October will see a deep dive into Intel’s “Panther Lake” microarchitecture, with a full launch scheduled for 2026.

For a few days at least, the details around Intel’s first 18A product, “Panther Lake,” are still unknown. Intel was supposed to begin shipping the first PTL-U and PTL-H SKUs by the end of 2025, with more SKUs to follow in 2026, according to earlier reports. According to Golden Pig Upgrade, that could change, though. Only the microarchitecture deep dive is scheduled for the alleged October 9 launch date; the debut and final model specs will be place at CES 2026. Panther Lake, which is the result of years of manufacturing innovation at Intel and was the company’s first significant wager with the 18A node, must prove that the investment in advanced manufacturing was worthwhile. According to reports, Intel began shipping a small number of its 18A nodes to clients in the United States in Q3. These wafers are now in production, and the company anticipates producing its first CPUs in Q4.

Panther Lake is the first 18A node product, therefore we can anticipate that a significant portion of those supplied wafers will go to OEMs for testing prior to integration. Recall that the low-power PTL-U models are anticipated to be available in 6-core and 8-core variants and are intended for a 15 W TDP. While some SKUs will have four LPE cores and four high-performance P-cores, others will only have two LPE cores to go with four P-cores. With entry-level models having four GPU cores, both families will make use of Xe3-based integrated graphics. With four P-cores, eight E-cores, and four LPE-cores, the more potent PTL-H line will grow to about 16 CPU cores. Up to 12 GPU Xe3 cores for integrated graphics may be present in some H-series components; however, the precise configurations will be disclosed when Intel formally introduces the Panther Lake product family.