Intel Launches Alder Lake U and P Series Mobile Processors: A Seminal Moment
During CES, Intel drew back the curtain on its premium performance H-Series 12th-gen laptop CPUs for ultraportables. Industry reviews of these new CPUs have generally been quite positive. Intel’s initial offering of 12th-gen Alder Lake processors on desktops last fall was a significant milestone for Intel. It proved that the company was getting its “mojo” back and could compete (even beat) AMD’s Ryzen 9 5950X battleship CPU servicing the productivity and gaming categories. Intel’s new H-Series silicon was proof that the 53 years-old company can generate great silicon with SoC-like performance and efficiency cores in 45-watt powered laptops.
But what about the thin and light category embodied by the M1-based Apple MacBook Air and MacBook Pro? Earlier today, Intel answered that question with its new P-Series CPUs that sip only 28 watts of power. According to Intel, the Core i77–1280P, its fastest P-Series offering, can realize up to 70% faster multi-threaded performance than last year’s comparable i7–1195G7 solution. These claims represent a dramatic performance improvement and are highly likely to give Apple a run for its money compared to existing Apple Silicon iterations, not to mention AMD’s 2021 Ryzen 5800U. In addition, Intel also formally announced its Alder Lake U Series processors (15-watt and 9-watt models) that will be utilized in “modern” thin-and-light form factors.
Why should users care?
First of all, these new Intel Core processors demonstrate that the company is not standing still in the face of a gushing media (in some cases) who might make one believe that Apple invented the processor. With these new CPU announcements, Intel also stated that it had captured more than 250 thin-and-light designs utilizing these new mobile processors from the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, NEC and Samsung. Let’s be clear: 250 is an enormously formidable (and impressive) design win number for any silicon vendor. It underscores Intel’s historical ability to get the PC industry on board with new innovative capabilities in a single fell swoop.
The PC OEMs have always had exceedingly good engineering capabilities, and they know a good thing when they see it. Thin-and-light designs that offer enthusiast-level performance have an irresistible effect on users who want it all. Intel achieves this through a hybrid architecture strategy that strikes a powerful balance between what the company calls P (Performance) and E (Efficient) cores that literally can summon up the right workload performance balance for video conferencing, image editing, web browsing and other productivity-driven applications. This “right core at the right time” computing approach is achieved seamlessly via Intel’s Thread Director capability on Windows 11.
Coinciding with the release of the new mobile processors, Intel took the wrappers off the third edition of its Evo spec. In many ways, Intel’s focus on updating this spec on an ongoing basis is equally important as the processor itself as it personifies the company’s vision of where the laptop market is headed. At the same time, Intel is also tacitly acknowledging that it must raise the functionality bar in the laptop form factor beyond simply the processor itself. It’s hard to understate the strategic importance of Intel’s role in this industry endeavor. OEM laptop designs must ensure a highly responsive, best-in-class video conferencing experience via instant wake, exceptional battery life and fast charging capability to qualify for this new Intel Evo badge. The company claims that more than 100 Intel Evo “verified” designs (including foldable displays) will appear in the market later this year.
A few closing thoughts
What a difference a year makes: flashing back to early 2021, Intel was reeling from manufacturing, factory and operational issues that put the company in an unaccustomed catch-up position. Coinciding with Apple’s highly publicized transition to its own custom processors, many pundits began to view Intel in a rear-view mirror manner from a competitive positioning standpoint.
Even with the announcement of these new CPUs, it would be premature to state that it will be all smooth sailing for Intel. Industry benchmarks for these new processors will surface over the next several weeks and the devil will be in the details. The inevitable (and necessary) comparisons to Apple Silicon, AMD and other non-Intel CPUs will begin to appear. Competition is always a good thing, and Intel is not exempt from this industry maxim.
But there are signs that Intel is making traction again on the processor front. There are industry reports that Intel gained desktop share in 2021, and Intel’s Alder Lake H-Series CPUs announced are getting solid reviews in many influential publications.
With Intel seemingly getting its act together on the processor side of the house, I can’t emphasize how strongly I feel about the need for Intel to supercharge its aspirations in the laptop form factor beyond the processor itself. Indeed, the Evo program and its ongoing iterations have been a welcome step in that direction, but there’s more Intel can do. Over the past two years, the pandemic has made remote work and video conferencing front and center in the daily workload experience for many users. I believe that laptops, over the next 2 or 3 years, will become “mobile studios” that must offer an uncompromised video and audio experience. Panel technology will emerge that offers embedded AI-driven camera capability for a direct eye contact experience that will be incredibly useful for professional podcast and broadcast applications with teleprompter-like capabilities.
There are signs that Intel gets this and understands where the mobile laptop market is headed. Last year, it was gratifying to see Intel acquire Screenovate, which provides solutions to manage and control iOS and Android devices. Windows platform access to iMessages and iOS devices is something that Intel clearly realizes is a primary “care about” for those Windows users contemplating a switch to macOS desktops and portables. The LCD itself is another opportunity for Intel to add significant value, as more symbiotic integration at the system level can improve overall battery life without compromising video performance. As tomorrow’s laptops embrace foldable form factors, I’d expect Intel to make further investments that optimize the company’s know-how in the display area.
Simply put, the notebook space needs Intel’s leadership now more than ever. Today’s announcements begin to deliver those necessary ingredients that might make today’s laptop form factors almost unrecognizable from both a design and user experience standpoint. The multi-device experience championed by Apple over the past couple of years is also resonating at Intel as the company is dedicating significant resources for creating a software stack experience that spans across devices and operating systems. While the OEM business model has served Intel well for years, it does indeed create challenges for a consistent, rational ecosystem that can dilute the ability for clear marketing messaging to prevail. This phenomenon is an enormous opportunity for Intel to assert itself, and I expect future iterations of the Evo spec to comprehend the company’s obligation and ability to create order and coherence. That’s what Intel does best.
Mark Vena is the CEO and Principal Analyst at SmartTech Research based in Silicon Valley. As a technology industry veteran for over 25 years, Mark covers many consumer tech topics, including PCs, smartphones, smart home, connected health, security, PC and console gaming, and streaming entertainment solutions. Mark has held senior marketing and business leadership positions at Compaq, Dell, Alienware, Synaptics, Sling Media and Neato Robotics. Mark has appeared on CNBC, NBC News, ABC News, Business Today, The Discovery Channel and other media outlets. Mark’s analysis and commentary have appeared on Forbes.com and other well-known business news and research sites. His comments about the consumer tech space have repeatedly appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today, TechNewsWorld and other news publications.
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