Intel quietly debuted mobile Xeon processors based on the Skylake platform yesterday, saying little more than the chip line will be bringing ECC memory to mobile, and that more information would be coming soon. The E3-1500M processors were detailed slightly more overnight in a pair of Lenovo ThinkPads released at the SIGGRAPH show. Lets take a look at what we know about the processor, and what we don't, and evaluate the Lenovo offering and see what we can glean about the processor's inclusion in a future MacBook Pro.
While we aren't going to cover the Lenovo releases in any depth, what we've learned about the CPU is that it has a 47W TDP -- the same as the Intel Core i7-4980HQ found in the highest specification MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The CPU and supporting hardware brings Thunderbolt 3 to the Thinkpad -- if this is a function of the processor or the motherboard is not yet known. The processor supports up to 64GB of RAM, also a new record for laptops. Processor clock speed is not yet known.
Of some concern is the weight of Lenovo's $1599 15.6-inch model. With a four-cell 66Whr battery it starts at 5.6 pounds, without optional internal optical drive, and the smaller default battery. The current 15.4-inch MacBook Pro model weighs 4.49 pounds, and has a 99.5Whr battery. Some of the weight is perhaps attributable to the infrastructure required for the ports, but we're concerned the Xeon requires a fairly robust mobile cooling system, despite the low-claimed TDP on the processor.
A truly massive 17-inch Lenovo model tipping the scales at over 7.6 pounds is available as well for $2000, without a Retina-class screen. Apple's last 17-inch model came in at 6.8 pounds.
Apple has recently updated the 15-inch MacBook pro. There is a fair amount of speculation about the new processor, and how it may or may not be intended for integration into the MacBook Pro line. MacNN doesn't feel that there's enough available information on the processor to make an informed decision about it one way or another. The processor may force Apple to make compromises in its design language, with a thicker or louder machine -- but as we said before, there just isn't enough information to make this determination yet. We don't expect an update any time soon, and certainly not before the holiday season gets underway.
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