Intel Kaby Lake refresh on track for late 2017 launch

Although the slow launch of Kaby Lake has yet to be completed, rumors are already swarming about the successor to the series. The next Core ix-8000 platform is expected to use a similar 14 nm fabrication process as Skylake and Kaby Lake processors due to low production yields from current 10 nm manufacturing technology. This would fall in line with recent reports from both TMSC and Samsung on the ongoing struggle and potential delay related to the 10 nm consumer processors.

According to the source, Kaby Lake processors will continue to launch for mobiles and laptops whereas its Coffee Lake successor could be exclusively for desktops. Of course, there's no stopping barebones manufacturers like Clevo from incorporating desktop Coffee Lake CPUs onto a notebook form factor. A hexa-core Coffee Lake processor could be in the works for a launch late next year.

Intel is in a position to either hasten or delay its Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors in response to AMD's new Ryzen platform. Both manufacturers are expected to make announcements regarding their respective CPU lineups this coming CES 2017.

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