Intel’s performance-enhanced 18A-P process enters risk production — drop-in 18A upgrade promises 9% performance improvement at iso-power, cuts thermal resistance by 40%

Tech Industry Manufacturing Semiconductors Intel’s performance-enhanced 18A-P process enters risk production — drop-in 18A upgrade promises 9% performance improvement at iso-power, cuts thermal resistance by 40% News By Jake Roach published 16 June 2026 A surprisingly large revision of 18A. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works . (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 2 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Following a paper published earlier this year , Intel has provided more details on its optimized 18A-P process at VLSI 2026. The performance-optimized node is an enhancement of 18A that Intel is using in products like Panther Lake and Xeon 6+ , promising a 9% improvement in performance at the same power, or an 18% reduction in power consumption at the same performance level. In addition to greater technical detail, Intel has revealed that 18A-P has entered risk production. Go deeper with TH Premium: Chipmaking (Image credit: tsmc) A deeper look at the chipmaking supply chain TSMC's $165 billion U.S. investments examined China reportedly reverse-engineers EUV tool China bets on DUV, as EUV blockade reshapes chipmaking If you’re unfamiliar with that term, it’s the stage of semiconductor manufacturing just before high-volume mass production. It’s a low-volume manufacturing stage where Intel will produce full wafers of 18A-P on a standard production line, just with a limited scope to gather data on defect rate, performance, and variability before full production begins. Risk production usually leads mass production on advanced logic by 12 to 24 months, though we’re not dealing with an entirely new node here, so expect a tighter timeline. 18A-P is a revision of 18A, and although it carries new transistor designs (more on