Table of Contents

Intel’s Chiplet Gamble: Arrow Lake Stumbles, Eyes on Panther and Nova Lake
#

Intel’s transition to a chiplet-based architecture with Arrow Lake has done little to improve its competitive position in the PC market. Frequently outperformed by AMD’s Ryzen CPUs in gaming workloads, Arrow Lake even trails its predecessor, Raptor Lake, in frame rates. This underwhelming performance has helped AMD narrow the market share gap to historic lows, with the Steam Hardware Survey showing an increasingly even split. As the pressure mounts, Intel’s future roadmaps—especially for late 2025 and 2026—carry high stakes.

H2 2025: Arrow Lake Refresh & Panther Lake
#

The launch of the Core Ultra 200 series was rocky, marred by memory compatibility issues, weak gaming performance, and persistent bus-related bugs. However, recent firmware and driver updates have resolved many of these problems, bringing notable improvements in latency and overall gaming responsiveness.

The Arrow Lake-S Refresh is expected in the second half of 2025, alongside the launch of Panther Lake mobile processors. Intel is also planning a refresh of its entry-level and midrange mobile lineup. Users can expect:

Slightly higher clock speeds
More aggressive pricing
Better software and driver support

Panther Lake, the successor to Lunar Lake, will roll out in two phases. The initial SKU is set to debut in Q4 2025, with additional variants arriving in 2026.

Key technical highlights include:

CPU tiles built on Intel’s advanced 18A process node
GPU tiles fabricated on TSMC’s 3nm or 2nm nodes
P-cores upgraded to Cougar Cove
E-cores transitioned to Darkmont
Integrated GPU featuring 3rd Gen Xe (Celestial) microarchitecture
TDP targets: 15W, 25W, and 45W

Rumored Configurations:
#

4P + 8E + 0LPE + 4 Xe3 (45W)
4P + 8E + 4LPE + 12 Xe3 (25W)
4P + 8E + 4LPE + 4 Xe3 (25W)
4P + 0E + 4LPE + 4 Xe3 (15W)

H2 2026: Nova Lake
#

Intel’s Nova Lake-S will replace Arrow Lake-S as the Core Ultra 300 desktop family in the second half of 2026. It will introduce the new LGA1954 socket, improved interconnects, and increased core counts.

Projected specifications include: