Intel's New Haswell Chip: What Does It Mean To You?

Tech geeks have been salivating over this new Intel processor chip line for months, if not years, and with the hype surrounding Intel's unveiling at this year's Computex convention, you'd think Intel re-invented the computer processor. Well, they haven't quite done that, but there are some big innovations that could make the tech you use every day a lot better. Here's a simple run-down of what Intel's new Core processors, code-named Haswell, will mean for you.

Background

Intel is the world's largest computer chip maker, founded in 1968 by two physicists and a venture capitalist. For decades, Intel processors have, and continue to, power the majority of personal computers. Look on any old beige box, and you're pretty likely to find an "Intel Inside" logo. So it's safe to say that Intel has a lot of influence on the PC industry.

The Rise of the Tablet: Intel's Problem

But not as much influence as it used to have. Intel, and the personal computing industry in general, has met a huge challenger in recent years: mobile computing devices—especially tablets. Just think about it. When was the last time someone you knew was really excited about a new laptop, much less desktop, computer compared to the last time you saw a friend showing off their new smartphone or tablet?

Ever since the iPad debuted, tablets have been steadily on the rise, growing in popularity until now, when the number of tablets shipped from manufacturers roughly equals the number of portable PCs, like laptops and notebook computers, that are headed to consumers. That rise in tablets meant that this year has been the worst decline in PC shipments in years. And market forecaster International Data Corporation (IDC) recently announced that it sees those numbers going further still, until tablets outpace the computer industry in total.

As Chris Green, top technology analyst at Davies Murphy Group Europe told BBC News, "Intel and the other x86-chip maker AMD both have a huge problem: they are trying to sell processors for computers into a market where people have increasingly lost interest. People don't want PCs in the same volumes they did, and are increasingly going for ARM-based smart devices instead." The ARM-based processor a processor design that is different than traditional processors like Intel's, and has become popular with mobile devices, making its way into 95 percent of smartphones and tablets such as iPads and nearly all of Samsung's popular lineup. This, despite the fact that processors in these devices are generally less powerful than Intel's.

Haswell

The key for Intel's new lineup is power. Not power meaning computing power, though it does raise the bar in that respect, but power consumption. Laptops could get as fast as a supercomputer and it still wouldn't matter very much to modern consumers if the battery ran out in three or four hours. So the big deal about the new Haswell line of chips is that it's been engineered to give more speed, while taking it easy on the electricity consumption.

Intel says that with this fourth-generation "Haswell" Core chip, according to CNet, they've achieved the biggest battery life-increase that the company has ever accomplished. Just by engineering the chip to use energy more efficiently, Intel claims it has increased the battery life of a device by 50 percent. That means that just by taking a current notebook PC and replacing the third-generation Core processor with a fourth-generation chip, you'd extend that laptop's battery life from, say, six hours to nine.

The new chips are also thinner and lighter, consolidate more processes into one chip (meaning the rest of the PC can be thinner and lighter), and don't create so much heat, so big cooling fans — another electricity hog — aren't necessary. This, along with a 15 percent boost in raw processing power and double the graphics performance of the third-generation chip, according to Intel.

The Rise of the PC/Tablet?

As tablets have grown in popularity, they've also gotten faster, more feature-rich, and laptop-like. For example, now you can get keyboard accessories with tablets, and some, like Microsoft's Surface line are even designed with a flip keyboard in mind. Well, expect laptops from the "PC side" of the PC/tablet divide to start featuring more tablet-like qualities, or to just break apart into a tablet whenever you don't need the whole computer. Two-in-one laptop/tablets include devices like Intel's Ultrabooks, or Asus's new Transformer Book Trio, which features both Windows and Android operating systems and changes over depending on whether you're using it as a laptop or a tablet. Don't forget, though, that regular old laptops will get more portable and longer lasting with the new chipset as well.

What About Now?

Don't expect any big differences in the mainstream computer and tablet market just yet. These new PC/tablet mixes are quite expensive, and Intel's brand new fourth-generation Core chips don't come cheap. According to Forbes, the Core i5 and Core i7, two higher-grade chips from the new Haswell lineup, cost $342 and $454, respectively. And that's just the price of each chip that goes into the rest of the PC. For those prices, you could get a whole iPad mini or iPad. So in the short term, unless you're buying a premium PC or laptop, you'll probably not see much of "Haswell." Actually, as PC Mag pointed out, if you are buying a new PC, "Haswell" is just Intel's code-name, so you won't see that word at all. Instead, look for "Intel Core i3, i5, or i7," followed by a number starting with 4, denoting fourth generation.

Anyway, while you may not see super-powerful tablets or 10 ounce laptops just yet, you can expect this generation of Intel chips to spur the PC industry to make their portable PCs more portable, and their competitors to move towards more flexible, higher-power mobile devices that do more than run Maps and Angry Birds.