The silicon release schedule has been leaked for Intel (News - Alert) Corp, providing valuable clues as to the roadmap for PC development and investment in the coming months. Most notably, Intel intends to transition the majority of its product line to the 14-nanometer manufacturing technology node by the end of the year, including for high-end desktops, low-cost desktops and notebooks.
Thanks to VR-Zone China, a slide has emerged detailing Intel's processor release schedule. It first and foremost shows that high-end, all-in-one desktops will remain a primary focus for the chipmaker, through at least the first quarter of 2016. But, Ultrabooks and ultra-portable and mobile devices will be at the forefront as well.
Intel will continue to focus on its existing Haswell-E silicon for high-end desktops for now; but, starting in the first quarter of 2016, Haswell-E will be replaced by the 14-nanometer Broadwell-E, possibly representing a step-change for desktop speeds and functionality.
It’s also working on two new processors for Ultrabooks and extremely small form factor PCs. For the first half of this year, Broadwell-U chips will power these types of systems; but, Skylake-U is under development and will replace Broadwell during the second half of 2015.
When it comes to the lower end of the market, “The Broadwell-K chip is expected to plug into the same boards as the current Haswell Refresh chips, while the Skylake-K will only work in new boards designed for it,” noted the Motley Fool, in a breakdown of the leak. “Also note that the Broadwell-K chip is rated at a 65-watt thermal design power, but that the Skylake-K is rated at 95 watts. This implies that the Broadwell-K will be a lower performing part than Skylake-K (since they are both built on the same 14-nanometer process).”
All in all, the silicon is coalescing around twin pieces of development: The Broadwell line, and the higher-performing Skylake portfolio. Between the two manufacturers, they’ll have a range of processor upgrade choices (and price ranges).
The roadmap also touches on the netbook- and portable-ready Atom processor family. Intel plans to launch both dual- and quad-core variants of its Braswell Atom-based system-on-chip for low-cost/low-power desktops in the early second quarter of 2015.
“Perhaps Intel will launch Broadwell for low-cost desktops first and then launch the notebook-oriented Braswell chips later,” the Motley Fool reported. “That said … Intel has publicly stated that it has been shipping its Cherry Trail chip aimed at tablets to customers as of early January, and … Braswell is based on the same architecture (with minor tweaks to make it suitable for PCs).”
Edited by Rory J. Thompson