How long until a Haswell Series 7 Chronos?

I was thinking about this, and realized that with Haswell right around the corner, Samsung might not release a new Series 7 Chronos for a while.

The current 2013 Series 7 line has just been released, and there's not much point in doing a Haswell update when the current generation is still so new.

Ivy Bridge was released 3Q 2011, and the Ivy Bridge Series 7 laptops came out about 6 months later. Haswell is releasing later this quarter (Q2 2013), so would it be sensible to expect another update either late 2013 or early 2014?

This is all pure speculation and should not be taken seriously.

 

This would make sense...
Hopefully they'll also include facory configured WiFi AC !!! Now that Vizio has officially announced/released - as well as the fact that the soon coming MacBook Pro will, in fact, be equipped with Wifi AC !!!
Would also love to see an option for an NVIDIA GPU as well as as SSD option!
Finally, got to have at LEAST 8gb RAM (of the soldiered variety!!)

But who knows? They get everybody's attention at the CES show with the 'proper' ivybrige configuration then it's yet to be released (afaik)
Then that CES version is awful late coming out of the gates here...

 

Holiday season 2013.

 

There's a significant difference between release of a new CPU family and availability of the mobile chips in quantities sufficient to meet the needs of all the manufacturers. Getting good yields of chips which will run fast within the design power envelope usually needs a few tweaks to the process.

John

 

That'd be nice, though hopefully that sort of thing is just a wireless card away. I'm not too worried about that.

That seems like forever from now. But you're probably right.

I agree, and I hope ~7-9 months is sufficient in terms of a new CPU manufacturing ramp-up.
I am more wondering if Samsung's release schedule will accommodate such a change sooner than their apparent yearly releases. From what I can tell, the last Series 7 was released around April last year, too.

 

I would expect to see some Haswell-powered models in Q3. Last year, Samsung de-linked the chassis refresh from the Intel platform refresh by introducing the Series 7 "A" and Series 9 "B" models in Q1. They then did the board swaps in Q2 once they had the new chips. They are repeating the process this year for the Series 7 with the new "E" models.

John

 

I'm putting my money on mid-Q4 2013, maybe something like this:

- models are announced in July/August
- hands-on with demo builds in September
- frenzy grows, everybody wonders what the release date is
- initial estimates are October, but actual release (due to your garden-variety manufacturing issues of a new model) is more like early/mid November

I think (like John described) swapping the current Core i7 out of the newest Series 7 and dropping in a Haswell chip, while leaving the rest of the build intact, would result in a very competitive machine. My only two minor quibbles are (1) I hope they switch back to the black-colored keys, and (2) also swap back from AMD to NVIDIA GPU.

-Matt

 

november??!! so in another two months after that a newer model will be unveiled at ces2014 and it will again get outdated?? doesnt make sense to me....

 

Wow, this sounds fairly realistic, and I totally agree on the quibbles. Thanks for the perspective.

Well, if you look at the current generation, they'll be outdated in a couple months when Haswell is in full swing.

 

I think an official launch by the end of Q2 is possible, if only so it can go into Intel's quarterly results, with availability steadily increasing during Q3. The more powerful CPUs will likely be in supply constraint until production is running smoothly.

John

 

I agree that a Q4 release is problematic in light of a CES two months later. But remember: the models announced at CES (Samsung's anyway) are typically not available on the street for another 2 or 3 months after. For example, I don't think the NP780Z5E appeared at Best Buy US until early March. Roughly, I'd guess the goal is two major releases/updates per year, but like I noted, it seems that real life often intervenes and messes it up.

But like the OP I should note I'm just speculating at this point!

-Matt

 

It is a loooooooooooooooooong time away. Don't bet on a new S7 popping out anytime soon.

 

I've just noticed this Intel promotion. I would interpret it as a strong indication that no Haswell notebooks will be available before 30th June. And when Haswell does arrive, expect the new models to emerge in a trickle.

John

 

For Ivy, the full mobile roadmap was leaked in December 2011, the ulv chips were subsequently delayed with machines not available until June, bumped from March. AFAIK the haswell mobile roadmap is still unleaked, which suggests the release is not right around the corner. One would assume they would do everything possible to have the chips available by November for the holidays as haswell will have tablet vairants as well. Apple will probably get them first, but I wouldn't expect Samsung to be more than a week or two behind. Whether or not haswell will be the outstanding leap forward they claim remains to be seen, these ulvs already are pretty good power sippers. If there's a good deal on an ivy now I would go for it if the gpu will work for you.

 

Regarding power sippage, an issue that's piqued my interest is: I have one of the later NP700Z5C models, and get somewhere between 5-6 hours of battery life unplugged (more if I turn off wifi). What's really intrigued me are reports from owners of the newer NP8XXZ5E/NP7XXZ5E variants, who are talking about 10+ hours -- the catch is (IIRC) that it's the same CPU, more or less as the one I have. Admittedly, these are standard (not ULV) Ivy processors, but still that's pretty amazing to see. I can't believe it's due to dropping the optical drive on the newer model. Anyway, if it's true I'm really curious to see how the Haswell standard voltage processors will perform (battery-wise) in comparison.

-Matt

 

1. The Z5E series have a 91Whr battery while the Z5C is 80Whr.
2. I think Samsung claim 10 hrs for the Z5E which will probably translate to no more than 8 hrs in reality and probably, under your operating conditions, 6 to 7 hrs (ie increase in proportion to the extra capacity).
3. ULV CPUs have a lower power ceiling but there may not be much difference between normal and ULV CPUs in power drain when idle.

John

 

I think June 2nd is regarded as the Haswell release date.

Also I've noticed NotebookCheck's review hits 10hrs in its web browsing test. I wonder if the jump is from the lack of an ODD? The jump from 80 to 91Whr doesn't explain the whole battery life increase.

 

Intel’s Haswell 4th Generation Core Chips Set for June Release

 

haswell is coming before computex no doubt, haswell notebooks to be showcased at computex no doubt, but release date of haswell notebooks, no one knows...

 

Intel has been shipping Haswell chips to PC makers, so laptops expected right after the computex.

 

Hi guys! any news about an Ativ 8 (Chronos 7) samsung PC with Haswell refresh ? Thank you !

 

There's nothing in SW Update's database yet that suggests it is imminent.

There could be supply constraints for both the type of Haswell CPU (ie medium to upper mobile CPU range) and the top end AMD CPU that purchasers would expect to find in a new model.

John

 

I think he means AMD GPU*

 

Correct. At least someone reads my posts carefully.

John

 

Last weekend it happened to spoke with one person I know and he is working at Samsung HQ in NJ. He is in the SSD and Memory department and not in the computing, but he was fully aware of the Chronos 7 fiasco and the current Haswell idiotic situation.

The good and interesting news is that from their offices recently passed a 15 inch prototype laptop with Haswell i7, SSD and higher than 1080p display, he did mention AMD or nVIDIA GPU and similar to Chronos 7 design all dressed-up in black metal. So that screams the new ATIV Book 8 refresh (and not the rumored 15'' ATIV Book 9 Haswell refresh that is also pending).

The bad news, its just a prototype and he had no other info and absolutely no info for retail availability, last year they got a similar prototype with higher than 1080p display 15.6'' Series 7 for test as well, that never actually released.

If they actually release the refreshed ATIV Book 8 with higher than 1080p Screen, Haswell a good nVIDIA or AMD GPU and they offer a configuration with SSD and 16GB RAM, I couldn't ask for anything else really.

 

Wow, thanks for sharing that insight, nMIK-3.

 

What does he know about the Ativ Book 9? Will there be a non-touch or a 15" refresh?

 

Nothing more than what I already share. He was fully aware thought that Samsung is clinically and practically dead on the 15'' category at this point, with very limited models and all outdated with last generation processors.

 

Thank you for sharing that! I really don't know what to do at this point: I need a new laptop badly, I'm tired of using my brother's one when he doesn't need it! However, my final deadline to have a laptop in my hands is mid-late September (I have to move abroad for some months in late September). What do you guys think I should do? Should I buy an Ivy Bridge Ativ Book 8 with 8870 (available in my country) now, or keep waiting for the Haswell refresh? Do you think that hoping for good news coming this month would be naive?
I'm just terrified that 1 month after my purchase they will come out with the Haswell refresh, and then I'll probably regret my hurry to buy! Which is funny, because I'm waiting since May 2012

 

Firstly, whenever you buy a computer, there will always be something better in the pipeline.

Consider carefully what Haswell can offer you: The big battery in the Book 8 means that Haswell's better idle / low usage power efficiency is unlikely to be noticed unless you want to run on battery for 10 hours instead of 8. Haswell's power efficiency under load means that a 37W Haswell CPU will have similar performance to a 45W Ivy Bridge part ( notebookcheck's benchmark list makes comparison easy). However, it is likely that the faster Haswell parts will be in short supply / higher price until production is running smoothly whereas the Ivy Bridge CPUs are now more abundant and affordable. One possible benefit of Haswell is that it may be possible to simultaneously fully load the CPU and GPU while using a 90W PSU without any throttling (a problem that has been noticed by a few people who have been pushing their systems to the limit. If you don't fall into that group then it's not relevant).

Something you should consider is that Samsung are selling most of these notebooks with a relatively slow HDD. A DIY SSD upgrade will make the computer feel much faster in everyday usage than the difference between a dual and quad core CPU. If the Ivy Bridge Book 8 is reasonably priced then that with an SSD could be a prudent investment. Expect the new Haswell models, when they first arrive, to have inflated price tags.

John

 

Great analysis, John!

 

So in essence, buy now or wait for Broadwell or even Skylake architectures!?

 

Thank you for your opinion John, I'll consider it very seriously. To your knowledge, is there any laptop actually on the market with Haswell processors? I ask this because I'd like to see if there is a real and noticeable gain in battery life, and this would help me to decide

 

This review at anandtech is very informative and notebookcheck have reviewed a Haswell-powered Asus. There may be other reviews around but both these make useful comparisons with their Ivy Bridge predecessors.

John

 

Thank you for the links, it was an interesting reading. From what I've read in Anandtech's review, it appears that touchscreen is a requirement for haswell notebooks... Is it correct? Or did I misunderstand the chart on page 1?

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

Touchscreen may be an Intel requirement but how diligently Samsung (and other notebook manufacturers) will adhere to that remains to be seen. Touchscreen won't make so much sense (not that it ever did) when Microsoft have already accepted that not all notebook users want to spend their lives leaving finger-prints over their screens.

Samsung are offering the AMD-powered Book 9 Lite in both touch and non-touch versions (the latter being significantly cheaper) and might be planning to use the sales figures for those models to make a commercial decision about non-touch Haswell notebooks.

It's not often that potential customers look forward to the release of new notebooks with such trepidation, but this seems to be one of those occasions. And then manufacturers wonder why their sales graphs are heading the wrong way!

John

 

Oh ok, thank you. I asked because if that was the case then I would have to buy now, because I want a matte display, but maybe it's better to keep waiting.

Edit: Maybe it's just for laptops named "Ultrabook": Engadget (I know, it's a pretty old article, but I've read it anyway..)

 

Two Samsung events are scheduled for early September, 4th and 5th to be specific.
According to the Verge the second event schedule for the morning of September 5th, will most likely focus on Windows 8 laptops.

 

Hope they announce the refresh or at least clear things up, just to know if waiting is still worth it

 

Did you find any other source (other than TheVerge) about the Samsung event of 5th September? I can only find references to the 4th September for the new Galaxy

 

No love for notebook users by Samsung at IFA 2013 smartphone, watch, household appliances...everything but computers Guess I'm gonna go for the Ivy Bridge then!

 

I'm in the same position. I'm looking for a laptop with:
Top end Haswell processor
8Gb RAM
256Gb SSD
15 inch 1920x1200 screen (or 1920 x 1080 at a pinch)
Backlit keyboard
Good looking and well built (subjective, but some are soooo ugly)
8 hour battery life.

There does not appear to be anything on the market that hits all these points. I'm very reluctant to buy an Ivy Bridge Samsung without an SSD, but it's the closest there is. Any other suggestions?

 

No, for Haswell you need to wait some more, maybe 1-2 months... I've ordered the 870Z5E today

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

You have been incredibly patient, alfling. I am sure you will be happy with this

 

Yeah, I was going crazy waiting for this beauty! When I finally ordered it, I couldn't help but choosing the 1-day shipping

Sent from HTC HD2 with Tapatalk

 

Ah, so the 870Z5E ATIV Book 8 is the same but re-branded name for the Chronos 7? Samsung's page is highly confusing with 26 similar looking & numbered versions: High Performance Notebook Computers | Mobile Computers | Laptops - SAMSUNG UK

 

This is a question that comes up every two weeks It depends on the country you buy it: here in Italy, 870 and 880 have 8GB RAM soldered and 1 free module (while 770 and 780 have a 4+4 GB RAM configuration and are "Bare Metal"). Besides, 870 and 880 here come in two versions: X01IT (with Windows 8, "Mineral Ash Black" colour) and X04IT (with Windows 8 Pro, "Bare Metal" colour).
In other countries there might be some differences, like 4+4 RAM instead of 8+0, or AMD HD8770M vs AMD HD8870M.
Anyway, no matter what country you buy it from, the 2013 models codes are 770Z5E, 780Z5E (touchscreen), 870Z5E and 880Z5E (touchscreen). If you need further informations about differences between Chronos 7 and ATIV 8 I'd suggest to search in the Owner's Lounge; if you don't find them, then you might have more luck asking there, since there are many users who bought it in the UK.

 

GIGABYTE - Notebook & Netbook - Notebook & Netbook - P series - P35K

gigabyte-p35k - a set on Flickr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMMfmGEmIas

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gigabyte/720395-new-gigabyte-p35k.html

 

Ditto. Haswell 4702QM, sata + m-pcie + odd, 1080p or better, 16GB RAM, 4.5lbs or less, thunderbolt dock with 4k support. I think I must be dreaming.

 

DING! We may have a winner. Thanks for that. Preview looks good. Now to wait and see what the avilibility & price are like.
Gigabyte Ultrablade P35K review - hands on | Expert Reviews