Intel Aims For Leadership In 2025 As Both Panther Lake & Clearwater Forest “18A” CPUs Now Booted-On & Showing Good Health

Intel has announced its 18A milestones which are now booted with two next-gen product families, the Panther Lake Client & Clearwater Forest server CPUs.

Intel 18A Is On-Track For Production In 1H 2025 As Panther Lake & Clearwater Forest CPUs Now Booted, First External Product To Tape-Out On 18A In 1H 2025 Too

As a follow-up to its Q2 earnings call, Intel is once again reaffirming the progress of its next-gen 18A process node and the respective products. The 18A node will be used by the Panther Lake CPUs for clients in 2H 2025 and also shipping in Clearwater Forest CPUs for servers in 2025. Intel says that it has achieved the milestone in less than two quarters after the tape out which shows the health of 18A process technology.

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The Intel Panther Lake CPUs for clients will utilize the next-gen Cougar Cove P-Core architecture and an updated version of the Skymont core which will make its debut next month with the Intel Lunar Lake CPUs. These chips will be targeted at the "AI PC" segment, scaling from desktops to laptops. Meanwhile, Clearwater Forest is going to be the next-gen follow-up to Sierra Forest, with up to 288 cores based on the Darkmont core architecture.

Two key technologies come with its 18A process node, RibbonFET & PowerVia Backside.

RibbonFET allows for tighter control over electrical current in the transistor channels, allowing for miniaturization of the chip components while reducing power leakage while PowerVia backside power delivery will offer optimized signal routing by separating power delivery from the front-side of the wafer to the back, offering reduced resistance and improved power efficiency. With these, Intel is aiming to achieve a leadership position on both client and server segments by 2025 so with that being a year away, we will see how well Intel's progress goes.