Intel Nova Lake CPUs to Use TSMC 2nm: Report

A mini bombshell was dropped on the semiconductor industry a few months ago: Intel would use TSMC to make CPU tiles for its next-generation Lunar Lake mobile platform. A new report from Taiwan says Intel will continue that strategy with Nova Lake, which will be Lunar Lake's successor, somewhere around 2026 and use TSMC's 2nm fabrication process.

The source of this new information is Taiwan Economic Daily, which says both Apple and Intel have already reserved some 2nm capacity from TSMC. We already know that Apple would be the first company in line for whatever TSMC is cranking out, but the fact that Intel has allegedly already signed up is big news. The report, via Wccftech, says TSMC will start 2nm production in 2025 for Apple's iPhone 17 Pro, and then Intel will jump on board the 2nm train in 2026 for the CPU tile on Nova Lake. We first heard of Nova Lake in December when HWINFO said support for its embedded GPU was already planned.

This leaked slide shows Intel is planning on tapping TSMC for the CPU tiles of Lunar Lake, which will be explosive news if it comes to fruition. Credit: Anandtech Forums

Not much is known about Nova Lake because it's still beyond Intel's official roadmap. We know Intel is making a play to battle Apple (and Qualcomm) in efficiency and AI power for its upcoming mobile architectures. However, a two-track architecture roadmap seems to be materializing, with desktop and high-end mobile SKUs using Intel's foundry and its low-power mobile architectures designed around TSMC CPU tiles. For example, the upcoming Arrow Lake desktop chips will use Intel 20A, while the next-generation Lunar Lake mobile will reportedly use TSMC 3nm.

Intel's strategy is becoming clearer: Lunar Lake on TSMC 3nm, and Nova Lake on TSMC 2nm. What is hard to understand is if Intel's whole IDM 2.0 strategy was to surpass TSMC in the nanometer race, why utilize it for upcoming mobile architectures when Intel will theoretically have a smaller process, such as Intel 18A? The only answer seems to be Intel thinks it's a superior solution for low-power designs (8W to 30W). The company has more flexibility with its desktop chips and thus can use its own processes, like Intel 18A, and whatever comes after that.

Intel has yet to confirm the use of TSMC for any of its upcoming CPU tiles, and if it ever does, we cannot wait to hear the justification for that decision. It has never outsourced the manufacturing of its core business, x86 CPUs, so we're now waiting to see if this will materialize. Lunar Lake is expected to replace Meteor Lake later this year, so we'll find out soon enough.