Intel Announces 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake" Mobile Processors and Evo Third Edition

[btarunr]

Today, Intel expands the 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processor lineup with the official launch of 12th Gen Intel Core P-series and U-series processors. Engineered for blazing performance and superior productivity, these 20 new mobile processors will power the next generation of thin-and-light laptops. The first devices will be available in March 2022, with more than 250 coming this year from Acer, Asus, Dell, Fujitsu, HP, Lenovo, LG, MSI, NEC, Samsung and others.

"Following our launch of the fastest mobile processor for gaming, we're now expanding our 12th Gen Intel Core processor family to deliver a massive leap forward in performance for thin-and-light laptops. From the ultra-thin form factors to enthusiast-grade performance in a sleek design, we're providing consumers and businesses with leadership performance and cutting-edge technologies."



Like the rest of the 12th Gen family, Intel's newest mobile processors for thin-and-light designs are based on Intel's performance hybrid architecture featuring a combination of Performance-cores (P-cores) and Efficient-cores (E-cores). From video calls to web browsing to photo editing, workloads are intelligently placed on the right core at the right time for optimal multitasking with Intel Thread Director on Windows 11.

Taking full advantage of the performance per watt benefits of the Intel 7 process, new 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors for thin-and-light designs deliver:

• All-new core architecture with up to 14 cores (6 P-cores and 8 E-cores).
• Integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics with up to 96EU.
• Broad memory support for DDR5/LPDDR5 and DDR4/LPDDR4.
• Incredible scale with up to 70% faster multi-thread performance.
• Nearly 2x performance for 3D rendering -- ideal for creators on the go.
• Superior productivity performance with up to 30% faster photo editing.
• Integrated Intel Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) for improved wireless performance, responsiveness and reliability.
• Thunderbolt 4 for the fastest, simplest and most reliable cable solution to any dock, display or accessory.
• Intel IPU 6.0 for high image quality and power efficiency for enhanced videoconferencing.

About Intel Evo, Third Edition: Under the new third-edition specification, laptop designs seeking the Intel Evo badge will undergo the most intensive workloads to date, testing real-world conditions to ensure a superior videoconferencing experience in addition to exceptional responsiveness, instant wake, real-world battery life and fast charging. Intel Evo laptops with 12th Gen Intel Core are optimized for multitasking - all while maintaining great connectivity, image quality and sound on a multi-person video call.

Through deep co-engineering efforts with 150 ecosystem partners, more than 100 Intel Evo verified systems are expected this year, with systems for the first time including foldable displays and designs with 12th Gen Intel Core H-series.

Intel's co-engineering and real-world testing expands to accessory partners this year through the Engineered for Intel Evo program. Expect additional Thunderbolt monitors, docks, storage and Bluetooth headsets to join the powerful lineup of accessories already in the program from Poly, Anker, Kensington, Dell, HP, Belkin, Samsung, Sabrent, OWC and others.

Microsoft's Point of View: "The last two years have had a profound transformational impact across our lives with the PC playing a more meaningful role than ever. This is driving a new era of PC use," said Panos Panay, executive vice president and chief product officer at Microsoft. "With Windows 11 and the newest 12th Gen Intel Core mobile processors, expect next-level performance to empower productivity and inspire creativity."

The slide-deck follows.


View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[Crackong]

Thanks to LTT we already knew the answer of the low power segment.

 

[Deleted member 24505]

Waiting for jokes about nuclear power cooling etc.

i7 1280P is 64w a lot for a laptop?

 

[Minus Infinity]

Waiting for jokes about nuclear power cooling etc.

i7 1280P is 64w a lot for a laptop?

Well don't look at the 12900H power usage.

 

[ratirt]

H-series is 45W i guess this is per core
I'm curious how these CPUs will perform to be fair but the advertised power usage makes me smirk always. Either way, i see way more room and reason for the Ecores in the mobile market.
Also, the Pcores dropped to max 6c and juggling the cache to make a difference. So obvious Intel.
What is weird, these all are basically advertised with same power usage in one tier. 6pcore vs 2pcore same power.

 

[Cutechri]

As if naming wasn't confusing enough...

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Thanks to LTT we already knew the answer of the low power segment.

hahaha, I was going to say the same exact thing

 

[trsttte]

The 10 core U series (and i3-1220P which looks the same with higher power) look pretty interesting though. 2 P cores for anything more demanding and 8 Error cores for low power normal usage might end up pretty efficient (even better than Ryzen actually). They won't win on performance but power efficiency for ultrabooks seems pretty promising.

 

[ghazi]

The 10 core U series (and i3-1220P which looks the same with higher power) look pretty interesting though. 2 P cores for anything more demanding and 8 Error cores for low power normal usage might end up pretty efficient (even better than Ryzen actually). They won't win on performance but power efficiency for ultrabooks seems pretty promising.

The problem here is really that the E-cores aren't that power efficient. But there are perhaps too many parameters to control for us to guess about how it will compare to Ryzen 6000. Especially when Intel says 800MHz base 3.5GHz boost, you have no idea where the hell on the v/f curve you actually end up in real world usage. The higher clocked the E-cores get the worse the energy efficiency is. Really, energy efficiency on the E-cores is worse than the P-cores on the 12900K, they draw less power BUT the difference in power draw is less than the difference in performance, so the P-cores consume less power to complete any given task. But given this is for ULP laptops, it could be a winner for real-world battery life. But Zen 3+ efficiency and power management are so advanced it may just allow Intel to catch up.

If you're wondering about the "E-cores aren't that power efficient" quip. As I mentioned in another post here very recently, what the E cores are truly good for is die area. So Intel can make a cheap little chip with 2P+8E and the die size (thus cost to manufacture) is the same as a 4P chip would be, but 2P+8E gives you more MT perf without sacrificing ST perf. That's the main thing they succeed at addressing. In terms of power and heat, like anything specifically geared for low power, the E-cores are really only better at truly very low power targets, once you get them around 3GHz the efficiency is worse than P cores. It will be interesting to see how low power Zen 3+ competes here; since Zen 3 is already more efficient than the P-cores, that equilibrium point for efficiency relative to the E-cores should be reached at a much lower clock speed than 3GHz.

 

[Chrispy_]

Thanks to LTT we already knew the answer of the low power segment.

And as of yesterday also Hardware Unboxed.

Alder Lake is good, but Zen3+ beats it at 35W, and regardless of CPU performance the IGP is somewhere between 50% and 150% faster depending on the application/game.

TL;DR is buy Alder Lake for a beefy dGPU gaming laptop that sits on a desk all the time plugged into mains power, otherwise get Ryzen 6000 which is efficient and has the first decent IGP in forever.