Intel is working on a brand new CPU architecture designed from the ground for its next-gen Lunar Lake family of processors.
Intel's Lunar Lake Chips Come With A Brand New CPU Architecture Which Focuses on Deliver Major Perf/Watt Improvements on Mobile
In a tweet by Dr. Ian Cutress of TechTechPotato, it is revealed that Intel provided some additional info on its future client family, codenamed Lunar Lake. The Lunar Lake CPUs are expected to arrive after Arrow Lake which itself comes after Meteor Lake, the follow-up to Raptor Lake, and its refresh (for 2023).
The quoted information comes from Intel's EVP & GM of CCG (Client Computing Group), Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who has stated that the Lunar Lake family will feature a fresh new architecture and a brand new design built from the ground up. The architecture will mainly focus on bringing some big performance per watt improvements in the mobile space & more information is expected to be unveiled at the Financial Day on the 26th of January when Chipzilla will disclose its Q4 results.
From @Intel @MJHolthaus : Lunar Lake is a fresh ground-up design and CPU uArch, built with perf/watt in mind for mobile devices. More info at the financial disclosure on 26th
— 𝐷𝑟. 𝐼𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑢𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 (@IanCutress) January 12, 2023
Last year, during a press-only HotChips presentation, Intel revealed that the Lunar Lake family is originally aimed at the 15W low-power mobile CPU segment. The CPU will utilize a sub-20A node as its process technology alongside an external foundry node for various other IPs since this will be a multi-tiled chip design. You can expect all the latest and greatest innovations from Intel such as Foveros packaging (25um pitch). Now saying that these chips are optimized for mobile doesn't necessarily mean that they won't launch on the desktop platform but with reports coming out that Intel might shift its Meteor Lake chips away from desktops and do an intermediate refresh of sorts on the platform, it may also not be too farfetched to believe so.
If the Lunar Lake CPUs are indeed fabricated and produced on the 18A process, then we can see manufacturing beginning in the second half of 2024 which means we are looking at an early 2025 or mid-2025 launch.
Intel Mainstream CPU Generations Comparison:
| Intel CPU Family | Processor Process | Processor Architecture | Processors Cores/Threads (Max) | TDPs | Platform Chipset | Platform | Memory Support | PCIe Support | Launch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Bridge (2nd Gen) | 32nm | Sandy Bridge | 4/8 | 35-95W | 6-Series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 2.0 | 2011 |
| Ivy Bridge (3rd Gen) | 22nm | Ivy Bridge | 4/8 | 35-77W | 7-Series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2012 |
| Haswell (4th Gen) | 22nm | Haswell | 4/8 | 35-84W | 8-Series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2013-2014 |
| Broadwell (5th Gen) | 14nm | Broadwell | 4/8 | 65-65W | 9-Series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Skylake (6th Gen) | 14nm | Skylake | 4/8 | 35-91W | 100-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Kaby Lake (7th Gen) | 14nm | Skylake | 4/8 | 35-91W | 200-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (8th Gen) | 14nm | Skylake | 6/12 | 35-95W | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (9th Gen) | 14nm | Skylake | 8/16 | 35-95W | 300-Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2018 |
| Comet Lake (10th Gen) | 14nm | Skylake | 10/20 | 35-125W | 400-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2020 |
| Rocket Lake (11th Gen) | 14nm | Cypress Cove | 8/16 | 35-125W | 500-Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 4.0 | 2021 |
| Alder Lake (12th Gen) | Intel 7 | Golden Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | 16/24 | 35-125W | 600 Series | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake (13th Gen) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | 24/32 | 35-125W | 700-Series | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2022 |
| Raptor Lake Refresh (TBA) | Intel 7 | Raptor Cove (P-Core) Gracemont (E-Core) | 24/32 | 35-125W | 700-Series | LGA 1700/1800 | DDR5 / DDR4 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2023 |
| Meteor Lake (TBA) | Intel 4 | Redwood Cove (P-Core) Crestmont (E-Core) | 22/28 | 35-125W | 800 Series? | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 (Cancelled) |
| Arrow Lake (TBA) | Intel 20A | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | 24/32 | TBA | 900-Series? | LGA 1851 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2024 |
| Arrow Lake Refresh (TBA) | Intel 20A | Lion Cove (P-Core) Skymont (E-Core) | TBA | TBA | TBA | LGA 1851? | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0 | 2025 |
| Lunar Lake (TBA) | Intel 18A | TBD | TBA | TBA | TBA | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2025 |
| Panther Lake (TBA) | TBA | TBD | TBD | TBD | 1000-Series? | LGA 1851? | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 6.0? | 2026 |
| Nova Lake (TBA) | Intel 18A | TBD | TBA | TBA | 2000-Series? | TBA | DDR5? | PCIe Gen 6.0? | 2026 |
