The Mobile World Congress (MWC) typically serves as a platform for Intel to announce new vPro processors, renowned for their heightened security features. This year, the manufacturer unveiled the Core Ultra mobile processors (Meteor Lake) under the vPro series.
Over the years, Intel has tweaked their vPro platform, shifting from hardware-specific features to software elements to stand out in terms of enhanced security against various cyber threats.
Intel claims that all models in the Core Ultra series support vPro functions. The chips are split into two subcategories. The vPro Essentials subcategory is designed for small businesses employing up to 20 people. In contrast, vPro Enterprise models are intended for large corporations with extensive notebook usage and rely heavily on Intel’s advanced security system. Both models are equipped with Intel Hardware Shield technology to protect software systems running on Windows.
Note that the vPro mobile series only includes the Meteor Lake-U and Meteor Lake-H models. The updated Raptor Lake Refresh mobile chips (14th generation Core) are not featured in Intel’s corporate processor lineup.
However, the exclusivity of the vPro platform only extends to this generation’s mobile processor segment from Intel. In the desktop space, the manufacturer provides the Raptor Lake Refresh-S processors with enhanced security. This series only includes certain 14th generation Core models, specifically, four T-series models with 35W power consumption, four Core-S chips with TDP 65W, and four Core-S processors with TDP 125W.
The new vPro processors offer wider support for artificial intelligence technologies, adapted for everyday corporate tasks such as team collaboration. Other key advantages include improved performance, enhanced security, efficiency in content creation, and affordability.
Intel claims that the new vPro processors are 36% more energy-efficient than their predecessors and guarantee a 47% performance boost compared to PCs of the last three years. They also provide up to 2.2 times higher performance in AI-related tasks when compared to Intel Core 13th generation processors, which use Movidius VPU AI blocks. Wi-Fi 7 and AV1 encoding and decoding support are also included.
According to Intel, approximately 100 various systems featuring the new vPro processors will be introduced to the market by different manufacturers. They are expected to go on sale within this quarter.
