Forward-looking: Intel has been stuck on the 14-nanometer process for far longer than it likely ever envisioned but fortunately for all parties involved, that should be changing soon. Chipzilla will soon be shipping 10-nanometer Ice Lake parts as it eyes an eventual move to 7-nanometer in 2021.
Intel at its 2019 investor meeting this week said it will begin shipping its first volume 10-nanometer processor, codenamed Ice Lake, in June. As previously announced, Intel expects the first Ice Lake-based devices to be available to consumers in time for the 2019 holiday season.
Chipzilla said it expects the Ice Lake platform to deliver 3x faster wireless speeds, 2.5 to 3x faster artificial intelligence performance, 2x faster video transcode speeds and 2x faster graphics performance compared to previous generation products.
Multiple 10-nanometer products are expected to launch through 2019 and 2020, Intel said, including the Snow Ridge SoC, a general-purpose GPU and additional CPUs for clients and servers.
Gazing further down the road, Intel said its first 7-nanometer product - an Intel Xe architecture-based, general-purpose GPU for data center AI and high-performance computing - will launch in 2021. The GPU will reportedly deliver 2x scaling and provide a 20 percent increase in performance per watt with a 4x reduction in design rule complexity.
It'll also mark Intel's first commercial use of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography which the company said will drive scaling for multiple node generations to come.