Intel 12th gen vPro branches into four distinct platforms across Windows and Chrome, Control Flow Enforcement now coming to desktops for the first time

Now that the Intel 12th gen Alder Lake family is available across desktop and mobile, Intel today announced vPro versions of these processors aimed at securing new working modalities. Intel is expanding vPro to include distinct capabilities based on the platform.

This time, vPro is branching out into vPro Enterprise for Windows, vPro Essentials, vPro Enterprise for Chrome, and vPro Evo Design. Intel said that each category offers a set of comprehensive platform security features across the entire computing stack from the hardware to the firmware and ultimately to the OS and apps.

Of these, vPro Enterprise for Windows is the most complete offering focused towards large enterprises while vPro Essentials is targeted more towards small and medium enterprises. vPro Enterprise for Chrome is geared towards enterprises deploying Chromebooks. Intel is offering vPro in Evo designs that leverage the guaranteed device experience and performance metrics in the new Evo 3 platform.

vPro is generally available only up to the Core i5s of the generation. The Core i9, Core i7, and Core i5 SKUs across Alder Lake U9, U15, P28, and H45 TDPs across laptops and 35 W, 65 W, and 125 W TDPs in the desktop segment are offered in vPro variants alongside their consumer counterparts.

On the Windows side, notable vPro features include:

• Microsoft Secured-core PC compliance
• Dynamic root of trust
• OS reporting
• System management mode protection
• Intel Control Flow Enforcement Technology (CET) — now for the first time on desktops with 12th gen CPUs
• Intel Threat Detection Technology (TDT) — hardware-based ransomware detection that works with compatible antivirus software for anomalous behavior detection
• Intel Total Memory Encryption-Multi Key (TME-MK) 
• Intel Virtualization Technology with Redirect Protection (VT-rp)
• Hardware support for next wave OS virtualization support pending a future Windows update
• Enhancements to Intel chipsets for fault injection detection

Intel said that more than 150 vPro designs can be expected this year including ones conforming to Evo. These designs will feature eligible 12th gen processors, Intel Wi-Fi 6E and Connectivity Performance Suite, support for ECC memory, and Thunderbolt 4.

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