Meteor Lake-S Desktop CPUs Rumoured to Be Scrapped for Desktop Release
There have been whispers that Intel’s plans for the Meteor Lake-S Desktop CPUs may have been shelved, with the chips reportedly only set to be released for mobility devices.
This news comes from reliable leaker OneRaichu, who has previously accurately predicted Intel’s moves. The Meteor Lake-S lineup was originally slated to include a number of SKUs for the LGA 1851 desktop platform, including:
- Intel Meteor Lake-S 22 ( 6P + 16E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 125W TDP
- Intel Meteor Lake-S 22 ( 6P + 16E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 65W TDP
- Intel Meteor Lake-S 22 ( 6P + 16E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 35W TDP
- Intel Meteor Lake-S 14 ( 6P + 8E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 65W TDP
- Intel Meteor Lake-S 14 ( 6P + 8E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 35W TDP
MTL-S seems maybe canceled.🤔
— Raichu (@OneRaichu) December 23, 2022
If these rumours are true, it looks like we’ll need to revise our understanding of Intel’s desktop Core lineup. The company is reportedly planning to launch the Raptor Lake Refresh CPU family in 2023, which will replace current chips with higher core clocks and a refined process for improved power delivery.
These chips will be compatible with all LGA 1700/1800 socketed motherboards, meaning that this socket could potentially last for three generations of CPUs.
LGA 1851 Socket May Also Support Three Generations of CPUs
In addition to the LGA 1700/1800 socket potentially supporting three generations of CPUs, rumours suggest that the next-generation LGA 1851 socket may also be able to accommodate at least three generations of CPUs.
Without the inclusion of Meteor Lake-S, it’s thought that the three families that could potentially be released on this socket would be Arrow Lake-S (ARL-S), a possible Arrow Lake Refresh, and Panther Lake (PNL-S).
The Intel 15th Gen Arrow Lake-S Desktop CPUs are expected to bring back the 24 cores that are currently available on Raptor Lake CPUs. The Arrow Lake-S top die will feature up to 24 cores, made up of 8 Performance Cores and 16 Efficiency Cores.
Previous leaks have indicated that this lineup will only be released in Core i7 and Core i9 variants, and will use the Intel 4 (CPU) + TSMC N3 (GPU) SKU node layout. It’s rumoured that the 20A node won’t be included in the desktop lineup. The Arrow Lake-S Desktop family is expected to come in the following SKUs:
- Intel Arrow Lake-S 24 ( 8P + 16E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 125W TDP
- Intel Arrow Lake-S 24 ( 8P + 16E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 65W TDP
- Intel Arrow Lake-S 24 ( 8P + 16E ) – 4 Xe Cores – 35W TDP
🤔LGA18xx maybe will support three gen products too.
(It just my guess)— Raichu (@OneRaichu) December 23, 2022
Intel’s Shift to Three Families per Socket
Intel’s decision to switch from releasing two families per socket to three is likely an attempt to maintain a competitive edge in the desktop market against AMD.
It’s also been reported that the Royal Cove core architecture, which is expected to bring significant performance and IPC improvements, will not be released until the generation after Panther Lake. This means that we could potentially see Royal Cove on the LGA 1851 socket, rather than the LGA 1700/1800 socket as originally thought.