Over at CES, 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.
The new processors are built using the “14nm+” process and introduce new optimizations as compared to the previous 14nm Broadwell and Skylake chips.
The company has cited that “Kaby Lake” will bring “double digit productivity performance increases” of up to 20 percent for gaming notebooks and 25 percent for desktops, compared to 2013 Haswell chips from Intel’s prior release cycle. 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.
The new 28-watt U-Series chips are appropriate for a future 13-inch MacBook Pro notebook with the 7267U/7287U/7567U processors perhaps being 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 processors could find their way into a future 15-inch MacBook Pro and 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.
Where desktops are concerned, the S-Series desktop chips, namely the 7500, the 7600 and the 7700K could be ideal for a 27-inch iMac.
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.
The Kaby Lake processors could be idea for the iMac, MacBook Pro and Mac mini, should Apple decide to update these units in 2017.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.