Intel starts Panther Lake volume production on 18A for Core Ultra 3

Intel said on Thursday it has begun volume production of its next generation Panther Lake processors, the Core Ultra series 3, at its Fab 52 facility in Chandler, Arizona, and expects the chips to reach devices later this year with broader availability in early 2026. The company framed the rollout as a milestone in its push to combine stronger on device artificial intelligence, higher performance and improved energy efficiency across laptops, gaming devices and edge systems.

Panther Lake is built on Intel's new 18A process, which the company says incorporates two manufacturing innovations, RibbonFET gate all around transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery. Intel said these changes enable a scalable multichiplet design and deliver higher transistor density, better performance per watt and faster CPU and GPU throughput than prior generations. The company described typical gains of roughly 50 percent for both CPU and GPU workloads, a density increase near 30 percent and a performance per watt improvement on the order of 15 percent, attributing the figures to the 18A node and architectural updates.

The Client SoC lineup will include three Panther Lake variants. Intel...