While Intel has just launched a 14th generation desktop processor that looks like a simple refresh, the 15th generation is already here. On paper, the upcoming 15th generation Intel Arrow Lake-S processors look very promising. During the company’s third-quarter financial results conference call, Intel’s CEO gave a number of insights into the arrival of these upcoming processors.
First of all, these processors will feature Intel’s most advanced node, the 20A process. Intel (and many other observers) claim that this is more advanced than its competitors’ 3nm process, whereas in reality we’re talking about a 5nm process. Although this 20A node should be ready for mass production in the first half of 2024, the launch of Arrow Lake-S will only take place in the second half of next year. This timing is logical, given the arrival of the 14th gen in recent weeks and the launch of Meteor Lake (mobility-only) in December of this year. But Pat Gelsinger takes this opportunity to say that this 15th generation is already up and running under Windows in the company’s labs.
The post-Arrow Lake era for desktops will take the form of a refresh, with talk of an Arrow Lake-S Refresh with up to 40 cores (8P 32E) by 2025. But it’s worth noting that, as with this 14th gen, the “laptop/mobility” range will undoubtedly be different from the “desktop” range. Panther Lake is expected to adopt the Intel 18A process. Like Meteor Lake, Panther Lake will be a range focused on mobility, probably absent from the desktop side.