Intel Lunar Lake hybrid mobile processors to integrate on-chip LPDDR5X memory (MoP)

While Intel Meteor Lake mobile processors are yet to become available, we already have a leak that provides quite a lot of details about the next-generation Lunar Lake hybrid mobile processor family (LNL MX) with supports for 8W to 30W base power designs and 16GB or 32GB on-chip LPDDR5x memory (Memory-on-Package, or MoP) to deliver higher memory bandwidth at reduced footprint and power.

Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, the new Lunar Lake processor will come with four P-cores and four low-power E-cores, a new generation NPU and GPU architecture for AI workloads, and improved power management for lower power consumption (40% scenario power reduction) and improved battery life.

Four SKUs are currently planned with either 16GB or 32GB dual-channel LPDDR5X memory:

Core 7 MS3 (+ MoP) – Octa-core “12M” processor with 4x P-cores, 4x E-Cores, 8-core Xe2-LPG GPU, and 6-tile (12K9M) NPU
Core 5 MS1 (+MoP) – Octa-core “8M” processor with 4x P-cores, 4x E-Cores, 7-core Xe2-LPG GPU, and 5-tile (10K7.5M) NPU

It looks like Intel Meteor Lake will only have four models instead of offering multiple SKUs with very few differences as they did in the past. When configured at 8W, the processor will be able to run in fanless systems, and 17W to 30W will be suitable for more powerful, but actively cooled systems.

The table above compares Alder Lake, Meteor Lake, and Lunar Lake platform features and some of the highlights for the latter include:

Processor – Octa-core hybrid CPU with 4P (LionCover architecture) + 4E (Skymont architecture) design, 8MB cache
Graphics – GPU supports real-time ray tracing, performance roughly equivalent to Apple M2 with 12W TDP/PBP
VPU – H.266/VCC hardware video decoding
AI accelerator – NPU 4.0
Memory – LPDDR5x-8533 MoP
Display Interfaces
- eDP 1.4 & 1.5
- HDMI 2.1
- DisplayPort 2.1
Camera – Integrated IPU4 supporting up to four concurrent cameras, HDR
Audio – HD audio up to 192Khz/24-bit, 5-core DSP
Networking
- Gigabit Ethernet MAC working with Intel i219 controller
- “Integrated” CNVio3 WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 via “BE201” 2×2 MIMO module
High-speed interfaces
- 4x PCIe Gen5, 4x PCIe Gen4
- 3x 40 Gbps Thunderbolt4/USB4
- 2x 10 Gbps USB 3.2
Debugging – “Closed box debug” on Type-C port
Power Management – PMIC power delivery
Package – 27×27.5mm (BGA2883); height: 1.34mm (16GB RAM), 1.58mm (32GB RAM)
Process – TSMC N3B

We’ve seen Package-on-Package (PoP) memory in Arm SoCs for years, but unless I’m mistaken, it’s the first time I see any Intel processor with integrated memory, and the company calls it “Memory-on-Package”, or MoP for shorts, instead.

Intel Lunar Lake mobile hybrid processors should launch sometime in 2024, and that would probably be H2 2024 considering the Meteor Lake mobile processor family has yet to launch. The slides above were initially posted on Twitter/X, but copies of the slides were eventually picked by Videocardz from a post on Anandtech forums.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.