Intel has officially unveiled its 11th generation Tiger Lake processors, and it looks like they could be bringing some serious performance improvements to upcoming laptops.
In fact, Intel claims these mobile processors are the "world's best processors for thin-and light laptops," and will offer 20% faster Microsoft Office 365 workflow, 2.7 times faster content creation and twice the speed when it comes to gaming and streaming at the same time, compared to its competitors' products.
The new 11th generation Intel Core processors with Intel Iris X graphics will come to Windows 10 and Chromebooks. There's no mention of MacBooks getting these new chips, but after Apple announced it was making its own silicone for its future laptops, that might not be too surprising.
According to Intel, over 150 laptops based on its 11th gen Core processors will be coming from the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell, Dynabook, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, Razer and Samsung, with 20 of them expected this year.
Thanks to SuperFin
Intel claims its new SuperFin process technology grants its Tiger Lake CPUs better power efficiency, with "leading performance and responsiveness while running at significantly higher frequencies versus prior generations."
Intel also introduced its Intel Evo platform. This will essentially be branding for laptops based on the 11th generation Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics, while also meeting the second edition specifications of Project Athena.
Jargon aside, it should mean buying an Intel Evo laptop will ensure you get best in class performance.
The minimum specifications for Intel Evo is:
- Consistent responsiveness on battery (so, no loss in performance when the laptop isn't plugged in)
- System wake from sleep in less than 1 second
- 9 or more hours of real-world battery life on systems with FHD displays
Intel Evo-branded laptops will also offer Thunderbolt 4 connectivity and Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) wireless. In a world where many of us are now working from home, and video conferencing is essential, the Wi-Fi 6 support will be crucial.
Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics
It looks like the Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics of the 11th gen processors could be a bit of a game changer as well, with Intel claiming twice the performance over its previous generation when playing Borderlands 3, Far Cry New Dawn and Hitman 2 (amongst other games) at 1080p.
This could mean that playing graphically demanding games on a thin and light laptop, without a dedicated graphics card, could be a reality. We can't wait to test that out.
Not only does the Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics offer better gaming performance, but it also will apparently offer up to 2.7 times faster real-world photo editing, and 2 times faster video editing, while supporting 8K HDR displays and up to four 4K HDR displays plugged in at once.
The 11th Gen Intel Core Tiger Lake processors will also offer hardware-supported Dolby Vision.
| Name | Graphics | Cores/Threads | Cache | Memory | Base Freq | Turbo Freq (all cores) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core i7-1185G7 | Intel Iris Xe | 4/8 | 12MB | DDR4-3200 LPDDR4x-4266 | 3.0 GHz | 4.3 GHz |
| Intel Core i7-1165G7 | Intel Iris Xe | 4/8 | 12MB | DDR4-3200 LPDDR4x-4266 | 2.8 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| Intel Core i5-1135G7 | Intel Iris Xe | 4/8 | 8MB | DDR4-3200 LPDDR4x-4266 | 2.4 GHz | 3.8 GHz |
| Intel Core i3-1125G4 | Intel UHD Graphics | 4/8 | 8MB | DDR4-3200 LPDDR4x-3733 | 2.0 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| Intel Core i3-1115G4 | Intel UHD Graphics | 2/4 | 6MB | DDR4-3200 LPDDR4x-3733 | 3.0 GHz | 4.1 GHz |
| Intel Core i7-1160G7 | Intel Iris Xe | 4/8 | 12MB | LPDDR4x-4266 | 1.2 GHz | 3.6 GHz |
| Intel Core i5-1130G7 | Intel Iris Xe | 4/8 | 8MB | LPDDR4x-4266 | 1.1 GHz | 3.4 GHz |
| Intel Core i3-1120G4 | Intel UHD Graphics | 4/8 | 8MB | LPDDR4x-4266 | 1.1 GHz | 3.0 GHz |
| Intel Core i3-1110G4 | Intel UHD Graphics | 2/4 | 6MB | LPDDR4x-4266 | 1.8 GHz | 3.9 GHz |
Intel talks a big game with the Tiger Lake launch, and we're looking forward to getting laptops running on the CPUs soon to test out its claims.
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