Intel is further confirming that its upcoming CPUs, codenamed Arrow Lake for desktop and Lunar Lake for laptops, will not be affected by the “Vmin Shift Instability” issue that caused some 13th and 14th Gen Core processors to degrade and fail over time.
Intel Confirms No Further Affected Lineups
In the blog post update, the chipmaker has first clarified that both Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 200) processors “are not affected by the Vmin Shift Instability issue due to the new architectures powering both product families.” Officially, “Vmin Shift” is the way Intel describes the degraded chip causing a feedback loop that increases core voltage over time, potentially causing permanent damage.
Additionally, Intel also confirmed a list of processor families from earlier generations not affected by this issue. These include the entirety of 12th Gen Core, 13/14th Gen Core i3, 13/14th Core i5 (non-K), 13/14th Gen laptop processors (including HX-series), and all of the Intel Xeon and Core Ultra processors. While Intel didn’t explicitly mention Core Series 1, they are based on Raptor Lake Refresh – so they should be unaffected as well.
The BIOS updates carrying microcode fix for the affected 13th/14th Gen Core processors are already available through motherboard vendors, which will impose a hard 1.55V voltage limit to prevent further degradation on affected chips (performance are mostly unaffected, though there are anomalies). These chips also gets an additional two years of warranty.
Pokdepinion: Good thing the scope is limited to two desktop lineups.
