With its 8th-generation Coffee Lake processors arriving next week, Intel has released information pertaining to its upcoming 10-nanometer “Ice Lake” chip, which will serve as the successor to the 14-nanometer Coffee Lake and 10-nanometer Cannon Lake chips.
The company stated that “the Ice Lake processor family is a successor to the 8th generation Intel(R) CoreTM processor family. These processors utilize Intel’s industry-leading 10 nm+ process technology,” via its codename decoder web site.
The timing comes as irregular, as Intel has not announced or shared details on its Cannon Lake processor. The Cannon Lake line will represent the first chips that will be built on its 10-nanometer architecture, and Intel is also referring to Ice Lake as the successor to its soon-to-be-announced 14-nanometer Coffee Lake chips, leading to confusion about its upcoming processor lineup and how Cannon Lake fits in.
Per AnandTech, Intel’s current Kaby Lake processors were built on a second-generation 14nm+ architecture, while the Coffee Lake chips are created via a third-generation 14nm++ architecture. Both the Baby Lake and Coffee Lake processors are available for notebooks and desktop, but it appears the 10-nanometer Cannon Lake chips will succeed Coffee Lake chips in laptops, while desktops won’t see 10-nanometer architecture until the release of Ice Lake.
Intel seems to be focusing on smaller die sizes first, or anything that operates under 15 watts, to power a notebook. As such, it may be focusing on the 10 nanometer Cannon Lake processors while the larger processors, will be the desktop-focused 14 nanometer++ Coffee Lake processors, which require 35 watts or more of power to operate. While the desktop sits on 14++ for a bit longer, it gives time for Intel to further develop their 10nm fabrication abilities, leading to their 10+ process for larger chips by working their other large chip segments first.
Intel is expected to officially unveil its 14nm++ Coffee Lake processors on August 21. These processors are expected to be incorporated into Apple’s notebooks and standard iMacs in 2018, although it’s unclear how Cannon Lake fits into the lineup and whether those chips will be available for some machines in time for 2018 refreshes.
Intel’s Ice Lake processors are not likely to be available until late 2018 or 2019, with an exact timeline to be determined by Intel’s success in improving its 10-nanometer architecture.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.