After much speculation and teasing, Intel today officially announced its new eighth-generation U-series and Y-series processors. The former was originally code-named Whiskey Lake, while the latter was referred to as Amber Lake. Both are optimized for use is “thin, light” laptops, according to the chipmaker.
Across the board, Intel touts that its new processors focus on providing “ultimately mobile performance and long battery life” for thine and light laptops, as well as 2-in-1s.
First and foremost, the U-series “Whiskey Lake” family includes the i7-8565U, i5-8265U, and i3-8145U processors. The i7-8565U is a quad-core processor with a base speed of 1.8GHz, which rises to 4.6GHz through Turboost.
The quad-core i5-8265U, is clocked at 1.6GHz at base speed and 3.9GHz when boosted. Lastly, the dual-core i3-8145U is clocked at 2.GHz with boost support up to 3.9GHz.
All three of Intel’s U-series processors tout support for Gigabit WiFi and performance that is up to 2x faster and on-board support for voice assistants such as Alexa and Cortana. Intel also says the U-series chips offer notable battery life improvements, lasting “up to 16 hours on a single charge, with power-optimized systems targeted to achieve about 19 hours.”
8th Gen Intel Core U-series processors bring integrated Gigabit Wi-Fi to thin and light mainstream laptops for the first time, delivering up to 12-times faster connectivity speeds. They also offer up to 2-times better performance, compared with a 5-year-old PC, and double-digit gains in office productivity for everyday web browsing and light content creation over the previous generation. This leap in connectivity and performance will help empower people to focus, create and connect at home, in the office and on-the-go.
Meanwhile, the Intel Y-series includes the i7-8500, i5-8200Y, and m3-8100Y. The first two of those are dual-core offers at 1.5GHz and 1.3GHz, respectively. The m3-8100Y, meanwhile, has a base clock speed of 1.1GHz with boost up to 3.4GHz.
The Y-series upgrade is not quite as feature-packed as the U-series, but Intel still touts faster WiFi and LTE speeds and “double digit” gains in performance. The chipmaker doesn’t offer any details on specific battery life improvements, though it does say the chips enable “extended battery life.”
The U-series Whiskey Lake processors could potentially find home in a refreshed 13-inch MacBook Air-like computer. Apple is said to have such a device in the works for this year, but details are sparse at this point. Further, the Y-series Amber Lake chips are almost certainly destined for the next-generation 12-inch MacBook.
Read more in Intel’s full announcement right here. Intel says machines with these new chips will be available to consumers this year.
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