Intel Looking to Mirror M1's Manufacturing Process for 'Meteor Lake' CPUs

The 14th Gen Core and Meteor Lake are at least partly using TSMC's 5nm process to mirror Apple's M1 series of chips, according to a report.

The first multi-chiplet design to integrate an application processor, graphics processing unit, and connection chips into a single Intel Foveros advanced package was announced last year.

At its most recent earnings call, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said that the first product made using Intel 4 would be Meteor Lake.

According to sources, Intel is considering placing orders for all of the chip blocks used in the Meteor Lake CPUs with TSMC. Rather than relying on Intel's in-house 7nm process, the Meteor Lake chip blocks would be contracted out to be manufactured with TSMC's 5nm process. Delays to the production and launch schedules would be avoided by the move.

The A14 Bionic, A15 Bionic, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra chips are manufactured using TSMC's 5nm process. TSMC is said to have received orders for chips for the iPhone 14 lineup.

The sources said that if there were large orders for Meteor Lake, TSMC would be able to scale up its fabrication capacity by the end of the year. Intel is planning to launch its Meteor Lake CPUs in the year 2023.