Intel Tiger Lake-U processors could use next-generation mobile RAM

Intel Tiger Lake-U
Latest leak suggests that Intel Tiger Lake-U processors might be compatible with LPDDR5 memory. (Image credit: Intel)

We’re still a long way away from seeing Intel’s Tiger Lake-U processors in thin and light laptops – they won’t likely hit the shelves until 2020. However, that hasn’t stopped the rumor mills of the computing world from spreading leaks and speculations about these 10nm chips.

The latest of those leaks suggests that these next generation processors might be compatible with LPDDR5 memory. According to Tom’s Hardware, hardware leaker @KOMACI_ENSAKA recently shared on Twitter a Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) notification – registered on October 18 – that shows Tiger Lake-U chips that use LPDDR4X and LPDDR5 memory (RAM).

This is excellent news for thin and light laptop fans everywhere, especially those who are waiting until next year to upgrade their somewhat aging laptops. That’s because LPDDR5’s data transfer rate can be maxed out at a whopping 6,400 Mbps – compared to LPDDR4’s 3,200 Mbps and LPDDR4X’s 4,266 Mbps. Improvements doesn’t just stop there: LPDDR5 is also supposed to consume less power – up to 30% less than LPDDR4X, and has "deep sleep" power-saving mode available.

These features are key to making the Intel Tiger Lake-U chips ideal to power the next generation of thin and light laptops, as these devices are expected to offer considerably longer battery life, to start.

What we know about Tiger Lake-U so far

That’s not all. Last month, we also saw a bootlog, shared by @InstLatX64, showcasing its specs. This solid leak shows Tiger Lake-U to boast four cores, eight threads for Hyper-Threading, a base clock of 1.0 GHz and a boost clock of 3.4 GHz – a massive and promising jump over Ice Lake.

Aside from this latest leak, the 10nm Ice Lake-U successor is also anticipated to feature Generation 12 graphics (GPU). That’s on top of benchmarks we’ve seen showing one of these processors giving the Core i7-8665U and Ryzen 7 3700U a run for their money.

Michelle Rae Uy
Contributor

Michelle Rae Uy is the former Computing Reviews and Buying Guides Editor at TechRadar. She's a Los Angeles-based tech, travel and lifestyle writer covering a wide range of topics, from computing to the latest in green commutes to the best hiking trails. She's an ambivert who enjoys communing with nature and traveling for months at a time just as much as watching movies and playing sim games at home. That also means that she has a lot more avenues to explore in terms of understanding how tech can improve the different aspects of our lives.