Intel Arrow Lake “Core Ultra 200” Desktop CPU QS Samples Rolling Out As Early As August, October Launch Locked In

Intel Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop CPU  lineup is expected to debut by October, as Team Blue reaches the qualification stages.

It looks like rumors surrounding Intel Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop CPU's release in December aren't true since new reports suggest that Intel is on track to release the next-gen desktop SKUs by October.

If someone is unaware of the stages in which a processor is released, it usually consists of multiple ones. The very first is the "engineering" stage, at which we see the engineering samples (ES1/ES2) of specific SKUs pop up. The ES chips are usually spec'd to meet the design parameters whereas the next stage is set to meet the retail spec.

I don’t see a point in posting the slides. The slides could be faked anyway. But here you go, from today. pic.twitter.com/htkjcBwmqm

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) July 13, 2024

The most prominent stage, however, is when a CPU's qualification samples (QS) get released to various motherboard manufacturers and partners since that's when one can determine the release date of a particular lineup and align their BIOS accordingly.

As far as we know, Intel has already provided PreQS samples to specific motherboard manufacturers for testing. At the same time, K-series Intel Core Ultra 2 processors and Z890 chip motherboards will be released in mid-to-early October (it is unlikely to happen in October).

Machine Translated (via Benchlife)

New reports by Benchlife and the leaker Jaykihn suggest that Intel plans to reach the QS stages of its "Core Ultra 200K" SKUs by mid-August to early September, which means that the initial batch of Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" CPUs will launch in October valid here.

ARL-S 8+16 die QS switched to ww34 bahahahaha

Terrible timing for the December rumor (which is 100% not true).

Late October.

6+8 die (which will be used in non-k SKUs alongside 8+16) is still targeting ww49.

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) July 12, 2024

Should still be late October for sales.

— Jaykihn (@jaykihn0) July 11, 2024

From what we were able to gather during Computex 2024, Intel had the October window in mind. Recent reports of a December launch did raise controversy about the timeline, but it looks like things are clear now. So, it's final now that the Core Ultra 200K "Arrow Lake CPUs will drop by in the upcoming months, with the non-K release slated for January 2025, according to previous rumors.

Another important point here is that Arrow Lake-S will come in two different dies, the 6+8, which is specified to the non-K SKUs, and the 8+16. The 6+8 is still targeting the December timeline (WW49) for QS, which indeed validates that non-K models should be expected next year. The Unlocked CPU family is likely going to be based on the 8+16 die which is reportedly planned for a QS release between weeks 34-36 of 2024 which falls between late August and Early September so a month before launch.

Intel Arrow Lake-S "Core Ultra 200" Desktop will indeed show its prowess in the PC markets three months from now on. However, there are some uncertainties surrounding the release, especially Intel's recent "instability fiasco," which has bothered Intel's 14th Gen and 13th Gen consumers massively and, according to one motherboard manufacturer, might sabotage the launch of the Core Ultra 200 series.

Intel needs to recover quickly since the instability problem has grown massively. This has put competitors like AMD on edge, as several partners and customers have started switching to Ryzen CPUs simply because Intel hasn't managed to deal with their problem.