Intel Rumored to Scrap 10nm Plans for Desktop Processors
A report claims some shocking news for Intel, saying that the company has scrapped plans to launch its 10 nm "Ice Lake" microarchitecture on the client desktop platform.
Citing unnamed sources, the tech website HardwareLuxx.de reports that Intel
will not manufacture any 10nm processors for desktops, focusing on 7nm chips for the specific segment, set for launch in two years.
This means that Intel will confine its 10 nm microarchitectures, "Ice Lake" and "Tiger Lake" to only the mobile platform, while the desktop platform will see derivatives of the 14nm "Skylake" until 2022.
Essentially, the report claims that Intel will not launch the "Tiger Lake" and "Alder Lake" chips based on a 10nm process, at least at their previously scheduled time frames.
We eagerly expect Intel's comment on this report.
Intel been challenged to migrate from the 14nm to the more advanced 10nmmanufacturing process, at least for desktop chips, which have high clock rates. The company has announced the 10nm Ice Lake processors for mobile devices.
Intel is expected to release the 14nm Comet Lake S processors this year, which will offer up to 10 cores. Last May, the company promised to release Tiger Lake chips in 2020. These will be mobile chips featuring Intel's new Xe graphics engine.
Update: Intel clarified that desktop processors based on the 10 nm silicon fabrication node are still on the company's roadmap. "We continue to make great progress on 10 nm, and our current roadmap of 10 nm products includes desktop," the company said.
Intel plans to sell "Comet Lake" through 2020, succeeded by "Rocket Lake." . Towards the end of 2021, Intel will release a desktop processor based on its 10 nm++ silicon fabrication node, which will lead the company into 2022, when it finally launches 7 nm EUV-based desktop chips.