Intel has released 11 of its new “Ice Lake” 10th generation processors for 2-in-1 convertibles and laptops, promising increased performance, better battery life, and thinner form factors as it looks to maintain its market dominance in the face of a resurgent AMD.
The company previewed a number of devices that will feature the new processors earlier this year at Computex, including the Acer Swift 5, Lenovo Yoga S940 and Dell XPS 13″ 2-in-1.
After several years in the wilderness AMD has now started challenging Intel, gaining 5.1 per cent in a year to command 13.1 per cent of the laptop market at the end of Q1 2019, according to Mercury Research.
Intel is now looking to stop its rival making further gains, presenting manufacturers with a new range of processors promising better AI and graphics performance, faster, more versatile connectivity, and decreased power consumption.
The 10th gen processors feature improved AI capabilities including Deep Learning Boost, a dedicated instruction set that accelerates neural networks for improved performance on AI intensive operations.
Intel’s new processors promise better battery life through the Gaussian & Neural Accelerator (GNA), a dedicated engine for background workloads such as voice processing and noise suppression that uses less power.
The integrated Iris Plus graphics have also received a boost in performance that Intel claims makes them twice as fast as before.
The GPU improvements promise smoother gaming performance through support for VESA’s Adaptive Sync protocol, as well as more efficient content creation for graphic design, video editing and photo processing.
Many manufacturers are seeking to gain traction in the “creator” space through ranges like MSI’s Prestige line and Acer’s upcoming Concept D series, seeking to wrest away a market previously dominated by Apple.
Intel has also updated the naming structure to provide clearer information on graphics performance, with the new processors receiving grades of G1, G4 and G7.
The new processors also promise better connectivity, both wired and wireless.
The 10th-gen processors support Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) and up to four Thunderbolt 3 ports, which use the same connection as USB-C but support more features.
New devices featuring the Ice Lake processors are expected to hit the market before the end of the year.
The 11 new processors are listed below.
