Intel's 7nm Meteor Lake chips still on schedule for a 2023 release

What you need to know

• Intel's Meteor Lake processors appear to be on schedule for a release in 2023.
• Intel's Gregory Bryant shared that the company is "taping in" its 7nm Meteor Lake compute tile.
• "Taping in" means that the processor design is finished and that Intel can move towards making the final chip design.

Intel appears set to release its 7nm Meteor Lake processors in 2023. Gregory Bryant, executive VP & GM of Intel's Client Computing Group explained that the company is "taping in" its 7nm Meteor Lake compute tile now. A post from Intel further clarifies that the company "expects to tape in the compute tile for its first 7nm client CPU (code-named "Meteor Lake") in the second quarter of this year" (via Videocardz).

Taping in refers to the various design elements of the processor being finished. Once it's taped in, Intel can move towards making the final design of the chip. Intel can then "tape out" the final product, which indicates that the processor is ready to ship.

Intel's initial announcement of Meteor Lake came with an expected tape in date of Q2 2023, so the company seems to be on pace for its original schedule.

Intel is currently on its 11th-gen Rocket Lake chips. The 12th-gen is known as Alder Lake and is expected later this year. Rumors suggest a 13th-gen titled Raptor Lake that will be a refresh of Alder Lake (via TechRadar). After that, Intel could move to Meteor Lake, which would be the first on the 7nm process.

In an earnings call earlier this year, Intel announced a six-month delay of its 7nm process. That delay would push it into late 2022 or early 2023, which lines up well with estimates of the release of Meteor Lake.