Day 1: Chip manufacturing giant Intel announced a range of different processors and provided new updates on Project Athena.
10th gen Core processors
Code named as Ice Lake, this range of processors will give high performance AI with Intel deep learning boost. It promises 2.5 times better AI than the 8th gen, 2 times better graphics performance with Intel Iris Plus, better 4K HDR performance and 2 times better FPS. The processors specially designed for thin and light laptops and convertible 2 in 1 devices are made using 10nm process, ‘Sunny Cove’ architecture and Gen11 graphics engine.
The processors include core i3, core i5 and core i7 CPUs. It will feature up to 4 cores and 8 threads and will provide up to 4.1 GHz maximum turbo frequency and up to 1.1 GHz of graphics frequency. The processors will support Thunderbolt 3 with integrated Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) which will provide 3 times faster wireless speed.
Project Athena
It is an innovation program introduced by Intel this year that aims to deliver powerful and advanced class of laptops. The program aims in bringing its users with sleeker and beautiful laptops.
Although previously announced, Intel provided new updates on the program. 1.0 target specifications like Thunderbolt 3, Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) , OpenVINO AI on PC compatibility and modern connected standby are planned to be introduced in the laptops coming in the second half of the year.
The company outlined basic criteria for its partner companies to follow. It laid emphasis on six areas – instant action, performance and responsiveness, intelligence, battery life, connectivity and form factor.
Keeping their major focus on battery, Intel wants PC manufacturers to make laptops that will deliver 16 hours of battery backup. The laptops should wake up from sleep under 1 second as per new KEI engineering metrices developed by Intel. Intel has set out basic specifications that PC manufacturers can’t ignore like Wi-Fi 6 and Gigabit LTE, far-field voice recognition, and fast charging. OEMs that have agreed to work to the spec include all the big names including Acer, Asus, Dell and HP.
Others
Intel announced special edition 9th gen Intel Core i9- 9900KS with a 5GHz turbo and Intel Performance Maximizer. The processor is their most powerful processor ever made and will be helpful for gamers and power users.
14 new 9th gen Intel Core vPro for professionals and 14 new Intel Core Xeon E processors both with 8 cores and 16 threads were also announced. Intel Core X- series especially designed for creators with improved frequency reach, increased memory and Intel Turbo Boost Max 3.0 was also introduced. It is expected to be available later this year.
