PCWorld tested Intel's new Panther Lake Core Ultra X9 388H processor, which delivers gaming laptop performance through integrated graphics comparable to Nvidia GeForce 4050 chips. The chip achieves impressive battery life up to 27 hours while maintaining strong performance, with AI frame generation boosting gaming from 52 to 92 fps in titles like Cyberpunk. Panther Lake faces competition from AMD's Ryzen AI Max and Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2, but Intel's early 2025 release provides significant market advantage.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Panther Lake unveiled: A deep dive into Intel's next-gen laptop CPU Take the low power of Lunar Lake, combine it with the performance of Arrow Lake, and you've got Panther Lake, Intel says. Intel's next-generation mobile processor, "Panther Lake," builds incrementally on the excellent "Lunar Lake" chip populating laptops right now. But there's something odd afoot: a "16-core, 12 Xe graphics cores" version that could be Intel's answer to AMD's Ryzen AI Max, complete with multi-frame graphics generation powered by AI. Intel has officially revealed its new Panther Lake architecture, and it gives enthusiasts a lot to chew on: a return to the performance (P-cores), efficiency (E-cores), and low-power efficiency (LP E-cores) cores of Intel's first Core Ultra chip, Meteor Lake. Intel has returned with a fifth-generation NPU capable of 50 TOPS and an image processing unit (IPU) that actually uses AI for some functions. Intel's "Xe3" GPU is worth some discussion all by itself, with its awkward branding and powerful multi-frame generation that will potentially elevate frame rates three or four times what they were before. Can Panther Lake address mainstream laptops, handheld PCs, and this new breed of "AI workstations" AMD's Strix Halo is aiming for? Intel's confidence in its 18A manufacturing process may be a bit overblown, however, as several portions of Panther Lake are still being manufactured overseas, including the 12Xe version of the new, disaggregated (separate) GPU tile.

A year ago, Microsoft hyped Copilot PCs as the next big thing. Twelve months later, it's hard not to see them as one of the tech industry's more significant flops. The question is whether they'll stay that way. Many Copilot PCs began shipping on June 18, 2024, about a month after Microsoft announced the program at the company's headquarters a month earlier. Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, and Microsoft's own Surface division committed to shipping Copilot PCs, whose centerpiece was a processor with an embedded Neural Processing Unit -- the engine of AI -- capable of 40 trillion operations per second, or TOPS.

In 2022-2023, AI-powered PCs made quite a splash with their automatic generation and built-in virtual assistants. Those features are cool, sure, but they're a little gimmicky at first blush. That said, amid the hype, the real standout feature emerged: battery life. Thanks to smarter resource management and power-efficient chip architecture, AI PCs became long-lasting devices that didn't need to be plugged in all the time. Let's take flying cross-country with a traditional laptop, for instance.

Intel executives pledged Tuesday that its upcoming Panther Lake chip will combine the best aspects of its earlier processors, Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake. Intel executives spoke in Las Vegas on the second day of its Intel Vision conference, which engages Intel's partners and customers. Intel's new chief executive Lip-Bu Tan outlined his plans for Intel's new direction on Monday, asking for brutal honesty while pledging to return Intel to greatness. We already knew that Panther Lake would be a critical product for Intel this year. Not only is the chip the next iteration of Intel's PC client roadmap, but it's the first chip on Intel's next-generation 18A manufacturing process.

Intel's new Core Ultra 200 processors offer a huge leap forward in performance on top of all-day battery life. But these new "Arrow Lake" chips leave out an absolute necessity of today's PCs: an NPU, the engine which powers AI performance across the board. We knew this going into my review of Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H inside of an MSI laptop. But it might be time for Intel -- and maybe AMD, too -- to take a step back and consider what consumers really want: a "good," one-size-fits-all mainstream PC. And a clear way to identify them! Every time I review a chip or another product, I try to unearth the "story" behind it.

Intel's Core 285H chip, the first member of its Core Ultra 200 or "Arrow Lake-H" family for laptops, has a big crater to fill. Yes, crater: This processor essentially bombed on the desktop. In laptops, however, Intel's Core 285H chip helps redeem Intel's reputation, starring in the otherwise pedestrian MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo (B2HMG) laptop. Consider this to be two reviews for the price of one: I'll take a look at the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo itself, a sample of a laptop that has yet to begin officially shipping. But most of the performance tests I'll run are for the purpose of comparing Intel's Core Ultra 285H and the Arrow Lake-H architecture to the best that AMD and Qualcomm have to offer, plus Intel's older mobile chips. The new Core Ultra 200H chips essentially double the performance in general applications thanks to a ton of additional cores. But, hampered by its lack of a modern NPU, Intel is forced to mumble and kick the ground when it comes to talking about AI. At press time, I couldn't find any retailers that advertised the Prestige 16 AI Evo (B2HMG) for sale, and MSI's own listing for the laptop just references a number of overseas suppliers. MSI charges about 1,620 for the Prestige 16 AI EVO B1MG, which was the debut laptop for our tests of the Core Ultra 100-series chips, or Meteor Lake, in Feb. 2024. Intel sent us an engineering sample of the MSI Prestige 16 AI Evo (B2HMG) for review, as a test bed for the Core Ultra 9 285H (Arrow Lake-H) chip inside.

While laptops haven't exactly been advancing by leaps and bounds over the last few years, the industry has finally gotten interesting again. As we close out 2024 and head into 2025, I've got news for you if you're in the market for a new laptop: a lot has changed, and lots more changes are yet to come. Here are the new things you need to know to make an informed laptop buying decision this year. Further reading: The best laptops we've tested I used to recommend buying last year's laptop models on clearance because hardware hasn't really improved much year over year. Sure, maybe that new laptop is a bit better… but only marginally.

LG has rolled out its Gram laptop lineup in advance of CES 2025, confirming Intel's debut of the Arrow Lake platform in laptops and offering a mix of AI software that can run either locally or in the cloud. LG disclosed two versions of the LG Gram Pro (the 17Z90TR and 16Z90TS), as well as the LG gram Pro 2-in-1. LG is adding a new entry to its lineup as well: the Gram Book, an entry-level lightweight PC with a 1080p display and a cheaper price tag to boot. However, LG isn't saying what that price tag will be, or when these new devices will ship. LG's two new Gram Pros offer the choice of either integrated or discrete graphics.

LG's Gram laptops are back for another round of updates ahead of CES 2025. A decade into the thin and light lineup's existence in LG's portfolio, the latest models load up on AI (surprise!) and boost performance while maintaining their trademark portability. Four new models are launching at CES: two variants of the Gram Pro, a new Gram Pro 2-in-1 and the entry-level Gram Book. The first version of the Gram Pro has an Intel Core H-series (Arrow Lake) processor under the hood for more traditional laptop tasks (including some gaming). A second model uses an Intel Core Ultra V-series (Lunar Lake) chip for AI tasks.