Intel is rumored to be moving the launch of its 13-nanometer Coffee Lake processors from January 2018 to August of 2017 due to “increasing competition from AMD’s Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5 processors.”
The rumor has it that Intel will release several K-series Core i3, i5, and i7 processors starting in August, along with its Z370 chipsets. Additional CPUs will come at the end of 2017 or early in 2018.
Intel is also rumored to be unveiling its Basin Falls platform, complete with its Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X processors at Computex 2017, which is set to take place two months earlier than usual and will run from May 30th to June 3rd.
Intel’s Skylake-X series features 140W processors with 6, 8, and 10-core architectures, while Kaby Lake X-series features a 112W quad-core processor. Intel also plans to release a 12-core Skylake-X processor in August. Intel’s Basin Falls platform could potentially be used in future Mac Pro machines and the rumored high-end server-grade iMac.
It’s thought that Coffee Lake processors suitable for Apple products could launch in the second quarter of 2018. As such, the revised launch date could be moved forward to either late 2017 or early in 2018.
Coffee Lake chips are manufactured on Intel’s 14-nanometer process and will be the fourth processor family to use the architecture after Broadwell, Skylake, and Kaby Lake.
Apple is rumored to have new machines in the works for 2017, including new iMacs, which are likely to use Kaby Lake chips.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.