Intel unveils Panther Lake as 18A process kicks into gear

Two landmark events lay out the path for laptops and data centres, yet the likely winners are no clearer than before

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Which chip will be inside your next laptop? Three companies are fighting for that position, with landmark announcements from Intel and Qualcomm in early October. Intel unveiled its next-generation “Panther Lake” CPUs, while Qualcomm announced the second generation of its Snapdragon Elite processors – called, predictably, X2 Elite. Both chips are likely to appear in laptops in early 2026.

Intel's Tech Tour US event was dominated by the 18A process that Panther Lake is built on, marking the first time Intel has dipped below two nanometres. The 18 stands for 1.8 nanometres, which is only enough space for around five atoms to sit side by side. Intel claimed that Panther Lake chips are already in production at Fab 52 in Arizona and its R&D fab in Oregon, with early samples in the hands of partners. And it was confident enough to show PC Pro around Fab 52 in Arizona, albeit on a whistlestop tour.

“Intel is doing all the right things but that does not mean success comes easy,” said Phil Solis, research director for client processors, accelerators and connectivity at IDC. “One major sign of confidence for Intel's 18A process is that it secured business for Microsoft's Maia2 AI accelerator for its Azure platform in data centres – and these are large dies.”

Panther Lake unveiled

After dropping many hints during 2025, Intel used the Tech Tour to finally provide full technical details of Panther Lake. These will be known as the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and will come in three main forms: 8-core, like Lunar Lake (the Core Ultra 200V series); 16-core, with up to four Xe graphics cores; and 16-core, with up to 12 Xe3 graphics cores.