Leaked slides detail Intel Skylake-U ultra-low-power CPU lineup

Scorpus

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Intel's first Skylake processors for desktop systems launched just last week, but it could still be several months before we see Skylake variants for laptops and ultraportables. The exact specifications for these CPUs may not come as a surprise though, as leaked slides from Fanless Tech appear to have fully detailed Intel's upcoming Skylake-U lineup.

The Skylake-U series is designed for ultra-low-power devices such as ultraportables and laptop-tablet hybrids, which is why all of these CPUs feature a TDP of 15W that can be configured as low as 7.5W in most cases. Due to the use of a BGA package we're not going to see these chips in desktops, but they are destined for the next wave of laptops.

The leaked slides show a consolidated Skylake line-up compared to Haswell and Broadwell. There are just two Core i7 models, alongside two Core i5s and one Core i3. For the lower-end market, Intel will allegedly release one Skylake-based Pentium SKU as well as two Celeron SKUs.

All of Intel's Core-branded Skylake-U chips come with Intel HD Graphics 520, although GPU frequencies are slightly higher for the Core i7 models. All Core models come with two CPU cores and four threads, with clock speeds ranging from 2.30 GHz (in the i3-6100U) to 2.60 GHz with a maximum Turbo clock of 3.40 GHz (in the flagship i7-6600U).

Intel's Skylake-based Celeron and Pentium CPUs also feature two cores, but the Celeron models don't support Hyper-Threading, and none support Turbo boost. The GPU used for these SKUs is also different, with Intel opting for HD Graphics 510 and lower clock speeds.

The leaked slides don't say exactly when these new Skylake-U processors will hit the market, although one set of slides does reveal that Intel's 28W Skylake-H CPUs with Iris graphics will become available in the first quarter of 2016. Skylake-U is expected to launch earlier than that, but Intel are yet to specify an exact release window.

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