Intel today announced the architectural details of its next-generation client processor, Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (codenamed Panther Lake). The chip is expected to begin shipping later this year and is the company's first product built using Intel's 18A (2nm process).
Intel said Panther Lake will power a wide range of consumer and commercial devices including AI PCs, gaming systems and edge solutions, and brings a "scalable multi-chip system-on-chip architecture" to enable flexible configurations in various form factors and price ranges.
In terms of core, Panther Lake will be equipped with up to 16 new high-performance cores (P-cores) and high-efficiency cores (E-cores), which are said to increase CPU performance by more than 50% compared to the previous generation (i.e., Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake).
Graphics card performance has also been greatly improved, with the newly designed Intel Arc GPU equipped with up to 12 Xe cores and a claimed 50% performance improvement. In terms of AI acceleration, the overall artificial intelligence computing power of the platform can reach up to 180 TOPS (trillion operations per second). Intel positions Panther Lake to combine the energy efficiency of Lunar Lake with the high performance of Arrow Lake.
Not just for PC, Panther Lake will also expand into robotics. Intel has launched a new Robotics AI software suite and reference development board to help developers create cost-effective robots with advanced perception and control capabilities. Mass production will begin this year, with the first Panther Lake SKUs expected to ship by the end of 2025, with general availability in January 2026.
At the same time, Intel also previewed Clearwater Forest, its first server processor based on the 18A process, branded Xeon 6+, which is scheduled to be released in the first half of 2026. The new generation server chip is equipped with up to 288 E-cores, increasing instructions per cycle by 17%, and significantly enhancing chip density and energy efficiency. It is targeted at markets such as large enterprises, cloud service providers, and telecom operators.
Intel said both products will be manufactured at its Fab 52 facility in Chandler, Arizona.