Intel Begins Shipping First Kaby Lake Processors, but Most Macs Won't Get Them Until 2017

intelDuring Intel's second quarter earnings call yesterday afternoon, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich told investors and reporters that Intel has begun shipping the first of its 7th Generation Core processors, known as Kaby Lake.

Kaby Lake is the third member of the 14-nanometer process, following Broadwell and Skylake. It is the first processor Intel has released since announcing the company will no longer adhere to the "tick-tock" processor release cycle, which saw it alternating between shrinking chip fabrication processes and building new architectures each year.

Intel's last two chip releases have been plagued with long delays, and moving away from the tick-tock cycle will allow it to push out new chip updates on a regular basis. Apple's Macs, such as the Retina MacBook Pro and the iMac, have been impacted by Intel's chip delays over the last few years, resulting in long periods of time between updates and unusual update cycles.

Kaby Lake is a semi-tock with optimized microarchitecture, offering support for Thunderbolt 3, native USB 3.1, and DisplayPort 1.2. Krzanich did not offer details on which chips have started shipping, but an old Intel roadmap suggests low-power Core M chips and U-series chips with GT2 graphics (likely not suitable for the MacBook Air) will be the first to ship out.

Kaby Lake chips appropriate for the Retina MacBook Pro, the machine everyone is most curious about, may not launch until the very end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017 and thus may not be released in time for inclusion in this year's rumored update.

Top Rated Comments

Zellio Avatar
101 months ago
You guys at macrumours assume that Apple is going to release any new macs until next year...
[doublepost=1469124662][/doublepost]
Bring on the complaints and crying.

These same people will complain if Apple moves to the new release cycle Intel is going to. They'll cry that the new processors aren't a big enough leap to justify a new machine.

You can never win. Everyone always wants more than what's announced and for less.
Because nothing says 'happy camper' quite like a completely outdated set of computers with the exception of the retina macbook

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThisBougieLife Avatar
101 months ago
Who decides they are outdated? I'm very happy with my 2015 15" Pro. Blazing fast compared to what it replaced (late 08 Pro) and while newer stuff might give me a few more minutes of battery and a few better specs I need a computer to edit 4K videos and this one does it and does it well. Specs are for PC users and always have been.
I can't facepalm this enough. Like, there isn't a palm that can hit my face hard enough to express the embarrassment I feel for you and for others while reading this awful comment.

It's this kind of backwards thinking that causes these kinds of delays and causes Apple to charge $2500+ for a laptop with years-old processors...
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MH01 Avatar
101 months ago
If you cannot wait , built your own.

Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cambookpro Avatar
101 months ago
Actually yes you CAN. The new Intel CPUs that are suitable for the MacBook Pros have only come out in the last month or two. And it will be the same long wait time for Kaby Lake mobile processors that are suitable.
Dell, Razer, HP, Asus, Lenovo, etc. have all produced laptops with Skylake chips similar to the MBP.

The 15" MBP is still using Haswell processors, never mind Broadwell, Skylake or Kaby Lake.

It's a great shame, as Apple used to be on the forefront of personal computing. It wasn't too long ago they had chips before any other manufacturer.

Quite frankly, I find it insulting that Apple still charge thousands of dollars for technology which is years old, without reducing the price at all, but there you go.
Score: 45 Votes (Like | Disagree)
azentropy Avatar
101 months ago
Anyone remember when Apple got Intel chips early??
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
William Gates Avatar
101 months ago
This huge delay on Mac updates is making me think that ARM Macs are coming sooner rather than later.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iPad And Calculator App Feature 1

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
macbook pro purple february

Best Buy Introduces Record Low Prices on Apple's M3 MacBook Pro for Members

Thursday April 25, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...