Purported launch plans for the 13th Gen Intel Core ‘Raptor Lake’ processors have been shared online by seasoned leaker @wxnod. The Intel style-guide compliant slide is titled the “RPL Online GTM Plan,” where RPL is an abbreviation of the codename ‘Raptor Lake,’ and GTM is short for ‘Go To Market.’ The most important dates are September 28 for the launch of the first ‘K’ suffixed Raptor Lake CPUs and October 10 for releasing the first salvo of 13th Gen Core processors.
According to the above, between September 15 and 28, Intel will ‘pre-heat’ partners and the media, preparing publicity materials, blogs, explainers and videos. The first significant date for consumers is September 28. This is when Intel will allegedly publicly take the wraps off its 13th Gen Intel Core processors. We expect these will be the usual trio of unlocked ‘K’ processors, and in this generation, that means the Core i9-13900K, i7-13700K, and i5-13600K. If you spy the little yellow star and i9k in the central area of the table, this is because pre-orders of the Core i9-13900K are scheduled to begin on September 28.
The next significant date from the table is October 13. On this date, Intel and partners will open pre-orders for the Core i7 and i5 'K' suffixed multiplier unlocked chips.
A week later, on October 20, we see probably the most important date for consumers, when all the three Raptor Lake ‘K’ suffixed chips become available at retailers. Moreover, the slide indicates motherboards will also be ready (AMD please note). Reviews will be published on this same day, unfortunately. It would be more consumer-friendly to allow independent third-party reviews, like ours, to be posted when pre-orders begin, for example.
The latter part of the leaked slide talks about pushing sales, promotional activity with bundles and partnerships, etc., and ensuring stocks are well distributed. Non-K processors, mobile processors, and other Raptor Lake products should appear by CES 2023.
While the slide looks genuine and the source is well known, please add a pinch of salt to the above Intel Raptor Lake launch information. Also, please remember that the dates stated are for Taiwan, which is 12 hours ahead of US Eastern Standard time.
If you wish to know more about 13th Gen Intel Core ‘Raptor Lake’ processors ahead of the official launch, please check out our regularly updated all-we-know article on these processors.
