[News] Intel Reportedly Confirms Panther Lake to Be Built on 18A, with Samples Distributed to Customers

---

---

Once touted as the lifesaver of Team Blue’s foundry unit, Intel’s 18A is rumored to have a yield rate of around 10%, posing tough challenges for mass production. However, according to the latest report from TechPowerUp, Intel seems to be making good progress, as it has confirmed the upcoming Panther Lake, which will make debut in 2025, would be built on the node.

The remarks were made by Intel’s interim co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus at Barclays’ 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference a couple of days ago, as per TechPowerUp.

According to Holthaus, this marks the first time in quite a while that the company serves as “customer zero” for an Intel process, the TechPowerUp report suggests. She added that Intel has distributed initial engineering samples (ES0) of Panther Lake to customers, and eight of them have powered on the chips, as noted by the report.

Notably, Holthaus emphasized that this “gives you just kind of an idea that the health of the silicon is good and the health of the Foundry is good,” according to TechPowerUp.

To provide more background information, Intel’s “Panther Lake-H” is a product following the “Arrow Lake-H” mobile processors, and is reportedly featuring up to 18 cores, including 6 performance (P) cores, 8 efficiency (E) cores, and 4 low-power (LP) cores. Previous media reports indicate that Panther Lake is likely to be introduced in the second half of 2025.

It is interesting to note that during the Lenovo Tech World 24 event, Intel’s former CEO Pat Gelsinger handed out a sample of Panther Lake to Lenovo’s Head, according to a previous report from Wccftech.

After his unexpected retirement recently, Gelsinger defended the performance of 18A on social media, noting that “speaking about yield as a % isn’t appropriate,” and the use of percentages as a metric for evaluating semiconductor health demonstrates a lack of understanding of chip yields.

Read more

• [News] Intel Struggles Persist as 18A Process Rumored to Report Low 10% Yield, Hindering Mass Production
• [News] Intel’s Turnaround Hinges on This? Its First 18A Chip in High-volume Makes Official Debut

(Photo credit: Intel)