A lot of us were hoping that Intel would reveal more about the Arc Alchemist GPUs during CES 2022. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but that doesn't mean the company isn't working on them. Twenty new Arc Alchemist PCI IDs were recently spotted in the Linux Mesa graphics drivers, but so far we're not sure how many of them will end up as retail products.
The Intel Arc Alchemist PCI IDs were found by Phoronix. It's worth noting that just because there are 20 Arc Alchemist PCI IDs, it doesn't mean we will have 20 Arc Alchemist GPUs. Some of these IDs may be reserved for engineering and qualification samples, or for future SKUs, for example. In addition, we also have to consider that some IDs may represent desktop GPUs, while others are laptop parts, so don't expect a 20-SKU lineup of cards at launch.
Image credit: Phoronix
We also know that these device IDs are not currently in live builds of the Mesa driver, as Intel is reportedly waiting for better Linux kernel support, which Phoronix speculates won't happen until Linux 5.18.
Currently we expect Intel to launch Arc Alchemist for laptops first, as the company is already shipping samples to OEMs. The first products featuring Intel's dedicated graphics cards should release before the end of Q1 2022.
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KitGuru says: How many SKUs do you think the Arc Alchemist lineup will have? Are you planning on getting one?