Intel's newest E-core-only "Twin Lake" CPUs are on the way, starting with Intel N250

Christopher Harper
·2 min read
Intel Alder Lake Mobile CPU.
Intel Alder Lake Mobile CPU.

Following up on prior E-core-only Intel CPU designs like the N100, careful scrutiny of official Intel data reveals the name and existence of an Intel N250. This final bit of info was ultimately found by @InstLatX64 on Twitter, though prior to that the general existence of Twin Lake was found by @OneRaichu, according to VideoCardz.

Intel N250 vs Intel N100 Specifications

If you're paying attention, you'll probably notice that this new CPU has nearly identical specs to its predecessor. The underlying CPU architecture of Twin Lake also seems to be identical to Alder Lake-S, meaning these will be using near-identical cores based on the Gracemont architecture.

The current Intel N100 CPU has an MSRP of $55. Given how humble this refresh seems, we expect the N250 to end up around the same price point, if not slightly lower. These N100 and N250 CPUs are replacing what used to be Intel's Pentium line of entry-level CPUs before Core i3 and higher, after all.

VideoCardz speculates that the timing window of this release could be in the latter half of 2024, but limited to OEMs in the form of Chromebooks and other low-power devices. The N250 could also end up being a particularly good fit for entry-level Mini PCs, considering its super-efficient power demands and, by extension, low thermal footprint.

The current most powerful Alder Lake-N CPU is the Intel Core i3-N305, which pushes the current limits of this E-core-only design to 8 cores at up to 3.8 GHz and up to 15W. While the Twin Lake N250 can't be expected to perform like that more powerful CPU, we'll likely see a Twin Lake Core i3-N400/N405 before long.