At this moment, Intel is experiencing the fiercest competitive situation in the past decade, not only AMD, but also the M1 chip from Apple, and even the notebook chip made by Qualcomm for Windows on Arm, all of which have challenged Intel, which has been riding the dust.
While the Silicon Valley giant has always been known for more than 60 years of its history as "how lonely it is to be invincible," if you look at it more microscopically, there is no company that has not experienced storms, and Intel is no exception. The secret of the evergreen foundation may lie in how to treat partners and look at competition.
On the eve of Intel's launch of the 12th generation Core processor and the announcement of the third edition of the Athena Plan specification, Aifan interviewed Josh Newman, vice president of Intel Corporation's Client Computing Division & General Manager of Mobile Innovation. Josh rarely speaks out, but his products reach hundreds of millions of users.
From his early involvement in designing several generations of Pentium processors, to later designing and validating Wi-Fi products for centrino platforms, to now responsible for the Intel Evo platform, Josh has spent all of his current career at Intel, where much of his time has been devoted to the mobility of computers.
Today's notebooks can already achieve more than ten hours of battery life, playing large games under the weight of more than 1Kg... When battery life and performance exceed the requirements of "reliable and easy to use", what should we consider when it comes to mobile office entertainment?
▲ Josh Newman
Pay attention to the quality of video calls, pay attention to the charging interface, pay attention to what users need and will need
Intel Evo Certification is Intel's notebook certification standard for mobile experts, created by Intel engineers and leading hardware and software industry partners to ensure notebooks have a super thin and light experience. The first version of the Evo platform certification specification can be summarized by "fast, long, dazzling", that is, the performance response is fast, the endurance is long, the appearance is dazzling, and after the third version of the specification, there are many interesting details.
For example, at the battery and endurance level, only long battery life and fast charging were previously required: more than 9 hours of real use time, and half an hour of charging to ensure 4 hours of battery life; to the third version of the specification, the new fast charging interface must be a USB Type-C interface.
Will Intel tube be too wide and too thin?
Josh told Aifan:
Every year, we raise the bar, mainly due to the changing needs of mobile experts.
We've found USB Type-C charging to be a valuable feature because when you're traveling, you'll probably carry a USB Type-C charger with you so you can charge your laptop, phone, or even watch. But if you're using an older charger that can only charge your laptop, you'll also need to bring an extra phone charger or watch charger.
This standard makes a meaningful difference for mobile experts, enabling them to take as few things as possible when they go out and stay productive wherever they are.
In essence, the starting point of the details of the Evo platform certification specification is not to focus on Intel's own interests, or the interests of manufacturers, but to give priority to user needs. Users want a charger to charge all devices, and the Evo platform adds the interface specification. In fact, that's how the Evo platform came about, Josh says:
We see a lot of laptops on the market, some of which may be really good, but there are some models that have problems with heat, noise, and short battery life. There are also some that may have a longer battery life but not high performance.
Users expect PCs with superior performance, long battery life, fast charging, and good connectivity expansion. They want laptops to meet all of these demands. So we set out to develop the Evo platform to meet these needs. This actually involves two levels. First, it's a joint innovation project. Intel sends its best engineers to work with PC OEMs and system manufacturers. Second, we ensure that the final product meets these new and demanding standards through specification and test verification to meet the most important needs of people. We started the Evo platform with this in mind: because we knew people needed laptops like this.
While we do not manufacture end products, we influence end products in a way that we develop them in close cooperation with all system manufacturers and ensure that these products are validated to meet the stringent Standards of Intel Evo.
If you have purchased an Evo platform notebook for nearly two years, when you conduct online meetings, you will obviously feel that the audio and video capabilities of your computer are stronger than other computers.
In the video interview with Josh, although we were separated by more than 10,000 kilometers, the voice quality of the video on his side was the best in the conference room. It was only when I interviewed Josh about the Evo platform that I realized the value of Evo platform certification.
There was a previous passage that said that half the time in a video conference was spent on "Hello? I didn't hear it clearly just now, can I repeat it?" And "your signal is not good, exit and come in again" spent, there are network problems, there are hardware and software problems. Since the second edition of the Athena Plan specification, online collaboration and video calling have become the top priority of specification testing, because in the past two or three years, the scene of collaborating with online documents on notebooks and meeting with video conferencing software has exploded.
But not all computers are prepared for this, in addition to the notebook's own processor, sound card and graphics card capabilities, AI capabilities are essential for call noise reduction and video rendering. To that end, Intel offers a variety of software tools to help partners optimize the video calling experience on Evo platform certified notebooks. Josh says:
Whether you use software from Microsoft, Zoom, or Tencent, when it passes through our middleware, it uses the best hardware to reduce noise in the most efficient and high-quality way possible.
From the underlying software that talks to the hardware, to the cloud services that enable mobile artists to seamlessly connect and communicate great experiences, it's a complete software stack. This software stack helps them stay in good shape, always ready, and adapted to their needs in a variety of scenarios. So investing in software is very important, and it's only going to get even more important with the times and technology.
Not all notebooks are Evo certified, but all notebooks benefit from it
"Wide management" and "strict management" are the superficial perceptions of Intel Evo platform authentication, even if they know that it is based on user needs and continuous evolution, but most people still underestimate its value.
If you send an Evo platform certified sticker to every notebook with the latest i5 or i7 processors, the cost of Intel for this is negligible. However, behind the "wide pipe" and "strict management", Intel opens its laboratories in California, Shanghai, China and Taiwan to OEMs and supply chain manufacturers free of charge, in order to make the whole machine and parts meet the Evo platform certification specifications, the entire supply chain is undergoing related polishing and debugging.
In the Evo platform project, Intel has invested tens of thousands of software and hardware engineers, and the free laboratories in the three places are also very expensive. But in Josh's opinion, the investment is well worth it. He gave a simple example to Aifaner: In the initial test of Evo's first version of the specification, they mainly used Netflix and Amazon shopping to test, which is reasonable for the US lab, but this can not give feedback on the experience of local users in China, because the Chinese lab found that the latency of these sites is very exaggerated. Therefore, more localized testing is required in laboratories on the Chinese side. Of course, this also requires Intel to establish a laboratory in China.
The Evo platform certification specification condenses the millions of hours of precision work of Intel engineers, based on real use environment tests, through 25 tasks, 200 tests and 150 certification indicators of verification test, almost all notebook parts can not escape its assessment.
In Intel's Evo platform certification laboratory, there are more than a dozen OEMs, more than a dozen screen suppliers, more than five battery suppliers, and more than 1500 parts tested here, which is a high-elimination audition. Taking the screen as an example, the first two rounds of specification selection and special testing alone have a elimination rate of close to 50%, not to mention the subsequent whole machine test and other links.
Josh said that when the Evo Platform Certification Lab was first built in 2018, it began to test the responsiveness and power consumption of notebooks, and hoped that the power consumption of SSDs, screens and memory would meet the specifications. But Intel found that some SSDs have high power consumption, and the reason for the problem is simple, that is, SSD suppliers do not know that it is important to optimize power consumption. When the Evo Platform Certification Lab responded to this problem, the vendor resolved the issue quickly and easily. Josh says:
We're working on major improvements to the overall laptop experience — just by helping the industry test and identify issues, we can lead to a better laptop experience. That's why we value open labs so much.
That said, not only Evo-certified notebooks will benefit, but the entire industry will benefit.
Wang Zhongxian, senior manager of Lianyang Semiconductor, who previously produced Embedded Controllers, once told the media such as Aifan'er that the current products will definitely find ways to meet the certification standards of Intel Evo and take this as the highest principle. First, because the open laboratory is a rare place to achieve win-win cooperation between the three parties, the components of Lianyang Semiconductor can be tuned to the best working mode here; second, the components have passed the Evo platform certification and are a good marketing promotion resource.
There are countless laptops with Intel processors every year, but very few are certified for the Evo platform. But EVO certification is like a top martial arts secret book, you can't learn the whole book, only learn one and a half moves, and you may also dominate one side.
For example, the Evo platform certification laboratory wants to obtain a larger screen with a smaller size, which requires the notebook to implement a narrow bezel design, but it also makes it difficult to place the antenna. Intel then worked together through the platform to reduce the space occupied by the antenna to the original 10%, thus solving the contradiction between the narrow bezel and the antenna placement, and achieving the effect of having a 14-inch screen in a 13-inch body.
Nowadays, narrow-bezel notebooks abound, not every one of them has passed the Evo platform certification, and there are countless similar examples: help OEMs choose low-power screens, reduce screen power consumption from 2W to 1W, and increase battery life by at least 20%; help an OEM improve active/passive cooling technology, reduce the size of the product's motherboard by 18%, increase cooling capacity by 28%, and increase battery life by 20%.....
All of these efforts and achievements in order to be certified by the Evo platform will not be in vain. Here, the word "open" in open labs also has another meaning.
▲ An Evo notebook with 360-degree rotation and support for touch screen and stylus
Stay optimistic about the competition and keep an eye on the future
Global PC shipments reached 348.8 million units in 2021, the best year since 2012, and the same is true for Evo platform notebooks. In August last year, the cumulative sales of Evo platform notebooks in China had exceeded Intel's target of 50% at the beginning of the year.
Josh told Aifan that China is now the largest market for notebooks on the Evo platform and the fastest growing market.
The reason for this can basically be summarized by "two-way rushing": consumers resonate with the Evo platform's value proposition of "staying focused, always ready, and actively adapting", and are willing to spend more than budget to buy Evo platform notebooks; on the other hand, Intel works together with OEMs and supply chains to reduce the cost and price of products.
But the competition never stops.
The MacBook with M1 series chips has also achieved great success in the market with high performance, low heat and long battery life, whether in terms of price or type, Evo platform notebooks will inevitably be compared. Regarding the challenges posed by another brand and another system versus another chip product, Josh says:
The wide choice is a very powerful advantage for mobile experts. The open ecosystem and the wide selection of Evo devices are Evo's unique innovations, and the choice of devices equipped with the M1 chip is very limited. What we're building is innovation across the ecosystem. We are proud and confident in the performance of 12th Generation Core processors for gaming, productivity, creativity, and superior battery life.
Among the many Evo laptops, there are many styles that look and perform very similarly to the MacBook on the M1, with extraordinary performance, battery life, and beautiful design. However, there are many models in the Evo laptop camp that offer higher performance, a larger screen, longer battery life, and even options for OLED displays.
To reiterate, a rich choice is really important. Devices equipped with the M1 chip do not provide users with many important options. There's no touchscreen on the MacBook, and there's no 360° flip screen option, which MacBook can't meet if you value laptop multi-form and versatility. Evo products offer surprising value, allowing users to choose the device they expect, using more hardware from the open ecosystem and software in Windows. Can you see how many games you can play on a Windows notebook and how many are on your MacBook? These are just some of the advantages of Evo and related technologies.
Last year, Intel did a survey, in the user who has considered the MacBook but finally purchased the Evo platform notebook, most of them are more likely to prefer Windows open systems and software, of course, there are various needs and preferences on hardware, which also confirms Josh's statement that openness and diversity are the advantages of the Evo platform notebook.
▲ A variety of Evo platform notebooks
Inside Windows, there is actually competition from Qualcomm, not long ago Qualcomm executives said that the PC industry migration to Windows on Arm is the trend of the times, and Microsoft is also optimizing the Windows on Arm experience. Josh also talks about competition:
Competition is always a good thing because it accelerates innovation.
Some people say that Qualcomm's Windows notebook or Windows on Arm notebook has longer battery life and better connectivity, and I think this statement needs to be looked at very carefully. Many Evo laptops also offer battery life and 5G options comparable to Windows on Arm notebooks, but with 11th or 12th Generation Core processors, they offer even more performance.
In his view, better compatibility with the old version of Windows, the same battery life and better performance under the connection, is the advantage of the Evo platform notebook, in short, Windows on Arm notebook can do things, Evo platform notebook can also do, and do better, but vice versa does not hold.
"Do better" is actually an underlying logic of Evo, not only to do better than competitors, but also to do better than their previous self, after all, Evo originated from Evolution, which is the meaning of continuous evolution. This also explains why Evo is constantly releasing new versions of the specification, constantly paying attention to the latest user needs, and also requiring it to keep an eye on the future.
Performance and endurance are always the focus of the Evo platform to continue to pay attention to, and video collaboration is the new need, but the future of mobile office, may not be the notebook of a single fight, multi-device collaboration is the future trend, but also the next focus of Evo platform certification, Josh to Love Fan spoilers said:
The third area we're looking into is the future of multi-device experiences. Mobile gurus want their devices to work seamlessly. When they're doing deeply focused work with their laptops, they also want to use the tablet as a second screen to receive messages and notifications from their laptops. They allow mobile experts to focus on their work while quickly responding to notifications and messages.
All of this has to work together seamlessly, and pairing a Bluetooth headset with other devices must be as simple as pairing with a phone and being able to switch between laptop and phone. So as we look to the future Evo specification, these multi-device experiences are a big focus in addition to mobile performance and video collaboration.
This is another extension of Evo platform certification, and at the same time, its foundation building process has never stopped, and the 12th generation Core mobile processor designed for notebook computers not only uses a hybrid CPU architecture, but also adds a quasi-standard voltage processor P series, which is a new product line between the standard high-performance H series and the low-voltage low-power U series, designed to balance performance and power consumption, giving OEMs and users more choice.
Evolution is the essence of Evo, the secret to its competitiveness, and the value proposition behind all its actions.
Natural selection, survival of the fittest, Evolution is the only answer to survive the competition, but this answer is explained through countless actions, these actions are the new hybrid architecture, is the new Core P series, is to focus on the entire supply chain and partners to tune each component together, but also to improve the effect of video conferencing and the convenience of Connecting with Bluetooth headsets...