We’re expecting Intel Core Ultra 200 series processors to be with us by the end of the year, but there’s still no official word on when Arrow Lake will grace Socket LGA 1851 motherboards. That said, those hungry for new Team Blue silicon may have their appetites sated earlier than previously anticipated. At the very least, qualification samples should hit the scene unexpectedly soon.
There’s little doubt that these Core Ultra 200 series chips will rank among the best CPUs ever made by Intel, but the company is keeping any launch plans close to its chest. Nonetheless, a recently leaked alleged roadmap for Arrow Lake suggests the production of Team Blue’s next batch processors is running ahead of schedule.
This report comes to us from (who else?) jaykihn0, an X user and regular leaker of all things Intel Arrow Lake. In a recent post, they share that “ARL-S 8+16 die QS switched to ww34” following up with a release date estimate of “Late October.”
For those unfamiliar, ‘QS’ stands for qualification sample. It’s the final phase of chip production before retail versions of processors hit store shelves, preceded by ES (engineering sample) CPUs. So, if there’s any truth to jaykihn0’s leak, Intel is planning to get these prototypes out of the door in the 34th working week (WW34) of the year, starting August 19.
This rollout was previously scheduled for WW40, September 30. This would mean production is about a month and a half ahead of schedule. While not impossible, such a shift could see the Core Ultra 200 series hit the scene more quickly. Alternatively, it would allow Intel more time to iron out any bugs, something the company will desperately want to avoid after 14th Gen Core stability issues.
As rumours suggest Socket LGA 1851 motherboards will fix longstanding issues seen on current generation designs, all signs point to Intel making good on its upcoming desktop processor lineup. After all, the Core Ultra 200 series supposedly supports a large amount of USBs and outclasses its predecessor by 26% in single-core performance.
We expect to learn more about Team Blue’s processor plans at Intel Innovation, starting September 24, 2024. In the meantime though, give our Core i9 14900K review a read.