Intel expands the scope of vPro processors with the 12th-gen lineup

Today, Intel is announcing the latest for vPro, its hardware-based security solution. Most of the 12th-gen lineup has already been revealed, but we’re getting all of the details today. There are now different vPro categories: Intel vPro Enterprise, Intel vPro Enterprise for Chrome, Intel vPro Essentials, and Intel vPro – An Intel Evo Design.

Intel vPro Enterprise is the vPro we’ve always known, while Intel vPro – An Intel Evo Design is for laptops that combine vPro with the Evo spec, meaning that it meets the standard for modern PCs. Intel vPro Enterprise for Chrome is pretty self-explanatory, as it brings this kind of security to Chromebook Enterprise laptops. And finally, Intel vPro Essentials is a brand-new option aimed at small to medium size businesses (SMBs) instead of larger enterprises.

For Windows devices, we have vPro Enterprise and vPro Essentials, and there are actually different families of processors that support each one. For both, there’s Intel Hardware Shield, which gets you things like dynamic root of trust, OS reporting, and more options for SMM operations. Also, while Intel Control Flow Enforcement Technology was offered in mobile chips with the previous generation, it’s coming to desktop processors now.

Also, Intel Threat Detection Technology is getting better. The company said that AV software that uses it will be better. Next up is Intel Total Memory Encryption – Multi-Key (TME-MK) and Intel Virtualization Technology are there for OS virtualization, offering more security.

For vPro Essentials, you’ll get Intel Standard Manageability, which supports out-of-band management over Wi-Fi. For Enterprise, there’s Active Management Technology, which is a superset of that.

For Chromebooks, Intel’s vPro processors will offer things like TME-MK and Intel Key Locker for storing encryption keys. Considering the push for Chromebooks into the enterprise space, this is just the start.

As for processor SKUs, Intel is offering both vPro Enterprise and vPro Essentials at all tiers in Core i5 through i9 configurations. These are the SKUs for vPro Enterprise:

Core i5-1240U
Core i7-1260U
Core i5-1245U
Core i7-1265U
Core i5-1250P
Core i7-1270P
Core i7-1280P
Core i5-12600H
Core i7-12800H
Core i9-12900H
Core i5-12500T
Core i5-12600T
Core i7-12700T
Core i9-12900T
Core i5-12500
Core i5-12600
Core i7-12700
Core i9-12900
Core i5-12600K
Core i7-12700K
Core i9-12900K

vPro Essentials is available on the following SKUs:

Core i5-1230U
Core i7-1250U
Core i5-1235U
Core i7-1255U
Core i5-1240P
Core i7-1260P
Core i5-12500H
Core i7-12700H
Core i9-12900HK
Core i5-12500T
Core i5-12600T
Core i7-12700T
Core i9-12900T
Core i5-12500
Core i5-12600
Core i7-12700
Core i9-12900

Finally, these are the SKUs available for vPro Enterprise for Chrome:

Core i5-1240U
Core i7-1260U
Core i5-1245U
Core i7-1265U
Core i5-1250P
Core i7-1270P

Devices with Intel’s 12th-gen processors are already shipping in the desktop family, and for powerful laptops that use H-series chips. U-series and P-series devices are coming this month. Indeed, many devices that use the new vPro chips have already been announced, such as Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 family and HP’s Elite Dragonfly G3.