Intel Gemini Lake processors were highly anticipated as soon as they were first reported in September 2016, and even more so before launch since Gemini Lake products promised to be about as expensive as their older Apollo Lake counterparts. Interest somewhat fizzled despite a clear performance advantage over the previous generation, as prices did not match initial expectations, likely due to a shortage of Intel cheaper processors.
In recent weeks, we started to read about Intel Elkhart Lake processors that are meant to be the successors of Gemini Lake processors, based on Tremont microarchitecture, and featuring Intel “i915” Gen11 graphics. The new processor should be manufactured using a 10nm process, but it’s still unclear whether some Elkhart Lake processors will be part of Intel Foveros which combines a fast Sunny Cove core with several Atom class Tremont cores.
That’s about all we know from the technical side so far. A product roadmap (PDF) from MITAC, a Taiwanese electronics company, however reveals when we may expect the new Elkhart Lake Celeron/Pentium processors.
First we have PD10EKI thin mini-ITX embedded motherboard planned for mass production in Q1 2020, and that will provide an update from the Apollo Lake model from the company, which seemed to have skipped Gemini Lake for their thin mini-ITX family.
The second motherboard to show up in the roadmap is PD11EKI mini-ITX embedded motherboard also planned for Q1 2020. Finally, MITAC plans to introduce rugged tablet based on Intel Elkhart Lake with engineering samples (EVT = Engineering Verification Testing) slated for December 2019.
There’s about an 8 months period for their Apollo Lake tablets roadmap between engineering samples availability and mass production, so that means their Elkhart Lake tablet may be mass-produced around August 2020.
It’s still early in the year, and it would not be the first time Intel or other silicon vendors suffer from delays due to manufacturing or other issues, so we’ll have to see how it pans out.
Via FanlessTech
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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