[News] Intel Reportedly Drops Hybrid Architecture for 2028 Titan Lake, Go All in on 100 E-Cores

While rumors about Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake and Panther Lake architectures have only just begun to surface, speculation around the company’s longer-term roadmap is already gaining traction. According to ITHome, citing Notebookcheck, a leaked Intel roadmap suggests that the company might launch its Titan Lake processor lineup in 2028—potentially dropping P-cores entirely in favor of up to 100 E-cores.

As the report notes, Titan Lake will likely mark a shift away from Intel’s heterogeneous P-core and E-core setup toward a unified core architecture, possibly based on Nova Lake’s larger Arctic Wolf E cores. This transition could improve performance per area (PPA) and performance per Watt (PPW). The use of the 14A process is also expected to help keep thermal design power (TDP) under control, according to the report.

Meanwhile, abandoning the hybrid design could allow Intel to simplify its architecture and reduce costs, an important factor amid the company’s ongoing financial challenges, as noted by Club386.

Notebookcheck adds that this direction aligns with broader industry trends in the CPU and SoC space. AMD’s Ryzen Strix Point APUs already combine Zen 5 standard and compact cores, while MediaTek has adopted an all-big core 1+3+4 configuration starting with the Dimensity 8400, eliminating efficiency cores altogether, as the report points out.

In addition, the leaked roadmap further indicates that Razer Lake, expected in 2027, will be the final generation to use a heterogeneous P-core and E-core design. According to the report, it will pair Griffin Cove P-cores with Golden Eagle E-cores and serve as a minor refresh of Nova Lake, which is set to launch in 2026, as noted by the report.

Intel Advances Panther Lake and Nova Lake Development

Intel plans to ramp up production of Panther Lake—the first processor built on its 18A process—in late 2025. Meanwhile, according to TechPowerUp and SemiAccurate, Intel’s “Nova Lake-S” client CPU has reportedly taped out at TSMC’s 2nm fab in Taiwan. The reports indicate that a compute tile was taped out on TSMC’s N2 node a few weeks ago, suggesting Nova Lake-S will likely integrate both Intel’s 18A and TSMC’s 2nm technologies. This progress suggests Nova Lake remains on track for release in the second half of 2026, the reports add.

Read more

• [News] More Intel Nova Lake Buzz: 10%+ Performance Boost, Fresh Cores, and Foundry Partners
• [News] Intel on the Move: Nova Lake Reportedly Tapes Out on TSMC’s 2nm, with 18A Yields Gaining Speed
• [News] Intel Panther Lake Preview: Is 18A the Long-Awaited Game-Changer?

(Photo credit: Intel)