I have been burned by cheap laptops before, the kind with a wheezing fan and a battery that gives out by lunch. That is why I usually steer clear of them and tell my friends and family to do the same.
So when a leak claimed Intel is building a chip just for this class of laptop, rated at only 6W compared with 15 to 20W for regular chips, I felt a bit excited. I also felt even more cautious.
What does an Intel Moon Lake 6W laptop chip mean?
Wccftech reports that Intel is working on Moon Lake, a new family of entry-level laptop processors. Each chip has four low-power cores and a 6W base power rating.
That 6W figure is the chip’s TDP, or thermal design power. It tells you how much heat the laptop’s cooling system has to handle under a defined operating condition. Intel’s current Core Series 3 chips start at 10W, so this is a big drop.
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The report says Moon Lake gets 6W by dropping performance cores and using four LPE cores instead. These cores handle lighter workloads and use less power.
With so little heat to shed, laptop makers could skip the cooling fan altogether. The chip also sips power instead of gulping it, so the battery could last longer between charges.
Intel Moon Lake Capability
Intel’s new design is reportedly built on its 18A manufacturing process, which I think is the smartest part of the plan. Add 8GB to 16GB of memory, and you could end up with a cool, quiet, and fairly affordable laptop.
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There is a trade-off, and you should take it seriously. With no performance cores, you should not expect heavy video editing or gaming. A laptop with Moon Lake inside would suit browsing, working on documents, and streaming.
One detail stands out. Laptop makers may be able to raise Moon Lake’s configurable TDP to 15W. That could unlock extra performance, but you would pay for it with more heat and more fan noise.
Moon Lake would sit below Wildcat Lake, the Core Series 3 family that launched earlier this year. Wildcat Lake offers up to two performance cores and a power range of 10 to 28 watts. Intel has not confirmed anything, and there is no official date, so treat everything here with a pinch of salt.
