Intel debuts Comet Lake processors for laptops and tablets

Intel Comet Lake
(Image credit: Intel)

Intel has just detailed a large number of new processors (CPUs) in its 10th generation of Intel Core hardware. These include U- and Y-series Intel Comet Lake processors for laptops and 2-in-1 tablets.

Aside from the main upgrades, like increased performance, the hardware also comes with support for a number of extra features, such as modern networking capabilities and improved graphics.

Intel's new U-Series chips

Front and center in the announcement is Intel's powerful new U-Series mobile processors in the Comet Lake family. These are still built on a 14-nanometer (nm) process – as opposed to Intel's other 10-Generation mobile processor family, Ice Lake – but Intel is setting them up to deliver increased performance while maintaining battery-friendly power budgets.

The new chips have a thermal design power (TDP) threshold of 7 watts (W) and 15W, though device makers can use the CPUs configured up to 25W.

The new, 10th-Gen Intel Core mobile processors will boast up to six cores and 12 threads, up to 12MB of low-latency cache, and max boost frequencies up to 4.9GHz. The chips will also support up to four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, DDR4-2666 memory, and the latest Wi-Fi 6 connectivity for over Gigabit speeds. 

Intel claims up to a 16% boost in overall performance over 9th-Gen U-Series processors, and more than double the performance of five-year-old hardware.  

Here are the new U-Series Comet Lake CPUs in full:

  • Intel Core i7-10710U – 6-cores, 12-threads | 12MB Cache | 1.1GHz base / 4.7GHz boost
  • Intel Core i7-10510U – 4-cores, 8-threads | 8MB Cache | 1.8GHz base / 4.9GHz boost
  • Intel Core i5-10210U – 4-cores, 8-threads | 6MB Cache | 1.6GHz base / 4.2GHz boost
  • Intel Core i3-10110U – 2-cores, 4-threads | 4MB Cache | 2.1GHz base / 4.1GHz boost

Intel's new Y-Series chips

For particularly thin laptops (and many 2-in-1 Windows tablets) focused less on performance and more on efficiency as well as portability through fanless cooling solutions, the Y-Series Comet Lake processors are also updated. The most notable upgrade here is the introduction of quad-core processing to Intel's fanless CPU design. 

Starting with the i5 parts, these Y-Series CPUs conists of four cores and eight threads, but have far lower TDPs, going as low as 4.5W. This allows for laptop and 2-in-1 tablet designs without any fans for cooling inside at all.

These processors all have low starting clocks, but can boost to over 4GHz on a single core to offer heightened performance as needed. This will be nice in a pinch perhaps, but these chips still won't compare to Intel's own U-Series parts in terms of boosted performance.

Here are the new Y-Series Comet Lake CPUs in full:

  • Intel Core i7-10510Y – 4-cores, 8-threads | 8MB Cache | 1.2GHz base / 4.5GHz boost
  • Intel Core i5-10310Y – 4-cores, 8-threads | 6MB Cache | 1.1GHz base / 4.1GHz boost
  • Intel Core i5-10210Y – 4-cores, 8-threads | 6MB Cache | 1.0GHz base / 4.0GHz boost
  • Intel Core i3-10110Y – 2-cores, 4-threads | 4MB Cache | 1.0GHz base / 4.0GHz boost

These new Comet Lake CPUs are expected to appear in over 90 laptops and 2-in-1 tablets by the holiday season this year. Expect to see TechRadar reviews of Intel Comet Lake devices in the coming months.

Mark Knapp

Over the last several years, Mark has been tasked as a writer, an editor, and a manager, interacting with published content from all angles. He is intimately familiar with the editorial process from the inception of an article idea, through the iterative process, past publishing, and down the road into performance analysis.