Intel’s latest generation processors, codenamed Haswell, have promised to bring longer battery life and better heat management to Windows tablets and notebooks alike. What they forgot to mention besides the release of their regular processors is a special Core i3 processor with a power draw as little as 4.5 watts.
The special dual core i3 processor is part of the new Haswell processors, but promises to bring even longer battery life then its regular brothers. The chip can consume as little as 4.5 watts of power in specific scenarios and can be fully operational in a fanless unit.
Lighter and faster tablets with the power of a full PC are in demand; Lenovo tried to deliver on that concept with their ThinkPad Helix, a Core i7 machine gone tablet, but the unit fell short; Mediocre design and awkwardly placed internal fans led to a less than satisfactory experience.
Intel’s Core i3 processor isn’t going to promise you the power of a Core i7 CPU, but it is a step forward for low power and fanless processing chips. The company claims that their new Haswell chip will bring up to 50% more battery life compared to their previous CPUs.
Windows 8 has been focused around hybrid and tablet style form factors, but has been held back due to users having to choose between a high powered, yet low battery life, unit or a low powered, yet high battery life, unit. Intel’s new architecture allows us to stop the need to pick between an Atom processor and a full-fledged Core CPU – we may get the perfect combo of power and battery life shortly.
When it comes down in the end, Intel processors can only truly be harnessed by the design process of OEMs and it is up to them to ensure that the future vision of Windows tablet hybrids is fulfilled.
Do you have a Windows 8 tablet – are you running on an Atom or Core chip?
Source: PC World
