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Intel admits 'tight' supply for cheap PC chips, focuses on high-end
In an open letter, interim Intel CEO Bob Swan admitted the company's supply of CPUs for the "entry level" PC market is "undoubtedly tight," so if you have trouble finding a cheap laptop for the holiday season then you know why. Between consumers upgrading their PCs, gaming and commercial systems he said Intel expects "modest" growth in PC shipments, while it will focus on delivering higher-end Xeon and Core CPUs. We'll see if this creates an opportunity for competitors like AMD and Qualcomm, especially as they bring laptops to market with longer-than-ever battery life. To help improve supply, Intel is investing $1 billion on current 14nm production lines in in Oregon, Arizona, Ireland and Israel. As far as its repeatedly-delayed "Cannon Lake" 10nm CPU technology that saw a limited debut earlier this year, the CEO said "yields are improving" and that the company expects to have volume production at some point in 2019.
Samsung reveals high-end, low-power chips for midrange phones
Samsung has announced that it's bringing its 14nm Exynos chips to cheaper smartphones. These are smaller chips that are both more efficient and more powerful, and given that the company is already putting the technology to use on competitors' chips (namely, Qualcomm's), it's no surprise to see the chip appear in more phones. Until now, Samsung's only put the FinFET-made (that's 3D-structured) 14nm processors in its best -- and most expensive -- phones. That's about to change.
Samsung is making Qualcomm's latest mobile chip
Samsung says it's making new Exynos processors with low-power 14nm chips -- which is no surprise. What is, however, is that the company is also in charge of building Qualcomm's (maker of Snapdragon) latest chips with the same process. Samsung's FinFET 3D structures bump up both performance and reduce power use, which is what makes it ideal for the tiny processors embedded in smartphones. Samsung adds that its second-generation chips improve processor speed by up to 15 percent, and reduce power use by the same amount. Both its homemade Exynos, as well as Qualcomm's chips, have made appearances in Galaxy S phones, but this is the first time Samsung has announced that it would also be making its rivals' chip -- specifically the Snapdragon 820 that's being baked into smartphones now.
AMD's new graphics core is built for laptop gaming
For all the talk of fast graphics in thin laptops, the technology isn't quite there yet. You typically have to choose between a bulky gaming machine and a thin system with pokey low-end video. AMD thinks it might have the cure, however. It just offered a peek at a new graphics architecture, Polaris, that promises gaming-grade performance without the power draw. In Star Wars Battlefront, one of AMD's future chipsets is 61 percent more energy-efficient than a GeForce GTX 950 with similar performance -- in the mobile world, that could make the difference between a slim portable and a big desktop replacement. Even if AMD is cherry-picking the results, this could still lead to speedier visual in laptops and any other small PCs where heat and power are problems.
Samsung's 'premium' smartphone chip puts everything in one place
Samsung's next chip is a single square of silicon with a load of things your mobile computer needs. To start, the Exynos 8 Octa 8890 (memorable) is based on 14nm FinFET tech, whose 3D design means better power performance. The company has custom-designed the CPU around a 64-bit ARM design, and will apparently give a 30 percent improvement in performance and ten percent in power efficiency compared to the Exynos 7 Octa it replaces. ARM's Mali-T880 graphics processor also snuggles closely next to a high-end LTE modem. You know, like Qualcomm does.
Acer's Android gaming tablet is the first with Intel's new chip
Mobile gaming doesn't mean low-power gaming according to Acer and Intel. The companies have joined forces to produce the first 14nm Atom x7 processor-powered (aka Cherry Trail) Android tablet. The gamer-centric Predator 8 has the Acer Quad-Audio system with four front-facing speakers and the aggressive design sense (sharp angles, red, black and gray color scheme) that's been prevalent in PC gaming. The Gen8 Intel graphics should render 3D and video with less of the stuttering that pulls you out of your gaming experience. We didn't get a chance to play with the tablet, but it should be on the market in the next few months.
Intel's 14nm tablet processors are leaner, meaner and finally here
Intel isn't just coming to CES with fifth-generation Core processors for traditional PCs -- it has big news for the tablet crowd, too. The company is now delivering its first 14-nanometer Atom system on a chip, previously nicknamed Cherry Trail. The new processor should be both faster and offer more battery life than the Bay Trail-based Atoms you see today, thanks in part to both the more efficient manufacturing process and a big leap forward in graphics. Cherry Trail is using the same basic video architecture as Intel's other new CPUs (Bay Trail relied on 2012-era tech), so you'll have a better chance of playing 3D games and high-resolution videos on your tablet without hiccups.
Intel's Windows 8.1 Pro Broadwell tablet is thinner than the iPad Air
When Intel announced the new 14nm Core M (Broadwell) processor to enable thinner, fanless convertible devices, I knew the "Llama Mountain" reference design would be impressively svelte. But hearing a spec is different than seeing it; this laptop-tablet hybrid is insanely skinny. At 7.2mm (0.28 inch), the slate is thinner than the iPad Air (7.5mm), and it's also significantly lighter than two-in-one devices already on the market; it's a notebook-class PC running Windows 8.1 Pro, yet it weighs just 1.47 pounds, compared to 1.76 pounds for the Surface Pro 3.
Intel launches Core M processors for even thinner 2-in-1 PCs
At Intel's keynote presentation here at Computex, President Renee James is set to show off Intel's mobile future: a 2-in-1 reference PC powered by the company's new 14nm Intel Core M processor. (Note: it's actually a fifth-generation Core processor, even though the slide shown below says "fourth.") Intel's 14nm processors mean less energy use and, when the buck stops, longer battery life -- something we can never get enough of. We're still waiting to see what that design will look like exactly, but we do know it'll be a hybrid tablet-laptop, measuring in at 7.2mm thick (keyboard detached), while a companion media dock will apparently offer extra cooling (and a performance burst). Update: As teased, in the flesh it's a very thin tablet, with no fans to see. Intel's president also teased the companion docks, although we only saw a glance of the keyboard add-on. Thankfully, it looked at least thick enough to handle a bit of typing.
Intel's efficient 14nm processors to arrive on both enthusiast and entry systems
At IDF Shenzhen today, Intel briefly announced the 14nm successor to its budget 22nm Bay Trail processors. Dubbed Braswell, this new SoC architecture is mainly aimed at the likes of affordable Chrome OS and Android devices. It will also complement the higher-end Broadwell announced last September (and pictured after the break), though there's no word on availability for these two 14nm, 64-bit lines -- last we heard was that Broadwell's production had been delayed, with shipment still on track for the second half of this year. Fanless Core i7 systems just can't come any sooner.
Intel's next many-core chip will be a true stand-alone processor
Intel's current Xeon Phi doesn't really fulfill the promise of many-core computing -- it's a co-processor that needs a 'real' CPU to function. That will change when the next-generation Knights Landing model arrives, Intel revealed at the Supercomputing Conference this week. The 14-nanometer chip will be available as a stand-alone model that can run all software, like a traditional processor; since it won't have to shuttle data between two components, it should be faster, easier to program and cheaper, too. There will also be high-speed memory built into the chip, as well as a number of (unspecified) architectural tweaks. Knights Landing isn't likely to ship until late 2014 or 2015, but it could be worth the wait for researchers, server operators and anyone else who wants massively parallel computing power.
Intel delays Broadwell chips to early 2014 due to production yield problems
We hope you weren't dead set on buying devices using Intel's Broadwell processors, as the company has delayed production of the 14-nanometer CPU line to early 2014. Fixes for early manufacturing defects didn't work as well as expected, CEO Brian Krzanich says, limiting Intel's ability to produce enough functioning chips. The setback shouldn't affect Skylake, Broadwell's successor. Still, it's not good news for a semiconductor firm that's scrounging for good news in an unforgiving PC market.
Intel CEO Brian Krzanich shows working 14nm SoC laptop, announces sub $100 tablets at IDF 2013
Many eyes may be shifted south of San Francisco to a shindig in Cupertino, but Intel's making some waves in the city. Just now onstage at IDF 2013, CEO Brian Krzanich showed off a functioning laptop running on a 14nm Broadwell Intel SoC. Naturally, Krzanich didn't deal any other details about the laptop, but did say that we'd see those tiny chips ship by the end of this year. And, following that little nugget, Chipzilla announced that there will be tablets packing Intel silicon being sold for less than $100 this holiday season. Who will build these bargain slates? Krzanich isn't telling, but we'll do our best to find out, and we'll let you know as soon as we do.
Apple allegedly working with Samsung again on chips for 2015 devices
Samsung has been exclusively making chips for Apple's iOS devices since the first iPhone started shipping in 2007 -- we don't need to tell you that makes for an odd relationship. Several months ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple would switch to TSMC for next year's iOS portfolio, but now there's some strange news coming out of Korea. According to a local publication, Apple's 2015 iOS devices will use Samsung's 14 nanometer FinFET technology, starting with the iPhone 7 (not the 6S?). Why would Apple switch to TSMC for just one year and then go back to Samsung? Is Apple planning to rely on both TSMC and Samsung for different product lines? Unfortunately, we'll have to wait until Chipworks breaks out its microscopes to find out what's really going on.
Intel lands Altera as its biggest chip manufacturing customer to date
Many of us see Intel as self-serving with its chip manufacturing, but that's not entirely true: it just hasn't had very large customers. A just-unveiled deal with Altera might help shatter those preconceptions. Intel has agreed to make some of the embedded technology giant's future field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) using a 14-nanometer process, giving Intel a top-flight customer while giving Altera a leg up over any rivals stuck on less efficient technologies. The pact may be just the start -- Intel VP Sunit Rikhi portrays the deal as a stepping stone toward a greater role in contract chip assembly in an interview with Reuters. We're not expecting Intel to snatch some business directly from the likes of GlobalFoundries and TSMC when many of their clients are ARM supporters, or otherwise direct competitors. However, we'll have to reject notions that Intel can't share its wisdom (and factories) with others.
Intel gets go-ahead for $4 billion chip plant in Ireland, will produce its next-gen 14nm processors
Intel has been planning to make its Ireland base one of three global manufacturing sites for its 14nm chips since May last year, and its now been given the okay by Ireland's lead planning agency. The new $4 billion plant will create around 4,300 jobs for the region in Co. Kildare, where Intel already has around 4,000 on staff. The two-year plan involves redeveloping its existing operation, expanding and shifting to make its smaller, more efficient 14nm process. Intel's plans don't stop there, however. It still plans to roll out 10nm products sometime in 2015.
Samsung's first 14nm FinFET chip promises substantial power savings
After confirming plans to expand its chip-making plant in Austin, Texas, Samsung's also taped out its first 14nm FinFET test chip. The new design (which is being compared with Intel's 'Tri-Gate' found on its Ivy Bridge hardware) promises to offer substantial power and performance improvements compared to existing designs, with low-leakage often mentioned in the same breath as the new silicon. Samsung's new test chip also involved ARM and Synopsis, and is a good sign that we'll be seeing its next-gen chips sooner rather than later.
Intel sort of denies rumors about future CPUs being non-upgradeable
If you kept up with last week's rumors about Intel's 14nm Broadwell chip being hardwired and non-upgradeable, then you'll know they were anything but precise. They never quite implied that all of Intel's next-gen desktop processors would be soldered to the motherboard, even if Broadwell (or some of its variants) did happen to go that way. So perhaps it's fitting that Intel's rebuttal -- reassuring as it is -- maintains the theme of imprecision. In a statement to Maximum PC, the chipmaker said it... "...remains committed to the growing desktop enthusiast and channel markets, and will continue to offer socketed parts in the LGA package for the forseeable future..." Now, that's a solid promise, especially considering how careful silicon companies tend to be about revealing any long-term plans. But it's also worth bearing in mind that the wording leaves some wriggle room for Intel -- not least in terms of selling LGA socket chips only as expensive niche options (i.e. the true definition of "enthusiast") rather than as mainstream products, should it wish to do so. Indeed, the prospect of Core i3 owners chaining themselves to HDD cages in defense of their upgrade rights may yet come to pass, and no one would want to be on the wrong side of that.
Intel rumored moving to non-upgradable desktop CPUs with Broadwell
For many, the very definition of the custom desktop PC is the ability to upgrade the processor, choosing a $300 retrofit instead of a $1,500 whole-system replacement. We might have to kiss that symbolism goodbye if sources at Impress Watch, SemiAccurate and ZDNet are genuinely in the know. They claim that desktop processors built on Intel's future, 14-nanometer Broadwell architecture will be switching from contacts based on a land grid array (LGA) to a ball grid array (BGA) that could dictate soldering the chips in laptop-style, rather than putting them in an upgrade-friendly socket. The exact reasons for the supposed switch aren't available, but there's speculation that it would be mutually beneficial for Intel and PC manufacturers: Intel would have more control over motherboard chipsets, while builders could save money on assembly and conveniently drive more outright PC sales. Intel hasn't confirmed any of the strategy, so we'd still be very cautious before making any presumptions. If real, though, the switch would be glum news for chipset makers, motherboard makers and most of all hobbyists; even though socket changes have made CPU upgrades tricky in the past, having the option removed altogether could put a damper on the do-it-yourself community.
Globalfoundries unveils 14nm-XM chip architecture, vows up to a 60 percent jump in battery life
Globalfoundries wants to show that it can play the 3D transistor game as well as Intel. Its newly unveiled 14nm-XM (Extreme Mobility) modular architecture uses the inherently low-voltage, low-leak nature of the foundry's FinFET layout, along with a few traces of its still-in-development 20nm process, to build a 14-nanometer chip with all the size and power savings that usually come from a die shrink. Compared to the larger processors with flat transistors that we're used to, the new technique is poised to offer between 40 to 60 percent better battery life, all else being equal -- a huge help when even those devices built on a 28nm Snapdragon S4 can struggle to make it through a full day on a charge. To no one's shock, Globalfoundries is focusing its energy on getting 14nm-XM into the ARM-based processors that could use the energy savings the most. It will be some time before you find that extra-dimensional technology sitting in your phone or tablet, though. Just as Intel doesn't expect to reach those miniscule sizes until 2013, Globalfoundries expects its first working 14nm silicon to arrive the same year. That could leave a long wait between test production runs and having a finished product in your hands.