Intel may release Nova Lake in 2026H2

First glimpsed in 2021, Nova Lake was whispered to debut in 2025, with its microarchitecture bearing significant refinements tailored for desktop platforms, reminiscent of the transformative strides seen in AMD’s inaugural Ryzen iteration. Since then, murmurs regarding Nova Lake have grown faint, with some speculating that Intel might have shelved the venture.

According to revelations from “Moore’s Law Is Dead“, Intel remains steadfast in advancing Nova Lake’s genesis, albeit with a revised unveiling set for the latter half of 2026 rather than the initially rumored 2025. Intel is poised to harness its 14/16A fabrication process, while also possibly continuing its collaboration with TSMC, opting for the N2P process for certain module fabrications. Given that the curtain-raiser for Nova Lake lies roughly three years ahead, one can anticipate a myriad of potential developments in the interim.

Intel Nova Lake is slated to boast 16 P-Cores, 32 additional P-Cores (codenamed “Arctic Wolf”), and 4 LP E-Cores, positioning itself to contend with AMD’s Zen 6 architecture and subsequent offerings. Presently, Intel is immersing itself in the development of a technique dubbed “Rentable Unit”, destined for Nova Lake, poised to supplant the existing hyperthreading paradigm. Of these, the high-end Core Ultra 9 will flaunt a last-level cache of 180MB, while the Core Ultra 7 will possess 144MB. Rumor has it that Nova Lake’s single-core prowess will eclipse Arrow Lake by 20-40%, and is set to surpass the impending Raptor Lake Refresh by an impressive 60% or more.

It’s understood that AMD, in its strategic trajectory, intends to unveil its Zen 6 architecture processors around the close of 2025, followed by the Zen 7 architecture processors in 2027. Should Intel orchestrate the release of Nova Lake as envisioned, it will not only need to rival the prowess of the Zen 6 architecture but also brace itself against the looming might of the Zen 7 processors.