10th Gen Intel Core Mobile Processor: All that there’s to Know About

Recently Intel launched the latest in its lineup of 10th gen processors- 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor. The processor previously nick named comet lake is tailor made to deliver you better productivity and performance. Seemingly the latest processor in the line- up is capable of performing demanding multi- threaded workloads all while keeping the weight of the laptop light. Not only that, enhanced processing will not consume a lot of battery too much. If you’d like to know how the 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor compares to the previous generation, on its recent blog, Intel says that the new powerhouse will be able to deliver double digit improved performance as compared to the previous gen.

All About the New 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor:

The 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor is a product intended to meet the diverse needs and experiences of various users. Making use of improvements in intra- node optimizations in Intel’s process technology, users will be able to see a 16% improvement in performance from earlier generations. You’ll even be able to multi- task using MS Office too. Again, the same thing- all without draining the battery.

To put it in a nice little package, with the new 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor you’ll be getting high performance AI, better graphics performance and better connectivity. Intel has also released a number of processors meant to suit the diverse needs of individuals.

What will the New Set of Processors Have?

The new generation of processors will have up to 6 cores and 12 threads, an ability to go up to 4.9 GHz of turbo frequency, 12MB intel Smart Cache, You can even configure it up to 25W of max performance, for fanless designs you can even lower it to 4.5W, you’ll also have 1.15 GHz of graphics frequency and LPDDR4x, LPDDR3, DDR4 memory speed that has increased to 2666 MT/s.
When it comes to better connectivity, the 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor has integrated Intel Wi- Fi 6 (Gig +). This will have a higher WPA3 security and will also be 3 times faster. Meaning faster document downloads and a more responsive work space. Systems will also have support for Thunderbolt 3 ports. With these ports you’ll have a transfer speed of 40Gb/ s and also the ability to connect to the numerous devices out there.

Design of the 10th gen Intel Core mobile processor:

The design of the processor has been optimized with Intel’s Adaptix Tech. This means there will be faster wakes on PCs and also multiple voice assistant services built in to the PC. The new tech also allows OEM partners to tune their devices for further performance enhancement. On certain laptop designs, you’ll even get AI tech that predicts workloads for faster performance. This is done by allowing a higher turbo boost, especially when a quick response is desired and also extended time for such a turbo boost.

Intel, ARM and AMD Chip Scare: What You Need to Know

In recent news Google’s team Zero team has come out with a report that shows that hackers could potentially get through to your personal data through a fundamental fault in chips.

Coming at a not so great time for the industry with the consumer electronics trade show only a few days away, this scare about a security flaw has put the world on pins. With 1.5 billion users having laptops and desktop computers, the security flaw is far reaching and could be potentially very damaging.

What is the security Flaw about? 

Researchers have discovered that flaws in CPUs or to be more precise the chips that do most of the processing, seem to have gaps that allow or could allow hackers to gain access to a user’s most private data such as credit card passwords. These chips that are most susceptible to hacking are the Intel, ARM and AMD chips.

The security flaws are mainly of two categories. Meltdown is one of the security flaws that affect desktops, laptops and internet servers running on an Intel chip. The more far reaching of the security flaws is spectre that could affect smartphones, tablets as well as PCs running on any of the three chips that is Intel, ARM and AMD.

Also coming under the purview of the security flaw is any computer or device connected to the cloud, too can be susceptible to an attack.

How serious is this Security Flaw to be taken? 

The security flaw is no doubt far reaching, however, there have not been any reported cases of people taking advantage of this security flaw at present.

This is not to say that with the news being divulged of such a security flaw, there won’t be people out there who are going to look out for loopholes to get to user’s personal data.

The most important thing for users to do at present is to ensure that their systems are up to date with the latest update and any third party security packs should also be updated at the earliest.

Safeguarding against the Security Flaw: 

The news about the security flaw was already known to tech experts at least 6 months prior to when the issue has come out. This has given them ample time to develop patches and fixes for the security flaw.

All users no matter what the device should install the latest update as soon as possible to protect their data from any potential threats.

Effects of downloading the patches: 

Downloading the patches, as researchers have discovered, will likely slow down performance by at least 30%. Intel has rubbished the claims saying that they are exaggerated and any performance slowdown will be mainly work related.

With the CES coming up shortly, researchers are worried about how news of the security flaw is likely to affect sales of products on display.

News of the security flaw has revealed a fundamental flaw in the way that chips are made which will now require a complete rethinking of how chips are to be developed.

Qualcomm's iPhone X Still Outpaces Intel's

Qualcomm’s Modem beats Intel’s Modem in IPhone X

Cellular Insights recently tested modem strengths in both modems, that is of Intel and Qualcomm in the IPhone X models. The tests proved that Qualcomm was able to give consistently higher speeds that Intel’s modem in the IPhone X.

Since IPhone’s 4s to 6s, Apple has always made use of Qualcomm’s models. But as of the IPhone 7, Apple has begun to split its modems between Intel and Qualcomm. This has resulted in IPhone 7 models with very different signal speeds.
 

Two models of IPhone X tested:

 

Cellular Insights used two IPhone X’s two test LTE signal speeds. The A1865 model, which is a Qualcomm modem phone and the A1901 which is an Intel powered modem phone was picked for testing. The A1865 model is sold by Sprint, Verizon in the U.S. and it is also sold in India, China and Australia. The A1901 Intel modem Phone is sold by U.S. carriers AT&T and T-Mobile.

There is a third model of IPhone X too, but it is only sold in Japan and was not a subject of this testing.

The testing was conducted on a common band which is used by all major carriers in the US.
 

How was the testing between Qualcomm and Intel modems tested?

 
Cellular Insights tested signal strengths and the speed of downloads, in a range of- very good signal strength to very bad signal strength. That is from -85dBm to whenever the IPhones would quit getting a signal.

On a 20MHz band, both IPhone models started out with a speed of 195Mbs but after that the difference became more apparent. The Intel modem download speeds dropped to 169Mbs at a signal strength of -87dbm while its competitor took another fall of -6dBm in signal strength to reach download speeds of 169 Mbs.

Where every drop in signal strength can be felt by customers, Cellular insights took to testing the Intel and Qualcomm modems to the last when both phones got no signal. At signal strengths of -120dBm which is a very poor signal strength, the Qualcomm modem still outperformed the Intel modem by a whopping 67%.

The point when both modems finally lost signal was -129dBm for the Intel modem and -130dBm for the Qualcomm model, which is not a whole lot of difference.

Cellular Insights used the very best in testing both modems including CMWFlexx solutions and they also used the same technique as they had previously used for testing signal strengths in phones.

Since the last testing, Cellular Insights has found out that Qualcomm has always outperformed Intel modems but today the difference between both modems is becoming narrower. This maybe a deliberate action rather than a drop in performance by Qualcomm modems.
 

Is it the end of the road for Qualcomm?

 
Apple and Qualcomm have found themselves in a web of lawsuits that has mostly to do with Apple refusing to pay Qualcomm license fees. So the IPhone X may be Qualcomm’s last stint at Apple.

Apple has previously stuck to Qualcomm modems because of its good performance and also because only the Qualcomm modems could run on Verizon and Sprint CDMA networks. Now Intel is going to change all that with its XMM7560 modem which will hit markets next year.

Intel's new Optane memory technology could lead to 1000 times faster MacBook storage

Optane Launching New Ultra-Fast Memory Technology

In 2017, Intel and Micron branded as Optane would be launching a new ultra-fast memory technology which would overlay the way for a much faster storage on Apple’s MacBooks. Optane is said to be compatible with the NVMe storage procedure which Apple tends to use in some of the MacBook, known by Macworld, which means that it can be relatively easy for Apple to change and benefit from the new technology. Optane is considered to provide speeds 1,000 times faster as well as more durable than the common flash storage on using 3D Xpoint technology which is due to its 10 times denser than DRAM.


The Non-volatile Memory Express support in new 12-inch MacBook had been launched by Apple enabling it with a software update to OS X last April. NVMe is destined to replace old AHCI technology that had been designed for maximum performance in systems utilising spinning hard drives. NVMe is adjusted for operation of lower latency provided by solid state media or non-volatile memory. NVMe, when compared to AHCI tends to reduce latency by around 50%. Intel for instance puts latency overhead in SCSI/SAS systems at 6 nanoseconds at 19,500 cycles though quotes NVMe at 2.8 nanoseconds at 9,100 cycles – PDF link.

NVMe – Designed to Scale over Next Decade

Moreover, NVMe is designed to scale over the next decade, a lifecycle which is comparable to AHCI that had been introduced in 2004. Since 2011, Apple had been using the PCIe transport procedure; the company seems to be in a good position to expeditiously extend support over the complete line-up of Mac. Regarding the super-fast Optane memory and SSD products, Intel had been silent, though some emerging details could hit at how they could be utilised in products such as Apple’s MacBooks. Optane is said to be a brand name for the latest kind of memory and SSD based on 3D Xpoint, which is a jointly developed technology by Intel and Micron that is 10 times denser than DRAM and 1,000 times faster as well as more durable than flash storage. The 3D Xpoint technology is likely to be released soon would be compatible with NVMe, which is a super-fast storage protocol that could be helpful for Optane in attaining its intense speeds.

Apple – First to Implement The Latest Laptop Technologies

Some of the MacBooks already tend to have NVMe based SSDs with Optane providing a further speed enhancement. Among the first vendors in implementing the latest laptop technologies is Apple and it could take the opportunity of putting Optane in its MacBooks. Apple had been the first to implement Thunderbolt as well as processor technologies from Intel. The first products of Optane would be SSDs; reaching supporter’s PCs next year and later would spread to the other desktops as well as mobile products. Optane memory DIMMs that can be plugged in prevailing memory slots would also be coming along. Optane products would first be based on Intel’s Skylake architecture and if Intel tends to ship memory DIMMs, they would need to be compatible with the DDR3/4 DRAM bus which is in most of the present PCs. Some of the Windows laptops also tend to have NVMe storage though most of them depend on the older and slower SATA interface. Fanatic desktop users like the gamers tend to be early adopters of the new technology and several of them would probably move over to Optane.

The day broke up Wintel

Behind the television ads in relief, or connected, and other tablets, the new major last CES went relatively unnoticed. It is no less significant if: Fortress Wintel eventually implode under its own gravitational mass. It is, however, that since the conference of Microsoft Build the details of the divorce were announced. First element: all manufacturers of PCs, once submitted to the yoke of Microsoft, now offer machines running operating systems other than Windows.

There was a time when Microsoft would never have missed such insolence, but it was specifically convicted of such practices. Insult of all insults, even Intel has its own operating system (first Moblin Meego and after the merger with Maemo, Nokia's system). However additional Intel teams up with Google to offer an Android compatible hardware platform (see Android: Google and Intel optimize their relationship). This independence of manufacturers is indeed the element that has reintroduced a competitive pressure for both Windows and x86: in the mobile world, the ARM processor and OS tactile reign supreme. And it is this pressure that led to the second item that ends the reign unchallenged until Wintel: Microsoft announced that the exclusive x86 ended, and an ARM-compatible version of Windows was on the agenda . It is a real warning shot, while the tandem-x86 Windows is rain or shine in the computer world for a quarter of a century.

Wintel, the portmanteau word that describes so well the close relationship between Microsoft and Intel, which has been very successful in a waltz with each update of an advantage to the other and vice versa. The x86 has shelved the 680x0 processors from Motorola, the PowerPC alliance Apple-IBM-Motorola, MIPS processors, and many others. The IBM alliance goodness, the former regent, outside his own kingdom. No one was in size, no one could resist the steamroller. At best, the Mac has missed just disappear, which might have happened if, ironically, Microsoft had not come to the aid of the symbolic last competitor (Apple investing in an amount no less symbolic but the gesture has been sufficient to restore confidence in the stock market), and Linux should survive by having taken out the equation on commercial (commercial versions of Linux without the means of its competitors in terms of marketing ). On the hardware side, the only salvation for AMD has been to produce processors compatible with the x86 instruction set, including the road map remains under the sole control of Intel. As for other builders and developers, they were all committed to the cause Wintel: any little sheep who is away from the path saw sharply rebuked, if not economic sanctions. Intel and Microsoft held their cup whole computer industry, thereby making their mutual good fortune: in 2010, Microsoft record $ 62.5 billion in revenue and 44 billion Intel. The two companies have worked to preserve, and both have taken too much of their dominant position, which is based more on one another, so that they were both heavily sentenced several times. The industry has paid dearly for this straitjacket that will put a brake on innovation, a crucial component in this area. It will have been that by deporting a new market, away from two friends, the manufacturers have been able to get rid of their hegemony. But watching the course of history, one can not help but notice that the spell is sometimes quite ironic. In 1994, Apple presents its first Power Macintosh, it trumpets the CISC processors Intel is at an end, and that things are going now, Intel will not take the demands of Moore's Law a few years at most.

Twelve years later, the same Apple abandoned the PowerPC processor and passes it once decried as moribund and obsolete. If Intel was able to deploy ingenuity to ensure that the x86 architecture continues to remain valid, all agree, however, to note that it shows its age. We have perhaps forgotten today with the current nomenclature of Intel for its processors, but it takes its name from the first members of this family whose name was composed of a number ending in 86, starting with the 8086 which powered the very first IBM PC, and was born in 1978 .... Certainly, the architecture has undergone many changes since, but at a heavy price compatibility.

This is particularly acute at a time when Intel has to offer ultrasobre processor to deal with the ARM architecture that equips virtually all mobile devices. This does not, however, Intel to continue to develop brilliant discoveries (read Intel starts to 3D). For the interdependence of Microsoft and Intel have also sealed their fate mutual: it was necessary that the processors are compatible with the OS and applications, and vice versa. While Apple was 3 times its revolution (changing twice processors and once the operating system), taking each time a blank page while managing to establish a smooth transition, Microsoft and Intel are remained bound hand and foot. So much so that enough has become a cultural value for both companies, which have remained bogged down when the mobile took off.

LaCie interview: "Thunderbolt can change the way we work"

Supports reported Thunderbolt can still be counted on the fingers of both hands. Among the few partners of Intel and Apple have shown that products include LaCie. The French manufacturer will launch this summer a hard drive "nomad" has two connectors Thunderbolt, the Little Big Disk. It will be offered in three versions, one with two SSD totaling 240 GB or 500 GB and 1 TB grind this time using standard hard drives at 7,200 rpm. LaCie yet refuses to give a price, but at least for the SSD it may be salted, "the high performance" modestly prefers to say the manufacturer. Which should gradually expand its range of products compatible Thunderbold.

More generally, this new connection could well upset certain habits installed in customers. This is one of the promises made by Erwan Girard, Business Unit Manager at LaCie. it deals with professional products, and as the Thunderbolt.

Birth of a partnership

LaCie's commitment goes back to the beginning of the presentation of Thunderbolt, then called Light Peak "We did a lot of technological monitoring to identify technologies that could make the difference in years to come. We also have a professional clientele who demand large storage capacity and performance. As he has used during his lectures, Intel made some demos of products with technical partners capable of developing an ecosystem around its new technologies. It was in the loop pretty quickly. The connection was interesting for us and in turn Apple was looking for people able to offer hard drives with the launch of their new machines.

Choosing the Little Big Disk

LaCie has a wide enough range of disk drives, but the choice to take the format of the Little Big Disk (already available with eSATA + USB + FireWire) won the light engine provided by Apple to launch Thunderbolt “The vector of this technology for now at Apple's MacBook Pro. It's a mobile solution, extremely powerful, rather for professionals creating content such as video artists and photographers. With 10 Gbp / s we thought we could do video editing on the move, transfer video at high speed. "

LBD-Thunderbolt_key

The differential speed promised by Thunderbolt is compared to existing solutions such as LaCie comes to rely on a few changes in clients' "We must realize that the Thunderbolt is faster than Fibre Channel is an optical technology used mainly in racks . We will find for example in many production companies to ensure a very high rate between a mounting station and a storage array. It was a bit ultimate technology to three weeks ago ... "