Intel officially confirms ‘Lunar Lake’ mobile CPU launch date with Core Ultra 200 to challenge Snapdragon X and Ryzen AI 300
Intel’s Lunar Lake chips land just before IFA 2024 in early September, promising a revolution for x86 Windows laptops.
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What you need to know
Initially scheduled for aQ3 2024release window,Intel has finally confirmedan exact release date for its new Core Ultra 200 series of mobile processors, codenamed Lunar Lake. The launch event is planned alongside a live stream onSeptember 3, 2024, at 9 AM PDT (12 PM ET)to reveal performance specifics and, presumably, a lineup of available SKUs with performance profiles.
VideoCardz previouslyreported an apparent leakof Intel Core Ultra 200V processors, hinting that at least nine chip variants will be released. The list ranges from a 17W Core Ultra 5 226V with 16GB of on-chip LPDDR5X-8533 memory to a 30W Core Ultra 9 288V with 32GB, with all SKUs perhaps supporting a maximum turbo power of 30W. We’ll have to wait for September to confirm, but the specs seem to match Intel’s performance intentions.
Ahead of the IFA 2024 conference, join Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group, and Jim Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of the Client Business Group, and Intel partners as they launch the next generation of Intel Core Ultra processors, codenamed Lunar Lake.
This launch lands slightly before the IFA 2024 technology exhibition opens to the public on September 6, 2024, in Berlin, Germany, where we initially expected Intel to announce Lunar Lake. Thankfully, the keynote livestream will be available onIntel’s Newsroomfor anyone to watch, with a replay hosted afterward for those who can’t see it happening in real-time.
Although it hasn’t been confirmed whether vendors will display Lunar Lake-powered laptops for demonstrations at IFA 2024, it seems reasonable to expect at least one to appear. Windows Central plans to have team members on the ground around the event in Berlin, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled for any opportunities for hands-on testing.
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What is Lunar Lake?
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Lunar Lake is Intel’s codename for its latest range of mobile processors using the new ‘Core Ultra’ branding. It’s the second generation of chips using the naming system following a change thatdropped the traditional ‘i5, i7, i9’patterns. The upcoming Core Ultra 200 chips in Lunar Lake follow the previous-gen Core Ultra 100, codenamedMeteor Lake.
While I saw a handful of Lunar Lake specifications unveiled duringIntel’s Tech Tour press conference in Taipei, including a 48 peakTera Operations per Second (TOPS) countfor at least oneNeural Processing Unit (NPU)in the new Core Ultra 200 SKUs, metrics like average or peakThermal Design Power (TDP)were kept under wraps. However, on-stage demonstrations of Intel’s latest ‘Skymont’ Efficient Cores (E-Cores) highlighted significant gen-on-gen power management and efficiency improvements as it moves away from the power-hungry Hyper-Threading technology used in Meteor Lake’sSystem-on-Chip (SoC.)
For battery life, Lunar Lake reduces the SoC power by up to 40%. This is a major step for mobile and you WILL notice it.
In a nutshell, Intel boasts higher performance-per-watt with Lunar Lake, reducing comparable consumption from Meteor Lake by up to 40%. Longer battery life and a significant performance boost are the primary selling points, though they aren’t much different from the goals of any new processor generation. Perfecting the combination of CPU, GPU, and NPU tiles withon-chip LPDDR5X memorymatters most if Intel wants to beatQualcomm’s revolutionary Snapdragon Xplatform andAMD’s latest Ryzen AI 300 Seriesmobile chips.
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Ben is a Senior Editor at Windows Central, covering everything related to technology hardware and software. He regularly goes hands-on with the latest Windows laptops, components inside custom gaming desktops, and any accessory compatible with PC and Xbox. His lifelong obsession with dismantling gadgets to see how they work led him to pursue a career in tech-centric journalism after a decade of experience in electronics retail and tech support.
