Intel Lunar Lake CPUs: Everything we know so far
Intel's keeping the rumor mill busy according to a report from WCCFTech. This week, details leaked about the Core Ultra 5 234V, supposedly the first glimpse of Intel's upcoming Lunar Lake CPU.
Here's what we’ve heard so far, the next-level Intel Core Ultra could come with an 8-core engineering sample with a mix of high-performance Lion Cove cores and low-power Skymont cores, designed for thin and light laptops that pack a punch. Think productivity powerhouse on the go. Plus, it's got an undisclosed Battlemage iGPU on board for some built-in graphics muscle.
Here's what we know so far about Intel Lunar Lake.
Intel Lunar Lake: Possible release date
Don't expect these CPUs to hit shelves extremely soon – rumors suggest a limited launch later this year, with wider availability in 2025. This would mirror what we saw with Meteor Lake arriving in a handful of laptops at the end of 2023, so it's not completely unprecedented.
Intel Lunar Lake: Features
Here's a look at some of the features that we can expect to see in Intel Lunar Lake:
Designed with thin and light notebooks in mind. Perfect for portability without sacrificing performance.
They will feature Lion Cove P-Cores & Skymont E-Cores. A combo of powerful cores for demanding tasks and efficient cores for everyday use, maximizing battery life.
Next-level Battlemage "Xe2-LPG" GPU Architecture. Expect improved graphics capabilities for everyday tasks and even some light gaming.
We should see up to 64 Execution Units. Translates to smoother visuals and better graphics performance.
We should see 4+4 Core Configurations. This 8-core setup is likely just the tip of the iceberg, with more options potentially on the horizon.
On-Package LPDDR5x Memory for faster data transfer speeds for a more responsive experience.
We could get up to 3x faster NPU performance versus Meteor Lake. A significant boost for AI tasks like photo editing and video encoding.
Outlook
This is shaping up to be a highly competitive year for laptop chip makers, if Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite chips deliver on their promise, it's easy to understand why Intel would perhaps press to get its next-gen out sooner.
Meanwhile, whispers suggest Intel's working on discrete Battlemage "Xe2" GPUs too. These could offer next-gen features like improved ray tracing and some fancy AI-powered rendering tech. But again, that's a story for another day.
For now, the Lunar Lake leak gives us a taste of what Intel's cooking up. Stay tuned for more info as it surfaces!
