Intel Unveils Panther Lake with 18A Process

At Embedded World 2025 in Germany, Intel made its first public demonstration of the Panther Lake processor series, built on the advanced Intel 18A process. This lineup, officially known as the Core Ultra 300H/U series, showcases Intel's latest advancements in processor technology.

Previously, in October 2024, Intel's then-CEO Pat Gelsinger had introduced the Panther Lake series at Lenovo's Innovation Conference. The version showcased at Embedded World is expected to be consistent with that earlier presentation, featuring the Panther Lake-H mobile processors. These chips leverage the cutting-edge Intel 18A fabrication process and incorporate a total of 16 cores—four performance cores (P-cores), eight efficiency cores (E-cores), and four low-power efficiency cores (LPE-cores). Additionally, they are equipped with 12 GPU cores based on the Xe2 architecture.

In terms of AI performance, Panther Lake delivers an impressive total compute power of 180 TOPS, consisting of 10 TOPS from the CPU, 50 TOPS from the GPU, and 120 TOPS from the NPU. The processor also supports four PCIe 5.0 lanes, eight PCIe 4.0 lanes, and four Thunderbolt 4 ports, ensuring robust connectivity and high-speed data transfer capabilities.

John Pitzer, Intel's Vice President of Investor Relations, recently highlighted at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference that the current yield rate of Panther Lake surpasses that of Meteor Lake at a similar stage of development. A few weeks ago, technical papers also indicated that the SRAM density of Intel's 18A process is on par with TSMC's N2 node. While direct comparisons depend on various parameters, Intel positions its 18A technology as competitive with both TSMC's N3 and N2 processes. The company remains on track with Intel 18A development and has confirmed that the first tape-out for an external customer will be completed in the first half of this year.

According to Intel's roadmap, the Panther Lake processors are scheduled for official release in the second half of 2025. However, commercial devices featuring Panther Lake are expected to hit the market in the first quarter of 2026.