Intel has announced its next-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processor family (codename Cooper Lake) will offer customers up to 56 processor cores per socket and built-in AI training acceleration in standard socketed Intel Xeon Scalable processor offerings with availability starting in the first half of 2020. The breakthrough platform performance delivered within the high-core-count Cooper Lake processors will leverage the capabilities built into the Intel Xeon Platinum 9200 series.

The Apple Mac Pro features Xeon processors up to 28 cores, with 64 PCI Express lanes for performance and bandwidth. It provides over 300W of power. The Mac Pro features a six-channel memory architecture, 12 physical DIMM slots for up to 1.5TB of memory. It is also equipped with a graphics card with up to 56 teraflops of graphics performance in a single system. Its graphics expansion architecture, the Apple MPX Module, features Thunderbolt integration and over 500W of power. The Mac Pro's graphics options start with the Radeon Pro 580X and can be upgraded to two Vega II Duos for a 56 teraflops of graphics performance and 128GB of video memory.

Intel has introduced the new Intel Xeon D-2100 processor, a system-on-chip (SoC) processor architected to address the needs of edge applications and other data center or network applications constrained by space and power. The Intel Xeon D-2100 processor extends the Xeon Scalable platform from the heart of the data center to the network edge and web tier, where network operators and cloud service providers face the need to continuously grow performance and capacity without increasing power consumption, said the vendor. Intel Xeon D-2100 processors will enable greater performance and hardware-enhanced security to the network edge in support of the growing number of workloads that demand more compute, analytics and data protection closer to endpoint devices. For example, the new processors will help communications service providers CoSPs offer multi-access edge computing (MEC), which allows software applications to tap into local content and real-time information about local-access network conditions, reducing mobile core network of network congestion. This can enable uses cases ranging from 5G-connected cars, smart stadiums, and retail and medical solutions, said Intel.