The latest 8th Gen Intel® Core™ U-series processor, formerly codenamed Whiskey Lake, has the following feature advancements relative to its predecessor released in Q3’2017 formerly codenamed Kaby Lake-R.

8th Gen Intel Core U-Series and Y-Series Processors

Features Kaby Lake-R U42 (15W) Whiskey Lake U42 (15W)
CPU
  • 14nm CPU / 22nm PCH
  • 14nm CPU / 14nm PCH
GFX
  • Gen 9 Intel Graphics; up to 24EU
  • Gen 9 Intel Graphics; up to 24EU
Memory
  • DDR4, LPDDR3, DDR3L
  • DDR4 up to 2400, LPDDR3 up to 2133
Imaging
  • 4 Cameras, up to 13MP
  • None – use USB camera
Media, Display, Audio
  • HDMI1.4/HDCP2.2, DP 1.2
  • Closed Dual-Core Audio DSP
  • HDMI1.4/HDCP2.2, DP 1.2
  • Quad-Core Audio DSP for high fidelity, low power audio and multi-voice services supported Wake on Voice
I/O & Connectivity
  • Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt
  • Oak Peak WiGig (dual 25x14)
  • CNVi (integrated 802.11ac and BT5.0)
  • Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
  • Titan Ridge Thunderbolt w/ USB 3.1 & DP1.4 or Alpine Ridge Thunderbolt
WWAN
  • XMM7360 M.2
  • XMM 7360 M.2
Storage
  • Intel® Optane™ SSDs/memory, PCIe 3.0, SATA, SD 3.0, eMMC 5.0
  • Intel® Optane™ SSDs/memory, PCIe 3.0, SATA, SD 3.0, eMMC 5.14
Security
  • SGX 1.0
  • Secure biometrics
  • SGX 1.0
  • Secure biometrics
  • Intel® Runtime BIOS Resilience with attestation via Nifty Rock + Intel® Trusted Execution Technology (Intel® TXT)
Manageability
  • Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant (Intel® EMA)


Features Benefits
Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
  • Dynamically increases the processor’s frequency, as needed, by taking advantage of thermal and power headroom when operating below specified limits.
Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology (Intel® HT Technology)
  • Delivers two processing threads per physical core. Highly threaded applications can get more work done in parallel, completing tasks sooner.
Intel® UHD Graphics
  • Play 4K UHD videos with exceptional clarity, view and edit even the smallest details of photos, and play today’s modern games.
  • Intel® Quick Sync Video—Delivers excellent video conferencing capability, fast video conversion, online sharing, and fast video editing and authoring.
Integrated Memory Controller
  • Offers stunning memory read/write performance through efficient prefetching algorithms, lower latency, and higher memory bandwidth.
Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost3
  • Intel® Thermal Velocity Boost opportunistically and automatically increases core clock frequency by up to 100 MHz whenever the processor is at a temperature of 50°C or lower and turbo budget allows. The frequency gain and duration is dependent on the workload, capabilities of the individual processor and the processor cooling solution.
Intel® Smart Cache
  • Dynamically allocates shared cache to each processor core, based on workload, reducing latency and improving performance.
Intel® Virtualization Technology (Intel® VT)
  • Allows one hardware platform to function as multiple “virtual” platforms. Offers improved manageability by limiting downtime and maintaining productivity by isolating computing activities into separate partitions.
Intel® Advanced Encryption Standard New Instructions (Intel® AES-NI)
  • A set of instructions that can be used to accelerate a variety of encryption apps, including whole disk encryption, file storage encryption, conditional access of 4K UHD content, Internet security, and VoIP. Consumers benefit from protected Internet and email content, plus fast, responsive disk encryption.
Intel® Power Optimization and Processor C-States
  • Intel® Power Optimization increases periods of silicon sleep state across the platform ingredients, including the processor, chipset, and third-party system components, to reduce power. Processor C-states (C8-C10) provide low idle power.
Configurable TDP Power
  • With Configurable TDP, the processor is now capable of modulating the maximum sustained power vs. performance. Configurable TDP thus provides design and performance flexibility to control system performance based on the cooling capability and usage scenarios. For example, a detachable Ultrabook™ may need more performance when used in a full clamshell mode (vs. tablet mode), or when balanced performance is needed in a quiet conference room setting.
Intel® Secure Key
  • Security hardware-based random number generator that can be used for generating high-quality keys for cryptographic (encryption and decryption) protocols. Provides quality entropy that is highly sought after in the cryptography world for added security.
Intel® Advanced Vector Extensions 2 (Intel® AVX2)6
  • A set of 256-bit instructions to deliver enhanced performance on floating point- and integer-intensive apps. Includes instructions for FMA (Fused Multiply Add) which can deliver better performance on media and floating point computations, including face recognition, professional imaging, high-performance computing, consumer video and imaging, compression, and encryption.3
Collaborative Processor Performance Control (CPPC)
  • A technology based on the ACPI 5.0 specification that dynamically modulates performance vs. active application power. It reduces active power to deliver better battery life and allows deep low power states to be reached.
Intel® Software Guard Extensions (Intel® SGX)
  • A collection of instructions, APIs, libraries, and tools to help protect select code and data from disclosure or modification through the use of enclaves, which are protected areas of execution in memory.
Intel® BIOS Guard
  • An augmentation of existing chipset-based BIOS flash protection capabilities targeted to address the increasing malware threat to BIOS flash storage. It helps protect the BIOS flash from modification without platform manufacturer authorization, helps defend the platform against low-level DOS (denial of service) attacks, and restores BIOS to a known good state after an attack.
Intel® Boot Guard
  • Hardware-based boot integrity protection that helps prevent unauthorized software and malware takeover of boot blocks critical to a system’s function, thus providing added level of platform security based on hardware. Configurable boot types include:


  1. Measured Boot—Measures the initial boot block into the platform storage device such as trusted platform module (TPM) or Intel® Platform Trust Technology.
  2. Verified Boot—Cryptographically verifies the platform initial boot block using the boot policy key.
Intel® Platform Trust Technology (Intel® PTT)
  • A trusted element of the platform execution that helps provide enhanced security by verifying the boot portion of the boot sequence which helps protect against viruses and malicious software attacks.
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST)
  • Offers excellent levels of performance, responsiveness, and expandability. Take advantage of the enhanced performance and lower power consumption available with Intel® RST with one or more SATA or PCIe storage drives. With additional SATA drives, Intel RST provides quicker access to digital photo, video, and data files with RAID 0, 5, and 10, and greater data protection against a storage disk drive failure with RAID 1, 5, and 10. Dynamic Storage Accelerator unleashes the incredible performance of Solid State Drives (SSD) when multitasking.
Intel® Speed Shift Technology
  • Delivers quick responsiveness with single-threaded, transient (short duration) workloads, such as web browsing, by allowing the processor to more quickly select its best operating frequency and voltage for optimal performance and power efficiency.
Intel® High Definition Audio (Intel® HD Audio)
  • Integrated audio support enables premium digital surround sound and delivers advanced features such as multiple audio streams and jack re-tasking.
Intel® Smart Sound Technology (Intel® SST)
  • A dedicated audio Digital Signal Processor designed to process audio for media playback and voice for PC interactions like Cortana*, Nuance Dragon*, or Skype*. Enables long battery life while providing new usages and maintaining high-end audio playback.
Universal Serial Bus 3.0
  • Integrated USB 3.0 support enhances performance with a design data rate of up to 5 Gb/s with up to 6 USB 3.0 ports.
Universal Serial Bus 3.1 Gen 2
  • Integrated USB 3.1 Gen 2 support enhances performance with a design data rate of up to 10 Gb/s with up to 6 USB 3.1 Gen 2 ports
Serial ATA (SATA) 6 Gb/s
  • High-speed storage interface supporting up to 6 Gb/s transfer rates for optimal data access with up to 3 SATA 6 Gb/s ports.
SATA Port Disable
  • Enables individual SATA ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature helps provide added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through SATA ports.
PCI Express* 3.0 Interface
  • Offers up to 8 GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with support for up to 8 devices across 16 lanes configurable as x1, x2, and x4 depending on motherboard designs.
USB Port Disable
  • Enables individual USB ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature helps provide added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through USB ports.
Intel® Integrated 10/100/1000 MAC
  • Support for the Intel® Ethernet Connection I219-LM and I219-V.


Features Benefits
Intel® High Defenition Audio7 Integrated audio support enables premium digital surround sound and delivers advanced features such as multiple audio streams and jack re-tasking.
Intel® Smart Sound Technology7 A dedicated audio Digital Signal Processor designed to process audio for media playback and voice for PC interactions like Cortana*, Nuance Dragon*, or Skype*. Enables long battery life while providing new usages and maintaining high-end audio playback.
Universal Serial Bus 3.0 Integrated USB 3.0 support enhances performance with a design data rate of up to 5 gigabits per second (Gbps) with up to 6 USB 3.0 ports.8
Universal Serial Bus 2.0 Hi-Speed USB 2.0 support with a design data rate of up to 480 megabits per second (Mbps) with up to 6 USB 2.0 ports in Y-series and 10 USB 2.0 ports in U-series.8
Serial ATA (SATA) 6 Gb/s Next-generation high-speed storage interface supporting up to 6 Gb/s transfer rates for optimal data access with up to 2 SATA 6 Gb/s portsx in Y-series and 3 SATA 6 Gb/s ports9 in U-series. The PCH SATA controller also supports SATA 3 Gb/s and 1.5 Gb/s transfer capabilities.
eSATA SATA interface design for us with external SATA devices. Provides a link for 3 Gb/s data speeds to eliminate bottlenecks found with current external storage solutions.
SATA Port Disable Enables individual SATA ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through SATA ports. Especially targeted for eSATA ports.
PCI Express* 3.0 Interface Offers up to 5 GT/s for fast access to peripheral devices and networking with up to 12 lanes and 6 ports.x PCI Express ports can be configured as x1, x2, and x4 depending on motherboard designs.
USB Port Disable Enables individual USB ports to be enabled or disabled as needed. This feature provides added protection of data by preventing malicious removal or insertion of data through USB ports.
Intel® Integrated 10/100/1000 MAC Support for the Intel® I219LM and Intel® I219V Gigabit Network Connection
Green Technology Manufactured with lead-free and halogen-free component packages
Conflict Free “Conflict-free” means “DRC conflict-free”, which is defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission rules to mean products that do not contain conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and/or gold) that directly or indirectly finance or benefit armed groups in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or adjoining countries.