Intel's 28W Ice Lake processors are apparently exclusive to Apple's MacBook Pros

Last August, Intel finally detailed its 10th-generation 'Ice Lake' lineup, delivering a 10nm CPU after years of delays. Along with the typical Y-series CPUs and 15W U-series CPUs, there was one 28W U-series processor, the Core i7-1068G7. It would seem that things have change though, as spotted by Tom's Hardware.

First of all, the Core i7-1068G7 is no longer listed on Intel's ARK website. Instead, there are actually two new 28W chips, the Core i5-1038NG7, which is completely new, and a modified Core i7-1068NG7. These are the processors used in Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro PCs.

Apple is no stranger to getting its own custom processors from Intel. The MacBook Air that the company introduced in late 2018 came with a Core i5-8210Y, a 7W processor while the Core i5-8200Y that everyone else got was 5W. The same goes for this year's MacBook Air, which gets special 10W Ice Laky Y parts (Core i7-1060NG7 and Core i5-1030NG7) while everyone else can get 9W Ice Lake Y.

The bad news is that with the Core i7-1068G7 being gone, that means that Apple is the only company offering a PC with a 28W U-series processor, something that can be used for powerful ultrabooks. This isn't particularly surprising though. With Intel's eighth-generation lineup, the CPUs with Iris Plus Graphics had a 28W TDP, and Windows OEMs didn't make use of them anyway.