Intel Next-Gen Whiskey Lake Mobile Quad-Core Rumored for 2H 2018
New details about Intel’s next-generation quad-core mobile processors have leaked out. The new processor family is allegedly codenamed Whiskey Lake, which will be built an optimized 14nm process node. It is a “4+2” processor and will launch sometime in in the second half of 2018.
Intel released their 8the Gen Kaby Lake Refresh family of processors in August this year. Aimed at the mainstream notebook PC market, the chips were based on the same Kaby Lake architecture as their predecessors, but featured four processor cores instead of two, allowing for better multi-core performance.
Intel Whiskey Lake for Mainstream Notebook PCs: What We Know So Far
According to the noted leaker “chrisdar,” Intel is preparing to introduce successor to the Kaby Lake Refresh processors, codenamed Whiskey Lake. Indeed, the same code name can be spotted over at Intel’s website here. At the moment, there is not much we know about Intel’s new CPU architecture for client notebook platform, but the leak does give us an idea of exactly what Whiskey Lake is.
The leak from “chrisdar” suggests that Whiskey Lake-U comes in a “4+2” package, which means it features four processor cores along with the GT2 graphics. He further notes that Intel’s 10nm process is still too early to be used for mass production at acceptable costs, indicating the upcoming product family will likely be built on its now-mature 14nm manufacturing technology.
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Kaby Lake-R is built using the company’s second generation 14nm+, so it would make sense for Intel Whiskey Lake to use the more refined 14nm++ process. This should bring a performance upgrade of roughly 10% at the same power consumption.
Further, Whiskey Lake-U is expected use a new, more efficient platform controller hub (PCH) that will debut with the upcoming Coffee Lake-U mobile processors. It won’t be surprising though, if it includes an even newer PCH chip for additional features and capabilities.
Intel Whiskey Lake is rumored to go in mass production sometime between July 2018 and August 2018. That is all we know for now. We’ll update the article as more information becomes available.