Skip to main content

Intel denies claims that 10nm on desktop is dead

Intel’s struggles with 10nm have been well-documented over the years, and recent reports have been adding fuel to the fire. German site Hardwareluxx reports that Intel may skip using its 10nm process node for desktop-bound CPUs and shoot for 7nm chips instead, targeting a 2022 release.

The tip stems from supposed trustworthy insiders claiming Intel can’t meet the mass market’s demand for 10nm desktop processors.

Recommended Videos

Since the publishing of this story, Intel has provided Digital Trends with the following statement to comment on the matter: “We continue to make great progress on 10nm, and our current roadmap of 10nm products includes desktop.”

The statement contradicts the supposed leaked roadmap, which showed that the 9th-gen Coffee Lake-S Refresh window ends during the third quarter of Intel’s corporate year for 2020. Intel’s 10th-gen Comet Lake-S then stretched from the second quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2021 (corporate year), while Rocket Lake-S began in the second quarter of 2021. Both Comet Lake-S and Rocket Lake-S are said to be based on Intel’s 14nm process.

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Comet Lake-S could have up to 10 cores and 20 threads requiring a TDP of 35 to 125 watts. It will support DDR4 memory, Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gbps), 4K content and HDR, PCIe 3.0, Intel Optane, and more.

Little is known about the Rocket Lake-S family, though it would supposedly offer up to 10 cores as well. Speculation hints to Intel porting newer core technology to the Rocket Lake platform for increased performance.

Finally, the roadmap shows that the 7nm Meteor Lake-S would then follow after Rocket Lake-S. This would be the first desktop chip to use a new process node since Intel launched its Broadwell platform in 2015. This platform is said to be powered by Intel’s Ocean Cove core design currently in development, but it reportedly wouldn’t be available until 2022. This would have given Intel considerably more time to refine the process, but left AMD with a large lead in the high-end desktop space in the meantime.

Leaked roadmaps have been wrong in the past, and Intel’s official statement was pretty direct. We don’t know the details of Intel’s actual roadmap, but it seems as if 10nm desktop chips are still in the works.

It should be noted that Intel’s Ice Lake family for laptops already offers 10nm chips. These 10th-gen chips are shipping on devices available now, such as the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 and Razer Blade Stealth. These new chips benefited from the inclusion of the new Iris Plus integrated graphics, which doubled the graphics performance over previous generations.

Updated on October 14 to include Intel’s official statement.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Kevin Parrish
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Kevin started taking PCs apart in the 90s when Quake was on the way and his PC lacked the required components. Since then…
Intel admits defeat on Arrow Lake — but it’s not down for the count
intel core ultra 5 245k review 4

Intel's Arrow Lake CPUs aren't off to a great start. As you can read in our Core Ultra 9 285K review and Core Ultra 5 245K review, Intel's latest CPUs miss the mark across productivity and gaming apps, and they're miles away from some of the best processors you can buy right now. According to Intel, there are several issues with the new platform that it plans to address within a matter of weeks.

In an interview with HotHardware, Intel's Robert Hallock was blunt about the release of Arrow Lake CPUs: "The launch didn't go as planned ... we have a number of things we got to go fix." Hallock, formerly of AMD, is near the top of Intel's technical marketing division. Although he didn't address exactly what's wrong with Arrow Lake, Hallock promised that Intel is working on updates that could significantly improve performance, and that they'll arrive in a matter of weeks.

Read more
AMD vs. Intel: which makes the best CPUs?
Pads on the bottom of the Ryzen 9 7950X.

When it comes to desktop and laptop processors, the two biggest names in town are Intel and AMD. Qualcomm is making inroads, but if you want peak performance, Intel and AMD make the best processors for gaming and serious productivity.

Still, it's not all sunshine and rainbows for these industry titans. AMD's most recent Ryzen 9000 CPUs were met with a lukewarm reception, but then Intel's Core Ultra 200-series were even less impressive. It may be up to X3D CPUs and turbo modes to save the day.

Read more
Not this again: Intel Arrow Lake may have instability issues
A render for an Intel Arrow Lake CPU.

Intel's Arrow Lake is just a couple of days from hitting the market, and we've been inundated with various reports and leaked benchmarks. Today's news doesn't sound good, though. YouTuber Moore's Law Is Dead reports that Arrow Lake, also referred to as Core Ultra 200-S, may have some instability issues -- much like what we've seen Intel battle for months on end with Raptor Lake.

Before we dive in, keep in mind that all of this is yet to be confirmed, and we're mere days away from finding out whether it's true or not. However, it could give some buyers a reason to hold off and read the reviews before preordering the CPUs. Moore's Law Is Dead talked about various reviewers and tech YouTubers who had something bad to say about Arrow Lake's stability. The issues are twofold: A wild discrepancy between benchmarks, and running into crashes.

Read more