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Intel reveals details on Meteor Lake, how future CPUs will be made, and its process strategy for the future
Intel may be on the verge of a comeback, though it will take a little more time to see to fruition.
At this year's Intel Innovation event, Intel released some key (though not completely unexpected) details about its next-generation Meteor Lake chips, which are coming to next-generation laptops in 2024. While Intel isn't bringing these to the desktop, this is one of the most exciting generations of Intel hardware in recent years. In fact, Meteor Lake is the pipe cleaner that will make the way for Intel's CPUs across several segments, from laptops to desktop to the datacenter to AI.
Intel 'Meteor Lake' leak reveals Core Ultra 9 185H with 16 cores and 5.1 Ghz clock speed
The 1st-gen Core Ultra chips are coming next year.
Earlier this year, Intel announced a major rebrand for its processors in over a decade. Starting with the Meteor Lake lineup, the 'Core i' nomenclature will give way to 'Core Ultra' for high-end chips, while the more mainstream parts will move from the "i3/i5/i7/i9" branding to a "Core 3/5/7/9" naming convention. Prior to this week, we already knew a few things about the 1st-generation Core Ultra family, but a new leak has now revealed more details about a few of the SKUs in the upcoming lineup.
Meteor Lake could be Intel's chance to catch up to AMD in integrated graphics
Ryzen 7000 has expanded AMD's lead in iGPU performance, but Meteor Lake could finally even the score.
Integrated graphics (also known as integrated GPUs or iGPUs for short) have been AMD's bread and butter for years. They power AMD's so-called Accelerated Processing Units (APU), which are just CPUs with Radeon graphics. These APUs have been found in places like the Xbox and PlayStation since 2013, and they also power handheld gaming PCs like the Steam Deck and the Asus ROG Ally. Integrated graphics have opened lots of doors for AMD, doors that are at the same time closed to Intel — its iGPUs just can't compete.
Meteor Lake might have fewer cores than Raptor Lake, but does that make it slower?
With less cores than Raptor Lake, is Meteor Lake truly a next generation CPU for the desktop?
Intel's 14th-generation Meteor Lake chips are due to launch later this year, but before we even have any official specs, many have already ruled it out as an upgrade over 13th-generation Raptor Lake CPUs. There are solid rumors that Meteor Lake will have six performance cores rather than Raptor Lake's eight, which has led some publications to call Meteor Lake "a step back" concerning performance. There are even rumors that the desktop version of Meteor Lake has been canceled outright and that a refresh of Raptor Lake will pick up the slack.
Intel lays out its roadmap through 2025, renames its process nodes
Intel announced that it's renaming its nodes today, but also, it laid out its roadmap for those nodes through the year 2025.
Intel is a company that's firing on all cylinders right now, as freshly minted CEO Pat Gelsinger aims to drive the company forward toward catching up in the (many) areas where it's lost ground to competitors. Today, the company laid its cards on the table, showing off its roadmap through 2025, but also emphasizing its commitment to a predictable schedule. Indeed, we can all remember how Intel's 10nm nodes were delayed for years, and now 7nm is delayed as well.