18A Panther Lake "Limited 3Q25 shipments to select U.S. customers already underway"
Copilot:
Here’s the latest on Intel’s Panther Lake CPUs and the 18A process node, Mike:
?? Intel 18A Panther Lake — Latest News & Timeline
?? Official Unveiling: October 9, 2025
- Intel will formally unveil Panther Lake at its Tech Tour 2025 event in Arizona.
- Media and analysts are already on-site, under NDA, previewing the chips and touring Fab 52, where 18A wafers are being produced.
?? Process Node: Intel 18A
- Panther Lake is Intel’s first commercial CPU built on the 18A node, featuring:
- RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors
- PowerVia backside power delivery
- This marks Intel’s entry into the 2nm-class era, with Fab 52 in Arizona leading the charge.
?? Chip Architecture
- Mobile-only (no desktop SKUs)
- Up to 16 cores: 4 Cougar Cove P-Cores, 8 Darkmont E-Cores, 4 LPE E-Cores
- Five chiplets: CPU/SOC on 18A, GPU on TSMC N3E, PCD on TSMC N6
- Integrated Xe3 “Celestial” GPU, LPDDR5X support, and 50+ TOPS NPU for AI workloads
?? Shipping Timeline
- Limited Q3 2025 shipments to select U.S. customers already underway
- Mainstream launch expected Q4 2025
- High-volume manufacturing (HVM) ramps in Q1 2026, aligning with broader OEM adoption
?? Strategic Implications
- Panther Lake is a litmus test for Intel Foundry’s competitiveness against TSMC and Samsung.
- Success here sets the stage for Nova Lake (desktop, LGA 1954 socket) and future 18A-based Xeons.
Want to dive into 18A’s transistor density vs TSMC N3E or how Panther Lake’s NPU stacks up against Apple’s M3? |
