Intel 10th-Gen vPro Now Available For Business Customers

We mostly cover consumer technology and products here because those are the things that are most accessible to people. That, however, doesn't discount the innovation and progress that happens in the enterprise and businesses which, more often than not, are what keeps the world churning behind the scenes. In fact, Intel might argue that those businesses may be more profitable but also more sensitive. With its newest fleet of vPro-branded processors, Intel isn't just focusing on performance but also on leveling up its security game to protect these customers.

Intel slaps its vPro badge on a class of processors that meet its stringent requirements for use in businesses, no matter the size. While all kinds of users naturally demand performance from their CPUs, enterprise settings often need even more than what regular consumers require. This year, Intel is stepping up the requirements to include its latest security measure to block cyber attacks.

That's what Intel's Hardware Shield technology is supposed to deliver. Introduced last year, the previously optional security measure is now being made a mandatory requirement for vPro processors. This is a BIOS-level protection that can lock down critical information in the BIOS should there be an attack at the operating system level.

Of course, the 10th-gen processors based on Intel's Comet Lake architecture also boast of improved performance, amusingly compared with three-year-old laptops. A key upgrade is built-in Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.

The latest batch of vPro processors includes 18 processors spanning desktop and mobile CPUs from the Core i5-10310U for laptops to the 10-core Core i9-10900K and Xeon W-1290P on the highest rungs of the desktop ladder. Of course, these more powerful CPUs also draw more power, something that rival AMD would most likely try to play up to their advantage.