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Comment by dis-sys | Hacker News Reader

back in 2005, Intel had Core 2 Due and Core 2 Quad already in its pipeline. I don't think Intel has anything comparable in its pipeline now.

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I always saw Intel naming their product “Core” as a cynical ploy to confuse terminology by associating their product with multi-core computers. It is as if an automaker decided to brand their new motor with the name “Engine”.

Ha, I totally remember that confusion— my first laptop was the first gen white MacBook, with a Core Duo processor. But not a Core 2, or a Core 2 Duo, just a Core Duo. The other ones came along later.

I would be surprised if they haven't. i9-9900KS is still based on renamed Skylake core from 2016 scarred by Spectre mitigations at 14nm optimized to death.

My guess is that they were too optimistic with 10nm and no one started an alternative project on 14nm when the time was right.

They already claim +18% IPC on Ice Lake (because they basically dropped at least one generation and fixed security issues at least partially). When they resolve problems with the process (either by succeeding with 7nm or switching to TSMC) they will be very likely competetive again.

They claim that their 7nm process with EUV litography is on track to launch in 2021.

Oh boy I'd really like to see that, but considering the 10nm debacle I'm not too optimistic. If they actually manage to get EUV working well in 2021, we might never see widespread 10nm products at all.

Going by the roadmaps, that seems to be pretty much exactly their plan. Fabs that were slated for 10nm have been retrofitted for 14nm, or are rolling on to 7nm.

The 7nm and 10nm processes were developed by two independent teams. I'm pretty sure their 7nm team learned a lot of ways not to do things from their 10nm colleagues.

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