Intel 'Cannon Lake' Core processor suitable for MacBook Pro, iMac likely delayed, could sl...
Cannon Lake, Intel's 10nm evolution of Core processors, could arrive later than initially believed, after comments by a company executive suggest delays in development and mass production of the new processor -- potentially endangering a rumored 32 GB MacBook Pro release in 2017

Speaking at an Intel manufacturing event at the end of March, Venkata Renduchintala, president of PC, Internet of Things, and chip design for Intel, advised the shipment timeline is hard to nail down, reports PC World. "In terms of first shipments, whether it's before the end of the year, or just after the beginning of [next] year, it's too close to call," said the president.
Despite the uncertainty, Renduchintala believes Intel will still provide Cannon Lake chips to vendors within an appropriate timeline, with no major deviations to device producer timetables expected to occur.
Cannon Lake will be the first generation of Intel chips produced using a 10-nanometer process, a die shrink that aims to provide performance improvements compared to previous generations, as well as a reduction in power consumption. This makes the processor more attractive for producers of battery-powered, where power consumption is a major concern.
For Apple, Cannon Lake processors include support for LPDDR4 memory, something which could allow for the creation of a MacBook Pro with up to 32 gigabytes of memory. The MacBook Pro is unlikely to see a change to 32GB of RAM in the short term, as Apple is not expected to equip a MacBook Pro with a new RAM controller allowing for 32GB of more power-hungry DDR4 support. Compounding the problem, the expected 14nm process Kaby Lake refresh said to be called "Coffee Lake" doesn't support LPDDR4 -- which would allow for 32GB of RAM without a new RAM controller.
"Coffee Lake" is an optimization expected for release in the second half of 2017 that is said to offer a 15-percent processing improvement on Kaby Lake. The fourth chip generation using the 14nm process, "Coffee Lake" will become the third "tock" in a row of Intel's "tick-tock" development strategy, a concept Intel retired in March 2016.
The current 14nm Kaby Lake is thought to be the next processor to be used in a rumored 2017 refresh of the MacBook Pro, with a number of processors from the line reportedly making an appearance in beta code of macOS Sierra 10.12.4. Compared to the current Skylake generation, Kaby Lake as only a slight processing power increase, but with bigger improvements to the onboard GPU and power efficiency.

Speaking at an Intel manufacturing event at the end of March, Venkata Renduchintala, president of PC, Internet of Things, and chip design for Intel, advised the shipment timeline is hard to nail down, reports PC World. "In terms of first shipments, whether it's before the end of the year, or just after the beginning of [next] year, it's too close to call," said the president.
Despite the uncertainty, Renduchintala believes Intel will still provide Cannon Lake chips to vendors within an appropriate timeline, with no major deviations to device producer timetables expected to occur.
Cannon Lake will be the first generation of Intel chips produced using a 10-nanometer process, a die shrink that aims to provide performance improvements compared to previous generations, as well as a reduction in power consumption. This makes the processor more attractive for producers of battery-powered, where power consumption is a major concern.
For Apple, Cannon Lake processors include support for LPDDR4 memory, something which could allow for the creation of a MacBook Pro with up to 32 gigabytes of memory. The MacBook Pro is unlikely to see a change to 32GB of RAM in the short term, as Apple is not expected to equip a MacBook Pro with a new RAM controller allowing for 32GB of more power-hungry DDR4 support. Compounding the problem, the expected 14nm process Kaby Lake refresh said to be called "Coffee Lake" doesn't support LPDDR4 -- which would allow for 32GB of RAM without a new RAM controller.
"Coffee Lake" is an optimization expected for release in the second half of 2017 that is said to offer a 15-percent processing improvement on Kaby Lake. The fourth chip generation using the 14nm process, "Coffee Lake" will become the third "tock" in a row of Intel's "tick-tock" development strategy, a concept Intel retired in March 2016.
The current 14nm Kaby Lake is thought to be the next processor to be used in a rumored 2017 refresh of the MacBook Pro, with a number of processors from the line reportedly making an appearance in beta code of macOS Sierra 10.12.4. Compared to the current Skylake generation, Kaby Lake as only a slight processing power increase, but with bigger improvements to the onboard GPU and power efficiency.
Comments
I hope Apple has a skunkworks processor project that will relieve them of their dependency on Intel.
If Apple do not come out with an updated iMac this year they should at least issue a press release explaining what the bottleneck is otherwise your average consumer will just see Apple as not updating their products and will look at other options.
As for the MacPro, I'm completely puzzled about that product. I'm thinking most consumers or professionals don't have any interest in owning one. Sure I've heard some video editing people saying they're worthwhile using but that is such a tiny segment. Apple should try to reach a wider range of professional users for a MacPro. As a consumer, I might be interested in owning a six-core MacPro but those damn GPUs are too proprietary and not upgradeable in a practical sense. Besides, even those refurbished ones I think are too darn expensive for the age of the product. Aside from the cutesy trash-can design, I really can't think of anything particularly great about it.
It looks as though I'm going to have to wait for a high-end iMac and be stuck with a relatively weak mobile GPU. I don't have much of a choice if I want a Mac.
I honestly hope AMD keeps this trend, and gets Apple's attention in the MacBook Pro lineup. I wouldn't mind seeing an comparable AMD APU, based n Ryzen, with R series GPU built in, touting 6 and 8 core multi-threaded APU's in a MacBook Pro.
This is what Intel should really be shaking in it's boots about. With competition, comes competitive pricing, both from AMD and Intel. Both PC market and Apple Mac/Macbook markets benefit from this..
So because one area of Apple's business is more popular than another Apple should drop it? Brilliant¡
In the first three months of their 2017 calendar they sold 5.3 million Macs for a revenue and profit in the billions. Do you even know how much that would hurt AAPL if that were to vanish because, as you put it, "the PC market means nothing"?
You sound just like asshat pundits, like John C. Dvorak, that said Apple should abandon the Mac because the iPod was so popular and growing.
PS: The iPad has been decreasing for years, so Apple should abandon that, too, according to your logic.
2) Did you see that they're going to stop using ImgTech so they can build in-house.
Intel is SO SLOW.
Apple needs to buy AMD and Toshiba's NAND plant and own its own computer CPU and GPU.
You mean the Mac Pro 2013 is now FOUR YEARS OLD.