Intel Raptor Lake flagship CPU box spotted, suggesting it’s close to release

The packaging for Intel’s Core i9-13900K processor has been leaked, and while the spilled photo shows it follows the same theme as the existing 12900K — including that wafer — there are some minor, but interesting, changes nonetheless.

The box for the Core i9-13900K was posted on Twitter by well-known leaker HXL, who got it from a closed WeChat group, as VideoCardz (opens in new tab) points (and of course remain skeptical as to whether this is real or not, as always).

As you can see, there are some notable changes here, and while Intel still put the processor in a nice fake silicon wafer case, this time it’s colored silver instead of gold.

In addition, the box itself is a lot thinner than the one with the current-generation flagship Alder Lake, although the design remains quite similar otherwise.

Analysis: Raptor Lake leaks are definitely gaining momentum

What’s most interesting here, of course, is the fact that a glimpse of the Raptor Lake flagship box indicates that Intel’s next-gen chips may not be too far off from release now. Especially since we just saw the Core i9-13900K in leaked PassMark benchmarks, so the waste around these 13th-gen processors seems to be accelerating.

Raptor Lake CPUs are rumored to launch next week, likely September 27, but the silicon won’t go on sale until October. These leaks that are now popping up more and more is a hopeful indication that we may see these processors sooner rather than later in October.

As for the packaging itself, switching from a golden wafer to silver seems like an odd choice for Intel, suggesting at least subliminally something of a downgrade. After all, you get a silver medal for second place and gold for first place. It’s good to see a slimmer box to keep things a bit more eco-friendly too; that said, the extra wafer packaging is rather unnecessary and not so ecological in that regard.

We feel like the wafer gimmick is getting its last outing here, and it would make sense if Intel did a complete redesign of the box for its next-generation processors in 2023, which will be Meteor Lake (as this is a big change with the drop to 7nm, finally).