Is Intel finally producing 10nm CPUs? Presentation of the Ice Lake 10 nm processor
Intel presents its first 10nm CPU at CES. The Ice Lake series SoC for mobile devices is also due for release this year.
The manufacturer had announced that it wanted to produce 10nm CPUs as early as 2016. Cannon Lake, which is what Intel had called its technology, had, however, been repeatedly postponed and three improved versions of Sky Lake had been released in the meantime. Intel failed to achieve what Samsung did back in 2016: mass production of 10nm etched semiconductors.
Intel didn't mention Cannon Lake at CES either. The first processor with the Sunny Cove architecture and mass-produced in 10nm is called Ice Lake. According to Intel's CPU listing, Ice Lake is officially the successor to the Cannon Lake architecture.
Some info on Ice Lake processors
No announcement has been made about when the Cannon Lake will be released, if ever. I don't know if it will ever see the light of day, and perhaps after putting it off so many times, Intel has no idea either. It seems increasingly clear that the Cannon Lake will probably never go into mass production. What is certain is that Intel will start production of the Ice Lake processor, the first SoC version of which will be available for x86 mobile devices by the end of the year. If we omit the Core i3-8121U of the Cannon Lake microarchitecture produced in limited numbers, the first Intel 10nm CPUs will therefore be released three short years late.
The Sunny Cove architecture, based on Ice Lake, should offer an improvement in overall performance with reduced latency and the simultaneous execution of more processes. The Ice Lake SoC incorporates wifi 6 (previously an 802.11ax router), Intel's Gen 11 graphics performance and Thunderbolt 3.
Intel has so far given little information on the technical specifications of the processors. The Santa Clara manufacturer has only carried out a test comparing a notebook equipped with an Ice Lake processor with another notebook probably equipped with a 9th-generation processor for AI-controlled image processing. The computer with the Ice Lake processor was around one and a half times faster. But the results of this kind of test should not be taken at face value. The first independent tests will show us what the 10nm Ice Lake series is really capable of.
Intel still has it under its belt
Lakefield, another 10nm chip designed for devices with screens under 11 inches, should also be of interest to home users. Using Foveros 3D stacking technology, different x86 chips can be added to an SoC. This is a common production process for the ARM architecture, but a novelty for x86. The Lakefield chip is expected to be made up of a Sunny Cove core and four smaller Atom cores.
Intel also took advantage of CES to announce its new laptops, as well as six new 9th-generation CPUs, including entry-level Core i3s, but also high-end processors such as Core i9s. My colleague Jan Heidenreich will let you know as soon as they're available from digitec.ch and at what price.
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