Intel announces Kaby Lake processors, chips may arrive too late for inclusion in next-gen MacBook Pro

The good news is that Intel announced its seventh-generation Core processors during yesterday’s second quarter earnings call yesterday.

The bad news is that the processors, known as “Kaby Lake”, which are made via a 14-nanometer process, might not see the Mac until 2017.

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. Intel CEO Brian 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.

The Kaby Lake chips that might be appropriate for the Retina MacBook Pro may not ship until the very end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017 and may not come out in time for the rumored MacBook Pro update.

As always, stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via MacRumors