Intel was one of the most active companies at CES 2021, announcing no fewer than four new families of processors. Among them was 12th-gen desktop chips, codenamed 'Alder Lake'.To get more intel updates, you can visit shine news official website.
It was an unusual move from Intel, given that 11th-gen the 11th-gen 'Rocket Lake' chips hadn't launched at the time. However, the inclusion of mobile chips means Alder Lake can be seen more as the true successor to 2020's Tiger Lake. Here's what you can expect from the next generation of Intel silicon. At the company's CES press conference and in an official newsroom post, Intel revealed that the Alder Lake chips will be due "in (the) second half of 2021". That's anytime from July onwards, but a more specific release date isn't yet known.
However, during a webcast, the company has since confirmed that its 'Intel Innovation' event will take place on 27-28 October. CEO Pat Gelsinger used the phrase 'fully hybrid' when talking about the event - that's probably referring to Alder Lake's hybrid technology. On 6 October, Intel Executive VP Gregory M Bryant hinted that 12th-gen chips were "coming soon" in a tweet.Of course, you might not able to buy the new CPUs straight away - VideoCardz is suggesting they won't be available to buy until December 2021. Wccftech is suggesting slightly earlier, so they may go on sale in November 2021 instead. A subsequent Wccftech article suggests that desktop chips will go on sale from 19 November 2021.
However, there's a chance we'll have to wait until CES 2022 (scheduled for January) for the regular CPUs. An article from German tech site Igor's Lab suggests that only the enthusiast-focused K and KF processors will arrive in 2021, alongside the Z690 chip for motherboards. That means we'll have to wait a bit longer for everyday Alder Lake CPUs, with the delayed development of PCIe 5.0 believed to be the reason for the hold-up.The key difference will be target market, which shapes how the chips are designed. As Intel itself says, Rocket Lake chips will be primarily aimed at gamers and PC enthusiasts who want the absolute best performance on offer - but it'll likely have a price to match.
Alder Lake looks like it'll take a different approach, in order to appeal more to everyday consumers. Unlike Rocket Lake, it looks to focus just as much on power efficiency as performance, "combining high-performance cores and high-efficiency cores into a single product". The latter should lead to big improvements in battery life, so long as there aren't wholesale changes to the rest of the chip.
Sound familiar? ARM-based processors have historically sacrificed slightly on performance in order to maximise power efficiency, although Apple's M1 chip suggests it may be possible to have the best of both worlds.
With AMD and Microsoft both exploring ARM-based CPUs too, it's no surprise that Intel wants a piece of the action. Alder Lake doesn't quite fall into the same category, but it's clear the company sees a future in this type of chip.
