Computex 2024 in Taiwan is in full swing. Intel has unveiled new Lunar Lake AI processors with up to 40% lower SoC power and 4x more NPU computing power over its previous generation chips.
According to Intel, AI PCs are projected to make up nearly 60% of PCs by 2027. While the new Intel Core Ultra chips sport an NPU, they’re note powerful enough for Microsoft’s new CoPilot+ designation. As you many have read over the past couple of weeks, a number of companies including Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, and HP (among others) and have announced next-gen AI Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X chipsets as they meet Microsoft’s minimum NPU TOPS requirement of 40 TOPS or more. The new Intel Lunar Lake AI Processors are capable of up to 48 TOPS, which means they should soon be showing up in Copilot+ PC systems.
“AI is driving one of the most consequential eras of innovation the industry has ever seen. The magic of silicon is once again enabling exponential advancements in computing that will push the boundaries of human potential and power the global economy for years to come.”
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger
Key features of the new Lunar Lake AI processors from Intel include:
The Lunar Lake AI processors are Intel’s “flagship processor for the next generation of AI PCs.” More power efficient than previous Intel chips, they offer up to 40% lower SoC power and, as mentioned above, more than three times AI computing power.
- New Performance-cores (P-cores) and Efficient-cores (E-cores) deliver significant performance and energy efficiency improvements.
- A fourth-generation Intel neural processing unit (NPU) with up to 48 tera-operations per second (TOPS) of AI performance. This powerful NPU delivers up to 4x AI compute over the previous generation, enabling corresponding improvements in generative AI.
- An all-new GPU design, code-named Battlemage, combines two new innovations: Xe2 GPU cores for graphics and Xe Matrix Extension (XMX) arrays for AI. The Xe2 GPU cores improve gaming and graphics performance by 1.5x over the previous generation, while the new XMX arrays enable a second AI accelerator with up to 67 TOPS of performance for extraordinary throughput in AI content creation.
- Advanced low-power island, a novel compute cluster and Intel innovation that handles background and productivity tasks with extreme efficiency, enabling amazing laptop battery life.
- Compute Tile: A new compute tile contains the latest-generation Efficient-cores (Ecores) and Performance-cores (P-cores), both of which introduce new microarchitecture enhancements and together bring unprecedented x86 efficiency. Also housed on the compute tile are the new Xe2 graphics processing unit (GPU), neural processing unit (NPU 4) and image processing unit (IPU).
- Xe2 GPU: Brings more than 80% more gaming performance and more than five times the AI throughput over the previous generation, delivering more than 60 tera-operations per second (TOPS) New microarchitecture for the display and media engines delivers a best-in-class visual experience.
- NPU 4: Delivers three times more TOPS over the most recent generation, up to 48 TOPs, to accelerate AI computations with impressively low power.
- IPU: Provides a great camera experience with reduced power.
- Platform Controller Tile (PCT): The PCT is where security and connectivity are integrated. Security components deliver a robust integrated security solution with built-in security engines designed to establish a solid foundation for system protection. The upgraded connectivity suite integrates Wi-Fi 7.0, Bluetooth 5.4, PCIe Gen5 and PCIe Gen4 ports, and Thunderbolt™ 4 ports.
- Memory on Package: Enables fast access to data and reduces latency, decreasing the overall power consumption of the system.
Systems with Lunar Lake chipsets are expected to ship in the third quarter of this year. Intel is anticipating over 80 different AI PC models coming from 20 OEMs by that time.
