After a challenging second-quarter earnings call and issues with its Raptor Lake CPUs, Intel has some positive news. The company’s first 18A chips have returned from the fab and successfully booted operating systems. This includes the Panther Lake for PCs and Clearwater Forest server CPUs.
Panther Lake will follow this year’s Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake launches as Intel’s new family of mobile processors, both likely for late 2025. On the other hand, Clearwater Forest will launch as a successor to Sierra Forest all-E-core Xeon parts that were launched back in June.
It will feature updated Darkmont E-cores, a revised version of the Skymont cores debuting with Lunar Lake. It will also integrate Intel’s advanced Foveros Direct 3D die-to-die hybrid bonding packaging technology, demonstrating progress in silicon lithography and advanced packaging.
Kevin O’Buckley, head of Intel Foundry Services, said in a separate announcement that Panther Lake is “yielding well” and its DDR memory controller is running at the target frequency, ahead of schedule on product qualification milestones.
Intel’s 18A process includes two major fabrication advancements: RibbonFET gate-all-around FETs and PowerVia back-side power delivery technology. These innovations aim to enhance power efficiency and clock scaling, marking significant improvements in chip performance.
Intel also released the first full Process Design Kit (PDK) for the 18A process node, a crucial step for attracting customers. This PDK equips customers with the necessary tools to complete their chip designs, aligning them with Intel’s finalized process specifications. The company has spent considerable effort ensuring the PDK meets industry standards and addressing past shortcomings that hindered their contract foundry endeavors.
Hopefully, Intel can attract customers from leading fabs like TSMC and Samsung by providing robust, user-friendly PDKs. The company expects its first external customer chip design to tape out in the first half of 2025, marking a pivotal step in expanding its foundry business.
This development can be seen as the beginning of what Intel hopes will be a growing list of external customers.
Apple has an incredible talent for making me admire its products while simultaneously questioning what on earth it's thinking with the pricing. This isn't even something as bizarre as a monitor stand, but the audacity for starting a new laptop lineup from $2,000 doesn't surprise me.
The newly announced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 is just the latest to showcase this. The funny thing is, I already know that it's going to be a reliable workstation. You get a powerful new 2nm M6 processor, a gorgeous Liquid Retina XDR display, and up to 24 hours of battery life. We were impressed by the M5 MacBook Air, so the high-end M6 powered MacBook Pro definitely won't let us down.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with ACEMAGIC
Mini PCs have become an increasingly practical alternative to traditional desktops, especially if you're trying to save desk space without giving up the Windows experience. Whether you need something for everyday work, a home entertainment setup, or more demanding creative tasks, there's a surprising amount of hardware packed into these compact machines.
Apple has unveiled a new iMac and a 14-inch MacBook Pro, both powered by its new baseline M6 chip. If you’ve been eyeing either device, now is the time to act, as entry-level configurations are becoming harder to get with each product launch.
The devices will be open for pre-order Wednesday, October 28, 2026, from 10:10 AM PT. Meanwhile, deliveries and store stock will arrive on Friday, November 6.