Update on Intel's Panther Lake at Computex 2024, Intel Powering Up Intel 18A Wafer Next Week
by Gavin Bonshor on June 4, 2024 11:00 PM ESTDuring the Intel keynote hosted by CEO Pat Gelsinger, he gave the world a glimpse into the Intel Client roadmap until 2026. Meteor Lake launched last year on that roadmap, and Lunar Lake, which we dived into yesterday as Intel disclosed technical details about the upcoming platform. Pat also presented a wafer on stage, Panther Lake, and he gave some additional information about Intel's forthcoming Panther Lake platform, which is expected in 2025.
We covered Intel's initial announcement about the Panther Lake platform last year. It is set to be Intel's first client platform using its Intel 18A node. Aside from once again affirming that things are on track for a 2026 launch, Pat Gelsinger, Intel's CEO, also confirmed that they will be powering on the first 18A wafer for Panther Lake as early as next week.
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 |
One element to consider from last year is that Lunar Lake is built using TSMC, with the Lunar Lake compute tile with Xe2-LPG graphics on TSMC N3B, and the I/O tile on TSMC N6. Pat confirmed on stage that Panther Lake will be on Intel 18A. Still, he didn't confirm whether the chip will be made purely at Intel, or a mix between Intel and external foundries (ala Meteor Lake). Intel has also yet to confirm the CPU cores to be used, but from what our sources tell us, it sounds like it will be the new Cougar Cove and Darkmont cores.
As we head into the second half of 2024 and after Lunar Lake launches, Intel may divulge more information, including the architectural advancements Panther Lake is expected to bring. Until then, we will have to wait and see.
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PeachNCream - Wednesday, June 5, 2024 - link
There is nothing more pointless than holding up a wafer for a public announcement. The CPUs are not in a usable form and there's nothing a human eye or a camera photographing it can capture in terms of useful details. They could just hold up a bit of grid paper and convey exactly as much of significance.Kevin G - Wednesday, June 12, 2024 - link
It shows a few things. First to their investors, it is something to say that they are on track with the design and holding to their roadmaps. For Intel who has had some notoriously bad projections in recent years, this is important. The second for the analyst crows is that it gives an estimate on the die sizes being used and possibly some chip layout information. This is how in 2022 let it slip that there was a 34 core monolithic version of Sapphire Rapids that eventually became the main Xeon-W line up 6 months later. The Intel reps literally had a wafer on the show floor that they weren't supposed to let people see yet.Roy2002 - Monday, July 1, 2024 - link
Holding a wafer for this kind of announcements is common practice. We will see the product in a few months.