Intel Retakes the Lead with Core Ultra Series 3 Panther Lake Launch

Intel is betting big on its internal manufacturing prowess. At today's CES 2026 keynote, the company announced that it'll formally launch the Core Ultra Series 3 laptop processors, codenamed Panther Lake, later this month. These chips represent a critical milestone as the first consumer products built on Intel's 18A manufacturing process—the linchpin of their strategy to catch up with TSMC.

Inside the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Panther Lake Lineup

The rollout starts with 14 chips spanning 5 product families. Intel claims these will power "over 200" upcoming PC designs. The flagship Core Ultra X9 and X7 processors boast a fully-enabled 12-coreIntel Arc B390 integrated GPU and support for LPDDR5x-9600 memory, aiming squarely at high-end ultraportables.

A Shift in Design Philosophy

Panther Lake is somewhat of a retreat from the Lunar Lake (Core Ultra 200V) approach. While Lunar Lake leaned heavily on external manufacturing and on-package RAM for power efficiency, the Series 3 returns to Intel's internal fabs. The Core Ultra 9 and 7 models also feature 20 PCI Express lanes, making them a better fit for systems with dedicated graphics cards compared to the X-series.