Intel has officially confirmed its next generation 7nm Meteor Lake Client CPUs that will go to desktop and mobility platforms in 2023. Intel has revealed that Meteor Lake will be the first outing of its own 7nm EUV node in volume which is a major milestone for the company.
Intel confirms next-generation Meteor Lake desktop and mobility CPUs to be launched in 2023 will feature 7nm EUV process node and brand new x86 modular CPU architecture
The Intel Meteor Lake series is confirmed to feature a brand new x86 architecture that will feature a modular design. Intel will mix different cores together, similar to their hybrid approach on the upcoming Alder Lake processors, which includes both 10 nm Golden Cove and 10 nm Gracemont core.
We are moving rapidly through the 7 nm maturity, with a simplified process and increased EUV. The computer tile for Meteor Lake, a 2023 breakthrough client processor, will be glued in the next quarter. https://t.co/lY5fO1aYAJ pic.twitter.com/WzkJL0gPRw
– Intel News (@intelnews) March 23, 2021
Intel’s Meteor Lake series of computing and mobility CPUs are expected to be based on a new range of Cove core architecture. There are rumors that it is known as the ‘Redwood Cove’ as reported by MLID (Moore’s Law is Dead) and based on a 7nm EUV process node. The Redwood Cove is said to be designed from the ground up to be an agnostic knot, meaning it can be manufactured at various factories. References are mentioned that point out to TSMC that it is a backup or even a partial provider for the Redwood Cove based chips. This can tell us why Intel mentions various manufacturing processes for the CPU family.
The Meteor Lake CPUs are possibly the first CPU generation from Intel to say goodbye to the ring bus interconnection architecture. There are also rumors that Meteor Lake could be a fully 3D-stacked design and could use an I / O material sourced from an external factory (TSMC is seen again). It is emphasized that Intel will officially use its Foveros Packaging Technology on the CPU to connect the various dies on the chip (XPU).
What Intel’s Meteor Lake family will offer, the family is expected to provide support for the LGA 1700 connector, which is the same connector that Alder Lake processors use. We can expect DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 5.0 support. The platforms will support DDR5 and DDR4 memory, with the mainstream and budget level options applicable to DDR4 memory DIMMs, while the premium and high quality offerings apply to DDR5 DIMMs.
The NVMe support is also expected to be limited to PCIe Gen 4 rather than PCIe Gen 5 which will support the platform. At the end of the day, therefore, we can see that the different disk sets and platforms are limited to their own generation of processors with which they are introduced. The launch is still a few years away, so Intel partners have plenty of time to seek out and work on future-generation support. Currently, Intel has revealed that they expect Meteor Lake to paste around Q2 2021.
Comparison between Intel Desktop CPU Generations:
| Intel CPU family | Processing process | Processor core (maximum) | TDPs | Platform Chipset | Platform | Memory support | PCIe Support | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sandy Bridge (2nd generation) | 32 nm | 4/8 | 35-95W | 6-series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 2.0 | 2011 |
| Ivy Bridge (3rd generation) | 22 nm | 4/8 | 35-77W | 7-series | LGA 1155 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2012 |
| Haswell (4th generation) | 22 nm | 4/8 | 35-84W | 8-series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2013-2014 |
| Broadwell (5th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 65-65W | 9-series | LGA 1150 | DDR3 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Skylake (6th generation) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 100 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2015 |
| Kaby Lake (7th Gen) | 14nm | 4/8 | 35-91W | 200 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (8th generation) | 14nm | 6/12 | 35-95W | 300 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2017 |
| Coffee Lake (9th generation) | 14nm | 8/16 | 35-95W | 300 Series | LGA 1151 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2018 |
| Comet Lake (10th generation) | 14nm | 10/20 | 35-125W | 400 Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 3.0 | 2020 |
| Rocket Lake (11th generation) | 14nm | 8/16 | TBA | 500 Series | LGA 1200 | DDR4 | PCIe Gen 4.0 | 2021 |
| Alder Lake (12th generation) | 10 nm (ESF) | 16/24? | TBA | 600 series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2021 |
| Raptor Lake (13th generation) | 10 nm (ESF) | 16/24? | TBA | 700 series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2022 |
| Meteor Lake (14th generation) | 7 nm (EUV) | TBA | TBA | 800 series? | LGA 1700 | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2023 |
| Lunar Lake (15th generation) | TBA | TBA | TBA | 900 series? | TBA | DDR5 | PCIe Gen 5.0? | 2023+ |