Intel 12th Gen Core architecture is codenamed Sapphire Rapids

A new CPU architecture codename was discovered on Intel's website. Before we move on to the new part, lets take a look at what lies ahead in the nearer future. The 8th Gen Core desktop processors codenamed Coffee Lake-S will ship next week. This will be Intel's fourth architecture on the 14nm node, and it's expected to be succeeded by the 10nm Cannonlake architecture in 2018.

Next on the CPU roadmap is the 10nm Ice Lake, which will probably hit the market in 2018 or 2019, and a third 10nm product called Tiger Lake is currently scheduled for 2019.

Now we learn that Intel's 12th Gen Core gets rid of the "lake" names, this architecture is internally known as Sapphire Rapids. This chip will be part of the Tinsley server and workstation platform, and may arrive in 2020.

TechPowerUp speculates the Sapphire Rapids generation will not only be a major architectural change, but could also be the first 7nm processor from Intel.