Intel demonstrates Skylake processor to be released in 2015

During the opening keynote of the Intel Developer Forum, the American tech giant demonstrated its roadmap for future generations of processors. The Skylake generation is planned for the second half of 2015.

Before Skylake appears, the die shrink of the Haswell generation must first be released. Those Broadwell chips must be delivered to manufacturers at the end of this year, after which products should appear in early 2015. However, the first Broadwell chips, mobile processors under the name Core M, should be available in ultraportables and tablets as early as October. Broadwell is produced at 14nm and has the same architecture as the current Haswell generation. Broadwell has been delayed by about six months due to a combination of 14nm wafer yield issues and the choice of an appropriate launch time, in this case the holiday season towards the end of the year.

The successor Skylake will have a new architecture and, according to Intel’s tick-tock model, will still be produced at 14 nanometers. Skylake should be released in the second half of 2015, probably by the end of that year. Intel demonstrated a desktop system with Skylake processor that played 4k video and a laptop that ran Futuremark benchmark 3DMark. That laptop would be made available to developers as a reference model this year. The Skylake laptop includes wireless gigabit for connection to peripherals including displays. The laptop can also be charged wirelessly via Rezence technology.

Skylake will also receive a successor that is made according to a smaller process: Intel indicated that it is on track with 10nm for the Cannonlake generation of processors. That generation should appear in 2016.