Any information on next generation Haswell based Latitudes?

My Comment wasn't based on battery life. My wish for a SV cpu and questioning why they can't fit a 28w or 35w cpu into the 7440 when they can fit a 35 watt into the smaller E6220. My current main portable is a E6220 with i7-2620M which is a 35 watt cpu. I have 16gb ram and 512gb ssd. I'm the only sys admin for my company and support about 150 virtual servers plus nearly a petabyte of SAN storage. I have 3 24" dell U24xx monitors connected to my E6220 and run several VM's on it for testing as well as around 20 to 30 RDP sessions concurrently usually.

I find the lack of ability to expand beyond 16gb ram, and limited to 2 cpu cores is preventing me from working more efficiently. Often I have to wait several minutes for the system to catch up to me.

Ideally if they can build an ultrabook the size of the E7440 but use a quad core and have ability to expand to 32gb ram, accept both an 2.5" SSD and a msata SSD (one for os/apps, one for VM), that would be perfect.
I can't go to a bigger/heavier system due to having had back surgery and not being able to carry heavy items (yes even 2 or 3 more pounds makes a huge difference)(Since I'm the only admin and we're responsible for the state's emergency response team, I'm on call 24x7 and have to basically carry a backpack with my laptop with me everywhere I go). there are other vendors that makes systems closer to what I need, but we're an all dell shop so I can't get anything else other than Dell.

 

Even though battery life may not be a concern for you, Dell would have trouble marketing an ultrabook with 4 hours of battery life when the competition is 8+ hours. That's the main reason why you're unlikely to see the E7440 with a 28W CPU, and I certainly wouldn't count on a quad-core ultrabook.

If you have a decent WLAN or WWAN connection, perhaps an E7440 with remote access to a server might work? It sounds like you need an ultraportable server.

 

Yea, I've made peace with the fact that this will be a 15W part. I'm hoping the i7-4600U will have a 1.8-2.0ghz base frequency with a 3.3ghz turbo, to make up for the loss of HD5000 graphics vs the i7-4650U. If so, it should compare a bit more favorably to the Ivy Bridge chips. It won't be a major upgrade, but a heck of a lot faster than the i5 520M in my e6410...

 

Of course they could still market an 8 hour battery life if they wanted to. They always have fine print. It could state something like 8HR battery life only available with ULT processor options. SV processors will have up to 4 HR battery life. or something similar. Or their usual "battery life may vary with configuration and usage".

I do have access to a server farm with dozens of E5-2670 8 core CPU's and over 2TB of RAM, but some things are easier to configure/test locally then through the WAN/VPN.

 

So I found some (at least what I consider) good news on the E7440 front. Dell's China website lists some of the actual specs of the (unreleased) processors:

Latitude 7000 Series 14-inch Ultrabook | Dell China mainland

Latitude 7000

Specifically:

The fourth generation Intel ® Core ™ i3-4010U processor (1.7 GHz, 3M cache)
The fourth generation Intel ® Core ™ i5-4300U processor (1.9 GHz, 4M Cache)
The fourth generation Intel ® Core ™ i5-4200U processor (1.6 GHz, 3M cache)
The fourth generation Intel ® Core ™ i7-4600U processor (2.1 GHz, 4M Cache)

The 2.1ghz of the i7-4600U had been anecdotaly confirmed by the tech manual which refers to i7 as "Core i7: 1.7G ~ 2.1G Depending on CPU", however I was fearful that was referencing a future Haswell CPU after the 4600U. For me at least, the step down of HD5000 graphics to HD4400 from the i7-4650U to the i7-4600U is more than made up for by the step up in base frequency from 1.7ghz to 2.1ghz; that's much better than I was hoping. Assuming the turbo frequencies stay the same (around 3.3ghz for single core and 3ghz for dual core), then we are looking at a CPU SKU which exceeds the performance of Ivy Bridge ULV parts in every way. Sure it is not as major a step forward graphics wise as the HD5000 parts, but it is still better graphics than HD4000 AND does not suffer the cpu performance drawbacks of the 4650U and the like. I never really was a fan of the claim that the IPC of Haswell was so much better that the drastically reduced base frequencies were acceptable. It was amusing looking at some of the MacBook Air reviews (the most readily available Haswell Ultrabook at the moment), and comparing how they broached the fact that by and large these were slower than last years models. The high turbo clocks mask this for certain activities, but the low TDP and high graphics just kill the available cpu when confronted with even moderate processing requirements.

Net-net, if the 4600U is the spiritual successor to the i7-3687U (the fastest Ivy Bridge ULV part), as this seems to confirm, with basically the same frequencies but lower TDP and higher IPC, then we should have a very compelling chip on our hands. I'd probably still prefer a 6 cell battery and 28w part with HD5000 graphics, but this is a very close second. It certainly makes the e7440 better than the e6430U in just about every way.

 

Good to see a 2.1ghz i7. Dell's spec's say up to HD5000 graphics, yet none of those 4 processors have anything more than HD4400. So I'm wondering if they plan a future upgrade with HD5000 graphics.

But still ideally it would be nice to get the i7-4558U with its 2.8ghz dual core and iris 5100 graphics. Too bad these are likely to be soldered on and not socketed cpu's so can't replace them.

 

I'm wondering if there are perhaps supply constraints on the i7-4650Us right now. (Apple sucking them all up; Apple loves to pay up front for first dibs on supplier's stock...). If you look at other Haswell ultrabooks such as the Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus, the best available CPU is the i5 SKU so far. The technical manual statement of "Core i7: 1.7G ~ 2.1G Depending on CPU" leads me to believe that a 4650U may be an option at some point, since that would match the 1.7ghz i7. Of course I'd still likely pick the 2.1ghz 4600U.

 

they sure are taking their sweet time with the 1080p upgrade and the i5

 

1080p (non-touch screen) is available and i5 is also available. Been available since the first day, at least on the premier site. 1080p touch screen and i7 probably won't be available till end of the year though.

 

Oh premier site, always hiding the options us mere mortals can't order just yet

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