Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Intel's 'Kaby Lake' Processors Still on Track for Late 2016 Launch
Intel's next-generation Kaby Lake processors are still on track for a late 2016 launch and are set to enter production by the end of this quarter, according to an announcement made by Intel at Computex.
Earlier this year, Intel announced it was no longer adhering to its "tick-tock" processor release cycle, which saw it alternating between shrinking chip fabrication processes and building new architectures each year. Kaby Lake, rather than being built on a smaller process, will be the third member of the 14-nanometer family after Broadwell and Skylake, and is the successor to Skylake.
Kaby Lake is considered a semi-tock with optimized microarchitecture. It supports Thunderbolt 3 and native USB 3.1, but it will not feature support for DisplayPort 1.3, so Macs with Kaby Lake chips will remain unable to drive 5K displays over a single-stream cable. According to Intel, Kaby Lake will feature advancements in performance, battery, and media capabilities.
Intel's last two chip releases were plagued with delay after delay, which is likely the reason why the company decided to move away from its long-running tick-tock policy. Several of Apple's Macs, including the Retina MacBook Pro, have been impacted by Intel's chip delays over the last few years with unusual update cycles and long periods of time between updates.
With Kaby Lake chips set to debut in late 2016, it is possible refreshed Macs released late in the year could take advantage of the new processors, depending on when Kaby Lake chips appropriate for each Mac launch. iMacs, for example, are likely to be refreshed in the later months of 2016, and recent rumors have also suggested we won't be seeing a refreshed Retina MacBook Pro until the fourth calendar quarter of the year.
Intel is also beginning production on entry-level Apollo Lake processors, also set to launch before the end of the year. Apollo Lake is designed for Atom-based notebooks like all-in-one machines and tablet PCs.
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42 months ago
In other news: Apple reportedly working on Kaby Lake processors integration for release in early 2030 for their MBP line up.
42 months ago
*Pokes sleeping 2008 MBP*...."Psstt...hey...hey, buddy...You know how I said you can retire in 2-3 months? Well, not to scare you or anything...butttt, you may need to hold off on retirement"...
*2008 MBP slowly wakes. Weary knees shaking, old hand trembling. Stands and with all the strength it can muster, tries to jump out the window*...
"No, no you don't, get back here"...*Grabs 2008 MBP's feet and pulls it back off the ledge*..."It's almost over. Soon. I promise....I think"
*2008 MBP slowly wakes. Weary knees shaking, old hand trembling. Stands and with all the strength it can muster, tries to jump out the window*...
"No, no you don't, get back here"...*Grabs 2008 MBP's feet and pulls it back off the ledge*..."It's almost over. Soon. I promise....I think"
42 months ago
I read that as "Kirby Lake" for some reason.
Maybe I've been playing too many Kirby games in the past week...
Maybe I've been playing too many Kirby games in the past week...
42 months ago
How many more years do I need to wait to get a 15" MBP that can run a vaporware Apple 4K/5K display natively at 60 Hz?
dear lord.
dear lord.
42 months ago
Intel's last two chip releases were plagued with delay after delay, which is likely the reason why the company decided to move away from its long-running tick-tock policy.
This is a symptom of a larger problem at Intel. They continue to hire "under represented minorities", refuse to fire under performing employees of the same, and refuse to hire good people if they are not a member of a minority group. So, what they now have is a situation where they have ticked a bunch of boxes to appease multiple groups to the detriment of the company.
With this latest labor reduction, Intel's hope is to cut staffing in half (unofficially). They are firing employees who have long tenure, are white, and male. Black female employees get a pass unless their performance is severely sub par.
My guess is, Intel will continue to struggle as long as their hiring and firing policies only look at color of skin and genitalia as decision matrices.
Things are bad at Intel right now. Really bad.
42 months ago
Does it mean Apple would skip Mac updates once again?
I certainly hope not and given that Mac sales plummeted by 40% this past quarter - apple may be eager to push out a new model
42 months ago
That's a cop-out by Apple. Nothing's stopping them from releasing new equipment that's upgraded in other areas besides processor architecture. Their customers are already telling them with their wallets that "spec bumps" don't cut it anymore. Time to toss Ive to the curb and hire someone who can come up with a halfway decent product at least once a year, as opposed to Jony who can't be bothered for years at a time.
Maybe you don't know how this works: the chip determines the chipset, which determines what else goes into the system. Apple can't, for instance, just throw Thunderbolt 3 the current systems unless they take a chunk of board out somewhere to put an independent PCI-based TB3 chip in there. To keep things as small and powerful as possible, they need new chips from Intel.
Unfortunately Intel has had no real push for serious growth - AMD has sat on their laurels promising Zen but never delivering, while also making nice-nice with the console makers and now nVidia has drunk their milkshake with the 1080 and 1070, stealing any thunder from Pascal. So Intel is doing minor, 10-15% upgrades with low production runs because nothing's pushing them, and Apple is stuck waiting. Other PC makers are making more-expensive-than-Macbooks to keep market/mindshare using Skylake but without most of its bennies (specifically TB3 and USB 3.1).
42 months ago
R.I.P Tick-Tock philosophy, you will be missed in the tech industry across the board.
42 months ago
Several of Apple's Macs, including the Retina MacBook Pro, have been impacted by Intel's chip delays over the last few years with unusual update cycles and long periods of time between updates.
That's a cop-out by Apple. Nothing's stopping them from releasing new equipment that's upgraded in other areas besides processor architecture. Their customers are already telling them with their wallets that "spec bumps" don't cut it anymore. Time to toss Ive to the curb and hire someone who can come up with a halfway decent product at least once a year, as opposed to Jony who can't be bothered for years at a time.[ Read All Comments ]
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