Intel Report: Haswell Battery Life vs. Ivy Bridge 50% Better?

Expect Intel’s (INTC) soon-to-be-unwrapped Haswell processor to deliver some 50 percent more battery life and sustain as much as 20 times longer in standby or idle mode without any performance degradation as compared to current Ivy Bridge chips, according to the company. The chip is expected to power the next generation of Windows, Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) Chrome OS-based machines.

If Haswell also delivers twice the graphics performance on notebooks, as Intel claims, will the upcoming chip be enough to perk up the dismal notebook market, perhaps grabbing back some sales lost to tablets? And, is this the quantum leap Intel vowed to bring with this next generation of processors? Or, is it too little too late for notebooks?

Rani Borkar, Intel Architecture Group general manager and corporate vice president, said that Haswell’s main focus is on cutting power consumption, a key factor in laptop and tablet chip design, according to a Computerworld report. Borkar said that Intel has given a nod to tablets as well with the Haswell chips in reducing power consumption to a level lower than Ivy Bridge, yet providing similar battery life as tablets powered by rival chips at a higher level of performance, according to the report. 

There’s a lot on the line with Haswell’s debut, which is expected to occur at the June 4-8 Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan. Haswell’s buzz, which Intel has fueled in recent months, undoubtedly will receive some additional energy when some top PC manufacturers showcase notebooks, hybrids and tablets based on the chip.

With Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 8 operating system struggling thus far to give PCs and notebooks a sales boost, Haswell may be the catalyst that helps arrest the segment’s slide and moves the needle northward. And, Intel’s timing to release the update may be spot on as well. According to a report in Taiwan’s DigiTimes and picked up by Computerworld, touch screens, as enabled by Windows 8, may be gaining some ground. DigiTimes references data from IHS-owned Displaybank that 10 percent of the 46 million notebooks shipped in Q1 2013 featured touchscreens, a penetration level that manufacturers such as Acer, ASUS and Lenovo expect to exceed as the year progresses, the report said.

According to Borkar, as detailed in this CNET report, Haswell’s improvements include:

Will notebook makers go all in on Haswell and Windows 8 to snatch the market back from tablets?