A new Intel Mobility roadmap has leaked out which confirms specific core configurations of Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake Mobility CPUs.
Intel’s 12th Gen Alder Lake-P Rocks 14 Cores, Alder Lake-M Rock 10 Cores, First Laptop CPU Platform To Support DDR5 Memory
The roadmap that has leaked out shows the specific timeframe when system integrators will have their mobility products such as laptops and notebooks ready for launch. The two platforms we are going to focus on are the Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake-P and Alder Lake-M series.
Intel Alder Lake-P Series SKUs
The Intel Alder Lake-P series will be replacing the entire Tiger Lake-H45, H35, and UP3 portfolio of chips. It will max out at 14 cores in the top SKU which will comprise 6 Golden Cove cores & 8 Grace Mont cores. The parts replacing the Tiger Lake-UP3 series will feature 2 Golden Cove cores and 8 Gracemont cores. The chips will pack both GT2 and GT3 Xe configurations with up to 96 Execution units.
- Intel Alder Lake-P
- 2 Big Cores + 8 Small Cores with a GT2/GT3 GPU
- 6 Big Cores + 8 Small Cores with a GT2/GT3 GPU
Other features of the platform will include support for Thunderbolt 4, PCIe Gen 5.0 lanes & WiFi 6E. When it comes to memory support, the Intel Alder Lake-P chips will get both LPDDR5 and DDR5 configurations. It is likely that Intel will release Alder Lake-P first with LPDDR5 variants while the higher-end Tiger Lake-H successors will come outfitted with DDR5 memory.
Intel Alder Lake-M Series SKUs
Moving over to the Alder Lake-M lineup, these chips will replace the Intel Tiger Lake-UP4 platform and max out at 10 cores comprising 2 Golden Cove cores and 8 Gracemont cores. The chips will be equipped with up to 96 EU Xe integrated graphics, Thunderbolt 4, WiFi 6E, but PCIe capabilities will still be limited to PCIe Gen 4. As for memory, the laptops featuring Intel Alder Lake-M chips will be available in both LPDDR4X and LPDDR5 flavors.
- Intel Alder Lake-M
- 2 Big Cores + 8 Small Cores with a GT2/GT3 GPU
The power limits and configurations for Intel’s Alder Lake-P and Alder Lake-M chips also leaked out a while back which you can see below:
| Tiger Lake-U | Tiger Lake-H | Alder Lake-P | Alder Lake-M | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PL1 | UP3: <= 28W UP4: <= 9W |
<= 45W | (2 + 8 + 2): <= 15W (4 + 8 + 2): <= 28W (6 + 8 + 2): <= 45W |
(2 + 8 + 2): <= 9W |
| PL2 | UP3: <= 38W (2C), <= 60W (4C) UP4: <= 35W (2C), <= 40W (4C) |
107-135W | (2 + 8 + 2): <= 55W (4 + 8 + 2): <= 64W (6 + 8 + 2): <= 115W |
(2 + 8 + 2): <= 30W |
| PL4 | UP3: <= 71W (2C), <= 105W (4C) UP4: <= 66W (2C), <= 83W (4C) |
(2 + 8 + 2): <= 123W (4 + 8 + 2): <= 140W (6 + 8 + 2): <= 215W |
(2 + 8 + 2): <= 68W |
Now the roadmap is fairly new from what we have been told and according to the production window guideline for system integrators, Intel Alder Lake-P CPUs will hit production between November 2021 – March 2022 while Alder Lake-M CPUs will hit production by January 2022 – April 2022. We would definitely hear Intel talk about its mobility chips in its upcoming ‘ON’ & CES 2022 event showcases.
Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake vs Tiger Lake Comparison:
| CPU Family | Tiger Lake-UP4 | Alder Lake-M | Tiger Lake-H35 | Tiger Lake-H45 | Alder Lake-P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Architecture | Willow Cove | Golden Cove + Gracemont | Willow Cove | Willow Cove | Golden Cove + Gracemont |
| Max Cores / Threads | 4 / 8 | 10 / 12 | 4 / 8 | 8 / 16 | 14 / 20 |
| Max L3 Cache | 6 MB | 12 MB | 6 MB | 12 MB | 24 MB |
| iGPU | Up To 96 EU | Up To 96 EU | Up To 96 EU | Up To 32 EU | Up To 96 EU |
| Memory Support | LPDDR4/LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X/LPDDR5 | LPDDR4/LPDDR4X | DDR4 | DDR5/LPDDR5 |
| PCIe Gen Support | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 5 |
| Wireless Capabilities | WiFi 6 | WiFi 6E | WiFi 6E | WiFi 6E | WiFi 6E |
| TDP Range | 7-15W | 7-15W | 28-35W | 45-65W | 12-45W |