Three-Year Power Release Cadence
Power10 (2021) to Power11 (2025) is a four-year gap, but IBM's broader pattern -- and independent analysis -- points to a roughly three-year cadence going forward, putting a plausible Power12 window around 2027-2028.
IBM has not announced a release date for the generation after Power11. What exists instead is a documented pattern: IT Jungle analyst Timothy Prickett Morgan has tracked IBM adopting a roughly three-year release cadence for Power processors and IBM i operating system releases alike, each with seven years of standard support followed by three years of extended support.
Extrapolating that cadence from Power11's mid-2025 launch puts a plausible next-generation window around 2027 to 2028 -- a date range independently echoed by multiple industry writeups covering early Power12 development signals, including GCC compiler patches already targeting a post-Power11 "future" processor target as of mid-2025.
This is a pattern-based projection built from IBM's historical release cadence and early compiler-support activity, not an IBM-announced date. Morgan himself cautions that the roadmap's predictability depends on customers continuing to invest in the platform.
Related
Chiplet Hub-and-Spoke Architecture
IBM's post-Power11 generation is expected to move to a chiplet design -- but with a hub-and-spoke I/O layout instead of the centralized-I/O approach used by AMD.
Samsung Process Node & 2.5D Interposer Speculation
IBM is expected to use a mature Samsung process (5nm or 3nm class) for its post-Power11 chips rather than chasing the industry's bleeding-edge nodes -- a deliberate, stated strategy, not a limitation.
IBM i 8.1 Lifecycle Alignment
IBM i 7.6 shipped April 2025; the next major release, IBM i 8.1 (internally referenced as IBM i Next), is projected for 2028 -- the same window analysts expect for Power12, and IBM has historically aligned major IBM i releases with new Power hardware generations.
AI Inference Continuity Signal
IBM has stated on the record that its Spyre-based AI acceleration strategy extends beyond Power11 -- the strongest single data point that Power12 inherits, and likely expands, on-chip and on-node AI inference.
Frequently Asked
When will IBM Power 12 be released?
No date has been announced. Extrapolating IBM's roughly three-year Power/IBM i release cadence from Power11's mid-2025 launch, and cross-referencing the independently projected 2028 date for IBM i 8.1, gives a plausible window of 2027 to 2028 -- but this is an analyst projection, not an IBM commitment.