Intel 13th Gen Mobile Processor Arrives

CES 2023: Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake Mobile Arrives

Intel dropped the other shoe at CES 2023 announcing its mobile family of 32 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors in all price levels. The new flagship Intel Core i9-13980HX is the first 24-core and 32 thread processor for a laptop and world’s fastest mobile processor at 5.6GHz out of the box. It closes the gap between laptops and desktops like last September’s 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900K for desktop launch with 5.8 GHz out of the box and the same number of cores and threads and the ability to overclock both for faster performance.

Intel 13th Gen Mobile Processor

Intel’s unique hybrid architecture design, introduced in the previous 12th Gen chips, uses a combination of Performance Cores (P-cores) for demanding processing and Efficiency Cores (E-cores) for less demanding chores for faster overall performance. Intel Thread Director optimizes these cores allowing for noticeably faster multi-tasking in all desktop and mobile SKUs.

Desktops still have an edge in speed, using virtually unlimited electrical power supply for CPU and GPU processors compared to the obvious restraints battery powered mobile computers require. But the top tear Intel Core i9-13980HX powered laptop offers the next best performance for mobile creatives and gamers. The rest of the processer SKU’s below, are designed to meet the needs for every budget and functionality.   

The lowest SKU group, new 13th Gen Intel mobile processor i3 family below,  trickles down to the just as importantly most affordable laptops as Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron processors fade away. Intel is introducing, value priced computing for the education and consumer segments.

The Series Breakdown of the New Processors

Thunderbolt 4 support in 13th Gen Intel Processors
  • The 13th Gen Intel Core H-, P- and U-series mobile processors to power the latest enthusiast, thin-and-light laptop designs to Internet of Things (IoT) devices.  
  • New Intel Evo laptop specification that features longer real-world battery life and new multidevice experience, Intel Unison (which works with easily connected iOS and Android mobile devices as one).
  • Intel’s complete lineup of 13th Gen Intel Core desktop processors at the lower 65-watt and 35-watt levels for mainstream desktops.
  • New Intel Processor N-series for entry-level education and mainstream laptops, desktops and edge native applications.

“The 13th Gen Intel Core mobile processor family delivers unrivaled, scalable performance for leadership platforms across all laptop segments,” said Michelle Johnston Holthaus, executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group at Intel. “With our industry-leading technologies and unmatched global partner ecosystem, people can expect a high-caliber mobile experience in new and unique form factors – so they can game or create from anywhere.”

Here is how each category rolls out with new features:

13th Gen Intel Core H-series Processors Features

Intel 13th Gen Mobile Processor
  • Up to 5.6 gigahertz (GHz) turbo frequency – the highest clock speed available for the laptop market – delivering up to 11% faster single-thread performance and 49% faster multitask performance over the previous generation.
  • Up to 24 cores (8 Performance-cores, 16 Efficient-cores), 32 threads and enhanced Intel Thread Director.
  • Full memory support of up to 128 gigabyte (GB) total for DDR5 (up to 5,600 megahertz) and DDR4 (up to 3,200 MHz).
  • Intel “Killer” Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) for up to 6x faster internet speeds with no legacy Wi-Fi channel interference.
  • The latest Bluetooth LE Audio and Bluetooth 5.2 supporting up to 2x faster speeds and multiple device connections with lower power consumption.
  • Thunderbolt 4 support, delivering transfer speeds up to 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) and PC connectivity to multiple 4K monitors and accessories.
  • Improved integrated graphics experience based on improved driver stack and key learnings from Intel’s work with discrete graphics.
  • Overclocking capabilities on all HX and HK SKUs.

13th Gen Intel Core P-series and U-series

Improved Arc controlled Embedded Graphics
  • Up to 14 cores (6 Performance-cores, 8 Efficient-cores) and enhanced Intel Thread Director.
  • New Intel Iris Xe Graphics features including endurance gaming, XeSS Super Sampling and Intel Arc Control. 
  • Broad memory support for DDR5 and DDR4 and LP variants.
  • Integrated Intel Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) and new wireless features like Intel® Connectivity Performance Suite, Intel® Wi-Fi Proximity Sensing and Intel® Bluetooth LE Audio.6
  • Up to four Thunderbolt 4 ports for the fastest, simplest and most reliable cable solution to any dock, display or accessory.

More Features

For the first time, select designs based on 13th Gen Intel Core processors will feature the Intel Movidius vision processing unit (VPU). Resulting from deep co-engineering with Microsoft on its new Windows Studio Effects, the AI-heavy tasks required for professional-grade collaboration and streaming can be offloaded to the VPU, freeing the CPU and GPU for other workloads or multitasking.  

Across H-, P- and U-Series, the new mobile processors will elevate performance for the next generation of enthusiast designs, thin-and-light laptops, foldables, 2 and 1s and other form factors. More than 300 unique designs are expected this year from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Razer, Republic of Gamers, Samsung and others.

For the IoT edge, 13th Gen Intel Core processors deliver new industrial features, extended temperature operations and higher performing CPUs, with more graphics capabilities and AI performance. Ideal for retail, education, healthcare, aerospace, industrial and smart cities, the new processors provide better workload consolidation with more cores and threads, enabling applications to run on a single device.

New Intel Evo Designs – Longer Battery Life and Key Experiences

Dan Rogers Senior Director Mobile Product Marketing showing Intel Unison connected to iOS and Android smartphones – Steve Makris Photo

Intel continues to raise the bar for laptops and other on-the-go form factors with its Intel Evo laptop specification. Under the new specification, Intel Evo designs with 13th Gen Intel Core processors deliver three key experiences:
 

  • No-compromise mobile performance: Verified to deliver consistent responsiveness while unplugged, longer real-world battery life, instant wake and fast charge.
  • Intelligent collaboration: Superior videoconferencing leveraging technologies like Intel Connectivity Performance Suite and Intel Bluetooth LE Audio.
  • Intel Unison on eligible designs: A seamless multidevice experience enabling text messages, phone calls, phone notifications and file transfer from your PC to an Android- or iOS-enabled phone.

Intel also announced an expansion of the Engineered for Intel Evo program which extends the high standards of verification and co-engineering to accessory partners. In addition to Thunderbolt 4 docks, monitors, storage and wireless headsets, new accessories like mice, keyboards and access points from key partners join the Eco program moving forward.

More news on the 13th Gen Intel Core Desktop Processor

New lower powered 35-watt and 65-watt SKUs provide mainstream PC users even more affordable choices for power efficiency while still balancing performance in gaming, creation and productivity.

  • Up to 5.6 GHz, 24 cores/32 threads – with the introduction of Efficient-cores to Intel Core i5 mainstream processors – and larger L2 cache combining to deliver up to 11% single-threaded and 34% multithreaded performance over 12th Gen Intel Core non-K processors. These gen-over-gen performance gains ensure that the new 35-watt and 65-watt 13th Gen Intel Core non-K processors are delivering next-level improved performance in both gaming and content creation for mainstream PC users.
  • Full forward and backward compatibility with 600-series and 700-series motherboards, as well as support for both DDR5 and DDR4 memory.
  • Improved energy efficiency with Intel Dynamic Tuning Technology and better power scaling, delivering greater performance per watt (PPW).

Intel Processor N-series Launch for value priced computing

Intel i3 N-series Processors

The new Intel Processor Core i3 in the N-series family of products will replace the Intel Pentium and Intel Celeron branding for the education segment and entry-level computing and IoT edge native applications. They feature:
 

  • New Efficient-cores (microarchitecture code-named Gracemont) built on the Intel 7 process technology.
  • Up to 28% better application performance and 64% better graphics performance on the Intel Processor over the previous generation.
  • For the first time, scale up to the new Intel Core i3 N-series for up to an additional 42% application performance and 56% graphics performance over the Intel Processor.
  • Up to 10-hour HD video playback without recharging.
  • New AV1 decode, high-resolution display engine and improved IPU and MIPI camera support.
  • Extended connectivity with ultra-fast Intel Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) and Bluetooth 5.2.
  • Flexible memory (LPDDR5, DDR5/DDR4) and storage (UFS/SSD/eMMC) options.

These processors are designed for education and consumer segments that need a lower, value-oriented price point, but still require performance and high-quality experiences in areas like video collaboration and productivity. More than 50 designs from Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Asus are expected in 2023 as Intel drives ecosystem partnerships for ChromeOS and Windows.

More information on  New Intel N-series Processors