Serving as a pivotal milestone in Intel's four-year, five-generation process roadmap, the company recently introduced two products built on its cutting-edge 18A process: Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest. These are strategically designed to cater to the consumer and server markets, respectively. The 'A' in 18A denotes Angstrom, a unit of measurement that Intel proudly claims marks the world's first Angstrom-scale chip process, roughly translating to 1.8 nanometers. This advanced process integrates both the Gate-All-Around (GAA) transistor architecture and the innovative PowerVia backside power delivery design, showcasing a plethora of technical breakthroughs.

Panther Lake stands as the inaugural client System on a Chip (SoC) constructed on Intel's 18A process. It is anticipated to commence shipping by the year's end, boasting a CPU performance boost exceeding 50% compared to its predecessor. Additionally, graphics performance is projected to surge by over 50%, while AI computing power is expected to reach an impressive 180 Tera Operations Per Second (TOPS).

On the other hand, Clearwater Forest emerges as the first server processor grounded in Intel's 18A process. Its launch is slated for the first half of 2026, featuring an integration of up to 288 efficiency cores. This processor promises a 17% increase in instructions per clock cycle and a substantial enhancement in energy efficiency. Both the Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest processors will be manufactured at Intel's state-of-the-art Fab 52 facility located in Chandler, Arizona.