Intel shows ARM chip on 18A process, but then deletes video

Intel Foundry has released new materials about its products and services, including an interesting video about the in-house ARM processor.

The production unit demonstrated a reference system on the Deer Creek Falls chip, which Intel calls a “non-x86” design manufactured using the 18A process. The ARM processor consists of seven cores, including one performance core, two efficient cores, and four ultra-low power cores. The SoC has built-in memory and PCIe controllers, as well as embedded PHY chips from partners. The sample demonstrates a heterogeneous design of hybrid cores, and it is likely that it will form the basis of some more specific developments. Earlier it became known unofficially that the main competitor of Intel, AMD, also develops the ARM chip for Microsoft products.

Although Intel did not explicitly mention that this is an ARM SoC, later in the video, in the section on performance tuning, it mentions AArch64—the 64-bit version of ARM ISA. The company also teased a set of performance optimization tools, including for ARM, that would allow its customers to optimize software performance on their platform of choice, not just x86 ISA. This would obviously be of interest to potential Intel Foundry customers. Intel soon removed the video from its YouTube channel, but the website TechPowerUp saved the screenshots.

Although the technical process 18A was not of interest to external clients and was actually canceled for them, Intel plans to use it extensively in its products, even though it failed to produce usable chips. The 14A technical process is currently a higher priority, but it can be canceled if customers are not interested. According to unofficial data, companies such as Apple and NVIDIA are looking at 14A and can potentially save the Intel Foundry.