Intel is still the big name when it comes to CPUs, but it’s not the only option these days.
The American fellow company AMD is the big rival among Windows laptops and PCs, while Apple Silicon has achieved excellent results on the Mac side. We also can’t discount Qualcomm, which has released several ARM-based laptop chips in recent years.
Despite the success of the 13th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs, Intel must continue to innovate. We expect upgrades to next generation processors, confirmed as 14th generation Meteor Lake. Here’s everything you need to know.
When will Intel Meteor Lake be released?
Intel has confirmed a release window for the first 14th Gen CPUs, but it’s nothing more specific than that 2023.
It remains to be seen when exactly we will see the first processors this year. If 2022 were anything to go by, they’ll make their debut at Intel’s Innovation event, which usually takes place in September or October. But the bulk of the CPUs will likely arrive at CES 2024 in January.
As for a more specific launch date, Intel usually introduces its new CPUs during the company’s Innovation event. There we saw the first Raptor Lake processors in late September 2022, before many more arrived at CES 2024 in January.
At Computex 2023, MSI unveiled a laptop supposedly powered by a Meteor Lake chip (via Tom’s Hardware). It is scheduled to arrive in the fourth quarter of the year (October-December), which seems to be in line with Intel’s usual schedule.
However, in August 2022, Intel was forced to deny that all consumer-oriented chips will be delayed until 2024. As The Verge reported, there were many previous rumors suggesting that Meteor Lake is behind schedule.
But Intel insisted that the first Alder Lake CPUs will not only hit the market in 2023, but they will also be on sale before the end of the year.
Will Intel release Meteor Lake desktop and mobile chips?
Possibly not. Mobile chips for Windows laptops and tablets seem to be on the agenda, but they may not be joined by desktop versions this time around.
In December 2022 regularly This was reported by Twitter leaker Raichu that Meteor Lake-S chips designed for desktops had been canceled. A subsequent tweet from the same account suggests that the same product will be used to make a Meteor Lake-P laptop processor instead:
Around the same time as the tweet above, PC Gamer’s Jeremy Laird described 15th-gen Arrow Lake (expected in 2024) as the “true desktop replacement” for Raptor Lake – not Meteor Lake.
But if this turns out to be true, it’s nothing new for Intel. Neither Ice Lake (10th Gen) or Tiger Lake (11th Gen) included desktop CPUs, although the next two generations did.
How much will Intel Meteor Lake cost?
If Intel decides not to release Meteor Lake desktop chips, price won’t matter.
Laptop CPUs are designed to be integrated into the devices you purchase and are not available as standalone components. Therefore, the price you pay depends on what the rest of the hardware looks like.
But if Intel eventually starts making desktop processors, a similar price to the 13th gen Raptor Lake is likely.
Intel’s suggested prices for these vary wildly, but most were somewhere between $300 and $600. Retailers ultimately decide how much you pay, though an easing of global chip shortages means there shouldn’t be huge increases.
What will Intel Meteor Lake specs be?
The first source of Meteor Lake news is Intel itself. At the company’s 2022 Investor Day, it showed the following roadmap:
Intel
The main takeaway here is the move to the Intel 4, which sees the company finally switch to a 7nm process. Intel 20A refers to a 5nm process, but not expected until 2024 at Arrow Lake.
As Tom’s Hardware reports, we now have our first look at a Meteor Lake chip. MSI’s latest Prestige 16 Evo, announced at Computex 2023, is powered by an Intel Core i7 processor with specs not yet announced. It features 16 cores and 22 threads, with the article suggesting it could be a successor to the current Core i7-13700H (which has 14 cores and 20 threads).
These cores are split into six performance and 10 efficiency, with two of the latter housed with the main system’s tile on a chip (SoC) module. A clock speed of 3.1 GHz would be an upgrade compared to the 2.4 GHz on the i7-13700H, but this may not be the maximum figure.
In April 2022, AnandTech said that Meteor Lake will be the company’s first to use EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) in manufacturing, moving away from the current hybrid architecture. There will still be the mix of performance and efficiency cores, but this new chiplet design will allow processor components to be more easily combined (according to The Verge).
According to Twitter leaker Raichu, it will bring big benefits to energy efficiency, which in turn should benefit battery life:
a follow up tweet suggests that the new integrated GPU (a successor to the current Iris Xe) will deliver nearly 2x the performance it currently has – at least according to clock speeds.
In a now private tweet (reported by VideoCardz.com), leaker TL on Twitter revealed some details about what Meteor Lake-S desktop chips could be. This includes a total of 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes (16 for the GPU, four for storage) and an additional four from the new Z890 motherboard.
6 performance/8 efficiency and 6 performance/16 efficiency versions are thought to exist, and a core eight performance version is also believed to be in the works. Windows 12 is also mentioned, adding to the rumors that a major new version could be on the way soon.
In 2021, Wccftech suggested that Meteor Lake will use an all-new architecture known as Redwood Cove. This will be the successor to the current one and should deliver ‘IPC and architectural improvements’.
Other key specs for Meteor Lake will be revealed later in the article. These include the LGA 1700 platform and DDR5 memory, with author Hassan Mujtaba hinting at possible 800-series chips and PCIe Gen 5 support.
A June 2022 YouTube video of ‘Moore’s Law is Dead’ claims to leak several key Meteor Lake specs:
The video suggests we should also expect a new LGA 2551 socket, significant IPC increases compared to Raptor Lake, and a new architecture to rival AMD’s Zen 4 for the desktop CPUs. However, some clock speed regressions are claimed, while the video failed to reveal any clock speeds either.
We will update this article as soon as we know more about Meteor Lake. If you’re in the market for new Intel CPUs right now, check out our full guide to 13th Gen Raptor Lake chips.
