Intel to adopt TSMC's next-gen 2nm process for upcoming Nova Lake CPUs

[Daniel Sims]

Something to look forward to: Upcoming chips from Intel, Apple, and AMD will utilize next-gen semiconductors featuring gate-all-around (GAA) transistors. While Intel is set to debut its own 18A process incorporating GAA later this year, reports suggest that the company's CPUs slated for 2026 will actually be among the first to adopt TSMC's version of the technology.

Intel plans to build its upcoming Nova Lake CPUs on TSMC's forthcoming 2nm semiconductor process node, according to Economic Daily News. If accurate, next year's desktop PCs could be among the first devices to feature 2nm technology, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro.

Both TSMC and Intel declined to comment on the report, however the Taiwanese chipmaker is expected to begin 2nm trial production at its Hsinchu plant soon, aiming to improve yield rates ahead of mass production in the second half of the year.

TSMC's 2nm node, which will utilize GAA transistors to reduce power leakage and enhance performance, is also expected to power some AMD chips and the flagship iPhone SoC scheduled for release in 2026.

Intel has already used TSMC's 3nm process for the compute tiles on its Arrow Lake Core Ultra 200 chips, and may decide to upgrade to the foundry's 2nm node for the same section in Nova Lake. Nova Lake is expected to succeed Arrow Lake in desktop and possibly high-end laptop CPUs next year.

According to Tom's Hardware, Nova Lake will also require a new motherboard socket, LGA 1954, which could feature over 2,000 pins. Reliable leaker Olrak recently shared shipping manifests from NBD.ltd referencing voltage regulator testing tools and various jig models that mention LGA1954.

Meanwhile, Intel is preparing to integrate GAA technology into its 18A node, which is currently in risk production and is expected to enter mass production in time for the launch of the company's Panther Lake processors later this year. A brief for the upcoming 2025 VLSI Symposium notes that GAA and backside power delivery will improve 18A's density scaling and performance by over 30 percent compared to Intel 3.

Panther Lake will follow Intel's low-power Core Ultra 200V laptop processors, scheduled for release in the second half of 2025. The company's Clearwater Forest server processors, expected in 2026, will also use 18A.

With 18A, Intel aims to regain a competitive edge by bringing GAA and backside power delivery to market ahead of TSMC. TSMC, in turn, plans to introduce its version of backside power delivery a year later with its A16 node.

Permalink to story:

Intel to adopt TSMC's next-gen 2nm process for upcoming Nova Lake CPUs

 

[Theinsanegamer]

At what point does Intel just shut down their own fabs? This is getting embarrassing.

 

[Watzupken]

Intel’s narrative is that they are going to dual source fabs. But I feel they can’t produce enough on their own fab and forced to pay for TSMC’s cutting edge node. 2nm is expected to be very expensive such that even Apple is deferring the adoption. So if 18A is really that good, why would Intel want to pay a lot for TSMC 2nm?

 

[WhiteLeaff]

"Failure inside"

 

[daffy duck]

TSMC's n2 will cost a lot more than 18A, so it's bizarre they'd use N2 for the ultra price-sensitive desktop market and not the serve market. N2 would make more sense for Clearwater forest and 18A for Nova Lake.

So no 20A for Arrow Lake (cancelled), no 18A for Nova Lake and I'll bet no 14A for Razer Lake,.

 

[SRB]

What I don't get is that they're trying to sell 18A fab space to Nvidia, Broadcom, etc., but won't use that node themselves? What message does that send to those potential customers? If they're production constrained, why work so hard to sell space to others?

This is what happens when you change leadership in the middle of a long term plan. The next leader's plan never quite matches up. And for a bonus, they get to blame the original plan for their failure.