5 ms·

this is a design/manufacturing defect and I expect Intel will replace any defective chips.

Night_Thastus 2y ago
Intel will absolutely minimize any concern about the manufacturing problem and focus on the microcode, quietly deny any permanent damage concerns, and do everything in their power to avoid a recall. For big buyers like data centers they'll capitulate, but for everyday consumers they'll resist as much as they can.
- paulmd 2y ago
  this is funny because it’s going to be the opposite. tray processors and even retail units both get reduced warranty in the datacenter and the people who are going to get screwed are those with a chip failing at 18 months or whatever, since that’s technically still out of warranty and consumer protections don’t typically apply to commercial operators. Consumers will be fine.
  - Night_Thastus 2y ago
    They've already been throwing trays full of CPUs at some of the bigger centers that have had issues with this. They knew it wouldn't fix the issue, but it was an easy - if expensive - way to patch it over.
cmsj 2y ago
Literally addressed in TFA: "Intel has not halted sales or clawed back any inventory. It will not do a recall, period. The company is not currently commenting on whether or how it might extend its warranty. It would not share estimates with The Verge of how many chips are likely to be irreversibly impacted, and it did not explain why it’s continuing to sell these chips ahead of any fix."
- ronsor 2y ago
  They will, however, inevitably be sued.
  - drdaeman 2y ago
    And end up with a settlement of a few dollars per claimant, which is drastically cheaper than a recall.
    - ronsor 2y ago
      Not necessarily. You're forgetting the lawyers' cut.
- jerf 2y ago
  They tried the same tactic for Ye Olde FDIV bug too, but the market eventually forced them to do full no-questions-asked replacements. And the FDIV issue is a number of steps down in severity from this issue; those CPUs didn't die. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug , for those who may be too young to instantly know what I'm talking about. It was a big deal at the time, and as you can see by reading it, less critical than CPUs actually dying. Read the timeline of disclosure and remember what you're reading in seconds occurred over a couple of months.
  - NikkiA 2y ago
    The cc820 fiasco would probably be a more recent analogue, and it took Intel a while to admit fault there too; and some OEMs never accepted fault - looking at you Asus.
    - garaetjjte 2y ago
      There was dying LPC clock driver on Atom C2000, did they suffer any consequences for it?
integricho 2y ago
I think nobody expects any major corporation to admit any fault on their part today, they are all too afraid to do so, thinking they will preserve their share prices this way.
wongarsu 2y ago
Intel's statements in the article make it sound like they want to just sweep it under the rug. They don't plan to halt sales, won't do a recall, don't plan to inform customers, tell you not to be worried about permanently damaging your CPU because a future microcode update will make sure that from that date onward it won't be damaged from this specific cause (which seems to be one of multiple) and they don't have a comment on whether they will extend the warranty
- paulmd 2y ago
  Which things in this article are actually specific statements from intel as opposed to assertions from some rando at the verge? like the assertion that intel won’t warranty the processors isn’t actually anything intel has said, as far as I can see. And it contradicts more direct statements to partners that they will.
  - wongarsu 2y ago
    In the middle of the article there's a section with bolded questions. Those are the questions send to Intel spokesperson Thomas Hannaford, and the verbatim answers they received back. The rest of the article is just flavor and context. The answer to the recall question is just a straight no, and Intel chose not to answer the question about extending the warranty. There isn't a question about honoring the warranty of already shipped chips, if that's what you are asking. A bit of an oversight, given how much time they take to talk about the issues other people had with getting Intel to honor the warranty.
    - paulmd 2y ago
      Yes, certainly. Can you quote the line where they say “there is no fix for crashing 13th/14th-gen CPUs” for example?
    - paulmd 2y ago
      Pretty sure intel literally is deploying a fix in august, right?

Intel will absolutely minimize any concern about the manufacturing problem and focus on the microcode, quietly deny any permanent damage concerns, and do everything in their power to avoid a recall. For big buyers like data centers they'll capitulate, but for everyday consumers they'll resist as much as they can.

paulmd 2y ago
this is funny because it’s going to be the opposite. tray processors and even retail units both get reduced warranty in the datacenter and the people who are going to get screwed are those with a chip failing at 18 months or whatever, since that’s technically still out of warranty and consumer protections don’t typically apply to commercial operators. Consumers will be fine.
- Night_Thastus 2y ago
  They've already been throwing trays full of CPUs at some of the bigger centers that have had issues with this. They knew it wouldn't fix the issue, but it was an easy - if expensive - way to patch it over.

cmsj 2y ago

Literally addressed in TFA: "Intel has not halted sales or clawed back any inventory. It will not do a recall, period. The company is not currently commenting on whether or how it might extend its warranty. It would not share estimates with The Verge of how many chips are likely to be irreversibly impacted, and it did not explain why it’s continuing to sell these chips ahead of any fix."

ronsor 2y ago
They will, however, inevitably be sued.
- drdaeman 2y ago
  And end up with a settlement of a few dollars per claimant, which is drastically cheaper than a recall.
  - ronsor 2y ago
    Not necessarily. You're forgetting the lawyers' cut.
jerf 2y ago
They tried the same tactic for Ye Olde FDIV bug too, but the market eventually forced them to do full no-questions-asked replacements. And the FDIV issue is a number of steps down in severity from this issue; those CPUs didn't die. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug , for those who may be too young to instantly know what I'm talking about. It was a big deal at the time, and as you can see by reading it, less critical than CPUs actually dying. Read the timeline of disclosure and remember what you're reading in seconds occurred over a couple of months.
- NikkiA 2y ago
  The cc820 fiasco would probably be a more recent analogue, and it took Intel a while to admit fault there too; and some OEMs never accepted fault - looking at you Asus.
  - garaetjjte 2y ago
    There was dying LPC clock driver on Atom C2000, did they suffer any consequences for it?

integricho 2y ago

I think nobody expects any major corporation to admit any fault on their part today, they are all too afraid to do so, thinking they will preserve their share prices this way.

wongarsu 2y ago

Intel's statements in the article make it sound like they want to just sweep it under the rug. They don't plan to halt sales, won't do a recall, don't plan to inform customers, tell you not to be worried about permanently damaging your CPU because a future microcode update will make sure that from that date onward it won't be damaged from this specific cause (which seems to be one of multiple) and they don't have a comment on whether they will extend the warranty

paulmd 2y ago
Which things in this article are actually specific statements from intel as opposed to assertions from some rando at the verge? like the assertion that intel won’t warranty the processors isn’t actually anything intel has said, as far as I can see. And it contradicts more direct statements to partners that they will.
- wongarsu 2y ago
  In the middle of the article there's a section with bolded questions. Those are the questions send to Intel spokesperson Thomas Hannaford, and the verbatim answers they received back. The rest of the article is just flavor and context. The answer to the recall question is just a straight no, and Intel chose not to answer the question about extending the warranty. There isn't a question about honoring the warranty of already shipped chips, if that's what you are asking. A bit of an oversight, given how much time they take to talk about the issues other people had with getting Intel to honor the warranty.
  - paulmd 2y ago
    Yes, certainly. Can you quote the line where they say “there is no fix for crashing 13th/14th-gen CPUs” for example?
  - paulmd 2y ago
    Pretty sure intel literally is deploying a fix in august, right?