Intel's Lunar Lake CPUs to use on-package Samsung LPDDR5X memory

Intel has contracted Samsung to supply it LPDDR5X devices that it will use as on-package memory for its upcoming codenamed Lunar Lake processors due later this year, according to a DigiTimes report citing South Korean media. If the information is correct, this is a big design win for Samsung, as Intel will supply tens of millions of Lunar Lake CPUs over the next few years. Keep in mind that this is a leak and could be inaccurate. 

Intel's Lunar Lake MX platform is reportedly designed primarily for thin-and-light laptops. It is set to come with either 16GB or 32GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory-on-package, reducing the platform's footprint and improving performance compared to traditional platforms featuring either memory modules or soldered-down memory chips. Given that Lunar Lake is set to support on-package memory exclusively, Samsung could sell a boatload of its LPDDR5X-8533 memory products to Intel as the company's laptop platforms are sold in tens of millions of units quantities. 

Meanwhile, we do not know whether Samsung will be the exclusive LPDDR5X supplier for Lunar Lake. Since Intel will sell Lunar Lake processors with on-package memory, it will clearly sell these products with pre-tested/validated memory devices. Yet, nothing would also stop Intel from validating LPDDR5X from Micron and SK Hynix. 

Intel has touted Lunar Lake processors as featuring a brand-new microarchitecture designed from the ground up to offer breakthrough performance-per-watt efficiency. Based on recent slides, Intel's Lunar Lake MX platform will rely on a multi-chiplet Foveros-based design consisting of a CPU + GPU chiplet, a system-on-chip tile, and two memory packages. The CPU chiplet is expected to pack up to eight general-purpose cores (four high-performance Lion Cove and four Skymont energy-efficient cores), 12MB cache, up to eight Xe2 GPU clusters, and up to a six-tile NPU 4.0 AI accelerator. The platform is projected to have an 8W power envelope for fanless systems and a 17W – 30W envelope for designs with decent active cooling systems.  

For over three years, Apple has used on-package memory for all of its Apple Silicon M-series chips for Macs. With Intel's Lunar Lake MX, this may become an industry-wide trend for thin-and-light laptops. Meanwhile, systems that require configurability, repairability, and upgradeability will continue to use SODIMMs based on commodity DDR5 memory, as well as recently introduced LPCAMM2 modules featuring LPDDR5X that brings together high performance and low power consumption.