Earlier in the month, Intel issued two product change notifications (PCNs) affecting certain previous-gen processor products. A January 6 document—numbered #869847-00—outlines end-of-life status for "select" retail box and OEM tray 12th Gen Alder Lake desktop CPU models, encompassing from the top (Core i9) to bottom (Pentium Gold). TechPowerUp previewed the "Alder Lake-S" range around late 2021, followed a few weeks later by evaluations of launch era silicon. The recent low-key EOL announcement has not arrived as a major surprise, given that Team Blue [detailed a retirement of 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-H" mobile series](https:/…
Earlier in the month, Intel issued two product change notifications (PCNs) affecting certain previous-gen processor products. A January 6 document—numbered #869847-00—outlines end-of-life status for "select" retail box and OEM tray 12th Gen Alder Lake desktop CPU models, encompassing from the top (Core i9) to bottom (Pentium Gold). TechPowerUp previewed the "Alder Lake-S" range around late 2021, followed a few weeks later by evaluations of launch era silicon. The recent low-key EOL announcement has not arrived as a major surprise, given that Team Blue detailed a retirement of 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-H" mobile series last year, although high performance laptop-oriented "-HX" variants continue to live on in 2026. Last 12th Gen Core "Alder Lake-S" product orders can be placed up until July 24. The aforementioned PCN document lists a "January 22, 2027" last product discontinuance shipment date. Elements of "Alder Lake" could survive longer in emergent "Bartlett Lake-S" hybrid designs. Team Blue leadership is likely freeing up extra elbow room for an eventual arrival of "Alder Lake Refresh" desktop and mobile products.
Looking at the future of Intel’s 4th Gen Xeon "Sapphire Rapids" scalable processor series, a January 14 publication (#842299-02) informs online visitors about the forthcoming sunsetting of seventeen (boxed and tray) server-class SKUs. For whatever reason, a small update details the sparing of a specific Xeon Gold 6414U model. Tom’s Hardware points out that Team Blue is keeping its 4th Gen workstation families—Xeon W-2400, W-3400, W-2500, and W-3500—around for a little longer. The document’s timeline lists a historical date—last product discontinuance orders occurring on "September 26, 2025." Last shipments are expected to go out on "March 31, 2028." The much delayed "Sapphire Rapids" Xeon scalable range finally tumbled into customer hands in 2023, but was swiftly succeeded by the 5th Gen Xeon "Emerald Rapids-SP" series. Intel’s Xeon 6 "Granite Rapids-SP" scalable server CPUs were released last September.