Intel is working on a new line of pro-consumer Xeon processors dubbed Xeon Gold Series. Apparently Intel is “freaked out” at the cost / performance of the AMD Ryzen R7-1800X in creative productivity applications and is preparing these new processors for the niche market that uses MacPro Desktops and media production workstations that make use of HEDT processors, but need the reliability of the Xeon Brand.
The Xeon Gold Series will be based on Intel’s 14nm “Skylake-EP” silicon, and will have up to 18 CPU cores. The first model in the series will be the Xeon Gold 6150. This CPU will feature 18 CPU cores, 36 logical CPUs with HyperThreading enabled. Intel has increased the L2 cache amount per core to 1 MB (from 256kb), there is 24.75 MB of shared L3 cache. The chip is clocked at 2.70 GHz, with a turbo boost up to 3.70 GHz.
Based on its specifications this chip will be in a higher segment than the AMD Ryzen R7-1800X, but it could be the choice for Apple in their next-generation MacPro workstations.