On October 14th the hardware website Hardwareluxx.de ran a story about a trusted insider source at Intel bringing them the news that development of 10nm desktop CPUs by Intel was about to be cancelled, with the 10nm project replaced with a longer term move to 7nm targeting a 2022 release date. Intel have since moved to squash this rumour, releasing an unequivocal statement that things are proceeding well.
This particular rumour gathered momentum and spread because not only is it a juicy rumour, and we all love those, but that it also seems to be well within the realms of possibility. Intel’s ongoing switch from 14nm to 10nm has become something of a saga. Intel first predicted they would adopt 10nm CPUs in a 2012 roadmap, aiming for a 2015 launch. Four years after that we’re still not seeing them outside of the Ice Lake family of laptop CPUs. Adding insult to injury AMD seem extremely comfortable with their 7nm desktop CPUs.
Rumours that the whole 10nm switch might be abandoned may or may not be well sourced, but they sound enough like something that might well be happening to give them credibility.
In this particular instance however the rumour has irritated Intel enough for them to respond. In a statement to DigitalTrends.com Intel made the very clear statement:
“We continue to make great progress on 10nm, and our current roadmap of 10nm products includes desktop.”
So that’s that as far as what we know. Doubtless until Intel can wheel out a selection of 10nm desktop CPUs these rumours will keep coming back, with the pressure increasing year on year while AMD CPUs sell like hot cakes.