Intel has unveiled more details about its next-generation Lunar Lake CPUs, set to launch in Q3 of 2024. This announcement comes amid stiff competition from AMD, Qualcomm, and customer turned competitor – Apple, and aims to restore Intel’s leading position in the CPU market.
Lunar Lake will be Intel’s first processor with a neural processing unit (NPU) that meets Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC requirements. The new architecture includes upgraded P-cores and E-cores, a next-generation GPU, and packaging changes that refine and simplify some of the shifts introduced with Meteor Lake.
Lunar Lake brings notable improvements in several areas:
- NPU Performance: Rated at 48 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a significant increase from Meteor Lake’s 10 TOPS. This enhancement supports advanced features in Windows 11 24H2.
- GPU Upgrade: The first GPU based on Intel’s next-gen “Battlemage” architecture, up to 1.5 times faster than the Arc GPU in Meteor Lake chips.
- CPU Enhancements: New P-cores, codenamed Lion Cove, offer 14% better performance than Meteor Lake’s Redwood Cove P-cores at the same clock speeds. E-cores, codenamed Skymont, break even with Raptor Lake E-cores at the same clock speeds but offer improved power efficiency.
Intel’s recent manufacturing challenges, combined with competition from AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple, have driven significant changes in its CPU strategy. While Meteor Lake introduced several innovative design elements, Lunar Lake refines these to deliver more conventional yet powerful solutions. The removal of Hyperthreading from P-cores, in favor of optimizing single-threaded performance, highlights Intel’s shift towards a more efficient and simplified design.
Despite increased competition, Intel still dominates the PC CPU market, holding nearly four-fifths of all sales. The Lunar Lake CPUs aim to strengthen Intel’s market position by offering advanced AI capabilities, enhanced performance, and greater power efficiency.
Intel plans to release Arrow Lake in Q4 of 2024, which will bring Meteor Lake’s big changes to socketed desktop motherboards. More details are expected at Intel’s annual Innovation event in late September.
For a more detailed look, you may want to check out this article on ArsTechnica