Intel's CPU development follows the so called Tick-Tock model since the last P4 generation. Every year, we would see either a smaller manufacturing process (Tick) or a new micro architecture (Tock). This concept worked very well for many years – the CPU giant was able to increase the gap to the rivals with often small, but steady performance and efficiency increases.

Due to the increasing complexity and costs of a new manufacturing process, Intel now has to change the plan: Instead of two, there will be three CPU designs with the same process from now on – Tick-Tock becomes "Process -> Architecture -> Optimization". Looking at the current 14 nm generation, Broadwell and Skylake represent the first two steps, while the new Kaby Lake platform is the culmination of the series.

But what can Kaby Lake offer compared to the predecessors? For quite a while, it is the first time that both the CPU and GPU design are basically unchanged, so we do not expect increased per-MHz performance. The manufacturer still promises noticeably more performance as a result of higher clocks or better Turbo Boost utilization at the same consumption, respectively. Only the video unit was redesigned, and it now supports the codecs VP9 as well as HEVC-Main10 with a 10-bit color depth and it is also supposed to be even more efficient. We also get HDMI 2.0 with HDCP 2.2 support for the first time, but these features will be reserved for the new chip revision we will see at the end of the year. The first batches are still limited to HDCP 1.4 and can therefore not output Netflix in 4K, for example.