Intel introduces Panther Lake Core Ultra chips
By ForGeeks
Intel has unveiled new details about its upcoming line of Core Ultra 3 processors (codenamed Panther Lake), which will be the company’s first chips built on the 2-nanometer 18A process. These processors will be manufactured at Intel’s Arizona plant, which should be a key step in the company’s return to the top chip maker. Core Ultra 3 will be used in premium notebooks, gaming devices and systems at the edge of the network (edge servers). Intel says the new chips will combine Lunar Lake-level power efficiency with Arrow Lake-like performance. Core Ultra 3 will be used in premium notebooks, gaming devices, and network edge systems (edge servers). The new chips will increase performance by up to 50 percent over previous generations. Top-end models will get up to 16 performance cores (P-cores) and additional energy-efficient cores (E-cores). Transistor density will increase by 30 percent and performance per watt — by 15 percent. Transistor density will increase by 30 percent and performance per watt by 15 percent. The integrated Intel Arc graphics will also become 50 percent more powerful, with up to 12 cores in the higher-end models. The updated XPU architecture will accelerate artificial intelligence tasks with performance up to 180 trillion operations per second (TOPS). Accelerate artificial intelligence tasks with up to 180 trillion operations per second (TOPS). Intel calls 18A «the most advanced semiconductor process designed and manufactured in the U.S.». The company says the technology is now complete and will move to mass production by the end of the year. However, as recently as two months ago, problems were reported with the yield of year-old crystals, casting doubt on the launch timeline. The situation for Intel remains tense. In August, former US president Donald Trump criticized CEO Lip-Bu Tan, demanding his resignation, but soon softened his stance after a face-to-face meeting. The U.S. government later bought a 9.9 percent stake in Intel for $8.9 billion, and NVIDIA gave the company a five-billion-dollar loan to support its PC and data center businesses. At the end of the second quarter of 2025, Intel reported a $2.9 billion loss and plans to lay off up to 20% of its workforce. The success of the 2nm Panther Lake chips could be crucial to the company’s future.
