IDF 2012: 4th Gen Intel Core Processors to set new standard for mobile computing

With the Intel Developer Forum 2012 kicking off today, one of the major highlights of the opening keynote was the introduction of the 4th Generation Intel Core processors, which are codenamed Haswell.

Strangely, Intel hasn’t yet decided on whether to continue using the Core brand for Haswell; they are in fact even contemplating christening this series of processors with an entirely new brand name. Kirk Skaugen, Vice President, General Manager, PC Client Group mentioned this in his follow up presentation to the main keynote. 

Intel Chief Product Officer Dadi Perlmutter spoke about reinventing computing in his opening keynote address at IDF 2012

During the opening keynote, Intel Corporation’s Chief Product Officer, Dadi Perlmutter, described how its low-power processors, starting with the company’s 4th generation Intel Core processor family that will be made available next year, will aim to set a new standard for mobile computing experiences and innovative Ultrabook, convertible and tablet designs.

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Ready to change the world

Speaking at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, Dadi Perlmutter said that Intel has reduced the platform idle power of its 4th generation Intel Core processor family based on the next-generation ‘Haswell’ microarchitecture by more than 20 times over the 2nd generation while delivering better performances and responsiveness. He also said Intel will add a new line of even lower-power processors based on the same microarchitecture to its roadmap starting in 2013.

These new products underscore the company’s focus to aggressively drive power consumption down to enable longer battery life and usher in a wave of new, sleeker mobile designs, while delivering increasing processor, graphics and media performance.

Get a closer look at the future of processors - (click to enlarge)

“The 4th generation Intel Core processor family and our new line of low-power processors will usher in an era of unprecedented innovation in mobile computing,” Perlmutter said. “Our focus to deliver even lower power with the great performance that our processors are known for is as fundamentally significant as when we shifted our development focus beyond sheer processor speed in 2001. As a result, you’ll see our customers delivering sleek and cool convertible designs, as well as radical breakthrough experiences across a growing spectrum of mobile devices.”

Graphics benchmark demos shown during the keynote demonstrated Haswell’s 2x performance jump over Ivy Bridge. Interestingly, the demo also showed how scaling performance down to Ivy Bridge levels could halve the power consumption in a Haswell-powered system, showing off the amount of performance headroom the chip has and how it can do really well in burst-mode scenarios.

Going to change the way we see processors

Perlmutter refused to commit to a specific launch date for Haswell, but insisted that by 2013, the 4th Generation Intel Core Processor family, which are based on the Haswell microarchitectecture, will be enabling lighter, thinner, cooler, faster and more secure systems with great graphics performance.

Much of the focus of the keynote remained Ultrabooks and feature enhancements like voice recognition and control, gestures and touch enabled systems. Smartphones received only a cursory mention, which disappointed many in the audience who were hoping for some announcement on the Medfield front.

_Images courtesy  _  Ashish Bhatia, @ashishone