Intel changes its manufacturing language as it moves to angstroms

Intel claims that by 2025 it will return to “manufacturing leadership.”

- MARK HACHMAN

Intel recently stated that it is completely changing the way in which generations of its microprocessors have been defined, discussed, and evaluated, paving the way for chips to be measured in angstroms, not nanometers.

Specifically, Intel is rewriting the terminology associated with its process technology, it said at an “Intel Accelerated” presentation. Going forward, Intel’s 10nm “enhanced SuperFIN” technology will now be called “Intel 7,” mentally placing it on the same tier as the same 7nm process technology AMD uses for its Ryzen chips. Intel began signaling this shift in March (go. pcworld.com/sgnl), but now it’s official.

It’s a branding exercise, but with technical reasons behind it. For years, one way in which chip giants like Intel and AMD have defined the evolution of their products has been through process nodes or process generations: first in terms of microns, then nanometers, such as the 14nm process Intel has struggled to move past. But what defines a 7nm process has become increasingly abstract, to the point at which some, like Intel, would argue that the term has become essentially meaningless. Instead, Intel will distinguish process nodes by a new metric: performance per watt.

Intel’s announcement includes three important components. For one, Intel is simply abandoning the traditional way of defining new process nodes, changing the way in which you’ll talk about its products. Second, the announcement charts the end of the nanometer era, and looks forward to defining chips based on angstroms. Finally, Intel has made a bold claim that it will regain what it calls “manufacturing leadership” by 2025.