Intel has unveiled Panther Lake, its next-generation laptop processors branded Core Ultra Series 3, at CES in Las Vegas, marking the company’s first high-volume product built on its 18A manufacturing process.
The launch is central to Intel’s push to recapture PC market share from Advanced Micro Devices and to demonstrate progress in its foundry roadmap, according to reporting from Reuters and Intel’s own briefing materials.
Preorders for laptops are set to begin on 6 January, with first shipments on 27 January, and more than 200 systems globally planned, The Verge reported. The chips introduce separate graphics chiplets and integrated Intel Arc GPUs, with up to 12 Xe cores, while the compute die – comprising CPU and NPU – is manufactured on 18A. Intel has said the platform will support features such as Thunderbolt 5 on select models, Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
Intel is positioning the new parts as a step-change in power efficiency and AI capability. Jim Johnson, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s client computing group, said the company is focusing on stronger CPU performance, a larger integrated GPU, expanded on-device AI compute and dependable x86 app compatibility, in remarks published by Intel. Intel has also highlighted top-end specifications including up to 16 CPU cores, 50 NPU TOPS and memory speeds reaching 9,600 MT/s on X-series chips.
Performance claims include up to 60 per cent better multithreaded performance and 77 per cent faster gaming versus prior-generation laptops, Intel’s materials state. Transistor density has increased by 30 per cent, with performance per watt up 10 per cent in single-thread tasks and 50 per cent in multithreaded tasks compared to Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake.
All Core Ultra Series 3 chips carry a 25-watt base power, with H-series parts able to turbo to 65 watts or higher and offer more PCIe lanes, cache and memory bandwidth.
Intel acknowledged manufacturing challenges last year, with Reuters reporting yield issues on Panther Lake. Company executives have said yields are improving on a monthly basis and will support this year’s rollout. Johnson also said Intel plans a handheld gaming platform based on Panther Lake designs in 2026, reflecting growing interest in portable PCs.
Rival announcements at CES underline the industry’s AI emphasis. AMD has agreed a multibillion-dollar supply deal with OpenAI for MI400 accelerators, which the companies expect to deploy this year. Nvidia’s chief executive officer Jensen Huang said its next generation of chips is in full production and can deliver roughly five times the AI compute of previous parts for services such as chatbots.
