Intel Kaby Lake processor is the first technology that will see the outcome of the company's new philosophy called Process-Architecture-Optimization (PAO). The microarchitecture developed from Broadwell and redesigned to Skylake is getting enhancements and refinements through Kaby Lake. Being the "Optimization" part of the PAO model, it is expected to merely optimize the process technology and not add huge changes to it.

The first microarchitecture created by Intel based on the 14nm process, Broadwell, was introduced in 2014. Following the "Tick Tock" model of the California-based company with Broadwell being the "tick," Skylake was introduced in 2015 as the "tock." For the uninitiated, Intel's "Tick Tock" development model aims to deliver improvements such as new features and instructions as the "tick" while the "tock" implements a new microarchitecture built on the current process, PC Gamer reported.

The aforementioned model followed a 12-18 months scheme, which means that the company released updates almost every year. However, Intel has ended its "Tick Tock" model in 2016 and will now observe PAO starting with Kaby Lake. To briefly explain the new philosophy, "Process" is the part wherein the company will send advancements to their process technology, adding more features for better performance.

"Architecture" is where a redesign will happen patterned from the existing process. It is also where huge features, new instructions and functionalities will be added. Lastly, the "Optimization" part is merely an improvement on the "Architecture" where Intel will just refine and add some features without involving big implementations.

Now that the PAO model is made clear, users may now understand the lack of huge improvements on Kaby Lake. As pointed out by PC World, Intel already made it clear that Kaby Lake is expected to be similar to Skylake, only that it will have improved processes. What can you say about the new Kaby Lake? Drop us a comment below.