Intel Responds To Lunar Lake CPU Delay Rumors
The fact of the matter is that both stories can be true: Intel's new chips can be both delayed and yet still on schedule. If you're confused, let us explain. DigiTimes says that Intel's Lunar Lake processors are "said to be delayed, with shipments beginning in September instead of June as originally planned." Meanwhile, Intel reaffirms that the parts will be available "starting in Q3 2024, as noted at Computex."
If you're a clever sort, you'll have already figured out what's going on here. Intel promised the Lunar Lake processors for the third quarter of this year and never made any more specific statements than that. The company would surely like to have had its new CPUs out in time to compete with the just-launched Snapdragon X Elite and the soon-to-launch Ryzen AI 300 series, but it never promised any such thing—at least publicly.
A tiny Lunar Lake package at Computex 2024. Photo: HotHardware
So, whether the chips are "delayed" or not, Intel says that they're still launching in this quarter. Frankly, the news of a late July or September launch won't be a surprise to anyone that's paying attention. While Intel shared many details of the Lunar Lake design with press (resulting in write-ups like our extensive deep dive), we haven't heard so much as a model name for these chips yet, nevermind pricing.
Leaks and rumors suggest that these parts will be known as the "Core Ultra 200V" family of SoCs, while the related Arrow Lake desktop CPUs will purportedly drop the "V". Despite that Intel hasn't said anything about release dates, the company did announce its yearly Innovation event for September 24th. We wouldn't be shocked if the blue team dropped Lunar Lake and announced Arrow Lake on that day.
