Feed: AnandTech
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Title: Intel to Launch "Lunar Lake" Core Ultra Chips on September 3rd

Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2024 08:00:00 EDT
Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/21494/intel-to...

Intel's next-generation Core Ultra laptop chips finally have a launch date:
September 3rd.

Codenamed Lunar Lake, Intel has been touting the chips for nearly a year now.
Most recently, Intel offered the press a deep dive briefing on the chips and
their underlying architectures at Computex back in June, along with a public
preview during the company's Computex keynote. At the time Intel was
preparing for Q3'2024 launch, and that window has finally been narrowed down
to a single date - September 3rd - when Intel will be hosting their Lunar
Lake launch event ahead of IFA.

Intel's second stab at a high volume chiplet-based processor for laptop
users, Lunar Lake is aimed particularly at ultrabooks and other low-power
mobile devices, with Intel looking to wrestle back the title of the most
efficient PC laptop SoC. Lunar Lake is significant in this respect as Intel
has never previously developed a whole chip architecture specifically for low
power mobile devices before - it's always been a scaled-down version of a
wider-range architecture, such as the current Meteor Lake (Core Ultra 100
series). Consequently, Intel has been touting that they've make some serious
efficiency advancements with their highly targeted chip, which they believe
will vault them over the competition.

All told, Lunar Lake is slated to bring a significant series of updates to
Intel's chip architectures and chip design strategies. Of particular interest
is the switch to on-package LPDDR5X memory, which is a first for a high-
volume Core chip. As well, Lunar Lake incorporates updated versions of
virtually every one of Intel's architecture, from the CPU P and E cores -
Lion Cove and Skymont respectively - to the Xe2 GPU and 4th generation NPU
(aptly named NPU 4). And, in a scandalous twist, both of the chiplets/tiles
on the CPU are being made by TSMC. Intel isn't providing any of the active
silicon for the chip - though they are providing the Foveros packaging needed
to put it together.

Intel CPU Architecture Generations Alder/Raptor Lake Meteor
Lake Lunar
Lake Arrow
Lake Panther
Lake P-Core Architecture Golden Cove/
Raptor Cove Redwood Cove Lion Cove Lion Cove Cougar Cove? E-Core Architecture
Gracemont Crestmont Skymont Crestmont? Darkmont? GPU Architecture Xe-LP Xe-
LPG Xe2 Xe2? ? NPU Architecture N/A NPU 3720 NPU 4 ? ? Active Tiles 1
(Monolithic) 4 2 4? ? Manufacturing Processes Intel 7 Intel 4 + TSMC N6 +
TSMC N5 TSMC N3B + TSMC N6 Intel 20A + More Intel 18A Segment Mobile +
Desktop Mobile LP Mobile HP Mobile + Desktop Mobile? Release Date (OEM)
Q4'2021 Q4'2023 Q3'2024 Q4'2024 2025

Suffice it to say, no matter what happens, Lunar Lake and the Core Ultra 200
series should prove to be an interesting launch.

It's worth noting, however, that while Intel's announcement of their
livestreamed event is being labeled a "launch event" by the company, the
brief reveal doesn't make any claims about on-the-shelves availability.
September 3rd is a Tuesday (and the day after a US holiday), which isn't a
typical launch date for new laptops (for reference, the lightly stocked
Meteor Lake launch was a Thursday). So Intel's launch event may prove to be
more of a soft launch for Lunar Lake; we'll have to see how things pan out in
the coming weeks.

Gallery: Intel to Launch "Lunar Lake" Core Ultra Chips on September 3rd

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