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Intel’s Lunar Lake processors, some way down the road, will target super-thin laptops, hopefully ensuring that these skinny machines pack some serious punch despite their slender nature.
This comes from Ian Cutress on Twitter (via video cardz (opens in new tab)), who received word from Intel’s VP & GM of Client Computing, Michelle Johnston Holthaus, that Lunar Lake will be a total redesign from scratch, with an all-new architecture built with performance per watt in mind.
From @Intel @MJHolthaus: Lunar Lake is a new design and CPU uArch built with performance/watt in mind for mobile devices. More info at the financial reveal on March 26thJanuary 12, 2023
In other words, efficiency will be king, and if wattage is low, Lunar Lake chips are obviously an ideal option for laptops, while still delivering plenty of grunt (relatively speaking). These processors are expected to arrive in late 2024 or 2025, we’ve heard about the vine.
Cutress assures us that Intel will apparently provide more on the subject later this month when the company’s financial results are announced on January 26. will bring to the table.
Analysis: Intel’s focus on efficiency suits mobile – but what about powerful desktop CPUs?
A focus on efficiency from Intel is no surprise, as we’ve already learned it’s a key factor for the next-generation Meteor Lake.
Indeed, with the current Raptor Lake processors, Intel has significantly increased the number of efficiency cores throughout the 13th generation range, and it is expected to go even faster on this front with the next generation. Rumors about Meteor Lake point to even more efficiency cores on board – these are power-efficient cores, that drink juice, but can really boost multi-core performance, especially in large numbers. And on top of that, Meteor Lake is introducing an all-new architecture for efficiency cores on top, which should lead to some big energy efficiency benefits.
Lunar Lake could make even bigger strides going forward from what has been shared here as the wording is quite strong in terms of these processors being built with efficiency in mind for mobile devices. Could that even mean that Lunar Lake will only be laptop CPUs? Cutress isn’t commenting on that, but we can theorize it’s a possibility.
After all, the next-gen Meteor Lake appears to be leaning heavily towards mobile performance, with rumors indicating that due to a major push for more efficiency cores, the maximum number of performance cores may be capped at 6 for the 14th gen. (Remember that the more expensive Raptor Lake Core i9 and i7 CPUs have 8 performance cores, and the same was true of Alder Lake – so it would be a disappointment if you removed a few of these cores).
With Meteor Lake and Lunar Lake apparently focusing on the efficiency side of the equation, it’s starting to sound like Arrow Lake — which is supposed to come between the two as the 15th-generation family — might be the only hope for the nearer-term future for those who want a new heavy desktop processor (Core i9).
As always, treat this as the speculation that it is, and hopefully we’ll learn more about it later this year on how Lunar Lake will be pitched laptop or desktop wise when Intel releases its final (full year) fiscal results and associated publish comments. January.