Intel launches long-delayed quad-core Broadwell CPUs and the Iris Pro 6200 GPU

Photo: Intel

The first products based on Intel’s Broadwell chips were introduced last fall, but it was not a smooth launch. Yield problems with the company’s new 14nm manufacturing process forced Intel to stagger Broadwell’s rollout. The low-power, low-performance Core M chips came first, followed by faster U-series dual-core parts a few months later. And today, the rollout ends with the release of a dozen higher-performance quad-core chips destined for enthusiast- and workstation-class desktops and laptops.

Though these chips will probably bring improvements in power consumption and CPU performance, the real star is Intel’s new top-end integrated GPU, the Iris Pro 6200. For the first time, Intel is offering Iris Pro as a socketed desktop part rather than a BGA version soldered to motherboards.

We’ll get performance numbers when we actually have finished systems to test, but for now let’s run down what Intel is promising, what chips it’s releasing, and what kinds of systems they’re going to end up in.

A limited launch

Intel is releasing a limited number of these quad-core Broadwell processors, focused mostly on chips that will go into systems that walk the line between size and performance (think Apple’s 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro on the laptop side or Gigabyte’s Brix Pro desktop). There are five desktop chips and five laptop chips, for a total of 10.

Other systems, particularly midrange and low-end desktops currently served by Haswell chips, are going to have to keep waiting. As we reported last year, Broadwell is skipping these kinds of systems entirely—the next versions of those chips will be based on the next-generation Skylake architecture, which will bring with it new chipsets and a new CPU socket.

Read More: Intel launches long-delayed quad-core Broadwell CPUs and the Iris Pro 6200 GPU | Ars Technica.

13-inch Broadwell MacBook showdown: Should you go Pro or get an Air?

The 13-inch MacBook Pro and the 13-inch MacBook Air were once very different computers that served very different needs. One was bulkier but pretty fast and user-serviceable, while the other was thin-and-light to a fault, arriving with anemic low-power CPUs and GPUs, slow hard drives, and no easy means to upgrade.

In the last two-to-three years, that gap has narrowed substantially. The Air has become more powerful and less compromised, while the Pro has slimmed down and dumped features like user-replaceable RAM and its Ethernet jack. Both use Thunderbolt 2. Both use modern dual-core CPUs with some of Intel’s better integrated GPUs. They’re even priced in the same ballpark. What was once an easy recommendation has gotten more difficult.

Last year as part of our review process, we took a good long look at both laptops, picked the best and worst things about each, and made purchasing recommendations based on what you need in your 13-inch Mac laptop. We’ll post similar individual reviews soon to better consider how each computer stacks up compared to the wider PC market, but this piece serves a very specific purpose.

If you’re interested in a new Mac laptop but shy away from the extremes (the extreme power of a 15-inch Pro, the extreme portability of an 11-inch Air), which new 13-inch offering do you buy?

Specs at a glance: 13-inch 2015 Apple MacBook Air 13-inch 2015 Apple Retina MacBook Pro

Screen 1440×900 at 13.3″ (128 PPI) 2560×1600 at 13.3″ (227 PPI)

OS OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite OS X 10.10.2 Yosemite

CPU 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-5250U (Turbo up to 2.7GHz) 2.7GHz Intel Core i5-5257U (Turbo up to 3.3GHz)

RAM 4GB 1600MHz LPDDR3 (soldered, upgradeable to 8GB at purchase) 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 (soldered, upgradeable to 16GB at purchase)

GPU Intel HD Graphics 6000 (integrated) Intel Iris 6100 (integrated)

HDD 128GB PCIe 2.0 x4 solid-state drive (upgradeable to 256GB or 512GB) 128GB PCIe 2.0 x4 solid-state drive (upgradeable to 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB)

Networking 867Mbps 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 1.3Gbps 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0

Ports 2x USB 3.0, Thunderbolt 2, card reader, headphones 2x USB 3.0, 2x Thunderbolt 2, HDMI, card reader, headphones

Size 12.8″ × 8.94″ × 0.11-0.68″ (325 mm × 227 mm × 3-17 mm) 12.35″ × 8.62″ × 0.71″ (314 mm × 219 mm × 18 mm)

Weight 2.96 lbs (1.35 kg) 3.48 lbs (1.58 kg)

Battery 54Whr 74.9Whr

Warranty 1 year 1 year

Starting price $999.99 $1,299.99

Price as reviewed $999.99 $1,299.99

Other perks Webcam, backlit keyboard, dual integrated mics Webcam, backlit keyboard, dual integrated mics

External changes

Winner: N/A

Read More: 13-inch Broadwell MacBook showdown: Should you go Pro or get an Air? | Ars Technica.

Intel: Many PC makers plan to skip desktop Broadwell PCs and wait for Skylake CPUs

Intel: Many PC makers plan to skip desktop Broadwell PCs and wait for Skylake CPUs

LAS VEGAS—The more powerful the PC, the less important Intel’s Broadwell chip appears to be.

On Monday, Intel launched the Broadwell-U microprocessors for all-in-ones and traditional notebooks, representing the traditional Core i3, i5, and i7 parts that distinguish low, midrange, and high-end PCs.

The problem for Intel and PC makers, however, is that Intel’s next-generation chip architecture, Skylake, is due to launch in the second half of 2015, according to Kirk Skaugen, senior vice president and general manager of the PC Client Group, at a dinner meeting at the Consumer Electronics Show here Sunday night.

That pinches PC makers, who will have to decide which chip architecture to focus their resources on. And where higher-end desktop and gaming PCs are concerned, hardware makers appear to be placing their bets on Skylake.

“It depends on… we have a multi-faceted roadmap, as you know. For traditional desktop towers, there’s not a lot of fifth-generation Cores,” Skaugen said. “So it’s Skylake.”

Why this matters: Gaming PCs have had to wait for the new Broadwell chips. And with Skylake looming on the horizon, it makes sense for vendors to try and sell Broadwell as quickly as possible. If PC gamers must wait for a quarter or two for a high-end part, why won’t they wait a quarter longer for a Skylake chip? It might not be the best argument, but it’s one that’s apparently resonating with pinchpenny PC makers.

The Broadwell delay makes Skylake more appealing

Intel’s fifth-generation Broadwell chips take the same microprocessor design as the Intel fourth-generation “Haswell” Core chips and shrink it into a new 14-nm process. While the finer process is expected to boost performance by 22 percent in integrated graphics alone, manufacturing glitches during the process delayed production by several months. Intel’s follow-on chip, Skylake, will use the same 14-nm process as Broadwell but feature a redesign that will bring new improvements.

That means for now, “desktop” PCs may use mobile Broadwell chips inside them, indicative of the blurring between the two platforms.

“For these all in ones you see over here, they’re taking a mobile processor and putting it in an all in one,” Skaugen said, referring to a table of all-in-one PCs from various manufacturers. “For most of the OEMs, my guess is that 80 percent of their resources for the last six months have been on Skylake anyway. Because the fifth-generation [Broadwell] Core is a pin-compatible upgrade to the existing Haswell systems.”

Skylake, however, is not. And if PC makers are going to perform chassis redesigns to include Wireless Display (WiDi) and 3D RealSense cameras, they’re probably going to invest in Skylake, too, Skaugen said.

As for WiDi, Skaugen promised that it finally works now.

Also on the agenda: wireless charging

Intel’s chief executive Brian Krzanich is scheduled to speak Monday night at a keynote address at CES. Intel executives said the topics of his speech will be wearables, the user experience, and wireless charging. Without confirming specific names, Skaugen said that new wireless charging partners would be named, with 20-watt adapters—enough to recharge a Core M-powered tablet—going into production in the first quarter for between $150 to $200 apiece. Intel is part of the A4WP (Alliance for Wireless Power) consortium.

via Intel: Many PC makers plan to skip desktop Broadwell PCs and wait for Skylake CPUs | PCWorld.

Intel brings next-gen ‘Broadwell’ processor tech to mainstream notebooks, desktops

LAS VEGAS—Intel’s Core M processor promised a new wave of small-screen tablets. But at CES 2015, Intel hustled in the main event: the launch of the fifth-generation “Broadwell-U” Core processor for mainstream desktops and notebooks.

The new Core processors—over 14 of them, including new chips designed for consumer and business PCs, as well as Pentium and Celeron-branded chips—were launched on Monday, the preview day before the Consumer Electronics Show begins.

Intel’s new Broadwell ships are now shipping—except for the high-end, 28-watt parts that include Intel’s premier integrated graphics, the new Iris Graphics 6100. Those will wait until the end of the first quarter to ship. And with Intel’s next chip, Skylake, waiting in the wings, it’s no wonder Intel’s hardware partners plan to show off a slew of Broadwell systems at CES.

Read More: Intel brings next-gen ‘Broadwell’ processor tech to mainstream notebooks, desktops | PCWorld.

Intel Broadwell chip production delayed until 2014

Intel has delayed the production of their next-generation ‘Broadwell’ chips until the first quarter of 2014, following defect density issues affecting the processor’s yield. Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel, mentioned that when defects are discovered in CPUs, a set of fixes are inserted; however the fixes for the issues didn’t initially deliver the improvements that were anticipated.

The issues, which according to Krzanich have been fixed, pushed the production of Broadwell back a quarter, from Q4 2013 to Q1 2014. He said that PC customers have a “strong desire to get Broadwell to market”, adding that this “is a small blip in the schedule” while also mentioning that Broadwell’s successor ‘Skylake’ hasn’t been delayed as a result.

Broadwell is a ‘Tick’ in Intel’s ‘Tick-Tock’ philosophy, meaning it’s a shrink of the current CPU microarchitecture (‘Haswell’) to a new manufacturing process (14nm). Intel is the first company to produce chips at 14nm, which will bring a range of improvements to power efficiency and performance.

Leaked roadmaps have always placed the release of Broadwell in 2014 sometime, with the first batch of production scheduled to occur in late 2013 before the delays occurred. Generally speaking it takes Intel six months from the start of mass production to get the chips out on the market, which would place Broadwell’s release in Q3 2014, factoring in the one quarter delay.

It’s rumored that Intel will only release Broadwell-based mobile parts on the BGA platform in 2014, with traditional LGA desktop parts being covered by a Haswell refresh. At this stage it’s unclear whether we’ll see Broadwell in desktop parts in 2014, or at any stage for that matter, but stay tuned in the coming months as more information trickles out.

via Intel Broadwell chip production delayed until 2014 – TechSpot.

Intel 9-series chipsets may not be backwards compatible with Haswell

Intel’s current generation of ‘Haswell’ processors, as well as the upcoming ‘Broadwell’ processors, will share the same LGA1150 CPU socket. However, the upcoming 9-series chipsets designed specifically for Broadwell may not be backwards compatible with Haswell, and the current 8-series chips designed for Haswell may not support Broadwell, which could cause a headache for motherboard manufacturers.
According to documentation obtained by VR-Zone, there are slight changes in the implementation requirements of the two processor families. Specifically, Broadwell processors require slightly different connections between the socket and chipset, mostly to facilitate a new power source called VCCST. If motherboard manufacturers implement these changes in their boards with 9-series chipsets, Haswell processors will likely be incompatible.

VR-Zone also speculate that Haswell Refresh processors, expected to be released in a few quarters, will bring minor platform changes that could be compatible with 9-series chipsets. With three different families of processors – Haswell, Broadwell and Haswell Refresh – all using the same CPU socket, but not necessarily supporting the same motherboards and chipsets, OEMs may find it difficult to advertise and explain incompatibilities.
Other information from the report indicates that 9-series chipsets will support SATA Express, the recently finalized specification that brings 2 GB/s of bandwidth. DDR4 memory may also be supported with Broadwell, although conflicting information makes it hard to definitively confirm or deny.
Broadwell is the 14nm die shrink of Intel’s Haswell microarchitecture, expected for release sometime in the second half of 2014, alongside new 9-series chipsets.
via Intel 9-series chipsets may not be backwards compatible with Haswell – TechSpot.

Where did Broadwell go? Leaked Intel roadmap shows 2014 Haswell refresh, but no Broadwell

A leaked roadmap picked up by VR-Zone suggests Intel’s Broadwell won’t be shipping any time soon. The desktop timeline, which just barely slips into the beginning of 2015, doesn’t even mention Broadwell. Additionally, Broadwell’s absence on a previously leaked roadmap possibly extends this absence even further — well into the first-half of 2015. So, what happened to Broadwell?

Where did Broadwell go? Leaked Intel roadmap shows 2014 Haswell refresh, but no Broadwell - TechSpot

We’re currently in the midst of Intel’s Haswell awakening as manufacturers announced various Haswell-equipped PCs and laptops. Although fourth-gen CPUs based on Haswell’s 22nm architecture don’t seem to offer much of a CPU performance bump, Intel has made definite gains in integrated graphics performance and overall power consumption.
Broadwell is expected to be a “tick” in Intel’s tick-tock release cycle, which means we’ll likely see a die-shrink (14nm) and little else. As such, some suppose the “Haswell Refresh” (which is due later in 2014) may actually be Broadwell — this may make some sense given that Skylake is purportedly due in early 2015. Skylake is expected to be the “tock” to Broadwell’s “tick”. Lending some additional credence to this thinking is Intel’s 9-series chipset. The new platform was originally planned to accompany the launch of Broadwell but it now appears to be aligned with the Haswell refresh instead. So, Haswell refresh = Broadwell? Maybe…
VR-Zone’s “Computex sources” claim though that Broadwell won’t appear on desktop systems until the second half of 2015. If that’s true, Haswell should reign supreme in the mainstream space for quite some time. Broadwell could always appear beforehand though, in some non-desktop form. A rumor indicating Broadwell will be soldered onto motherboards carries with some implication of its use inside portable and special form factor computers, if not just for low-end PCs as rumored.
Also, Ivy Bridge will be gaining 130W-140W LGA2011 “E” variant later this year, intended to cater to the high-performance market. Meanwhile, a Haswell-E part isn’t due until the latter half of 2014 perhaps encouraging enthusiasts to hold onto their third-gen Intel CPUs for an uncharacteristically long period time.
via Where did Broadwell go? Leaked Intel roadmap shows 2014 Haswell refresh, but no Broadwell – TechSpot.