Intel demonstrates 10nm Ice Lake processor, promises PCs will ship with it later this year

Intel announced a major rethink of its chip design back in December, just before it finally delivers 10nm chips for PCs and laptops. At CES 2019 today, Intel is demonstrating its first Ice Lake 10nm processor that’s based on its new Sunny Cove microarchitecture. Intel is building in Thunderbolt 3, Wi-Fi 6, and DL Boost (deep learning boost) into these Ice Lake chips for laptops and PCs to take advantage of. Intel is now promising that PC makers will have devices with Ice Lake processors on shelves by the end of 2019.

At its CES keynote today, Intel demonstrated ODM systems from Pegatron and Wistron, and Dell even joined Intel on stage to show off an Ice Lake-powered XPS laptop that will be available later this year. Dell didn’t show the device powered on, but it appeared to be a 2-in-1 device that looked similar to the XPS 13.

Intel is also looking to the future, too. The chip giant is planning to use Foveros 3D chip stacking technology to build future chips, a method that allows Intel’s chip designers to stack extra processing power on top of an already-assembled chip die. These “chiplets” can be stacked atop one another to form a processor that includes graphics, AI processing, and more.

Ice Lake is an important step for Intel after years of 10nm delays and struggles. Intel originally planned to introduce 10nm processors, dubbed “Cannon Lake,” back in 2016. Intel’s last earnings report revealed the company’s 10nm chips should arrive at some point in 2019, and these latest promises today back that up.

While reports from late last year suggested that Intel had canceled its 10nm plans, it’s now clear that the plans have shifted from Cannon Lake to its new Ice Lake design. As long as there are no additional delays, we should finally see Ice Lake processors appear in machines in time for the holidays later this year.

https://www.theverge.com/2019/1/7/18171718/intel-ice-lake-10nm-processor-dell-demo-ces-2019