Intel made a splash earlier in May with the launch of its first 11th Gen Tiger Lake H-series processors for more powerful laptops, but at Computex 2021, the company is also announcing a pair of new U-series chips one of which marks the first 5.0GHz clock speed for the company’s U-series lineup of lower voltage chips.
Specifically, Intel is announcing the Core i7-1195G7 its new top of the line chip in the U-series range and the Core i5-1155G7, which takes the crown of Intel’s most powerful Core i5-level chip, too.
Like the original 11th Gen U-series chips, the new chips operate in the 12W to 28W range. Both new chips are four core / eight thread configurations, and feature Intel’s Iris Xe integrated graphics.
The Core i7-1195G7 features a base clock speed of 2.9GHz, but cranks up to a 5.0GHz maximum single core speed using Intel’s Turbo Boost Max 3.0 technology. The Core i5-1155G7, on the other hand, has a base clock speed of 2.5GHz and a boosted speed of 4.5GHz. Getting to 5GHz out of the box is a fairly recent development for laptop CPUs, period: Intel’s first laptop processor to cross the 5GHz mark arrived in 2019.
Intel also announced its first 5G M.2 module, which was developed together with MediaTek after Intel sold its 5G assets to Apple. Creatively dubbed “Intel 5G Solution 5000,” it will make it easier for PC makers to plug in that wireless tech in their upcoming laptops. The module will supports slower sub-6GHz spectrum, and it’ll appear in laptops from Acer, ASUS, HP and others later this year.
Intel claims there are also over 30 designs geared up for 2022. Given the slow rollout of 5G throughout the US and much of the world, though, it’s unclear if average consumers will really be demanding 5G built into PCs by next year.
