Intel’s Skylake chips might supercharge your desktop

Intel is set to formally unveil its new Skylake processors on August 5, but we’ve just been given a sneak peek at the chips ahead of time.
What are reported to be leaked Intel presentation slides seemingly reveal the performance enhancements we can expect from the new chips, due to be released later this year.
The leak – courtesy of FanlessTech – appears to suggest we’ll see between 10% and 20% CPU performance improvements in single and multi-threaded applications compared to Broadwell processors.
It’s also claimed that power consumption will be lower – specifically 30% better battery life – and that Intel HD graphics performance will be, on average, 30% faster.
For reference, there’ll be four different series of Skylake processors – S-series for desktop, and Y-, U-, and H-series for mobile.
According to the leak, Y-series Skylake processors will have a 17% faster CPU, 41% faster Intel HD graphics, and 1.4 hours improve battery life compared to the Broadwell equivalent. Expect to see this in a future 12-inch MacBook.
The U-series, meanwhile, looks set to offer 10% CPU improvements, 34% improved graphics, and a 1.4-hour battery life increase – this will probably appear on a MacBook Air.
Next up is the H-series – that’s the chip that will likely feature on an upcoming MacBook Pro – which is tipped for an 11% CPU boost, 16% faster graphics, and 80% ‘lower silicon power’.
Finally, there’s the desktop S-series, which will seemingly offer an 11% faster CPU, 28% faster graphics, and 22% lower thermal design power. The S-series is squarely in iMac territory.
Related: Intel’s 14nm revolution
It’s rumoured that we’ll first see Skylake appear in Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4, which is expected to land at some point in October.
On that note, you should check out our Microsoft Surface 3 video review below: