In a surprising twist, Intel has reportedly scrapped its upcoming Arrow Lake-S Refresh, seemingly opting to push forward with Nova Lake as the successor to the Core Ultra 200 series, codenamed Arrow Lake-S. This move, revealed by leaker “Panzerlied” on Chiphell and X, suggests that Intel is confident in the performance and longevity of Arrow Lake-S, aiming for it to hold the top spot for two years.
The cancellation of Arrow Lake-S Refresh, which was anticipated to be compatible with the new LGA 1851 socket, raises questions about the socket’s future. However, it seems that Nova Lake will now inherit the LGA 1851 socket, offering some stability in Intel’s platform for the foreseeable future. Switching sockets twice in a short span, from LGA 1700 to LGA 1851 and then again, might appear strategically disadvantageous against AMD’s AM5 platform, which boasts a longer lifespan.
AMD is currently dominating the market with its Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series, dubbed “Granite Ridge.” Furthermore, the anticipated launch of Ryzen 9000X3D processors with next-gen 3D V-Cache in early 2025 will likely present a formidable challenge to Intel. While Intel plans to release Arrow Lake-S to counter AMD’s Ryzen 9000X3D processors, the lack of an Arrow Lake-S Refresh means that Intel won’t have a direct competitor until Nova Lake arrives in 2025.
The landscape will shift again in 2026 with AMD’s introduction of its Zen 6 architecture, posing a direct challenge to Nova Lake. This escalating competition highlights the constant race for supremacy in the CPU market, with Intel seemingly playing a longer game, prioritizing the performance and longevity of its current and future offerings.
