Intel had an extremely difficult quarter, unexpectedly losing half a billion dollars due to a PC purchasing slump, and yesterday appeared to be more bad news — a report about manufacturing delays sparked rumors that Intel’s next big flagship processor, Meteor Lake, would be delayed until 2024, putting it up to a year behind schedule. (In a February investor conference, Intel said that Meteor Lake will be “powering up” this summer, with a shipment date of 2023.)
However, Intel today strongly denied such claims, with spokesman Thomas Hannaford telling that not only are they false, but that Meteor Lake will ship, debut, and be accessible to customers in 2023.
That’s wonderful news for Intel since Meteor Lake is one of the most significant innovations in the company’s history. It’s not only the first client processor based on Intel’s Intel 4 architecture (formerly known as 7nm) and reportedly the first to use extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) in manufacturing, but it’s also Intel’s first major release to use a chipset design, in which processor components can be combined more like Legos. Intel had previously begun to move toward hybrid processors with its 12th Generation Alder Lake’s blend of performance and efficiency cores, which is akin to a smartphone chip, but it is not the same thing.
Anyone who heard of Intel’s Q2 2022 earnings call will be unsurprised that Meteor Lake is still on pace. There, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger assured investors that Meteor Lake will be delivered in 2023, citing “excellent health in both our and our customers’ laboratories” and having previously been “broadly tested to customers.”
Of course, delivering samples to clients isn’t the same as being ready for a public debut – but Intel is now confirming that it will be available for consumers in 2023 as well.
According to the article, Intel will not even begin mass production of a critical Meteor Lake component until the end of 2023, and “this mishap has significantly impacted TSMC’s manufacturing growth strategy.” TSMC declined to comment on Intel, but in a statement to China’s Economic Daily, it disputed that its capacity expansion project had been hampered.
During its Q2 results call, Intel said that 35 million units of its 12th Generation Alder Lake CPUs had already been delivered. Raptor Lake, also known as the Intel 13th Generation Core, is expected later this year.
