Intel Launches 7th-Gen 'Kaby Lake' Core Processors for Laptops and 2-in-1s

Intel has formally launched its first wave of 7th-generation Core processors, better known by their codename Kaby Lake. Today's launches are CPUs in the U and Y series, which are intended for thin and light portables such as notebooks and 2-in-1s. Processors for mainstream and enthusiast desktop PCs, beefier laptops, workstations, and other categories will be refreshed early next year.

Intel will now emphasise the "7th Generation" branding in its marketing materials, especially the stickers that manufacturers place on their products. The Core m5 and Core m7 names for ultra-low-power CPUs have also been deprecated after being introduced only last year - Intel will continue to use Core m3, but products corresponding to the previous higher tiers will be sold as Core i7 and Core i5 regardless of whether they are regular or low-power processors.

Y-series CPUs are rated for 4.5W of power consumption though device manufacturers can configure this value themselves to suit specific product designs. They can run without a cooling fan and are aimed at the thinnest laptops and tablets. U-series CPUs are rated for 15W and will be used in more mainstream laptops. Today's launches include the dual-core 3.1GHz Core i5-7200U and 3.5GHz Core i7-7500U, both of which have two CPU cores with Hyper-Threading and support DDR4 RAM; and the Core i7-7Y75, which is also a dual-core part with Hyper-Threading but has a base clock of 1.3GHz and can turbo up to 3.6GHz on demand, and uses DDR3L RAM.

Kaby Lake was a surprise addition to Intel's product roadmap when it was announced last year, to fill the gap left by the delay of the previously planned Cannonlake product line. Cannonlake was planned for this year and would have been the first series of CPUs to be fabricated on a new 10nm lithography process. However, the shrink from the current 14nm process to 10nm has proven to be more difficult than expected, and Intel has had to break its longstanding two-year "tick-tock" cadence of alternating product refreshes and process shrinks. Kaby Lake will extend the life of the 14nm process into a third year, and has therefore been seen as a filler product.