Series will be the first to incorporate support for Gigabit WiFi, this through the 802.11 ac protocol. Sure, as long as our router is compatible and we have that speed available.
In the case of the U Series, we also support LTE through an integrated modem, from Intel itself, compatible with SIM Cards. While the Y Series incorporates the same modem but with support for eSIM, since its goal is to be in laptops up to 7 millimeters thick. With this, both series of processors will offer mobile connectivity directly.
On the part of autonomy, Intel claims to have achieved a major change in terms of energy consumption, since, according to their tests, they will be able to offer up to 16 hours of autonomy, an important jump compared to 10 hours of the previous generation. Although here we must emphasize that this autonomy depends on the configuration of the device and other factors.
The frequency is maintained but there are improvements in the Turbo Boost
In total, Intel is introducing six processors, two for each series, which in the case of the U Series remains much of what we saw last year. That is, the same nuclei with the same base frequency, and that is the main change comes in the Turbo Boost , which now has a slight increase that will help in tasks that require more processing power.
The three processors of the U Series maintain their TDP of only 15W, while for the Y Series it is 5W. On the other hand, the integrated graphic is the Intel HD 620 for the six microprocessors, that is to say, the same one of the last year that does not present apparent improvements with respect to the models that already integrate it.
The new lineup of eighth generation Intel processors is integrated into the U Series, the i7-8565U, i5-8265U and i3-8145U, while in the Y Series we will have the i7-8500, i5-8200Y and m3-8100Y. So they remain in the comparative table:
As we see, this new family of processors is headed by the Intel Core i7-8565U, which offers us a base frequency of 1.8 GHz, Turbo of 4.6GHz, with 4 cores and 8 threads. If we compare it with the Intel Core i7-8550U last year, we will see that it had the same base frequency of 1.8GHz, a 4GHz Turbo and the same 4 cores and 8 threads. As I mentioned, the only difference is in the Turbo Boost.
The detail here is that we remain in the well-known and dominated process of 14 nanometers, being the fourth year under this lithography and is that as the same company confirmed, mass production of 10 nanometers was delayed, for the third time, for the second half of 2019. Although we have already seen the first indications of this new lithography in some devices discreetly.
Meanwhile, these new Intel processors of eighth generation of the U Series and Y Series will be available on devices from several manufacturers this fall, and which are expected to be officially announced now during IFA 2018.
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