The future Intel laptops will feature removable memory units again.
The CEO of Intel claims that Lunar Lake is a unique project.
Intel has decided to reverse one of the most significant changes it has made to its laptop chips in several years. The company had introduced the Lunar Lake laptops with the innovative idea of eliminating memory modules, integrating a fixed amount of RAM into the processor package instead. However, Intel's CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has stated that this strategy turned out to be a financial mistake and will not be repeated in the future. He also indicated that Intel might be phasing out desktop GPUs.
Future generations of Intel chips, such as Panther Lake and Nova Lake, will not have integrated memory. During the third-quarter earnings call of 2024, Gelsinger explained that this represents a more traditional approach: “It's not a good way to manage the business, so it really is an isolated case with Lunar Lake,” he said. He clarified that memory will be integrated into the CPU package along with I/O capabilities, while bulk memory will be developed separately in the future roadmap.
While this may seem perplexing, as Intel had touted Lunar Lake’s package memory as a competitive advantage in terms of energy efficiency for laptops—reducing power consumption by 40% when moving data—Gelsinger suggested that Lunar Lake should have been more of an experiment than a central pillar in the company's laptop efforts. Originally, this product was intended to be a niche item focusing on high performance and good battery life, but the rise of artificial intelligence in PCs turned it into a higher-volume product.
The situation became more complicated for Intel because Lunar Lake relied heavily on external partners for memory chips and TSMC wafers, a competitor. In the last quarter, amid massive layoffs and a restructuring within the company, Intel's CFO indicated that Lunar Lake turned out to be too costly to contribute to the company’s financial recovery.
On the other hand, Intel's efforts in discrete graphics also seem to be facing complications. Gelsinger has mentioned his intention to simplify consumer products, suggesting that dedicated graphics cards could be discontinued. “How are we handling graphics? This is increasingly focusing on large integrated graphics capabilities, so there is less need for discrete graphics in the future market,” he remarked.
If Intel decides to abandon this line, it wouldn't be surprising, as its gaming graphics initiative has seen limited success with standalone cards and has only managed to carve out a position in the ultra-low-cost segment, where AMD now poses a greater threat. It would be unfortunate if Intel could not progress beyond the Alchemist model, and gamers hoping for the Battlemage graphics cards never see its second attempt. However, at least Intel's Arc graphics efforts, including Battlemage, have managed to integrate into the increasingly powerful graphics that its laptop chips offer.
