Intel's newly - unveiled Panther Lake processor heralds the arrival of its 18A process. Intel proudly touts this as the first advanced process node in the United States to dip below the 2nm mark. Considering that TSMC's N2 hasn't yet yielded actual products, Intel's 18A process can rightfully be hailed as the world's inaugural node below 2nm.

The 18A process incorporates the RibbonFET full - surround - gate transistor architecture and the PowerVia backside power delivery technology. These innovations substantially boost the drive current, accelerate the switching speed, and enhance the platform voltage efficiency. When compared to the Intel 3 process, it achieves a 15% improvement in performance per watt and a 30% increase in chip density.

The Panther Lake processor, built on the 18A process, is slated for mass production in the latter half of 2025. It has already garnered cooperation intentions from prominent cloud service providers like Microsoft and AWS, as well as clients such as Nintendo. Moreover, the Xeon 6+ processor, named Clearwater Forest, also leverages the 18A process and is set to be launched in the first half of 2026.

The 18A process is manufactured at Fab 52 in Chandler, Arizona. This facility was initially constructed in late 2021 and is aiming to reach mass - production status within this quarter.