Intel (INTC) on Thursday took the wraps off its new Core Ultra series 3 processor, code-named Panther Lake, the company’s first chip built using its long-gestating 18A process technology.
The chip is also the first processor to be manufactured at Intel’s newly opened Fab 52 plant in Arizona. Intel said its 18A process is the world’s most advanced process technology researched, developed, and built in America.
Core Ultra series 3 chips will go into high-volume production this year and begin shipping before the end of the year.
The announcement is a win for Intel on two fronts. The first is that the company is finally shipping a product using 18A, which has faced delays due to the introduction of the new RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors with PowerVia, designed to improve performance and energy efficiency.
Producing the new chips in Arizona also helps solidify Intel’s commitment to US manufacturing at a time when the Trump administration is focusing on onshoring semiconductor fabrication.
Intel said its Core Ultra series 3 processors will come in three main flavors: an 8-core CPU variant with up to 4Xe GPU cores, a 16-core CPU option with up to 4Xe GPU cores, and a 16-core CPU with up to 12Xe GPU cores.
The chip can also support up to 96GB of memory and offers up to 180 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a common measure of AI performance.
According to Intel, Core Ultra series 3 chips should see up to a 50% increase in multi-thread performance and 10% increase in single-thread performance versus the company’s previous-generation Lunar Lake- and Arrow Lake-based processors.
GPU performance is expected to increase by as much as 50%.
Intel will need to prove that its latest chip is powerful while also maintaining long-lasting battery life in laptops. The company has been struggling to maintain its lead in the PC market, with rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gaining ground, thanks to advances in chip performance and energy efficiency.
Apple’s (AAPL) MacBooks, which run on the company’s own custom Arm-based chips, have set the standard for powerful laptops that can easily last an entire workday on a single charge.
Qualcomm (QCOM) has also introduced its own Arm-based chips for Windows PCs, which marry performance and efficiency, adding to Intel’s need for a competing offering.
In addition to the Core Ultra series 3, Intel showed off its Xeon 6+ data center processor based on its 18A tech.
If the chip giant is successful and its 18A-based chips are everything the company believes they are, they could provide the kind of boost it needs to convince future customers to build their own chips on Intel’s process technology.
Intel (INTC) on Thursday took the wraps off its new Core Ultra series 3 processor, code-named Panther Lake, the company’s first chip built using its long-gestating 18A process technology.
The chip is also the first processor to be manufactured at Intel’s newly opened Fab 52 plant in Arizona. Intel said its 18A process is the world’s most advanced process technology researched, developed, and built in America.
Core Ultra series 3 chips will go into high-volume production this year and begin shipping before the end of the year.
The announcement is a win for Intel on two fronts. The first is that the company is finally shipping a product using 18A, which has faced delays due to the introduction of the new RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors with PowerVia, designed to improve performance and energy efficiency.
Producing the new chips in Arizona also helps solidify Intel’s commitment to US manufacturing at a time when the Trump administration is focusing on onshoring semiconductor fabrication.
Intel said its Core Ultra series 3 processors will come in three main flavors: an 8-core CPU variant with up to 4Xe GPU cores, a 16-core CPU option with up to 4Xe GPU cores, and a 16-core CPU with up to 12Xe GPU cores.
The chip can also support up to 96GB of memory and offers up to 180 trillion operations per second (TOPS), a common measure of AI performance.
According to Intel, Core Ultra series 3 chips should see up to a 50% increase in multi-thread performance and 10% increase in single-thread performance versus the company’s previous-generation Lunar Lake- and Arrow Lake-based processors.
GPU performance is expected to increase by as much as 50%.
Intel will need to prove that its latest chip is powerful while also maintaining long-lasting battery life in laptops. The company has been struggling to maintain its lead in the PC market, with rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) gaining ground, thanks to advances in chip performance and energy efficiency.
Apple’s (AAPL) MacBooks, which run on the company’s own custom Arm-based chips, have set the standard for powerful laptops that can easily last an entire workday on a single charge.
Qualcomm (QCOM) has also introduced its own Arm-based chips for Windows PCs, which marry performance and efficiency, adding to Intel’s need for a competing offering.
In addition to the Core Ultra series 3, Intel showed off its Xeon 6+ data center processor based on its 18A tech.
If the chip giant is successful and its 18A-based chips are everything the company believes they are, they could provide the kind of boost it needs to convince future customers to build their own chips on Intel’s process technology.
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