Intel's anticipated second-generation AI processors may be here sooner than expected.
A June 20 report from DigiTimes indicates that the Intel Core Ultra 200 series "Lunar Lake" series of mobile chips could arrive as early as mid-September. This rumor was supported by an August 15 leak from TechPowerUp, citing an Acer announcement email, seemingly confirming a September 3, 2024, launch date. This would put the official launch ahead of the IFA (Internationale Funkasstellung) conference in Berlin, which starts September 6th this year.
If these rumors are correct and Intel launches its mobile CPUs in September this year, it would be a rather intriguing reversal of the chipmaker's usual launch cycle. Traditionally, Intel launches the desktop processors ahead of the mobile laptop chips, so we expected Intel's Arrow Lake desktop CPUs to arrive before the Lunar Lake silicon gets shipped to laptop manufacturers. However, based on an August 18 rumor from the Chinese tech publication Benchlife, the desktop CPUs will be available starting in October.
Why would Intel change the release cycle now?
An Intel rep tells Laptop Mag the company won't comment on rumors about its future products, but surrounding evidence sketches a picture of why AI PCs may become a priority.
Could this mean Intel plans to focus more on mobile processors and AI PCs in the future?
AI PCs have taken over the laptop market this summer thanks to the successful launch of Microsoft's Copilot+ PC program featuring Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus laptops, followed by AMD's Ryzen AI rebrand and stellar performance out of the gate with the Asus ProArt P16 and Zenbook S16.
While Intel kicked off the AI PC trend last winter, the Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors have failed to make as big of a splash as either Qualcomm or AMD, which makes the launch of Intel's second-generation AI chips even more critical.
So, has Intel decided to dedicate more resources to its mobile chipsets in response to the increased AI PC competition? The reversal in the release window between Intel’s laptop and desktop chips may indicate something big, especially with the chipmaker coming off a massive set of layoffs earlier this month. AMD also swapped around their release window, putting out the Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" series of laptop processors ahead of the Ryzen 9000 "Granite Ridge" series of desktop chips.
When asked for comment, an Intel representative responded only, “We’ll have more details to share on our upcoming next-gen desktop processor family, codenamed Arrow Lake, closer to launch.” So, we can expect more details on Intel's upcoming Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake processors to kick off IFA Berlin 2024.
