Intel’s Arrow Lake-U lineup of processors, as per sources, will act as a low-cost alternative to the upcoming Lunar Lake-MX series. These CPUs will be built using the Intel 3 (3nm) process, instead of Intel 20A . Likewise, the leaker projects a perf/watt increase of about 10% as compared to Meteor Lake-U .
Arrow Lake-U Efficiency and Process Node
Lunar Lake is an upcoming lineup of low-power processors set to arrive by the end of 2024 . Before these CPUs, we should see Arrow Lake-S and Granite Rapids in action. The mobile counterpart of Arrow Lake will roll out at CES 2025 , based on a leak from the same source.
Arrow Lake-U CPUs are meant to be a low-cost substitute for Lunar Lake, as they are likely cheaper to produce. It is pertinent to mention that both lineups will use the same P-Core and E-Core architecture, however, the iGPU and process technology are quite different. More on that in a bit.
“ARL-U” is basically a cheaper alternative to LNL — Bionic_Squash (@SquashBionic) January 18, 2024
Intel’s Arrow Lake-U CPUs will be fabbed on the Intel 3 process, a node that was exclusively reserved for server offerings ( Granite Rapids ). This is in contrast to TSMC’s N3B node found on Lunar Lake . Adding to the dissimilarity, Lunar Lake by late 2024 will introduce Battlemage (Xe2-LPG) graphics. On the contrary, Arrow Lake-U will use a modified Alchemist+ µarchitecture (Xe-LPG+).
“ARL-U” uses intel 3 (it’s basically MTL-U ported to intel 3) — Bionic_Squash (@SquashBionic) January 18, 2024
The leaker made a rather vague statement regarding the CPU µarchitecture. Arrow Lake, at least on desktop, will use Lion Cove P-Cores, a step up from Meteor Lake’s Redwood Cove cores. We are uncertain at this point, however, the shrink to Intel 3 from Intel 4 nets Intel a 10% efficiency uplift in MT workloads.
It’s basically the MTL cores ported to intel 3. ~10% perf per watt improvement in MT workloads — Bionic_Squash (@SquashBionic) January 18, 2024
Summary
By the start of 2025 , we’ll have a couple of options from Team Blue. On one hand, you can go all out and snag a Lunar Lake-MX equipped laptop, but be ready to empty your wallets. Arrow Lake-U appears to be a low-cost alternative, with ample performance and efficiency.
