Two weeks before Computex starts, Intel has already given a glimpse of the announcements we can expect from the processor manufacturer. The CPU maker releases first details about Lunar Lake, confirming new desktop CPUs in Q4.
The first production chips for the Lunar Lake processor generation for laptops have now rolled off the production line, the CPU manufacturer announced. Lunar Lake is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of this year, and is largely based on Meteor Lake, where Intel has introduced a completely new microchip design. However, the new CPUs will use a new generation of P cores, codenamed Lion Cove, and a new generation of E cores, codenamed Skymont. The thread manager has also been improved to control these types of cores.
In addition to the new CPU cores, the integrated GPU will also receive an upgrade. It switches to the Xe2 architecture, making these IPUs the first Battlemage-based video chips. Discrete video cards built on Battlemage won’t appear until later this year. The integrated graphics are said to be up to fifty percent faster than those found in previous generation CPUs.
Finally, Intel says of Lunar Lake that the integrated NPU for AI calculations has been significantly accelerated. Its computing power increases from 10Tops in Meteor Lake to 45Tops. Combined with the 60Tops that the GPU can deliver, albeit with much lower efficiency, the total AI computing power of the processor exceeds 100Tops.
Intel is saving a lot of information for when the Computex exhibition itself starts. CEO Pat Gelsinger will take the stage on Tuesday, June 4 to deliver a keynote speech. For example, we still know little about the integrated LPDDR5 memory chips clearly visible in the renders, which are intended to replace the DRAM soldered to the motherboard. It is also not yet clear what production processes the different operations use tiles Lunar Lake processors will be manufactured.
In addition, Intel will also reveal more about its next generation desktop CPUs, codenamed Arrow Lake, during Computex. While the past three generations of desktop PCs were based on the same technology, Arrow Lake brings all of the new technologies from Meteor Lake to the desktop in one fell swoop, including Tile design, new production processes, and a new architecture for the CPU cores. Intel confirms that Arrow Lake will hit the market in the fourth quarter of this year.
