Intel's new Arrow Lake-S desktop CPUs now rumored for December launch, 5 months after Zen 5

Intel's next-generation Core Ultra 200 series "Arrow Lake-S" desktop CPUs have reportedly been delayed, with a December release window now rumored... giving AMD an entire 5 months with its next-gen Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series CPUs to dominate.

In a new post from "HXL" on X, the leaker said this is just a rumor for now... but if true, AMD would have a gigantic 5-month lead on having its next-gen Zen 5-based Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" processors on the market. Intel will be hosting its "ON" event in September; where we previously expected the Arrow Lake-S processors to launch in the weeks after the event, but it looks like this could change.

The December period is a hot sales period for the holidays and Christmas PC upgrades, but if Intel is only just barely launching its chips in December, AMD will have thousands of its new Ryzen 9000 series CPUs on the market, hundreds of reviews, breakdowns, comparisons, and more. Intel won't have anything on desktop between now and December, which isn't a good position to be in, period.

According to our friends at Wccftech, Intel's new Arrow Lake-S QS (qualifying samples) are aimed at a late-September, early-October release, meaning that it would indeed by another couple of months (so, December) before the final retail Core Ultra 200 series "Arrow Lake-S" processors are launched.

Given that Intel's 13th- and 14th-generation Core CPUs have some major issues, causing massive instability for gamers and data center operators, the delay could be a good thing.