So Intel just presented their new "Broadwell" processors. They said that first devices ship before Christmas with the new line. When do you think Microsoft will update the SP3 to Broadwell?
Interesting wording there... I think they *could* slip Broadwell into the SP3 but they wont ...,at least not without a name revision like SP3B.
I will refer to Core M as Y mostly because it gets confusing.
Warning contains SPECULATION:
Based on an end of year shipment time I thought the Broadwell M (Y) based SP4 would hit in Q2 2015 however, I hear Intel have begun shipping and expect to see first product introductions by end of year.
SO ... is it possible for MS to do another short cycle on the Surface Pro??? would they go <9 mm thick and fanless??? [Intel demoed a 12.5" x 7 mm fanless tablet] ... I do think the SP3 was originally designed for Broadwell and they went with Haswell because of the Broadwell delay.
The first Broadwell chip to ship will be the Core M which is the low end Y series replacement. 3-5w TDP vs 11.5w in the Haswell Y series. The U series Broadwell is not coming until end of 2014 to first of 2015 and the current spec sheet posted lists it as the same 15w TDP (subject to change). SO will MS stick with U series and heat throttling or go with Y series potentially unthrottled???
I hear there is a 40% performance boost within the like series meaning Broadwell Y is 40% better than Haswell Y but its maybe 15% better than Haswell U and Broadwell U is 40% better than Haswell U. They would still get 40% better throttled performance OR 15% better unthrottled. These numbers are unofficial and subject to change.
I think they will go <9 mm thick and fanless with SP4 model(s) perhaps in Q1 2015. maybe there will be more models... perhaps high end unit(s) with U series chips ... maybe there will be an opening in the back to mate with the enhanced cooling attachment for heavy workloads. LOL.