If you’re hankering for an insane next-gen processor that might one day find its way into the Mac, it’s about here.
Intel today has announced its new family of Intel Core processors. Titled as Intel Core X-Series, the new high-end desktop processors are the next step in Intel’s processor family. The units range from $242 – $1,999, the X-Series looks to cover the gamut of next generation desktop processing power.
Perhaps most impressive is the fact that the X-Series i9-7908XE boasts both 18-cores and 36-threads.
The X-Series encompasses a variety of speeds and price points with the Intel Core i5-7640X retailing for 242 with a 4 GHz clock speed, 4 cores, and 4 threads. Moving up, the top of the line i7 chip comes with 10 cores and 20 threads. This Intel Core i7-7820X starts off at 3.6 GHz but can reach 4.5 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Max.
All of Intel’s X-Series i9 chips get 3.3 GHz base speeds, with 4.5 GHz Intel Turbo Boost Max. Core and thread counts range from 12/24 on the low-end, to 18/36 at the highest.
Where the Mac is concerned, the X-Series might not hit Apple’s product line anytime soon, as Apple’s hasn’t really focused on an all-powerful desktop Mac for sometime. Apple has mentioned an updated Mac Pro and iMac, although details on these machines has been sparse. The company is thought to be announcing a hardware update to the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar at WWDC next week and we’ll have details as they become available.