Panther Lake is the codename for Core Ultra Series 3 mobile processors developed by Intel.[1] The architecture was launched in January 2026 at CES 2026.[2][3] It succeeds and extends Lunar Lake and is designed as a scalable mobile platform spanning a wider range of power and performance targets, from thin-and-light laptops to higher-performance mobile systems. The Core Ultra X9 378H CPU was launched separately, without a formal announcement, in April 2026.[4][5]
Architecture
Panther Lake combines a heterogeneous CPU core tile manufactured on Intel's in-house 18A process with an integrated graphics tile based on the Arc Xe3 architecture,[6] which is derived from the earlier Xe2 (Battlemage) design, and an I/O tile manufactured on TSMC's N6 process.
The clusters vary in size: The big 4+8+4 core tile is used in the H series, and the small 4+4 core tile is used in the low-power processors. Non-Arc H series CPUs also are the only processors in this lineup to utilize the larger I/O tile, while Arc H series and low-power CPUs use the smaller core tile. Said tiles both support DDR5 and LPDDR5X memory, however, the larger tile has more PCIe lanes, whereas the smaller tile has fewer PCIe lanes. Arc H series CPUs use a binned version of the smaller I/O tile that doesn't support DDR5. There are also smaller GPU tiles which have up to 4 Xe cores, and larger GPU tiles which have up to 12 Xe tiles. The latter being branded and labeled as Arc B390/B370 If the machine using it reaches memory speeds of at least LPDDR5X-7467, otherwise they will be labeled as just Intel Graphics[7]. Some models with the larger GPU tile continue to rely on TSMC manufacturing for the GPU on its N3E process, possibly due to budget concerns.[8]
Rather than introducing a fundamentally new CPU or GPU architecture, Panther Lake focuses on higher core counts, better graphics configurations, and increased power budgets enabled by a newer manufacturing node and modular tile-based design
Furthermore, instead of developing a more capable NPU, Intel has opted for an optimized, smaller and more efficient NPU that delivers about the same performance as the previous generation's NPU.
Reception
Panther Lake has been widely praised for its power-efficiency and integrated graphics performance, having been noted as a "return to form" for Intel.[9][10][11]
List of Panther Lake processors
Panther Lake CPUs omit hyper-threading support, so they can run the same number of threads as they have cores.
Mobile
Panther Lake High Power
| Core Ultra | X9 | 9 | X9 | X7 | 7 | X7 | 7 | 5 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | 388H | 386H | 378H | 368H | 366H | 358H | 356H | 338H | 336H | |
| Cores | P | 4 | ||||||||
| E | 8 | 4 | ||||||||
| LP-E | 4 | |||||||||
| Base clock rate (GHz) |
P | 2.1 | 2.0 | 1.9 | ||||||
| E | 1.6 | 1.5 | ||||||||
| LP-E | ||||||||||
| Turbo Boost (GHz) |
P | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | |||
| E | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.6 | |||
| LP-E | 3.7 | 3.5 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.2 | ||||
| Graphics | Name | Arc B390 | Intel | Arc B390 | Intel | Arc B390 | Intel | Arc B370 | Intel | |
| Xe cores | 12 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 4 | ||
| Max Turbo (GHz) |
2.5 | 2.45 | 2.4 | 2.3 | ||||||
| NPU (int8 TOPS) | 50 | 47 | ||||||||
| Intel vPro | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | |||||
| Smart Cache | 18 MB | |||||||||
| TDP | Min | 15 W | ||||||||
| Base | 25 W | |||||||||
| Turbo | 80 W | |||||||||
Panther Lake
| Core Ultra | 7 | 5 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Model | 365 | 355 | 335 | 332 | 325 | 322 | |
| Cores | P | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| LP-E | 4 | ||||||
| Base clock rate (GHz) |
P | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 2.1 | 2.5 |
| LP-E | 1.8 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 1.9 | |
| Turbo Boost (GHz) |
P | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
| LP-E | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.3 | |
| Graphics | Name | Intel Graphics | |||||
| Xe cores | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |||
| Max Turbo (GHz) |
2.5 | 2.45 | 2.3 | 2.45 | 2.3 | ||
| NPU (int8 TOPS) | 49 | 47 | 46 | 47 | 46 | ||
| Intel vPro | Yes | No | Yes | No | |||
| Smart Cache | 12 MB | ||||||
| TDP | Min | 12 W | |||||
| Base | 25 W | ||||||
| Turbo | 55 W | ||||||
Wildcat Lake
In April 2026, Intel launched Wildcat Lake, a version of Panther Lake intended for value laptops, commercial systems and edge devices.[12][13] This series features a simpler design, lower performance, and lower power consumption. The Ultra moniker has been dropped and they are simply called the "Intel Core Series 3".
List of Wildcat Lake processors
See also
References
- ^ Grimm, Sunny (January 6, 2025). "Intel shows off working Panther Lake systems at CES — Xe3 GPU cores power Intel sneak peek". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved July 2, 2025.
- ^ Morescalchi, Daniela (January 5, 2026). "CES 2026: Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Debut as First Built on Intel 18A". Newsroom. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
- ^ Cunningham, Andrew (January 6, 2026). "Intel launches Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs, made using its long-awaited 18A process". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
- ^ Shanto, Abid Ahsan (April 5, 2026). "Intel intros new 16-core Panther Lake CPU with capable Arc B390 iGPU". Notebookcheck. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ^ "Intel confirms our leak, Core Ultra X9 378H Panther Lake CPU launched". VideoCardz.com. Retrieved April 6, 2026.
- ^ Jeffrey Kampman (October 9, 2025). "Intel's Xe3 graphics architecture breaks cover — Panther Lake's 12 Xe Core iGPU promises 50+% better performance than Lunar Lake". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved January 9, 2026.
- ^ Nasir, Hassam (February 2, 2026). "Intel mandates at least 7,467 MT/s RAM speed for Panther Lake — Slower memory will relabel the Arc B370 & B390 iGPUs as generic "Intel Graphics" in Task Manager". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved February 5, 2026.
- ^ Hardwidge, Ben (January 26, 2026). "Club386 | Intel Core Ultra Series 3 review: Panther Lake benchmarks". Club386. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
- ^ Larsen, Luke. "Intel Panther Lake Is the Answer to Apple Silicon We've All Been Waiting for". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
- ^ "I Tested Intel's Flagship 'Panther Lake' Laptop Chip: The Graphics Are the Real Upgrade". PCMag Australia. January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
- ^ "I tested Panther Lake. You're going to want this". PCWorld. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
- ^ Hyatt, Matt (April 16, 2026). "Intel Launches Intel Core Series 3 Processors: Changing the Game for Everyday Computing". Newsroom. Retrieved April 17, 2026.
- ^ Hyatt, Matt (April 16, 2026). "Intel Launches Intel Core Series 3 Processors: Changing the Game for Everyday Computing". Newsroom. Retrieved April 17, 2026.