AMD will be happy with the latest Intel CPU rumor – after Arrow Lake, no desktop chips are coming until Nova Lake in 2026
Intel has apparently revised its plans for desktop CPUs and there is no more Arrow Lake Refresh in the plans, if a recent report proves correct.
If you recall, Arrow Lake is Intel’s next generation of processors that is coming soon (rumored to be in October). In the past, it has been rumored several times that Team Blue’s silicon generation next year would be an Arrow Lake Refresh.
However, according to leaker Panzerlied – a regular contributor of hardware-related theories on the Chiphell forums – Arrow Lake Refresh has been canceled (as noted on X by Everest).
So, what will it replace? Absolutely nothing, according to Panzerlied – Intel simply won’t bother with a new generation of desktop silicon in 2025.
Instead, Team Blue will simply aim to launch all-new Nova Lake CPUs in 2026, if the leaker is correct – and do so with a great deal of patience, of course.
Intel normally releases new desktop processors every year (or thereabouts). Even if there is no completely new series, the company still comes up with a simple refresh of some kind, just like with the current generation, Raptor Lake Refresh.
Rumors of an Arrow Lake Refresh seemed to fit with Intel’s previous plans, as a stepping stone to the true next-gen, Nova Lake. But it looks like that’s not how it’s going to play out.
Analysis: Are Desktop CPUs Lower on Intel’s Priority List?
This is a short-form statement and something of a bolt from the blue, so we need to be very careful here. Of course, the fact that Intel was planning to refresh Arrow Lake next year was just a rumor to begin with, so this may just have been an idea that has now been abandoned. Perhaps there isn’t much room to meaningfully tweak Arrow Lake to squeeze more performance out of the chips – who knows.
We can indulge in all sorts of theories, but if we take this latest rumor literally, it means that Arrow Lake is all Intel will have on the table, desktop-wise, for two years now. Nova Lake will be the next stop on the desktop train, as noted, in 2026.
We previously thought that Nova Lake, which was supposed to be the introduction of Intel’s big Royal Core project, but that has reportedly not happened now, would not arrive until later in 2026. However, if there is no new desktop CPU line in 2025, chances are Intel will introduce Nova Lake earlier in 2026.
Intel will of course need a major upgrade in the works to accommodate AMD’s Zen 6 processors (Ryzen 10000? – or perhaps a naming scheme overhaul is in order). Especially since Zen 6 is expected to be a huge leap forward for AMD in a similar vein to Zen 2 (Ryzen 3000), which marked a big step in the switch from Zen’s original 14nm process to 7nm – and Zen 6 is expected to debut in 2026.
Perhaps Intel will feel comfortable enough to bank on Arrow Lake desktop for the next year or two (or maybe a year and a half), or perhaps this reflects what seems like Team Blue’s increasing focus on the laptop world, and pushing the efficiency front with mobile processors (Lunar Lake sounds pretty awesome), rather than looking at raw performance. Or this could just be idle rumour mill chatter that of course turns out to be false – take it with a large grain of salt, as we said.
Via Wccftech