Routing HBM to the GPU using PCB traces is expensive, and in the low-to-mid end, saving money on PCB and cooling matters. If EMIB is going to be used anyway, why not have the GPU in there as well. With 1024-bit 4GB HBM on package, memory bandwidth won't be a problem, and the i7-8809G will likely be faster than a PS4, which means it'll be good enough for 1080p gaming.
KabyLake was probably chosen because this design was finalized before Coffee Lake. The next iteration will likely have more cores.
1. It will only make sense if Intel were actually manufacturing the GPU themselves as well. In this case they dont. And EMIB is an Intel specific technology, AMD doesn't use it when they package HBM with their dGPU.
2. AMD makes a profit before selling it to Intel, and Intel has to make a profits for integrating it with EMIB, i doubt the cost saving of using EMIB together with HBM, if that was true, out done the profits margin of both companies.
We all thought the whole reason of sticking a dGPU close to CPU was because of space, hence a Notebook type machine. But if anyone could enlighten me why I want a desktop with Integrated dGPU rather then CPU+GPU combo which is likely cheaper, and easier to cool down.
Not to mention you are stuck with KabyLake 4 Core instead of the newer Coffee Lake with 6 Core.