Leak reveals Intel's next chips reportedly support Windows 12

Intel appears to be ready to move on from Windows 11. A new leak hints that Intel’s next-generation desktop CPUs may support Microsoft’s next operating system.

Intel is currently working on the successor to its 13th Gen chips — codenamed Raptor Lake. The company’s new processors go by the codename Meteor Lake and their specs recently surfaced online via hardware leaker @leaf_hobby.

As detailed by The Verge, the tipster best known for leaking the full specs of Intel’s Xeon chips tweeted out details about Meteor Lake. Although the tweet was eventually deleted, someone managed to spot internal references to Windows 12 before the tweet disappeared.

In addition to that leak, VideoCardz had its own Meteor Lake details to share. The outlet revealed that the next-generation chips may include 20 PCIe Gen 5 lanes and support for Windows 12.

At the moment, Microsoft has yet to announce Windows 12 officially. However, it’s likely Windows 12 is not far off given that the company reverted back to three-year release cycles after ditching its Windows-as-a-service plans with Windows 10. Since that’s the case, it’s possible that Microsoft could release Windows 12 sometime in 2024.

This actually falls in line with what we reported back in October 2022 after the Redmond tech giant accidentally showed off what was believed to be an image of a Windows 12 prototype. Sources close to the subject at the time claimed that the next version of Windows is codenamed “Next Valley” and is due for release in 2024.

With the company’s current trajectory, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Windows 12 ended up incorporating more AI features. While speaking with The Verge about the latest update to Windows 11 that integrates the new AI-powered Bing into the taskbar, Microsoft’s head of consumer marketing, Yusuf Mehdi, had this to say:

As we start to develop future versions of Windows we’ll think about other places where AI should play a natural role in terms of the experience.

Meteor Lake is expected to include similar AI capabilities to those found in AMD’s Ryzen 7000 CPUs. If Microsoft does indeed release Windows 12 in 2024, it will be just in time for Intel’s latest chips, which are expected to launch later this year or in early 2024.