Intel has revealed an update to its CPU roadmap and some things have changed in 2015 and beyond. Let’s start with the Broadwell 14nm architecture. The first processors based on this technology are starting to show up in razor thin laptops and ultra-fast tablets. Intel should add ultra-expensive, as the first SKUs cost an arm and leg.

However, the Core M is excellent performer considering its 4.5W TDP envelope and this is the first time that Intel has made such as energy efficient Core processor. There will be some machines based on Core M vPro for business users and they should be available right now, depending on the market.

It almost feels like Intel launched Broadwell 14nm products just to please investors, as we don’t see too many people spending $999 or more on an ultra-thin notebook. It is reminiscent of the Ultrabook push, at least for now. Intel claims that there are 70 hybrids and two-in-one designs on the market right now. We will have to look into this number as it looks quite optimistic to us. We have to trust what Intel’s SVP Kirk Skaugen, the leader of the chipmaker's PC group, is telling investors.

Intel has mentioned the 5th generation Core architecture and future notebooks and 2-in-1 PCs slated to launch next spring. This is a rather wide definition as spring starts in late March and ends in late June, so an educated guess would be mid- to late-Q2 2015, with rollouts at Computex 2015. Intel continues the tradition of launching Core i3, Core i5 and Core i7 processors for customers and two processors for business users, namely Core i5 vPro and Core i7 vPro products. We suspect that Intel will call them Core I 5000 generation.

It looks like Braswell, the next generation Atom core, has been delayed. Intel now tells its investors that there will be a Braswell-based core coming branded as Pentium and Celeron in the second half of 2015. On some roadmaps leaked earlier this year Braswell was originally supposed to come in Q4 2014, then it got pushed to Q1 2015 and now probably even further. This means Bay Trail will have to last much longer than intended.

The new Skylake 14nm is going to end up as the sixth generation Core, so we would not be surprised to see them branded as the Core i7 6000 series. We are not sure how will Intel plans to have two generations coexisting in the same market at the same time, but the good news for desktop lovers is that Skylake will come to desktops and bring DDR4 to mainstream users.

AMD will face a lot of competition in 2015, but with the right pricing we believe that there is enough space for AMD-based notebooks and two-in-ones as well as desktops.



