On May 21st, Intel officially unveiled the next-generation mobile platform ultra-low-power processor, codenamed Lunar Lake. It will complement the next-generation high-performance processor, codenamed Arrow Lake, forming the second generation of the Core Ultra family.
Currently, Lunar Lake has entered the wafer and chip mass production stage and will be officially released in the third quarter, with over 80 new laptop models from more than 20 OEM manufacturers collectively hitting the market.
Arrow Lake, on the other hand, will debut in the fourth quarter, with more specific details to be announced at the Taipei Computer Show in 2024.
This time, Intel has only revealed partial architectural features of Lunar Lake, along with performance improvements in CPU, GPU, and AI, especially in AI.
As for specific model names and specifications, that will be announced in the third quarter.
Before discussing the new product, let's briefly review Meteor Lake, also known as the first generation of Core Ultra processors. It represents the largest transformation in Intel's processor history and serves as the cornerstone for the development of future processors like Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake, playing a crucial role in bridging the past and the future.
The most significant aspect of Meteor Lake is ushering in a new era of AI PCs, which is set to be the main theme in the PC industry for years to come. Although still in its early stages, it has already shown an unstoppable momentum.
Currently, Meteor Lake AI PCs have garnered support from over 100 independent software vendors (ISVs), with over 300 AI acceleration features and more than 500 optimizations for AI large models across various industries.
Intel projects that by the end of 2025, global shipments of Intel's AI PCs will exceed 100 million units, encompassing over 230 product designs, more than 250 retailers, and spanning 48 countries and regions.
Intel is actively promoting the implementation of AI PC applications, making rapid progress in areas such as security protection, on-device large language model optimization, and local personal assistants.
Lunar Lake is positioned in the low-power field, focusing on ultra-thin notebooks, continuing to bring about comprehensive changes, and perfectly inheriting the status of Meteor Lake.
The manufacturing process will continue to be upgraded, combining a discrete modular architecture, Intel 3D packaging technology, and integrating two memory chips (with expected capacities of 16/32GB).
The CPU section will continue with heterogeneous hybrid architecture, with both P-core and E-core architectures being upgraded again, codenamed Lion Cove and Skymont respectively, bringing significant improvements in IPC and energy efficiency.
At the same time, it will continue to integrate a low-power island built on the ultra-low-power E-core, which can shut down unnecessary computing modules in scenarios such as watching videos and office work, greatly saving power consumption and extending battery life.
The GPU section will be upgraded to the second generation Xe2 Raptor architecture, which even dedicated graphics cards have not yet utilized. The focus will be on upgrading the XMX AI engine, with computing power exceeding 60 TOPS.
The computing power of the NPU section will exceed 45 TOPS, more than three times the current level, and it will support mixed precision and more data types.
With the addition of CPU and GPU, the total computing power of the new platform will exceed 100 TOPS for the first time, meaning it can perform over 100 trillion calculations per second.
This will allow it to more easily handle models with more parameters, higher workloads, especially as the NPU is no longer limited to low-power continuous loads, opening up more possibilities.
According to official figures, the Lunar Lake CPU performance can surpass the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U and Snapdragon X Elite, with GPU performance increasing by about 1.5 times compared to the previous generation, and AI performance leading by approximately 1.4 times compared to the Snapdragon X Elite.
Of course, AMD will almost simultaneously release the next generation of low-power mobile processors codenamed Strix Point, upgrading to Zen5 CPU, RDNA3+ GPU, and XDNA2 NPU, setting up a direct confrontation.
As for the Snapdragon X Elite, laptops from various brands are gradually being unveiled. Despite ecological constraints, it is coming on strong, setting the stage for an imminent "Three Kingdoms" battle.
In addition to ultra-low power consumption, this will also be Lunar Lake's specialty. Official claims suggest that in video conferencing scenarios, it can save up to 30% more power compared to the Ryzen 7 7840U, and up to 20% less power compared to the Snapdragon 8cx Gen3.
Interestingly, there is no direct comparison with competing next-generation processors like the Ryzen 7 8840U or the Snapdragon X Elite from a performance perspective.
In short, Lunar Lake will bring a new leap forward from manufacturing and packaging processes to CPU/GPU/NPU architectures, enhancing both performance and power efficiency over the existing Meteor Lake, propelling AI PCs to a new level.
Intel is confident that with the success of Meteor Lake and the arrival of Lunar Lake, they will deliver over 40 million AI PC processors this year.
With the upcoming arrival of AMD Strix Point and the official entry of Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, the stage is set for an exciting new chapter in the tech industry.
