Initial Linux 5.20 support for Intel Meteor Lake iGPU is queued

(Image credit: Momomo_us)

The Linux Direct Rendering Manager's newest release will soon be updated with updates for Intel's Meteor Lake GPUs (DRM-Next). Linux 5.20 will eventually provide the first Meteor Lake graphics functionality. Despite some rumours from the rumour mill that Meteor Lake would be delayed, this is yet another development that indicates that it is on schedule.

devoted to Linux news site Phoronix noticed Intel uploading Linux driver updates earlier last month to support Meteor Lake. These fixes are currently in the queue to be included to the i915 kernel graphics driver.

The Intel patches ensure that Xe LPD+ display engine version 14 capabilities, version 13 media block capabilities, and version 12.70 graphics block capabilities will be provided by Meteor Lake iGPUs. The media and graphics blocks are older versions of the Xe LPD display engine, which is used by modern Intel CPUs with enabled iGPUs. Unfortunately, we are unsure of what additional features the driver upgrades will support. However, it is anticipated that Meteor Lake iGPUs will be comparable to Intel Arc Alchemist discrete graphics, which are starting to become common in modern laptops, in terms of capability (but not desktops yet).

Other places in the DRM- The support for Small BAR and PCIe Resizable BAR (BAR = Base Address Register) for improved memory performance is the following highlight. There have also been a number of low-level driver modifications and fixes, all of which are very welcome efforts to hasten the availability of new hardware. Finally, Phoronix reports that extra Arc Alchemist and Arctic Sound M device IDs have been added to the code in relation to this Linux driver update.

(Image credit: Intel)

The 14th Gen Core processor family, Intel Meteor Lake processors, stand out for advancements on a number of fronts. First, it's anticipated that these processors would launch with a combination of Ocean Cove high-performance cores and efficiency cores created using the EUV-enhanced Intel 4 manufacturing technology. The "leading compute, AI, and graphics" proposition also includes an iGPU with 96 to 192 EUs made using TSMC N3 technology.

Utilizing Intel's Foveros 3D packaging technology, a SoC with the aforementioned potent CPU and GPU cores is bundled with a memory controller, a PCIe controller, a Thunderbolt controller, and more. There are undoubtedly many things that could go wrong and cause delays when all this new technology is merged and fine-tuned into a finished product. Except for a few rumours to the contrary, Intel appears to be on schedule for its previously announced launch target of 2023.