The first picture of Intel's LGA7529 socket for its upcoming codename 'Sierra Forest' processors powered by energy-efficient cores has been published by hardware leaker @YuuKi_AnS. The CPUs will use small Atom-class energy-efficient cores, and it will plug into a massive 7529-pin socket.
Intel's Xeon 'Sierra Forest' processor and the Birch Stream platform are designed for high-density cloud datacenters. These are for running workloads that benefit mostly from core count rather than from single-threaded performance. To that end, the core count of Sierra Forest system-on-chips will be significantly higher than regular Xeon processors based on high-performance cores, such as Emerald Rapids as well as Granite Rapids.
To feed those cores with data and power, Sierra Forest will use loads of pins, which explains the LGA7529 form-factor with a massive number of pins. Meanwhile, it does not look like Intel's LGA7529 socket is significantly bigger than the company's LGA4677 for Xeon Scalable 'Sapphire Rapids' processors and their successors, at least if we compare sizes of both sockets to the DDR5 memory slots located nearby.
Unfortunately, the published image doesn't reveal many new details about Sierra Forest CPUs, such as the number of cores or memory channels. Still, if there are LGA7529 motherboards in the wild, it means server makers are likely (or will soon be) testing the future CPUs.
Intel's Xeon 'Sierra Forest' processor is set to be made on Intel 3 process technology and is set to become available in 2024.