“When
you have a leadership technology, it's never easy, at least at first. We're in
a very healthy range right now and continue to improve”
Senior Fellow in
Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group, Mark Bohr, commenting on the Core M
14nm Processors codenamed Broadwell
Intel
definitely isn’t going out without a fight!
They’ve
now put on their Thinking Caps…or Cores for that matter and have stepped up to
the plate with their new Core M 14nm Processors codenamed Broadwell that
promises Thinner Processors as stated in the article “Intel
unwrap Core M chip that lets PCs run sans Fans”, published August 11, 2014
9:45 AM PDT by Shara Tibken, CNET News and “Intel, Moore's Law
Still Ticking With 14nm Broadwell Chips”, published AUGUST 11, 2014 02:45PM
EST BY DAMON POETER, PCMag.
Intel’s
finally gotten past their “defect density issue” that had delayed their launch
of the Haswell Chips in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 as noted “Intel
delays Broadwell PC chip production to early next year”, published October
15, 2013 2:22 PM PDT by Shara Tibken, CNET News.
With that problem behind them, they're cranking out Processor by the Truckload,
with the first set of devices set to hit the shelf by the Fourth Quarter of
2014, just in time for Christmas 2014.
It
was a move that was long overdue since 2010, when Tablets just came out.
Traditionally used to making Processors for Desktop, Laptop and Server
Applications, they were beaten out from early by ARM-based chips from Apple,
Qualcomm and Samsung that stole many of their potential customers in the Mobile
Computing World.
Thus,
for Intel, it has been a Bitter season of Lemons as the consumer PC Market
shrank and began to be replaced by Tablets, which interestingly is slowly
ceding power to from the Apple iPad to Chinese and East Asian Tablet makers as
noted in my blog
article entitled “IDC
and NPD Group record Tablet Decline and Phablet Rise - “White Box” Chinese
Tablets and Wearable Computing in First Quarter of 2014 making Tablets obsolete
in the Year of the Sheep”.
The
Core M is their finally push for this market with a slimmer, smaller and more
power efficient Processor that can work in everything from Laptops to Tablets,
making them smaller while delivering super quiet performance. Truly in the case
of Intel, if(lifeGivesYou() == 'Lemons')
makeLemonade();
Interestingly
too, they’re already looking towards 10nm and down to even 5nm Processors in
the future to Principal Analyst for Creative Strategies, Tim Bajarin: “Moore's
law is alive and well and could be extended at least another decade. I talked
to Intel Chairman Andy Bryant and he says that they are already working on 10nm
and could extend this [FinFET technology] to 7nm and 5nm in the future.”
Intels Core M
Processors – 2015 will see the Tale of the Tape for Broadwell Adoption
The
Real demand for their Core M Processors will be in the First Quarter of 2015,
however, as by then we'll be able to assess whether or not the Tablet or PC World
has warmed up to this 14nm Processor.
This
as at 14nm, the Processor is physically thinner as well as smaller, with the Tri-Gate
(FinFET) Transistors having an optimum packing density by being etched with
trace distance no more than 14nm. In essence they’re an improvement on the Ivy
Bridge Processors as described in my blog article
entitled “Intel
& Poison Ivy Bridge Processors - 22nm in an Iso-Linear of Their Own”.
How’s
that a big deal?
Well,
it’s not faster than the previous Haswell Processors, which ended up being use
in Apple MacBook Pro's as a replacement for the Sandy Bridge Processors that
debuted back in 2010 as I'd pointed out in my blog article
entitled “Intel
& Poison Ivy Bridge Processors - 22nm in an Iso-Linear of Their Own”.
But
they do have one major new advantage; they're 50% smaller and 30% thinner than
the previous Haswell or Ivy Bridge Processors, making them more Tablet
friendly. When not in use, the Processor sips a mere 60% of the total available
power, making them very Power Efficient for Tablet and Laptop use as well.
But
what's got even me amazed is that they're designed to use a lot less power than
the Haswell Processors of old, most likely to compensate for the high packing
density. This results in a lower Core operating temperature that manages to
deliver the same level of performance due the shorter distance between the
transistors which would also have faster switching times, resulting in a cooler
operation. So cool in fact, that the Come M Processors can operate without a Fan.
This
is a VERY big deal.
Due
to their low Power usage, the Core M Processors may not pack the power of, say
the AMD’s (Advanced Micro Devices) 5Ghz 8-Core Processor FX-9590 or the 4.7Ghz
8-Core Processor FX-9370 that came out on Wednesday June 12th 2013
at E3 (Electronics Entertainment Expo) 2013 as I'd reported in my Geezam blog article entitled “AMD
unveils 5GHz and 4.7Ghz 8-Core Processor at E3 2013 in Apple’s Mac Pro Dogfight
for Top Gun in High End Multi-Core PC Gaming”.
However,
they'll be thin enough to fit into Tablets, Hybrid Tablet/Laptop (the
replacement for Ultrabooks), Chromebooks and even smartphones and still deliver
the level or performance of the previous Ivy Bridge Processors thanks to the
missing Fan.
Power
saving and Laptops as thin as the Apple iPad Air at 7.2mm, a serious slimming
down from the 26mm possible with Ivy Bridge Processors are technically
possible, according to Vice President in Intel's Platform engineering group,
Rani Borkar. To put that in perspective, that’s also thinner than the Apple
Macbook Air at its bulging ends!
Despite
all this, the sale of Devices in Christmas 2014 and then in the First Quarter
of 2015 will determine how well this Processor fares and is adopted by a world
that’s still crazy about Mobile Computers!
Intels Core M codenamed
Broadwell – If Life Gives you Lemons, Make Lemonade
Will
this be enough to get Intel back into the game as the Processor Champs in this “Post-PC”
Era as I’d predicted in my Geezam blog
article entitled “The
Apple iPad Effect: Post PC Era Accelerant in Nine Moves”?
Based
on my prediction in my blog article entitled
“Intel
showcases Dual-Core Z2760 Atom Processor, codenamed Clover Trail” for Win 8 –
End of Watch for PC Makers who must get into the Tablet Game”, it will, as
at 14nm, it's a much better alternative than trying to make a Dual-Core Atom Processor.
I suspect that the Dual-Core Z2760, codenamed “Clover Trail” Processor was
merely a desperate stab at the Tablet market by quickly drawing for a Processor
that brought them success in the Netbook World.
By
putting on their Technology Thinking Caps, Intel will now realize the truth,
that being Innovation was always in their DNA and it just meant trying a little
harder to achieve the desired result. Silicon will Live for a few more years as
they'll eventually push towards 9nm Processors in the Future.
if(lifeGivesYou() ==
'Lemons') makeLemonade();
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