Intel’s Meteor Lake Desktop Rumored to Offer More PCIe Gen 5 Lanes, Wi-Fi 7

(Credit: Intel) There’s been a lot of speculation about the fate of Intel’s 14th gen Meteor Lake architecture. The rumors have ranged from it being delayed, again, to it being mobile-only, to it being outright cancelled. Now a leaker is providing new details that indicate it might still be on track and will offer several new features. When it arrives and in what form are still open questions. The latest leak also links it to “Windows 12,” hinting at a 2024 launch.

The new details are provided by a Twitter user who has successfully provided accurate scoops in the past, according to Videocardz. Twitter account @leaf_hobby dishes on the upcoming Z890 chipset and what it will offer. The banner feature for Meteor Lake desktop is the addition of four more PCIe Gen 5 lanes, topping out at 20. Raptor Lake offers just 16 lanes. This will allow a dedicated x16 connection to the GPU. The additional four lanes are supposedly reserved for M.2 storage. There will also be four PCIe Gen 4 lanes to the CPU, which is unchanged from Z690/790. Another significant addition is 24 Gen 4 lanes to the chipset, four more than Z790.

This is the previous leak of Meteor Lake’s block diagram, which was thought to be its mobile version. (Credit: Igor’s Lab)

Other notable mentions include the introduction of Wi-Fi 7. This technology is already available in some routers, but we’re unaware of any client devices with it now. Everything is still Wi-Fi 6(e) and should remain that way for 2023. The tipster also notes their sources say it supports Windows 12. Microsoft previously showed off a new Windows Interface in 2022 at its Ignite conference, which led to rumors it was Windows 12. As we wrote at the time, that’s supposedly slated for 2024. Together, these features indicate a 2024 launch for Meteor Lake.

If that transpires, it will differ from Intel’s stated roadmap. Its CEO even said recently it’s on schedule and coming out in 2023. However, what seems more likely is the previously rumored Raptor Lake refresh for 2H2023. Either way, it certainly seems like it does exist still. It’s also possible these leaks are being fed to us to help the company disavow rumors of it being cancelled or delayed further.

This new leak confirms that Intel is reducing core counts for Meteor Lake. It was previously reported to offer 6P and 8E cores, two fewer performance cores than Raptor Lake. This configuration is what led to people guessing it’s for mobile. That is confirmed in this leak, though there’s also a 6P and 16E version. That’s still fewer cores than Raptor Lake, though, at least for performance cores since it offers eight.

We first saw Meteor Lake in the flesh way back in late 2021. Cnet took a tour of Fab 42 in Arizona and snapped some photos of it. Since then, there’s been a steady drumbeat of leaks and rumors of delays. We saw its block diagram for mobile last year. We also saw confirmation of its six performance cores last year from Intel directly. The company also showed it off at last year’s Vision conference. It is undoubtedly a real product that is very far along in its development. Whether that means a desktop version will come out in 2023, though, remains to be seen.

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