According to a new report, Intel’s 7 nm chips, based on what is known as the Intel 4 process and including 14th-generation Meteor Lake processors, are on track to reach production in volume during the second mid-2022.
The DigiTimes article (opens in a new tab) states that H2 2022 remains the target for 7 nm silicon and that this is the case for sources from Intel itself.
While DigiTimes rumors typically need more added seasoning than your average piece of vine buzzing in our experience, in this case, it seems more likely that speculation is about the money due to the fact that Intel has already recently stated as last month. that Intel 4 is slated for later this year.
Obviously, it’s good to hear it reaffirmed in some way, and we could take it as a positive sign that Meteor Lake, which will be the generation that will follow the next-generation Raptor Lake CPUs, won’t be late (and in fact the other silicon that will be based on Intel 4, such as Granite Rapids for servers).
Of course, none of this is a guarantee that Intel has yet to find obstacles with Meteor Lake, but for now things seem to be going smoothly.
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If you remember, Meteor Lake was launched a couple of months ago, and if production in volume increases by the end of this year as promised, we are looking at a scenario where 14th generation processors could come out in the second quarter of 2023, or perhaps even the first quarter, with a real push.
This is good news for consumers, as Meteor Lake would remain hot after Raptor Lake, which is not expected to open until around October. Undoubtedly, it would also be worrying news for AMD and its Zen 4 chips later this year, which would quickly face a new challenge. Although to be fair, when Meteor Lake appears, AMD will probably have Ryzen 7000 models with 3D V-cache technology ready to carry out the fight …
Going back to Intel’s possible launch roadmap, if we assume the timeline for Raptor Lake is correct in October, Meteor Lake will potentially come out at the end of the first quarter (March) would feel too close for launch of a new generation. So Q2 is the likely target for Meteor Lake, or maybe Raptor Lake will rise before October; in fact, previous rumors have pointed to a Q3 2022 release for 13th-generation chips (probably September).
All in all, we believe that now the second quarter of 2023 seems like the most likely release date for Meteor Lake, perhaps with the laptop chips first (perhaps at some distance), a possibility that another rumor seller has floated, in terms of giving enough space to breathe in Raptor Lake. While Raptor Lake is more of a provisional generation, in terms of a simple 10 nm Alder Lake upgrade (the improved 10 nm is called the Intel 7 process, quite confusingly), before the big drop to 7 nm ( Intel 4) with Meteor Lake. .
Meteor Lake is expected to move things forward with the benefits of this new process (which, if you remember, Intel has taken a very, very long time to arrive). Recently, Intel prepared us to expect 14th-generation processors to run 20% faster (or faster) with the same power usage, meaning Meteor Lake could witness a big jump in clock speed, maybe this is when we will see the first 6GHz. more Team Blue processors. (In fact, Raptor Lake could potentially reach 5.8 GHz).
At this stage, however, any detail is advancing ourselves, but as a generation of processors built on a completely new node, the potential of what Meteor Lake could offer is clearly exciting.
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