Later this month, Intel will reveal its 8th generation of Core processors, known as Coffee Lake, which are expected to feature an improvement of 15-30% over the current generation.
The company is already looking to the future, however, and today revealed the codename for the 9th generation of processors that will follow. In Intel"s 3-step "Process-Architecture-Optimisation" cadence, Coffee Lake will represent a second optimization stage following the current Kaby Lake. Succeeding this will be Cannonlake, which will be a new process - and Intel"s first to shrink the die to 10nm.
This will be followed by the 9th generation of Core processors, representing a new architecture phase under the guise of Ice Lake. These processors will "utilize Intel’s industry-leading 10nm+ process technology."
It"s still unclear as to how the 10nm+ process will differ from the 10nm process in Cannonlake, though we may gain a better picture of the company"s future plans at their unveiling of Coffee Lake on August 21.
The company has been trying its hand at a die shrink to 10nm for a while now and despite numerous delays, it will be interesting to see what Intel will come up with, especially as AMD is quickly catching up in the performance department with the recent releases of its Ryzen and Threadripper series.
Source: Intel via VentureBeat