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.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

Zellio Avatar
110 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
110 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
110 months ago
If you cannot wait , built your own.

Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cambookpro Avatar
110 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
110 months ago
Anyone remember when Apple got Intel chips early??
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
William Gates Avatar
110 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)