Intel Unveils Core Series 3 Processors

Intel unveiled its new Core Series 3 processors on Thursday, April 16, 2026, targeting entry-level laptops, mainstream PCs, and edge devices with a focus on affordability, efficiency, and basic AI capabilities. The Wildcat Lake-codenamed chips, built on Intel's 18A manufacturing process, represent a value-oriented extension of the company's higher-end Panther Lake Core Ultra Series 3 lineup introduced earlier this year.

The processors feature a hybrid architecture combining up to two Cougar Cove performance cores and four Darkmont efficient cores, with most models offering six cores total. A lower-end five-core variant, the Core 3 304, includes one performance core fused off. Integrated graphics consist of up to two Xe3 cores, while the neural processing unit delivers up to 17 TOPS of AI performance, contributing to a platform total of 40 TOPS that qualifies for Microsoft Copilot+ PC certification. An edge-specific model, the Core 5 305, omits the NPU and uses a single graphics core.

Connectivity options include WiFi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, six PCIe Gen 4 lanes, and support for single-channel LPDDR5X memory at up to 7,467 MT/s or DDR5 at 6,400 MT/s. The design...