Aug. 14, 2025 –
Intel has showcased that its 18A process is ready for SoCs that don't employ the x86 architecture, signaling its intent for a wider customer adoption.
Well, Team Blue has signaled that the 18A process is indeed an 'industry-wide' product poised for external adoption. Intel initially plans to test the node with products like Panther Lake, and its success will determine whether the firm will see customer adoption. However, Intel Foundry has now showcased a non-x86 chip being run in a live demo that utilizes the 18A process, and while it hasn't specified the particular IP technology used in the test, this certainly indicates that the division wants to evolve as a world-class contract manufacturer.
In the demo, a reference SoC was showcased running live on different workloads such as 3D gaming, animation, and 4K video streaming. The chip employed seven CPU cores in performance, optimized, and efficiency classes, with a PCIe and controller IP from other sources. The demo is a statement that the 18A chip is also intended for ARM and RISC-V ecosystems, with the former architecture being much more important for Team Blue, considering its growing popularity with Apple and Qualcomm platforms.
The 18A chip is generally referred to as an entirely internal product, but the latest demo shows that Intel wants to expand it into other ecosystems. The live workload demo also depicted the core specialization with the cutting-edge node and how 18A can handle diverse, real-world workloads efficiently. Apart from this, Intel's developer tools, notably VTune Profiler, are now optimized to handle non-x86 SoCs as well, with improved CPU utilization.