Hold on, weren't Intel's desktop Meteor Lake-S chips cancelled? Maybe not

Meteor Lake test CPU
(Image credit: Cnet)

Trying to get a firm handle on what is happening with Intel's next-gen Meteor Lake has been difficult. Current rumors suggest that Meteor Lake-S for desktops has been canceled, and replaced by a Raptor Lake refresh later in 2023. But now there's a new little nugget of information. It might be significant, it might not, but the Linux Kernel now has driver support for Meteor Lake-S. 

Say what? Phoronix (via Videocardz) reports that Meteor Lake-S support has been added to the Intel pinctrl driver with Linux 6.5. It's not just a random thing either, as other versions of Meteor Lake are already supported.

Meteor Lake-S support in Linux might not mean much at all. It might be little more than a checked box because the work was already done. Or it could mean there will be some variant of a Meteor Lake-S desktop chip, or chips. A low-end or low powered variant derived from a laptop chip is possible. Perhaps something for an embedded system or something that could exist alongside Arrow Lake-S chips in the longer term.

A Raptor Lake refresh for desktops is definitely incoming. Intel themselves confirmed it via its Bilibili account in a post that detailed Intel's plans for its next-gen mobile and desktop processors,.

Your next upgrade

(Image credit: Future)

Best CPU for gaming: The top chips from Intel and AMD
Best gaming motherboard: The right boards
Best graphics card: Your perfect pixel-pusher awaits
Best SSD for gaming: Get into the game ahead of the rest

We've also spoken to vendors in recent weeks who hinted that CPUs with higher power consumption and support for faster DDR5 memory were incoming. At Computex, some vendors showed off 2nd generation Z790 motherboards with improved power delivery capabilities and support for Raptor Lake refresh processors, though obviously they could not say that officially.

The rumor mill regarding Meteor Lake-S has been one of the more interesting ones that I can recall. Leakers have suggested that test chip clock speeds were lower than expected, or its only had six performance cores, it was never meant for the desktop at all and it was delayed a year. And yet here it is, quietly supported by Linux.

On paper at least, Meteor Lake looks like an incredibly innovative CPU family. The switch to a modular tile based design with the potential for a mix of nodes, Foveros packaging and 3D stacking support all add up to a dramatic change. And it's one we'll see in one form or another before the end of 2023.

Chris Szewczyk
Hardware Writer

Chris' gaming experiences go back to the mid-nineties when he conned his parents into buying an 'educational PC' that was conveniently overpowered to play Doom and Tie Fighter. He developed a love of extreme overclocking that destroyed his savings despite the cheaper hardware on offer via his job at a PC store. To afford more LN2 he began moonlighting as a reviewer for VR-Zone before jumping the fence to work for MSI Australia. Since then, he's gone back to journalism, enthusiastically reviewing the latest and greatest components for PC & Tech Authority, PC Powerplay and currently Australian Personal Computer magazine and PC Gamer. Chris still puts far too many hours into Borderlands 3, always striving to become a more efficient killer.

Read more
Intel's Interim Co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus holding a Panther Lake processor sample at its CES 2025 keynote
Intel on its next-gen laptop chip: 'Panther Lake will take everything you love about Lunar Lake to the next level'
A photo of an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K processor surrounded by DDR5 memory sticks from Corsair, Kingston, and Lexar
Fresh leak suggests Intel's on-again-off-again Arrow Lake CPU refresh is back on the menu (boys)
A screenshot from a video by Ordinary Uncle Tony, showing the internal structure of Intel's Arrow Lake desktop CPU
Intel's next-gen desktop CPU Nova Lake allegedly spotted and can't come soon enough
A photograph of Intel's Interim Co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus standing on stage, with a background displaying Panther Lake and Intel 18A
Intel says next-gen Panther Lake laptop chips on its new 18A silicon are still on track for later this year but things are more complicated on the desktop
A screenshot from a video by Ordinary Uncle Tony, showing the internal structure of Intel's Arrow Lake desktop CPU
It looks like there will be no new Intel desktop CPUs until 2026 now that next-gen Nova Lake is officially a 2026 product
Intel Gaudi 3
Intel nixes its next-gen AI GPU but still has plans to take on Nvidia
Latest in Gaming PCs
HP Omen 45L gaming desktop
This Redditor rocked up to Best Buy and bought an RTX 4060 gaming PC for cheaper than its extended warranty, saving $1,195 and their friend from buying a console
A gaming PC with RGB lighting enabled on a desk.
This gaming PC build smashes together the very latest components but if I did it again, I'd do it differently
Skytech Shadow gaming PC on a blue background
Screw waiting for GPU restocks, with an AMD RX 9070 gaming PC going for as cheap as this I'd hop on the pre-built bandwagon
Cobratype RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC on a blue background
This RTX 5070 Ti gaming PC is about as cheap as we've seen so far, and it's got me all nostalgic for PC prices long past
Framework Desktop with AMD Strix Halo mainboard
iFixit has pulled apart Framework's mini PC and it looks to be the AMD Strix Halo-powered desktop device I've been wanting for at least a week and more
Framework Desktop with AMD Strix Halo mainboard
Framework's first desktop PC is giving us the AMD Strix Halo machine we've been craving, and the opportunity to build our own
Latest in News
Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer still - woman in the front seat of a car, looking out the back window while holding a wad of cash
The specter of a GTA 6 delay haunts the games industry: 'Some companies are going to tank' if they guess wrong, says analyst
Image for
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide’s getting a new roguelite wave defense mode that sounds a whole lot like a souped-up take on Killing Floor
Battle Brothers
Nearly 2 years after its last update, the excellent Battle Brothers gets 'a bucket load of fixes' and free new content
Western outlaws with masks and guns
'Players don't explore': former Grand Theft Auto 6 and Red Dead Online designer lays out the perils of 'open world fatigue'
Person battling bizarre four-eyed monster with stylish UI elements surrounding them
Persona and Metaphor: ReFantazio's UI designer is open to accessibility options for players who find the stylish menus overstimulating: 'That is something we understand we'll need to work on and provide in the future'
Split Fiction screenshot
Split Fiction is reportedly at the center of a bidding war for its movie rights