Intel is slated to end its hybrid P- and E-core designs in 2028 with the launch of the Titan Lake architecture, according to information shared by Silicon_Fly on X, By doing so, the brand is set to move back to a unified core design, retiring the short-lived hybrid approaches after seven years of existence, just as users and software/game developers started becoming familiar with its quirks.
According to rumours, Intel will pivot away from its hybrid core design debuted back in 2021 with the 12th Gen Core CPUs codenamed Alder Lake. If true, the Razor Lake architecture scheduled for 2027 will be the last hybrid combo running Griffin Cove P cores and Golden Eagle E cores.
These unified cores are said to boast higher PPA (Power, Performance, Area) and PPW (Performance Per Watt), resulting in compact and efficient offerings. However, despite the naming, these cores won’t be all identical. Intel is seemingly following AMD’s footsteps, offering regular and compact variants similar to Zen 5 and Zen 5c. Some could be dense, packed in four-core clusters with a shared L2 cache, while others could clock higher with shared or dedicated L2/L3 caches. The non-dense variants are likely to be found in dual-core clusters, and rarely alone. The choice will depend on the final product and the single-threaded performance required.
These unified cores are said to be more power-efficient than P cores, partly due to improvements in manufacturing processes. The leaker has also indicated that the PPA gains should offset the higher power draw and increase in die size, allowing Intel to squeeze many cores in a small area without throwing efficiency out the window. Silicon_Fly adds that if Intel uses a leading-edge node for Titan Lake alongside the aforementioned compact variant, it could offer up to 100 cores per CPU, split in 48 + 48 + 4 LP E cores.
| Year | Architecture | P‑cores | E‑cores |
| 2024 | Arrow Lake | Lion Cove | Skymont |
| 2025 | Panther Lake | Cougar Cove | Darkmont |
| 2026 | Nova Lake | Coyote Cove | Arctic Wolf |
| 2027 | Razer Lake | Griffin Cove | Golden Eagle |
| 2028 | Titan Lake | Unified Core | |
Ditching the hybrid design should help Intel reduce complexity and cost, the latter being very important as the brand faces financial struggles. Intel would no longer need two parallel teams working on two core designs at the same time, simplifying organisation and removing duplicated engineering efforts. A streamlined R&D department should also result in faster product iteration, transplanting any improvement to all market segments, from laptops to servers.
AMD’s homogeneous approach has shown its strengths on Ryzen processors, which allowed the Red Team to provide powerful chips at competitive prices. This also ensured feature parity between platforms, allowing AMD to offer features such as AVX‑512 on consumer products, unlike Intel which started limiting it to the server lineups.
Assuming this rumour holds, Titan Lake’s unified cores will mark the end of Intel’s hybrid era. Now, whether this transition will result in better overall products is still to be determined. More details about this unified microarchitecture should emerge with time.
