Intel retires “tick-tock” development model, extending the life of each process

It looks like the Kaby Lake processor isn’t a one-off. Intel’s latest 10-K filing (spotted at Motley Fool) discloses that the two-phase “tick-tock” development model that the company has been using since 2007 is being replaced with a three-phase mode: Process, Architecture, Optimization.

Under tick-tock, development was split into “ticks,” where an existing processor design would be migrated to a new manufacturing process, and “tocks,” where a new processor design would be released onto an existing process. The process has been used since Intel first introduced its “Core” branded processors, and the model has created a familiar pattern. Each tock introduces new features and improved architectural performance, and each tick has improved power consumption and/or clock speeds.

However, the process has come under increasing pressure. It took Intel a long time to ramp up production on the 14nm manufacturing process used by the Broadwell (tick) and Skylake (tock) processors, with Broadwell in particular suffering from an extremely long and drawn-out roll out and availability. Broadwell was delayed, with its initial late 2013 release pushed back to September 2014. The Broadwell line-up was incomplete—Intel didn’t create a full range of desktop processors—and even with the delays, nine months passed between when the first mobile parts were released and the limited selection of desktop processors came out. A couple of months later, Skylake hit the market.