Intel Corp. today unveiled a new generation of its Core vPro processor series, an upgrade that brings with it speed and power efficiency improvements along with enhanced security.

Core vPro chips most commonly ship with business laptops. The vPro in the name denotes their compatibility with Intel’s vPro suite of firmware tools, which enable information technology departments to manage employee devices remotely.

This newest batch of chips is based on the eighth-generation, 14-nanometer Whiskey Lake architecture that Intel released last August. On launch, the refreshed Core vPro lineup features just two quad-core chips: the 1.9GHz Core vPro i7-8665U and 1.6GHz Core vPro i5-8365U. They can achieve maximum clock rates of 4.8 GHz and 4.1 GHz, respectively, when running demanding applications.

Another difference between the models is their cache size. The more powerful i7-8665U has 8 megabytes of onboard memory for storing data while the i5-8365U makes do with 6.

Stephanie Hallford, Intel’s general manager for business client platforms, wrote in the announcement that the chips provide up to 65 percent more performance than a three-year-old personal computer. They’re also more efficient, with Intel promising up to 11 hours of battery life on a single charge for laptops.

The third major area where users can expect to see an improvement is wireless networking. According to Intel, the new vPro chips as among the first on the market to support the latest Wi-Fi 6 standard, which Hallford told CRN will enable up to 40 percent faster connectivity than current technology. 

For IT departments, the feature that may stand out the most is a new security technology called Intel Hardware Shield. It’s a piece of firmware that promises to protect employee devices from tempering attempts and enables administrators to monitor endpoint fleets for potential threats.

Intel said the new processors will start shipping in the spring with laptops from HP Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Panasonic Corp. and Lenovo Group Ltd.

The Core vPro refresh comes just days after Advanced Micro Systems Inc. updated its competing Ryzen Pro chip series, which is also aimed at professional laptops. The company added three new processors with base clock speeds ranging from 2.1 to 2.3 GHz. That’s higher than the default speed of Intel’s two new chips, but the latter pair rank higher when it comes to maximum clock rate.

Photo: Intel