• Nvidia is pitching its upcoming Vera CPUs to Chinese clients while advertising availability soon
• Move into data center CPUs pits Nvidia against traditional rivals Intel and AMD, which currently control the bulk of the market in China and other regions
• Nvidia's move comes at a time when the Chinese government continues to advocate for home-grown chip solutions, and the US's chip controls have effectively reduced its share to 0% of a lucrative Chinese data center market

Nvidia is apparently pushing to win Chinese customers for what its CEO regards as the next multi-billion dollar frontier for the company: data center CPUs.

The firm has spent the past two years watching the 2nd-most important chip market in the world effectively cut it out with a mix of consumer-grade chips and homegrown solutions such as Huawei's Ascend offerings, backed by a Chinese government push for self-reliance.

While Chinese officials have held the line with soft barriers - no official restrictions on Nvidia's chip exports to China exist in the mainland - Nvidia is seemingly betting on a reset in relations when it comes to its Vera CPUs for the data center.

Why CPUs and why now for Nvidia?

Nvidia's Vera CPU is more than just another competitor in the market. It threatens to upend the existing status quo, with Intel and AMD chips dominating the market, by adopting an AI-first approach to its design.

Nvidia is presenting Vera as a CPU that is up to 1.8 times faster than current x86 CPUs from Intel and AMD in certain workloads, offers 4 times the memory bandwidth, and delivers up to a 50% increase in performance versus traditional rack-scale CPUs.

According to a Reuters report, at least one major unnamed Chinese cloud company intends to purchase 300 servers, each containing 2 Vera CPUs. The CPUs themselves are estimated to cost upwards of $20,000 before bulk discounts kick in.

However, whether this results in an order remains to be seen. Chinese regulators seem to be making a stronger push for self-sufficiency in their chip sector, prompting many of their AI startups and giants alike to opt for local chip options, such as Huawei's Ascend and T-Head's Hanguang.

Nvidia's salvation however, might come from an unexpected place, as battle lines might be different this time around: the same AI export controls that crushed its Chinese business might work in its favor now.

Not only are CPUs considerably less regulated by US export rules, but the Chinese market is also reeling from a squeeze on server CPUs, with Intel pushing delivery lead times to as much as 6 months in some cases, even as AMD noted that the CPU market remains tight, with demand outstripping supply.

If Nvidia can navigate past the politics and the incumbent x86 architecture's software advantage, as well as the ecosystem built around it, it might carve out an important piece of the lucrative Chinese data center market, even without the CUDA 'stickiness' that makes its GPUs so sought-after in this segment.

Whether that is enough to overturn the obvious advantage that both well-placed chipmakers (Intel and AMD) have in terms of an ecosystem, as well as the edge the domestic champion, Huawei, enjoys in terms of government-level backing, however, remains to be seen.

• Rumor has it that Intel's CPU with integrated Nvidia RTX GPU is planned to debut early in 2028
• We could see an announcement at CES 2028
• This will be a powerful mobile chip that could be a huge step forward for gaming laptops and handheld devices

Intel processors with integrated Nvidia RTX graphics are coming, we know that, but we now have a rumor of a rough timeframe, namely early 2028.

VideoCardz reports that according to YouTube tech reporter Erdi Ozuag on X, Intel's silicon roadmap currently has its processors featuring built-in Nvidia GPUs as launching in the first quarter of 2028.

In theory, then – assuming this is true, and the planned timeline doesn't slip – we could be looking at a CES 2028 launch for these chips which are codenamed Serpent Lake.

Also regarding the timeline, it aligns with the expectations for the release of Nvidia's next-gen of GeForce RTX GPUs, which is currently forecast to debut in 2028.

Ozuag adds that the prospect of Intel producing Apple silicon continues to advance, and the final quarter of 2027 is apparently the target for Team Blue to be making chips for MacBooks or iPhones (probably lower-end models, the rumor mill has previously suggested). This (theoretically) represents Apple diversifying somewhat away from TSMC for chip production duties.

Analysis: a lot of potential – but some questions too

An Intel processor with Nvidia RTX chiplet on-board to provide graphics muscle should be a huge move for the PC world. Granted, we know very little about the chip as it stands, but packing next-gen RTX graphics is likely to mean this could usher in SoCs which are revolutionary for the performance of thin-and-light gaming laptops. Indeed, these Intel processors should prove excellent for elevating gaming handhelds too.

If this rumor is true, it means these Intel chips are potentially only a year and a half away. Or at least that's when we could first see the silicon announced, although the notebooks packing the chips themselves may take a fair bit longer to arrive on shelves.

Of course, a lot of how this timeline plays out may be heavily dependent on what happens with the current RAM and component crisis, and its impact on the world of laptops in general. (Which could get substantially nastier as time rolls on – as I've discussed elsewhere recently, I think now could be a smart time to buy a laptop based on the indicators we're hearing from various key players in the PC sphere – and indeed phones for that matter).

Other questions remain, such as: where does this leave Intel's own Arc graphics plans? And how will this partnership play out given that Nvidia is now spearheading a fresh thrust to make Arm devices more relevant in the realm of Windows 11 laptops with its RTX Spark chip – a prospect that'll surely worry Intel (despite the brave face in public)?

There are a few unknowns as to how all this will unfold, let's put it that way, but this Intel and Nvidia collaboration still remains an exciting prospect.

• Valve's latest SteamOS beta offers improved compatibility with Intel platforms
• It also sees initial firmware added for incoming Intel G3 Extreme-powered handhelds
• Performance on SteamOS with Intel hardware should improve further with future updates

Handheld gaming is set to reach new heights in 2026 and beyond, with Intel's latest Panther Lake mobile processors providing more power for high-level performance — and Valve has just made life better for Intel-based handhelds.

Valve's SteamOS 3.8.8 beta includes improved hardware support for Intel platforms, additional controller support for MSI Claw devices, and initial firmware for upcoming Intel handhelds. That includes handhelds like the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+, OneXPlayer 3, and the Acer Predator Atlas 8, all of which will use the Intel G3 Extreme processor.

Intel-based handhelds running SteamOS (or Bazzite) aren't anything new. However, performance with Intel hardware on the operating system hasn't been great, with devices like the MSI Claw 8 AI+ delivering worse game performance than Windows 11 — but it's the complete opposite for AMD-powered handhelds on SteamOS compared to Windows 11.

The appeal of SteamOS, besides its ease of use and console-like user interface, is its optimization for gaming in terms of memory usage, which Windows 11 lacks (and still falls behind Valve's SteamOS even with the Xbox Mode).

With that in mind, switching from Windows 11 to SteamOS for worse performance doesn't make much sense, and that's what has kept some owners of Intel-powered handhelds away from the Linux-based operating system.

Full Steam ahead for Intel chips

Fortunately, it's now evident that this is being addressed by Valve, as handheld enthusiast ETA Prime highlights with the MSI Claw 8 AI+ and its fluid performance results in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon.

Functions like sleep mode work as expected, which is great, but navigation and menu options still need updating, and the TDP (power consumption) can only be controlled via a Decky Loader plugin — plus the Steam menu button config needs to be added on Intel handhelds.

Regardless, this is a step in the right direction for these portables, and with more updates from Valve leading up to the launch of the new Intel-powered handhelds, this is definitely something to get excited about for those who don't have AMD-powered hardware.

• Intel has detailed how it's designed Wildcat Lake laptops to be affordable
• This isn't only about the Wildcat Lake processor itself, but the supporting components
• These have been implemented in a cost-friendly way, leveraging phone chips and design elements, helping to further reduce the cost of production

Intel is talking up how laptops based on its new Wildcat Lake mobile chips will be a major step forward in terms of affordable notebooks, underlining the lengths it's gone to in order to keep costs down.

VideoCardz noticed a new video from Intel on YouTube (see below) in which the company claims it "reimagines mainstream laptops with Core Series 3" processors (Wildcat Lake — not to be confused with Core Ultra Series 3, which is Panther Lake).

Wildcat Lake is mobile silicon for more budget-oriented laptops, and the chip itself is built with that affordability, and power-efficiency, firmly in mind. But what Intel details here is the way it has implemented the rest of its reference platform – that laptop makers can pick up and run with to produce their own models — in order to reinforce those cost savings.

It's called the 'Firefly program' and to cut a long story short, Intel has brought in supporting elements from the world of phones as an alternative to what would typically be used in PCs.

That means using phone-class system memory (LPDDR5X), along with the likes of audio chips from the phone world, and much more besides.

Intel explains: "We see two Firefly prototypes, including a 12.9mm metal chassis with redesigned thermals, standardized internal cabling for a separate I/O board, and a new core logic module that combine Intel SoCs with phone-class memory to lower costs and accelerate time-to-market."

With cost reductions in all the supporting chips and hardware, and the likes of internal cabling, and indeed the motherboard itself, being brought in on top of the cheaper CPU, Intel is further reducing the bill of materials (overall cost) for laptop makers.

Analysis: Intel definitely isn't phoning it in…

The core idea is to leverage the smartphone component supply chain to use in laptops, and the design work therein demanded quite some effort from Intel engineers. The end result is a more affordable laptop, a key consideration for Windows 11 notebooks when you consider just how well Apple is now doing in this budget space with the MacBook Neo.

There's another important boast from Intel here, too, and that's the speed with which Firefly laptops can be brought to market. Apparently, this can be done in just a few months using Intel's reference platform, and so the suggestion is that Wildcat Lake laptops won't take long to arrive in force to combat the MacBook Neo – which is already a very popular device.

There's a reason for that popularity, of course, because laptop price hikes have now set in, so an attractively priced MacBook looks doubly tempting. We need more Windows 11 notebook rivals to offer a wider choice in that respect, and from what I've seen of Wildcat Lake thus far, I think it's a great move from Intel — and it'll be interesting to see exactly what kind of price tags are attached to these portables.

The likes of the new Dell XPS 13, which uses Wildcat Lake for the entry-level model, look set to offer a premium-like laptop experience for a palatable outlay ($699 in the US, or $599 for students) in a Neo style. However, I'm hoping there will be a good number of notebooks sat below this kind of pricing.

This would be all good news given the RAM crisis, of course, and could provide some great opportunities to get an affordable new laptop later this year (and I believe buying in 2026 could be a smart move, if you need a new portable).

There is, of course, another competitor that Intel will need to carefully consider – namely Nvidia with its new RTX Spark chip. Now, while that silicon is about as far from a budget effort as you can get, and not a direct rival, it's having a knock-on effect to advance all Arm-based Windows 11 laptops, as I recently discussed. Interesting times indeed, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chips are also incoming as a tempting budget option for this year.

• Intel has detailed how it's designed Wildcat Lake laptops to be affordable
• This isn't only about the Wildcat Lake processor itself, but the supporting components
• These have been implemented in a cost-friendly way, leveraging phone chips and design elements, helping to further reduce the cost of production

Intel is talking up how laptops based on its new Wildcat Lake mobile chips will be a major step forward in terms of affordable notebooks, underlining the lengths it's gone to in order to keep costs down.

VideoCardz noticed a new video from Intel on YouTube (see below) in which the company claims it "reimagines mainstream laptops with Core Series 3" processors (Wildcat Lake — not to be confused with Core Ultra Series 3, which is Panther Lake).

Wildcat Lake is mobile silicon for more budget-oriented laptops, and the chip itself is built with that affordability, and power-efficiency, firmly in mind. But what Intel details here is the way it has implemented the rest of its reference platform – that laptop makers can pick up and run with to produce their own models — in order to reinforce those cost savings.

It's called the 'Firefly program' and to cut a long story short, Intel has brought in supporting elements from the world of phones as an alternative to what would typically be used in PCs.

That means using phone-class system memory (LPDDR5X), along with the likes of audio chips from the phone world, and much more besides.

Intel explains: "We see two Firefly prototypes, including a 12.9mm metal chassis with redesigned thermals, standardized internal cabling for a separate I/O board, and a new core logic module that combine Intel SoCs with phone-class memory to lower costs and accelerate time-to-market."

With cost reductions in all the supporting chips and hardware, and the likes of internal cabling, and indeed the motherboard itself, being brought in on top of the cheaper CPU, Intel is further reducing the bill of materials (overall cost) for laptop makers.

Analysis: Intel definitely isn't phoning it in…

The core idea is to leverage the smartphone component supply chain to use in laptops, and the design work therein demanded quite some effort from Intel engineers. The end result is a more affordable laptop, a key consideration for Windows 11 notebooks when you consider just how well Apple is now doing in this budget space with the MacBook Neo.

There's another important boast from Intel here, too, and that's the speed with which Firefly laptops can be brought to market. Apparently, this can be done in just a few months using Intel's reference platform, and so the suggestion is that Wildcat Lake laptops won't take long to arrive in force to combat the MacBook Neo – which is already a very popular device.

There's a reason for that popularity, of course, because laptop price hikes have now set in, so an attractively priced MacBook looks doubly tempting. We need more Windows 11 notebook rivals to offer a wider choice in that respect, and from what I've seen of Wildcat Lake thus far, I think it's a great move from Intel — and it'll be interesting to see exactly what kind of price tags are attached to these portables.

The likes of the new Dell XPS 13, which uses Wildcat Lake for the entry-level model, look set to offer a premium-like laptop experience for a palatable outlay ($699 in the US, or $599 for students) in a Neo style. However, I'm hoping there will be a good number of notebooks sat below this kind of pricing.

This would be all good news given the RAM crisis, of course, and could provide some great opportunities to get an affordable new laptop later this year (and I believe buying in 2026 could be a smart move, if you need a new portable).

There is, of course, another competitor that Intel will need to carefully consider – namely Nvidia with its new RTX Spark chip. Now, while that silicon is about as far from a budget effort as you can get, and not a direct rival, it's having a knock-on effect to advance all Arm-based Windows 11 laptops, as I recently discussed. Interesting times indeed, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon C chips are also incoming as a tempting budget option for this year.

Computex 2026 happened this week, and the computing extravaganza brought with it a raft of interesting hardware revelations, questions and commentary. As well as the shiny new gadgets, some of the speeches or interviews given by key players in the tech industry made us all sit up and take notice — and below we've picked out the five most pertinent quotes that tell us about the future of computing.

From Qualcomm's boss through to Nvidia's leather jacket-toting chief, we heard some weighty utterances, and there was no shortage of talk around one particular subject. AI wasn't the only topic mentioned regarding the future of computing, though — thankfully — as you'll see, but there's no denying it was a very prominent subject indeed.

1. "Resistance is futile" (Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm)

No, the Borg didn't turn up at Computex 2026 this year (though sources tell me there's a mysterious cube-shaped booth booked for 2027), but rather it was Cristiano Amon, the chief executive at Qualcomm, who told us that "resistance is futile".

What should we not waste our energy resisting, then? Well, predictably enough it's the inevitable advance of AI, and more specifically, Amon sees the irresistible force that'll pervade our lives as AI agents.

As The Register reported, the Qualcomm CEO believes that in the future, these agents – fancy AI bots that will automate tasks, do things for us, and organize our lives – will have their tendrils everywhere, in all our devices.

From your phone to your earbuds to your smart glasses (if big tech's campaign to make the latter an acceptable gadget succeeds), all of this hardware will feed data of one kind or another to the AI agent.

Amon explained: "The agent isn't tied to the device, it actually moves with the user. It's there with the user, regardless of the device that you have. Once you understand that change, you understand how the whole mobile industry is going to change."

In short, we're all going to turn into walking sensors and cameras, with 6G connectivity enabling all this to be piped back to AI which will gorge itself on this data – all for our benefit, of course. (Ahem – what could possibly go wrong?)

The 'camera' reference isn't mine, by the way, as Amon explicitly stated: "If you have smart glasses, they see what you see, so the connectivity needs to enable a very fast uplink. 6G is going to make all of us into walking cameras in this world."

Don't want your every waking moment, and probably your sleeping moments too, to be shadowed by AI? Hate this idea with every fiber of your being? Well, tough, because Amon explains that this vision of the future – which is seemingly inevitable, as this is where the "resistance is futile" remark was made – can only work by leveraging the power of all our devices.

These sophisticated agents can't be run only in the data center, and so future devices— with ever-more powerful CPUs, and of course NPUs for local AI acceleration — will take the load off with on-device processing in various degrees. And unsurprisingly, Qualcomm's hardware, in various forms, will figure in this dystopian-sounding future of omnipresent surveillance.

2. "Our goal is to deliver unmetered intelligence to every home and every desk with Windows" (Satya Nadella, Microsoft)

Qualcomm's chief exec wasn't the only CEO to be heavily pushing AI, and to no one's surprise, Satya Nadella got in on the act here. As part of Computex 2026 – or GTC 2026 Taipei therein, strictly speaking – Microsoft and Nvidia got together for the big reveal of Team Green's RTX Spark Arm-based 'superchip' which is set to drive the reinvention of the Windows PC, no less.

I'll come on to Nvidia's big quote on this project next, but Microsoft had two telling soundbites for us, one of which was from Nadella, who observed: "Our goal is to deliver unmetered intelligence to every home and every desk with Windows. RTX Spark marks a real breakthrough towards that vision."

Unmetered intelligence refers to AI, and elsewhere, Microsoft's head of Windows, Pavan Davuluri, talked about a new chapter for Windows PCs, and said: "We are building toward a future where Windows provides a unified foundation for AI, from the device in your hands to the infrastructure behind it."

So, while Microsoft has promised to cut back on AI as part of the big drive to fix Windows 11, that may mean that some Copilot options are pared back from various menus – but it absolutely doesn't mean that Microsoft is minimizing AI within the OS. As we see from these quotes, when it comes to AI agents – with agentic AI being something Microsoft has been pushing in a big way of late – Windows is very much being developed with these firmly in mind.

Much like Qualcomm's Amon, Nadella envisions AI being present in every home — and on every desk — thanks to Windows devices. (And again, are you distinctly not stoked about that idea? Well, don't worry, AI will surely be happy to listen to your feedback).

3. "We're really focused on doing something that is just such a big deal, reinventing the PC after 40 years" (Jensen Huang, Nvidia)

Naturally, Nvidia's boss had some weighty quote material to throw around at Computex 2026, and the highlight for me pertained to the Arm-based RTX Spark CPU (as mentioned above).

Huang said: "We're really focused on doing something that is just such a big deal, reinventing the PC after 40 years."

Of course, this is a collaborative venture between Nvidia and Microsoft, who according to the joint press release for the project, want to "reinvent Windows PCs for the age of personal AI".

It is, of course, a big move for Nvidia to launch a new processor for the PC, the gravity of which is reinforced by the kind of changes Microsoft is making to Windows 11 for this chip. We're talking about specific optimizations in Windows 11 for Nvidia RTX Spark, and not small moves either – sizable changes, some of which advance the cause of all Arm CPUs (like Qualcomm's) considerably with the OS. That includes a drive to support more software with Arm-based Windows 11 devices, and even to improve game compatibility (with some notable anti-cheat stumbling blocks being resolved).

As it happens, Huang's above quote actually came as part of a response to a question about whether a gaming handled might be made with the RTX Spark CPU. As PC Gamer reported, the full quote was: "If somebody wants to do it [a gaming handheld], you know, we'll work with them on it. But right now we're really focused on doing something that is just such a big deal, reinventing the PC after 40 years."

So, the idea of a handheld was brushed aside, as what this is all about, really, is that 'reinvention' of the PC around AI.

As Huang further enthused: "Can we help reinvent the PC? And, boy, if you get a chance to reinvent the single most important instrument, the single most important tool of humanity, what you and I grew up with defined just about everything about our lives, and we have an opportunity after 40 years to go reinvent it for the age of AI. Wow, we're not going to sit around, not let it get done."

When you put this together with Nadella's comment, and Amon's vision of the AI-centric future, there was a clear vibe at Computex 2026: agentic AI is coming, and you might as well accept this now.

Of course, more than most, Huang has a vested interest in promoting this line of thinking. Nvidia's done quite well out of AI so far, I believe.

4. "We know the pressures that are there in building systems aren't going away anytime soon" (David McAfee, AMD)

Not everything about the future of computing at Computex 2026 revolved around AI, of course, and there was some commentary on the dire situation around PC component price hikes — and what might be done about that going forward.

When questioned about why AMD had just released a last-gen 3D V-Cache processor as an alternative budget offering — as a reaction to rising PC build costs — rather than a current-gen Zen 5 model, AMD's VP and general manager of Ryzen CPU and Radeon Graphics, David McAfee, had something pertinent to say.

McAfee teased: "I think as we go through the rest of this year, I mean we're always looking for ways to, you know, create as many options as we can, and that [Zen 5 X3D CPU] may become… maybe something that we look at doing as a runway product later this year, simply because you know we know the pressures that are there in building systems aren't going away anytime soon."

So, we may see a Ryzen 5 9600X3D CPU (or similar) emerge as an affordable engine for a gaming rig later this year.

More broadly, this is a signal that AMD is actively thinking about how to help ease the demands that price hikes on RAM, storage, CPUs and GPUs (and more besides) are exerting on the wallets of consumers. Although it also serves as a depressing acknowledgement that pricing woes aren't going away for quite some time yet.

It was also good to see AMD underline its commitment to the AM5 chipset with support guaranteed through to 2029 at Computex, for those who aren't planning on building a new PC anytime soon. Waiting out the worst of the pricing crisis may well be the best approach, frankly, if that's a viable option in your circumstances.

5. "Longer term, I think something has to give, right? The over-inflation, we will have to keep an eye out" (Nish Neelalojanan, Intel)

Like AMD, Intel also had thoughts on the current PC component pricing nastiness which it shared at Computex 2026.

Specifically, in a chat with Tom's Hardware, Intel's Nish Neelalojanan, who is senior director of product management for client computing, said of the RAM supply crisis and spiking costs: "Longer term, I think something has to give, right? The over-inflation, we will have to keep an eye out."

Neelalojanan elaborated on this, noting that Intel was adapting its strategy to help frustrated consumers in terms of maintaining support for last-gen (DDR4) memory and older (more affordable) CPUs. The exec noted: "We do have products that support DDR4 on both desktop and mobile. Raptor Lake [13th-gen CPUs that first emerged in 2022], we're not end-of-life-ing any of them; they're there. We'll continue to make sure that there are products which can take care of older memory technologies if they're available and cheap."

With laptops, Neelalojanan pointed to Intel's new Wildcat Lake mobile silicon, of which the exec promised "we are validating lower configs", meaning lower-end notebooks starting at 8GB RAM.

Neelalojanan said: "Wildcat Lake is a single-channel product, so there are products which can leverage low memory and give reasonably good performance."

This range of mobile silicon does indeed seem like a promising addition for more affordable laptops, and so it's not all bleak news for the future of PCs in terms of the undoubtedly painful price hikes we've all sadly become accustomed to.

• An Intel exec has said that Nvidia's new CPU is 'a good thing'
• Team Blue apparently welcomes the competition and it 'shows the importance of how critical the PC is'
• There are surely some worried faces at Intel behind the scenes, though, as to how the RTX Spark could drive the wider success of Arm-based laptops

Nvidia's RTX Spark chip, freshly revealed at Computex 2026, has been causing quite some waves, but Intel isn't worried about this new challenger in the CPU market apparently — at least not on the face of it.

The Economic Times reports that Intel's Alex Katouzian, general manager of the client computing and physical AI group, said of the new Arm-based Nvidia CPU: "If you take a look at what they brought to market (Monday), I think it's a good thing."

Katouzian then added: "It shows the importance of how critical the PC is."

These comments were made at a news conference over at Computex, where the Intel exec elaborated: "We welcome the competition, but I think we're going to do really well," noting that Intel has "every segment covered" with a strong roadmap at its back.

Katouzian also noted: "They [Nvidia] want us to grow with them, there's new opportunities on the AI side."

In a nutshell, the Intel executive is arguing that this new Nvidia processor is a positive development because it further establishes the position of PCs as important within the overall tech landscape, and that Team Blue is sufficiently diversified that it'll benefit in other ways (like the AI sphere).

How true is that, really, though — and how much of this is bluster?

Putting on a brave face?

I've got a feeling that while Intel can certainly see opportunities in some respects — and RTX Spark silicon is doubtless an injection of fuel for keeping PCs relevant more broadly, going forward — there's a lot more worrying being done about Nvidia's RTX Spark than Katouzian, or Intel's other top brass, would ever let slip.

The problem is that while this CPU might be driving the relevance of PCs in a good way, it's advancing the Arm side of the equation therein. Intel's x86 chips are dominant in the laptop world — as the traditional desktop silicon, if you will, with Windows PCs — and Arm-based chips represent a threat to that. In the recent past, that has meant Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors, but more recently we have had second-gen Snapdragon X2 silicon on the scene, and now reinforcements in the form of RTX Spark.

Arm-based CPUs offer some notable advantages, including battery life by the bucketful. Indeed, Nvidia has already promised that we should "expect all-day battery life" from laptops with its new processor, which is quite something considering the powerful performance packed by the 20-core N1x CPU and integrated Blackwell GPU.

Remember, regarding the latter, we're looking at the equivalent of an RTX 5070 laptop GPU here, in a thin and sleek notebook form factor, not a chunky workstation. (Of course, to be fair to Intel, I should point out that it has also made very impressive strides with power efficiency and battery life in recent times, with its past couple of generations of mobile silicon).

Microsoft just revealed the Surface Laptop Ultra as an Nvidia-powered laptop and it's catching a great deal of interest at Computex, underlining the threat posed to Intel to some extent — but there's also a potential fly in Arm's ointment that this device highlights. Namely that RTX Spark notebooks are going to be premium pieces of hardware, and potentially very pricey.

As The Economic Times points out in its report, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts have observed that: "This move [Nvidia's RTX Spark launch] may create incremental pressure for Intel and Qualcomm; however, given the complexity and likely premium pricing, we don't expect significant competition with mainstream AI PCs."

Here's the key point, though: the danger to Intel isn't from RTX Spark laptops as such, but the wider effect of this hardware on the balance of power in the Windows processor world.

Optimization and compatibility

The Surface Laptop Ultra is not a consumer-targeted device — it's for professionals, and indeed for local AI usage — and it will surely be eye-wateringly priced. (Especially with those beefier memory configurations and the current cost of RAM, even basic Surface devices are a lot pricier now). But what's important — or worrying for Intel — is what's happening alongside the launch of RTX Spark laptops.

Namely that this is driving further Arm-related optimization in Windows 11, as Microsoft made clear in a recent blog post (as well as moves to optimize performance with unified memory in the desktop OS, which is also part of the equation with Nvidia's new CPU here).

Moreover, RTX Spark is ushering in a drive to make even more apps compatible with Arm architecture. This means more popular pieces of software will be coded natively for Arm PCs running Windows 11, as opposed to having to run traditional x86 apps and rely on emulation. And speaking of the latter, Microsoft's translation layer (Prism) to run x86 apps on Arm systems has been refined considerably over the past year, and it's now been "tuned for the microarchitecture of RTX Spark" Microsoft informs us.

Even gaming, which has always been a stumbling block for Arm laptops due to compatibility issues — particularly those affecting online games due to the use of anti-cheat tools — is taking some big strides forward. The RTX Spark-related announcements Microsoft has made also included the revelation that the likes of League of Legends and Valorant are coming to Arm PCs, as is PUBG: Battlegrounds, with native Arm support for anti-cheat utilities BattlEye and EAC. (The latter is Easy Anti-Cheat, although that compatibility move actually happened last year, with Fortnite coming natively to Arm).

That's huge for gamers, and remember, this renewed drive for software and gaming compatibility doesn't just benefit laptops with RTX Spark inside, but also Qualcomm's Snapdragon silicon. Which means that much cheaper Arm laptops benefit here, particularly as Qualcomm has new Snapdragon C chips in the works, aiming to usher in much more affordable notebooks — we're talking the sub-$500 budget category (and equivalent in other currencies).

Spark of excitement

This is the true excitement around Nvidia's RTX Spark for me — that it might be a literal spark whereby we really see the ignition and take-off of Windows-on-Arm laptops, in the budget space, and all the way up to top-end offerings like the Surface Laptop Ultra. The latter will pack quite some gaming performance, even though I realize that isn't the point of these devices – but it's a nice bonus.

With the launch of RTX Spark, Qualcomm just welcomed Nvidia to the Arm 'family' and that feels like a much more genuine sentiment compared to Intel's equivalent 'welcome the competition' statement here — which feels considerably more political in nature.

Ultimately, Intel wants to keep the balance of power in the laptop world just as it is — with its Core processors as the dominant force — and Nvidia just made Arm a much more threatening presence as a rival in this space.

I very much doubt that Intel welcomes anything about that prospect, even though it does have cards to play in the budget laptop segment itself (namely Wildcat Lake, which is freshly on the scene).

• ZAM stacks nine functional memory layers vertically inside every compact module
• Each ZAM memory layer reportedly contains exactly 1.125GB of DRAM capacity
• Estimated ZAM bandwidth figures now approach Nvidia HBM4 performance territory closely

Computer memory architecture is set to undergo a significant structural transformation in the coming years.

A new design called Zero-Angle Memory (ZAM) stacks chips vertically rather than spreading them across a flat surface, a shift that could increase data transfer speeds while lowering power consumption.

Intel has thrown its weight behind this technology as a potential replacement for existing HBM memory.

Inside the nine-layer ZAM memory design

Technical diagrams from an upcoming VLSI conference paper have now revealed the internal details of this memory design.

Eight separate DRAM storage layers sit beneath a single control layer within each ZAM module built by the consortium.

That arrangement gives every module a total of nine functional layers stacked on top of one another vertically.

The images from the conference paper show how each of the eight DRAM layers contains exactly 1.125GB of storage capacity.

The basic math, therefore, delivers roughly 9GB of total memory per ZAM module before any overhead deductions.

Three Through-Silicon Vias (TSV) run through the entire vertical stack to connect every layer electrically from top to bottom.

Intel developed the fusion bonding method which creates these TSV connections with extreme precision and reliability.

Every DRAM layer is separated from its neighbour by a silicon substrate only 3 microns thick.

Those TSVs attach to either two or three metal rings on each layer for stable electrical flow.

Bandwidth estimates derived from earlier claims now place ZAM close to HBM4 performance figures from Nvidia's Vera Rubin platform.

ZAM targets HBM4-class bandwidth

A Japanese company called Saimemory Corporation leads the commercialization effort for this Intel-backed technology.

Saimemory operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of SoftBank and has not yet released official data rates for this new memory design.

Earlier statements from the company suggested a two to three times speedup over current HBM3 memory standards.

HBM3 currently delivers 819 GBps (or 6.4 Gbps) of bandwidth in its standard configuration today - so a threefold increase from that baseline would give ZAM roughly 2.5 TBps of total throughput for AI processors.

Nvidia’s Vera Rubin AI platform reportedly relies on HBM4 for its highest bandwidth configurations available.

This performance parity puts Intel's HBM-killer memory tech in direct competition with Nvidia's preferred memory standard.

At the moment, no working prototype of ZAM has yet been shown to independent reviewers or third-party testing laboratories anywhere in the world.

Manufacturing eight bonded layers without introducing defects remains an unproven and difficult industrial challenge for this consortium.

HBM4 already benefits from Nvidia’s established production roadmap and existing global supply chains across multiple vendors.

A memory standard with superior technical specifications often fails without broad ecosystem adoption and industry backing over time.

The June VLSI conference presentation will determine whether Intel's HBM-killer claims move beyond paper diagrams into physical reality.

Via HPC WIRE

• Intel just had an impressive Q1 fiscal, beating expectations for revenue by some way
• This is reportedly in part due to 'turning what may have been scrap or low-expectation output into revenue', according to an analyst firm
• This essentially means repurposing silicon that hasn't made the grade for its intended usage, but isn't a reflection on CPU quality, it should be noted

Intel has reportedly been able to boost its revenue by selling CPU chips that would in the past have effectively ended up on the scrapheap.

Tom's Hardware spotted a post on X from the CEO of analyst firm Creative Strategies, Ben Bajarin, who claims to have got feedback from Intel's investor relations as to where some of Team Blue's additional profits have come from (in its Q1 earnings, which were just reported).

Add your own sprinkling of salt, but Bajarin says: "Intel got an unexpected margin lift from better yield salvage. Chips that would normally have been lower-value edge-die on the wafer were binned down and still sold into usable SKUs, turning what may have been scrap or low-expectation output into incremental revenue."

Multiple chips are cut from a single wafer, but not every chip is up to par for its intended usage, and so some — particularly those cut from near the edge of the wafer, as noted — are either downgraded for use as a lower-tier CPU (where faulty cores are simply disabled), or they're just thrown away (well, recycled to other ends).

That's a boiled-down, basic view of what happens, but you get the point, and seemingly part of Intel's big jump in revenue for this quarter was down to being able to sell chips that'd normally have been 'scrap' to its customers.

As Bajarin further observed: "Customers didn't care, just said I'll take it all. That's the demand environment we are in for CPUs."

It's interesting to note that Bajarin is bullish on Intel's CPU manufacturing capabilities, to the point where in another post, he envisions that before long, AMD might be having some of its processors made at Intel Foundry (to make up for what it can't get produced at TSMC, which is struggling to cope with demand).

Analysis: bad omens?

There are some important points to note here. First, we don't know for sure that this is happening; we only have one analyst's word for it. Although it does throw some light on how Intel pulled a good deal more money into its coffers for Q1 than those in the financial know had forecast (revenue beat expectations by 10%, in fact).

The other thing to make crystal clear is that these 'subpar' chips are not somehow dodgy, meaning that you're not running a risk buying such an Intel CPU. It's a common industry practice to use chips that don't make the grade for their intended product, as noted, in a lesser product.

A chip that's failed to make the cut for a Core Ultra 9, say, can be repurposed as a Core Ultra 7, with the defective cores simply disabled (as they aren't needed for the core count of the latter). This doesn't make such a chip any different from another Core Ultra 7, or those which were made to be Core Ultra 7 models — they all have the exact same number of functional cores, with no greater chance of anything being awry. Failed Core Ultra 7 models might then become Core Ultra 5, and so on.

All of which is to say you don't need to worry about anything relating to chip quality here. All that's happening is that Intel's making more money from chips that wouldn't normally be sold, as hardware makers are buying these CPUs because there's such a demand for silicon right now, that supply is looking dicier.

Sound familiar? Yes, this may remind you of the scarce supply of memory chips — affecting RAM and storage — and as predicted, the same woes are now being visited on processors. With more and more data centers getting built to service AI demand, the servers in those behemoth buildings don't just need RAM and SSDs, they're also powered by processors, of course.

Now, here's the gloomy bit. Remember early in the RAM crisis, when prices started to spike? And further recall that they then shot up at an unfathomably fast rate. Well, we could see an acceleration of processor prices, too. Indeed, a recent report already observed some major price rises in AMD CPUs in Japan, which comes on top of other rumors of both server and consumer-targeted processors getting pricier.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think this will have the same upwards trajectory as with memory pricing, but nonetheless, this rumor is a further sign that yet another PC component, and a key one, could get a good deal more expensive as 2026 progresses.

• An Intel reference laptop has been spotted with a Wildcat Lake CPU
• It has a design that's very MacBook-inspired, and it looks like a notebook that'll go after the Neo
• You'll get peppier performance here, though, with a faster CPU and twice the RAM of the Neo

A sighting of a reference laptop from Intel featuring a new Wildcat Lake CPU has been causing quite a stir, as it appears to be squarely taking on Apple's popular new MacBook Neo.

Tom's Hardware highlighted a post on X by Vaidyanathan Subramaniam from Notebookcheck.net, who got a first look at the laptop at an Intel event, with some further info posted on the Notebookcheck.net site itself.

The device is a thin-and-light 14-inch notebook that has an aluminum chassis and sleek MacBook-style lines, with a vibrant green colorway that also follows in the footsteps of the Neo's bright appearance.

The CPU inside is a Wildcat Lake chip, as mentioned, which is a budget offering and effectively a cut-down version of the new Panther Lake silicon. The processor used is apparently the Intel Core 7 360 or Core 7 350, based on the presence of an NPU with 17 TOPS, alongside the CPU, which has two performance cores and four low-power efficiency cores (smaller than the normal efficiency cores, of which this chip has none).

The CPU offers what should be a decent enough level of performance, with a PL1 of 17W (22W maximum) and a PL2 of 35W (which can be hit for very brief bursts). Interestingly, there's also the option of operating at 11W, which allows the notebook to operate in fanless mode, needing no active cooling, so it'll be dead quiet in that case.

There's 16GB of soldered system RAM present alongside the CPU.

Analysis: a newer Neo?

Given that the MacBook Neo operates at lower wattages (generally under 10W), this should be a performant rival – especially given that it packs twice the RAM of Apple's laptop.

Remember, the Neo is restricted to 8GB of system memory, though Apple has done a good job of ensuring that this isn't a hindrance for typical everyday usage.

Future proofing, however, is more of a concern for me with the MacBook Neo due to that RAM loadout. Still, we don't know what price a Wildcat laptop, such as the one shown by Intel, will demand. Apple has, of course, made the Neo very competitive, and that value has been clearly demonstrated by the way it's flown off retail shelves.

I've been talking about the threat the MacBook Neo poses to the dominance of Windows 11 in the notebook world ever since Apple launched its budget portable, while wondering what Microsoft's answer might be. Fixing Windows 11 is one thing, but it looks like Intel could step in to lend its processing forces in the fight against Apple with Wildcat Lake, although there are still a good deal of unknowns to be fathomed out yet.

It's worth noting that the Intel laptop looks good in the photos taken and shared, but according to Subramaniam, its appearance is even more impressive in real life. Watch this space, as they say.

• ASRock has revealed a new trick to beat high RAM prices
• HUDIMM DDR5 RAM modules are considerably more affordable
• They cut back on performance, however, so it's a trade-off here

There's a new type of DDR5 RAM in town, and it's cheaper, but before you start rejoicing that all your memory-related prayers have been answered, bear in mind that there are weighty caveats attached here.

Tom's Hardware noticed the announcement from ASRock about its new HUDIMM DDR5 RAM module for motherboards with Intel chipsets. In a nutshell, these are designed to be a good deal more affordable, but to achieve that, performance is dropped considerably.

A standard stick of DDR5 (UDIMM) uses a two-subchannel architecture (2 x 32-bit), but with HUDIMM (the 'HU' stands for Half Unbuffered), you get a single 32-bit subchannel instead.

That sounds very technical, but what's happening is simple enough — the bandwidth and density of the RAM stick is effectively halved. And sticks that need fewer memory modules can, of course, be made a good deal more cheaply, because you're only buying half the chips to produce them.

As the company observed on X: "ASRock's HUDIMM architecture reduces chip count and cost, enabling more affordable and flexible system builds for users and system integrators worldwide."

Intel's Robert Hallock, VP and GM for its Enthusiast Channel Segment group, commented: "Innovations like ASRock's One sub-channel DRAM technology are crucial to ensuring desktop computing remains accessible despite the rising demand and costs for DDR5 memory.

"Intel's grateful for ASRock's support in bringing this to market for our 600/700/800-series chipsets, ensuring Intel users have more access to the benefits of DDR5 memory in the years ahead."

So, as noted, these new RAM offerings are compatible with ASRock's Intel 600, 700, and 800-series motherboards.

ASRock has hooked up with TeamGroup to produce these HUDIMM sticks, and needless to say, they'll be entry-level offerings. This RAM will also be manufactured for laptops, too, in the form of HSODIMMs.

Asus is reportedly looking into this type of memory, too, as per leaks on X, so we could see a broader shift towards HUDIMMs as the year progresses.

Analysis: sign of the RAM times

The catch is that the cutbacks made to this RAM mean that performance is going to be a lot slower. Is that a compromise you want to make? Perhaps it is, given the cost of DDR5 RAM right now, which has reached extortionate levels, frankly.

The twist is that ASRock's new way of working here can run alongside standard DDR5 RAM, which remains compatible in these motherboards. HUDIMM offers asymmetrical dual-channel support at the BIOS level, so you should be okay to put a HUDIMM next to a standard UDIMM, and they'll work fine in dual-channel mode (with 3 x 32-bit subchannels active — one from the HUDIMM, and a pair from the UDIMM).

If you had an 8GB HUDIMM stick alongside a 16GB UDIMM, this would, in theory, be a faster implementation than a single 24GB UDIMM stick. So you could, say, start with just an 8GB HUDIMM (or 16GB), and then expand with a UDIMM later (when pricing drops back down to a more reasonable level).

As Tom's points out, though, ASRock's marketing indicates a not inconsiderable 90ns latency with this RAM standard, and the proof will be in the pudding of how these sorts of theorized combos work out.

Meanwhile, HUDIMMs certainly represent one shortcut to lower DDR5 RAM pricing, but the compromise in terms of performance (away from mix-and-match scenarios) is going to be a heavy price in itself. Still, this may be an option some people wish to exercise, and I can't say I blame them, looking at what retailers are asking for run-of-the-mill DDR5 these days.

What this also serves as is a reminder of just how bad the RAM crisis has got, and the fact that hardware makers are looking at longer-term solutions such as this scheme isn't much comfort as to the prospective duration of this whole affair.

In April 1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore published a groundbreaking article detailing what he theorized would result in an exponential increase in the speed, power, and capability of computers in decades to come.

Powered by increases in the number of transistors on a circuit, “Moore’s Law”, as it came to be known, is a concept that’s still the subject of intense discussions 60 years later.

So how did Moore come to this conclusion? The cogs started turning after Moore was asked to offer a prediction on how the semiconductor industry would develop over the next decade in a piece for Electronics Magazine.

Moore noted the growing volume of components, such as transistors, diodes, capacitors, and resistors, had so far doubled on an annual basis. Given progress at that stage, he anticipated that it would continue on this path for at least the next decade.

The outcome of this rate of development would not only be more powerful computer chips, but crucially, cheaper chips, thereby creating a cycle of continued growth and expansion.

“From careful observation of an emerging trend, Moore extrapolated that computing would dramatically increase in power and decrease in relative cost at an exponential pace,” materials from Intel’s Tech 101 series note.

“Moore’s Law became the golden rule for the electronics industry, and a springboard for innovation. And Moore paved the way for Intel to make the faster, smaller, more affordable transistors that drive modern tools and toys.”

Intense debate

Moore’s Law has been the subject of intense debate in the intervening decades since his landmark article - as the pace of growth predicted actually continued far longer than he first anticipated.

By the turn of the millennium, the number of transistors on an individual chip increased more than 18,000 times, skyrocketing from 2,300 in 1971 to 42 million on a top-of-the-range Pentium 4 processor.

Moving deeper into the 2000s, questions began cropping up over whether this was slowing down. TechRadar noted that Moore’s Law was safe for at least another decade in 2012 - but by 2023 Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, a vocal long-time proponent of the concept, suggested transistors were doubling at a rate of three years, far behind what it should be.

Where do we go from here?

The days of exponential growth appear to be behind us, but Moore’s Law nonetheless remains a key focus for the industry in terms of the pace of development.

Moreover, the term itself isn’t necessarily restricted to chip development, with industry figures in other key areas drawing upon this concept to assess the pace of development in their respective fields.

Take generative AI, for example. In February 2025, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman specifically pointed to Moore’s Law when discussing the pace of development in the AI industry.

Significant price drops associated with AI use since the advent of the generative AI ‘boom’ in late 2022, combined with more powerful models, bears similarities to the concept championed by Moore in the mid-1960s.

Of course, Altman was basing this on the cost of context tokens, which he noted had fallen around 10x over a yearly basis. Between 2023 to mid-2024, ChatGPT’s price per token dropped by around 150x.

• The death of Moore’s law, and why it’s actually a good thing for games

• Intel and Google signed a multi-year deal to keep Xeon in cloud infrastructure
• Google Cloud instances C4 and N4 already run on Xeon 6 processors
• Intel and Google are co-developing custom IPUs for networking and storage

Intel and Google have announced a multi-year collaboration that will keep Intel Xeon processors at the heart of Google Cloud infrastructure for the foreseeable future.

The agreement spans multiple generations of Xeon chips and includes systems used for AI workloads, inference tasks, and general-purpose computing across Google’s global data centers.

Google Cloud instances such as C4 and N4 already rely on Xeon 6 processors, and this deal ensures that pattern continues.

Why CPUs still matter in an era of specialized AI hardware

“AI is reshaping how infrastructure is built and scaled,” said Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel.

“Scaling AI requires more than accelerators — it requires balanced systems. CPUs and IPUs are central to delivering the performance, efficiency, and flexibility modern AI workloads demand.”

The announcement comes at a time when many hyperscalers are accelerating adoption of custom Arm-based processors for AI tasks.

Counterpoint Research recently claimed 90% of AI servers running custom silicon will rely on the Arm instruction set architecture, leaving x86 with only a small share of new deployments.

To ensure Xeon remains relevant, Intel and Google are also jointly developing custom infrastructure processing units designed to handle networking, storage, and security workloads.

These IPUs operate as ASIC-based accelerators that move infrastructure tasks away from host CPUs, freeing Xeon processors to focus on application execution.

This separation improves system efficiency and resource allocation across large cloud deployments running AI tools, AI agents, and large language models.

CPUs and infrastructure acceleration remain a cornerstone of AI systems — from training orchestration to inference and deployment,” said Amin Vahdat, SVP and Chief Technologist for AI Infrastructure at Google.

Google currently uses both Xeon 5 and Xeon 6 processors across multiple service layers alongside its own custom Arm-based Axion processors.

These deployments continue alongside Google’s own custom processors used in other parts of its infrastructure stack.

Intel and Google state that collaboration across CPUs and IPUs will continue across future system generations, covering ongoing integration efforts across cloud infrastructure layers.

They maintain that CPUs and infrastructure accelerators remain part of current cloud design patterns across distributed systems.

Many workloads running in Google’s data centers require backward compatibility with x86 architecture, while others need maximum single-thread performance that Xeon CPUs deliver.

These requirements are expected to persist for years, which explains why Intel and Google signed this multi-year agreement.

• GPUs handle prefill operations by converting prompts into key-value caches
• SambaNova RDUs generate tokens at high throughput and low latency
• Intel Xeon 6 processors manage workload distribution and execute compiled code

Intel and SambaNova Systems have introduced a joint hardware blueprint combining GPUs, SambaNova RDUs, and Intel Xeon 6 processors for large-scale inference workloads.

The system assigns GPUs to prefill operations, RDUs to decoding, and Xeon CPUs to execution and orchestration tasks across agent-driven environments.

“Agentic AI is moving into production — and the winning pattern we’re seeing is GPUs to start the job, Intel Xeon 6 to run it, and SambaNova RDUs to finish it fast,” said Rodrigo Liang, CEO and co-founder of SambaNova Systems.

CPU is the execution and control layer

This design is scheduled to be available in the second half of 2026 for enterprises, cloud providers, and sovereign deployments.

The architecture places Intel Xeon 6 processors at the center of system control, where they manage workload distribution, execute code, and coordinate tool interactions.

It includes handling compilation, validating outputs, and maintaining communication between simultaneous processes.

“When thousands of simultaneous coding agents are generating tool calls, retrieval requests, code builds, and encrypted inter-agent messages, the CPU is not a background component — it is the system’s executive and action layer,” said Harry Ault, CRO of SambaNova.

The statement defines the CPU as the primary layer responsible for system behavior rather than a supporting component.

According to SambaNova, Xeon 6 delivers more than 50% faster LLVM compilation times compared with Arm-based server CPUs.

It also delivers up to 70% faster vector database performance compared with other x86-based systems.

These figures relate to execution speed within coding and retrieval workflows, and in this configuration, GPUs process the prefill stage by converting prompts into key-value caches.

SambaNova RDUs operate as the decoding layer, generating tokens at high throughput and low latency.

Xeon 6 processors function as both host CPUs and execution engines, managing system-level operations and running compiled workloads.

“Production inference is moving toward heterogeneous hardware — no single chip type is optimal for every stage of an agentic workflow,” said Banghua Zhu, co-founder and CTO at RadixArk.

He added that combining RDUs with Xeon CPUs allows systems to maintain compatibility with existing software environments.

The system is designed to run inside existing air-cooled data centers without requiring new builds.

According to the companies, this allows scaling of inference workloads without additional strain on water and energy resources.

As Nvidia and Groq continue to focus on improving inference throughput and latency, this announcement adds a layer of competition.

It offers an alternative approach that distributes workloads across multiple hardware layers rather than relying on a single processing model.

• Crimson Desert is now playable on Intel Arc GPUs, seemingly after Intel's latest driver update
• The game previously wouldn't launch on any Intel GPU, due to Pearl Abyss omitting compatibility
• Visual glitches are evident, but an official future update from Pearl Abyss or Intel should fix them

Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert has provided a joyful experience to a variety of gamers on PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, including those with gaming PCs powered by an Nvidia or AMD GPU. The same couldn't be said for Intel GPU users at launch, but the tide has suddenly turned.

As reported by Wccftech, Crimson Desert is now playable on Intel Arc GPUs, thanks to the latest GPU driver, noted by several users on Reddit. They're now able to boot into the game, which hasn't been possible since launch, with an error message previously stating 'the graphics device is currently not supported'.

This all comes after Pearl Abyss urged Intel Arc GPU users to request a refund for the game via its FAQ page, leaving both users and Intel itself bewildered by the decision to omit compatibility.

Well, thanks to backlash from Arc GPU users and Intel stating its "huge disappointment" at the lack of support, despite reaching out over the game's seven-year development period, Pearl Abyss recently promised future updates to provide compatibility; however, the latter is not exactly what we're seeing at this stage.

Crimson Desert screenshots after latest driver from r/IntelArc

Comment from r/IntelArc

While Crimson Desert is playable on Intel Arc GPUs, it's still far from being fully supported, as numerous screenshots (available above) show multiple visual glitches. Some of them look like they've been pulled from a book of nightmares, with the main character, Kliff, and other NPCs missing parts of their faces or bodies.

However, this should be expected, as this isn't an update from Pearl Abyss on the game's end, and Intel's driver patch notes don't reference Crimson Desert. Once updates arrive from both Pearl Abyss and Intel, performance and visual glitches should no longer be a concern.

Fortunately, the game being in a playable state is a step in the right direction, even if it wasn't intentional on Intel's end, and hopefully, we'll be able to move past the matter of full compatibility for Arc GPUs sooner rather than later.

• Intel Core Ultra 270K Plus improves Adobe Premiere workflows by 15% over 9700X
• Rendering in Cinebench and Blender achieves up to 23% faster results
• 250K Plus outperforms previous-generation AMD CPUs by roughly 35%

Intel’s latest Core Ultra 200S Plus series has drawn attention for delivering performance that is difficult to ignore, especially compared to older Intel models and some similarly priced AMD processors.

In testing by Puget Systems, the 270K Plus and 250K Plus both increase E-core counts, boost clocks, and raise maximum memory speeds, creating a tangible improvement over prior generations.

While AMD’s Ryzen 9 X3D chips remain strong in certain workloads, the new Intel chips close gaps in many professional applications.

Performance in rendering and content creation

In CPU-based rendering in applications like Cinebench, V-Ray, and Blender, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus demonstrates impressive results, performing up to 9% of the higher-priced 9950X3D, while frequently outpacing other CPUs in the same price bracket by up to 23%.

The 250K Plus also shows substantial gains, often matching or beating older high-end AMD chips, with improvements of about 35% over the 245K.

These performance improvements tie not just to additional cores but also to enhancements in memory latency and bandwidth.

In Adobe Premiere, the 270K Plus performs as well as or slightly better than previous high-end Intel models, offering a 15% advantage over the 9700X.

This trend continues across intraframe codecs (13% faster than 245K), RAW processing (30% faster than 9700X), and QuickSync-accelerated workflows.

After Effects shows a slightly mixed picture: while the 270K Plus handles 2D tasks efficiently, 3D and tracking workloads favor AMD’s Ryzen chips.

DaVinci Resolve shows a similar balance, with the 270K Plus leading marginally in several CPU-bound tasks while GPU-bound processes show little difference between models.

In Unreal Engine shader compilation and Visual Studio builds, AMD’s 3D V-Cache processors maintain some lead, but the 270K Plus outperforms older Intel models by up to 100% in some cases.

Compilation times in particular show major gains over the 9700X, with improvements ranging from 15% to nearly 100% depending on the test scenario.

The 250K Plus also shows strong relative performance, often outpacing CPUs that were previously considered superior at the same price point.

Tests using Llama and MLPerf benchmarks reveal modest CPU-level improvements - and while the integrated NPU could not be directly assessed, the 270K Plus consistently handles small-model inference faster than earlier Intel offerings.

This trend is consistent across content creation and professional workloads, where the new chips deliver strong performance gains without commanding a premium price.

Considering its $299 price and the improvements in memory and E-core architecture, the 270K Plus makes the 9700X, which retails at around $340, look underwhelming.

Intel entered 2026 on the back foot — not something I'd have previously expected to write about one of the most dominant companies in computing. Apple, having dropped Intel as a hardware partner for its Macs was getting acclaim for its Arm-based M-series chips, while Intel's old rival AMD had a string of hits that allowed it to eat away at Intel's commanding market lead when it comes to processors.

So, 2026 is an incredibly important year for Intel, and with the Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” launch back in January at CES 2026, the company appeared to come out swinging.

After the launch, I was able to score some time with Intel’s Product Leader Nish Neelalojanan to get more details on Intel's hopes and plans for Panther Lake.

Panther Lake breakdown

2026 is another year where Intel has decided to break with its traditional CPU suffix structure. Panther Lake comes with X-prefix SKUs, as well as the usual H-suffix chips, and some that have no lettering at all.

While Intel does have various resources highlighting all 14 new Panther Lake SKUs, a chart isn’t always the most obvious way to delineate the various differences between CPU segments. Neelalojanan broke down the stack, “Anything you see with the X, which are new for Panther Lake, will have the Arc B390 graphics. So that indicates the best of the best. So this indicates to end users if I have the big graphics, I have big everything, I’ll just go get it.

“Then you have the non-X [SKUs] and there are some ending with an H, and some without,” Nellalojanan continued, “the H indicates the best CPUs. So the 16-core CPU. If you want to have an H, then it has the best CPU. If you have an H and an X, then you have the best of everything. And then the lower config, the 8 or 4-core config, doesn’t have a suffix. So it’ll just be a number. Intel Core Ultra and a number.”

The point? “Take Panther Lake, and take all the Panther Lake IPs and scale it down to price points or the battery life, the productivity, but without all the other fluff, right?”

At least for this generation, Intel is retiring the traditional -P and -U suffixes. But we may see them return in the future.

Record-setting battery life

Intel’s initial claims for the Core Ultra 300 series included a staggering degree of power efficiency. While Intel managed to achieve impressive battery life with the Core Ultra 200V Lunar Lake series, this next generation of processors continues the pattern, despite having a different underlying architecture.

Intel promises up to 27 hours of video streaming battery life. But is that battery life expected on every iteration of Panther Lake? After all, there are quite a few different models of the architecture out there, as well as variations across the Panther Lake SKU stack.

This was apparently intentional: “it’s going to be a choice point for OEMs to be able to pick and choose what they want to deliver,” Neelalojanan explained. “The 8-core [CPUs] are more productivity and battery life [focused], that would be better than previous generations.”

Panther Lake has so many “different chops and cuts and things” to try and fit a variety of consumer needs, with different I/O variations and a veritable ton of PCIe lanes to feed, the needs of Intel’s OEM partners. But despite that large swing in core counts, clock speeds, and features, Neelalojanan attests it won’t come at the expense of battery life. “With our Core Series 300, you’re going to get that 20 hours of battery life all the way down.”

Handheld dominance

Intel announced a major handheld partnership at CES 2026, with partners including Acer, MSI, and Microsoft. While the details were at first a bit vague, Intel clarified its position later. Intel is making handheld-specific G-series processors, and they’re coming later this year. Obviously Intel wasn’t sharing a ton of details about those CPUs yet, but Neelalojanan did share some additional details.

“So we will have some dedicated SKUs. Previously it was standard, off-the-shelf SKUs,” Neelalojanan confirmed. “We wanted to have dedicated SKUs. Two reasons; one, Panther Lake Architecture… it has the ability to go lower down [in regards to power consumption], but if we did some more tweaks, we can optimize it, because handhelds are definitely going to be 15 to 35 watts, depending on how OEMs can fix it right? So we want to make sure we are optimized for it.”

And that optimization goes down to the silicon. “If you take the P and E cores, we have a performance cluster where we have the P- and E-cores. In Lunar Lake, we have P-cores only in the performance cluster, right? So in Arrow Lake, in that performance cluster, the E-cores didn’t have as much last level cache. Panther Lake E-cores, in the performance cluster, are going to have as big of a cache, so there’ll be access to that big cache in that performance cluster.

"When it comes to low-power gaming, running on those E-cores in the performance cluster will free up enough power for the graphics. So, we are focusing on trying to be able to have SKUs which can leverage that more and have a construction fit for that.”

Essentially, “it’s taking all the same building blocks, but it’s a more optimized SKU for handhelds. So that’s the bigger focus so that we can go hit the right type of handheld both on price and performance.”

The handheld G-series processors will also be a bit trimmed down in terms of features, with fewer IO and PICe lanes, because a handheld simply doesn’t need all that extra flexibility. The upcoming Panther Lake handheld CPUs aren’t a sticker change on an existing mobile CPU, or a repackaging of “very old silicon,” but a full “SKU configuration, so it will take the same base, but the core configuration and everything will be different.”

2026 could be Intel’s best year

Panther Lake has been heavily anticipated since it was barely a whisper on the Intel roadmap, and expectations now that it's been released are higher than ever. Intel was also the one manufacturer to focus on PC innovations during the company’s CES keynote, which helped further the hype.

Based on Neelalojanan’s statements, this was intentional, “We had the most amount of PC content, that also feels good, that we can show up and show our intent.” And show intent, Intel certainly did.

Intel does have some competition this year, with AMD’s Ryzen AI 400 series and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series having launched as well, which means all three major Windows chipmakers have had new systems powered by their components hit the shelves at the same time.

So the fight to determine which laptop chip is superior may be decided sooner than expected.

However, Panther Lake isn’t the only iron Intel has in the fire. Intel’s 2026 roadmap started with the main Panther Lake launch in January, which is expected to be followed up by the Arrow Lake Refresh desktop and high-end gaming laptop series launching sometime in mid 2026, followed by the Panther Lake handheld launch in the later half of the year.

There's also the recent Arrow Lake Refresh launch, and if Team Blue can stick both landings, this could be the series of wins the company desperately needs.

Neelalojanan himself certainly was enthusiastic for Intel’s 2026 lineup — particularly the headliner. “The three big things of Panther Lake is bringing that Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake performance all into one place or package… The next one is scalability and choice of price point, so it’s scaling in terms of multitudes of price points and the other one is, it’s available across 200 systems. It’s available right now, right? So we wanted to focus on those three things. Getting tangible battery life and performance, scalability, so everyone can enjoy it across price points. It’s available right now in multitudes of designs, which is three things not always done [by] our competitors when they put out products. Not to name names.”

Update, March 20: A Pearl Abyss spokesperson confirmed to us: “At the moment, we do not support Intel Arc.” However, it didn't add any further comment on whether this might change in the future.

Original story as follows...

• Crimson Desert won't boot on systems using Intel Arc GPUs, according to multiple users
• Pearl Abyss states Intel Arc GPUs are unsupported and suggests referring to the refund policy
• The game currently has mixed reviews on Steam, with some negative ones from Intel Arc users

Pearl Abyss' long-awaited Crimson Desert has finally arrived after almost a decade of development. While it's received mixed reviews from users, many of the quality-of-life issues (and controls) are the culprit — but there's another major issue Intel hardware users should be aware of.

Crimson Desert is currently unsupported on Intel Arc GPUs, according to Pearl Abyss' Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, including multiple Reddit and Steam users.

This means handheld, laptop, or desktop systems using either integrated or discrete Arc GPUs won't boot Crimson Desert, often displaying a message of 'the graphics device is currently not supported'.

Pearl Abyss' answer on its FAQ page raises a bigger concern for Intel Arc users, as it states: "If you purchased the game expecting Intel Arc support, please refer to the refund policy of the platform where the game was purchased for available options."

While that doesn't completely rule out any chance of eventual Intel Arc support, it's a slight worry that there may not be any urgent push for support in the near future. We've reached out to Pearl Abyss on the matter, but haven't received a response yet.

Crimson Desert doesn't run if it detects an Intel ARC GPU. Like straight up, the devs just deliberately chose not to support ARC cards. No previous announcement about it too until they added in the info to their FAQ. Might be the first time I've seen a dev deliberately block a GPU brand. from r/pcmasterrace

Crimson Desert already has a lot riding against it in terms of some gamers not taking well to the onboarding experience. The control scheme and user interface aren't popular, no options for custom controls (for controllers), and now, no Intel Arc GPU support, might drive some gamers away.

Fortunately, Pearl Abyss has shown its commitment to implementing changes based on feedback, both in the review period and post-launch, so there's a good chance Intel Arc users won't have to wait long to finally dive in.

However, as it stands, it might be best if Intel Arc users completely steer clear of purchasing Crimson Desert until Pearl Abyss adds further clarity to the situation, and when (or even if) we should expect support. After all, it's a great game, and one that runs well on most hardware, but there's no use in owning a game that you can't play.

• Intel has released a new Arc graphics driver
• It introduces a Precompiled Shaders feature to help supported games load faster
• This is a situational benefit, but it'll apply more often than you think

Intel has introduced a new trick for some of its Arc GPUs, which helps supported games load a lot more swiftly (albeit in certain situations only, and I'll come back to that point).

Wccftech reports (via Tech PowerUp) that Intel's Precompiled Shaders feature is available with the latest Arc driver, and can be used by Intel Battlemage desktop GPUs, as well as Xe2 and Xe3 integrated graphics (in Core Ultra Series 3 and 200V chips for thin-and-light laptops, or handhelds).

How it works is this: normally, when you load a game for the first time, compiling shaders can take a long time and really slow things down. So what Intel does is precompile these shaders, and it has these stored in the cloud — then when its graphics app examines your installed games, and sees one it has shaders for, they're automatically downloaded and put in place.

Effectively, all that compiling work is being done beforehand, so when you launch the game, it loads far more snappily. We're talking about loading times that are typically twice or three times as fast, but some games can receive massive boosts — like God of War Ragnarok, which is 21x faster on an Arc B580 (or a mind-boggling 37x faster with the B390 integrated graphics on the new Panther Lake flagship).

As mentioned earlier, the game must be supported by Intel to allow for Precompiled Shaders, and only 13 titles are right now, but more are coming in the future. Further note that the games must be installed on Steam, and the current list of supported titles is:

• Black Myth: Wukong
• Borderlands 4
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Cyberpunk 2077
• God of War Ragnarok
• Gotham Knights
• Hogwarts Legacy
• NBA 2K26
• Starfield
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered
• The Outer Worlds 2

Note that this is Intel's implementation of a broader tech coming from Microsoft known as Advanced Shader Delivery, which has been promised to Windows 11 gamers for later in 2026.

Intel clarified the situation for Tech PowerUp: "Intel Precompiled Shaders is custom-built and run by Intel. We are also working with Microsoft on launching Advanced Shader Delivery later this year. Together, both services will provide users of supported Arc GPUs with more game and game store coverage of technologies that reduce waiting times and in-game stutters due to shader compilation."

So this won't be limited to Steam in the future, as you might expect.

Analysis: a notable caveat

If you're thinking that Precompiled Shaders — which is still labelled as a beta feature at this point — is just going to speed up things in a once-and-done kind of way, that's not strictly true. Yes, the game goes through this sometimes seriously demanding shader compilation process when you first run it, and that's all done and dusted thereafter — well, sort of.

The trouble is that the game may need to recompile the shaders in certain scenarios, such as after a new GPU driver update or game update. And when a game has a particularly lengthy compilation process, this can be a major annoyance. On top of that, compiling shaders can happen on-the-fly in the game, which can lead to stuttering, something that the Precompiled Shaders feature avoids entirely.

You can see why this is a very useful advance, then, even if it only applies in certain scenarios (and with supported games). And it's really useful for some handhelds, too — like the MSI Claw 8 AI+, which has an Intel Lunar Lake processor — where shader compilation can be a draining task that hits the battery hard if you're away from a power socket.

Nvidia's appearance at CES 2026 included the announcement of DLSS 4.5 and its availability to all RTX GPU owners, along with a new Dynamic Multi-Frame Generation (MFG) feature planned for a later date.

Fortunately, the latter has now been confirmed as inbound with a March 31 launch, as Nvidia revealed at GDC 2026. Dynamic MFG will be exclusive to RTX 5000 GPUs, and it automatically adjusts the number of artificially generated frames – with 2x, 3x, 4x, and now a 6x mode available – to ensure the gamer's target frame rate is met.

The number of additional generated frames will change based on factors such as the graphics settings and the GPU workload. So, if you're using more demanding visual settings like high details and ray tracing in a game, you can expect Dynamic MFG to use more generated frames to prevent performance dips. (Of course, that's also dependent on how powerful your GPU is).

The option to use DLSS 4.5 MFG in 6x mode will also be available for RTX 5000 GPUs, generating five additional frames for every native frame, a new high for Nvidia's tech.

This all sounds great in theory, especially Dynamic MFG which should be a set-and-forget solution for keeping frame rate performance consistent in an entirely automated way, no effort required. However, we'll need to see how stable the image quality is, and how responsive the gaming experience feels with this feature and the 6x mode.

The downside is that these new features are exclusive to RTX 5000 graphics cards, and while DLSS 4.5's base Frame Generation model will receive improvements for RTX 4000 GPUs as well, all older RTX generations will be left out – and that's exactly where a certain rival has an advantage over Nvidia.

Intel's Multi Frame Generation is more flexible than Nvidia's

Just to be clear, I don't believe Intel's Frame Generation technology or Intel's XeSS 3 as an upscaling method holds a candle to what DLSS 4.5 can offer as a complete package. However, Intel XeSS 3 Frame Generation and Multi Frame Generation are available for all Arc-based GPUs (including integrated GPUs).

This means handheld users (notably those with the MSI Claw) and desktop Arc GPU owners will massively benefit from XeSS 3 MFG. Unlike Nvidia, which leaves RTX 3000 and older GPU generations out in the cold for Frame Generation — and without modding (or other unofficial Frame Generation models), there's not much that can be done.

It's also worth remembering that Nvidia isn't just choosing to ignore older GPU generations. There are reasons, specifically hardware limitations with those older graphics cards, as to why Frame Generation is only available for RTX 4000 or 5000 models. However, this could change in the future.

In the here and now, though, Intel's MFG and its greater flexibility and wider support is arguably a better proposition for Arc GPU owners than Nvidia's Frame Generation and MFG are for RTX GPU users. Especially as MFG, and its new trappings coming later this month, are only available to those with the very latest RTX 5000 graphics cards.

What also doesn't help Team Green's GPUs is the pricing for RTX 5000 models, particularly the higher-tier graphics cards such as the RTX 5070 and above, which are now more costly than their original MSRPs.

Intel's Arc GPUs are more comparable to options like the RTX 4060 Ti or RTX 5060, at very similar prices, but with higher VRAM capacities for better performance in certain games.

Once Nvidia does manage to provide DLSS Frame Generation functionality for older RTX GPUs (which I think it will), Intel will lose the main advantage it has over Nvidia (unless it somehow surpasses DLSS in image quality and performance by then).

However, as of now, Team Blue's flexible XeSS 3 beats its rival in terms of accessibility for its own Arc GPUs, and it's great to see that XeSS 3 MFG can now be implemented in games easily for developers via its SDK release. Can XeSS ever beat DLSS in terms of image quality, latency, and performance, though? I don't think so.

• Intel revealed new Arrow Lake Refresh processors
• They are the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus
• Both offer core count increases compared to their Arrow Lake predecessors — and a sizeable boost in gaming performance to the tune of 15%

Intel has released a pair of new desktop processors, which are refreshed models that are a step forward for the firm's current Arrow Lake range.

Tom's Hardware reports that these Arrow Lake Refresh chips are the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Core Ultra 5 250K Plus. These are pepped-up models of the existing Core Ultra 7 265K and Core Ultra 5 245K CPUs, respectively.

Intel's Robert Hallock, VP, Client Computing Group, General Manager, Enthusiast Channel Segment, boasts: "First, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and Ultra 5 250K Plus are the fastest desktop gaming processors Intel has ever built. Second, they nearly double the content creation performance of our competitor. And, thirdly, they're arriving with exciting new technologies that revolutionize the setup and optimization roadmap for Intel gaming platforms. These chips are a value that's hard to beat."

That's some big talk, so what's new exactly with these CPUs?

Intel has beefed up the core count, so the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has eight performance cores plus 16 efficiency cores, which is an extra four efficiency cores compared to the 265K. The same treatment has been given to the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus with an extra four efficiency cores, meaning it now has 12 efficiency cores to go along with its six performance cores.

As for clock speeds, these remain essentially the same as their predecessors, save for minor changes — you do get 100MHz more boost with the 250K, but the 270K maintains the same 5.4GHz for the performance cores as seen with the 265K.

Intel has brought in performance boosts elsewhere, though, notably with an up to 900MHz increase in the die-to-die speed of these new processors. That means lower system latency and a boost for PC gaming, Intel observes.

There's also support for faster RAM — up to 7200 MT/s DDR5 (up from 6400 MT/s on current Arrow Lake chips) — which will help performance, and a new Intel Binary Optimization Tool or iBOT.

Intel explains that iBOT is "a first-of-its-kind optimization technology" which will "increase processor instructions per cycle (IPC) and user performance".

We're told that this tool can increase IPC in certain games — think of that as a different way of upping performance aside from clock frequency increases — and this holds even if the game has been optimized for a different platform (like a console).

The proof will be in the (independent) game benchmarks, of course, but Team Blue is already calling iBOT a "key aspect of Intel's long-term performance roadmap for enthusiasts".

In terms of the game benchmarks for launch, Intel's claiming 15% faster gaming performance for the 270K Plus versus the 265K based on the average frame rates over 38 games (at 1080p resolution, high details, with the iBOT tool enabled where supported).

The price of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus processor is $299, and the MSRP of the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus is $199.

Analysis: a statement of intent from Intel

Intel has a lot of work to do to gain favor again in the world of PC enthusiasts and gamers, because Arrow Lake wasn't well-received by the gaming community, and before that, we had those nasty stability issues with 13th and 14th-gen CPUs (which weren't well-received by anyone). However, this Core Ultra 200S Plus refresh — albeit that it's a modest two-chip effort — is an important step towards rebuilding Intel's desktop reputation.

The gaming performance jump with the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a sizeable one, with the extra cores, die-to-die speed boost, and complementing tech providing some serious extra power. When you consider those gains through the lens of the asking prices — which are actually lower than the old models these refreshes succeed — you've got a potent recipe for success, frankly.

Hallock's PR boasts aren't hollow by all accounts, and the refreshed Arrow Lake CPUs here have been a pleasant surprise for the gaming community and PC enthusiasts alike.

The only thing missing is a flagship refresh, with no 290K Plus model. That means the flagship 285K is in an odd position, seeing as the new 270K Plus is its equal in core count and almost matches the former's clocks (it's 100MHz shy in the boost stakes, but that's not a big deal at all).

More eyes, however, are likely to be on the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus, because at $199, this looks like an excellent value proposition, and a much-needed breath of fresh air at a time when many PC components are getting depressingly expensive (RAM and storage, of course, and also GPUs).

• Intel extends Xeon 6 roadmap with 18A-based processors targeting AI in telecom networks
• 288-core Clearwater Forest reduces rack power and improves performance per watt
• Testing shows 38% lower runtime rack power versus comparable Sierra Forest systems

At MWC 2026, Intel introduced its upcoming Clearwater Forest Xeon 6+ processors, built on the 18A process and aimed at edge AI and early 6G infrastructure.

The update adds a higher density option to the Xeon 6 lineup for network and data center deployments.

Clearwater Forest, which was first previewed in October 2025, follows the current Xeon 6 generation and is expected to arrive by 2027.

AI in networks isn’t “CPU vs. GPU”

Intel is expanding Xeon 6 across radio access networks, or RAN, which connect devices like smartphones to the broader mobile network, as well as mobile core systems and edge sites.

The strategy keeps network functions, security workloads, enterprise services, and AI inference on standard server hardware.

Kevork Kechichian, executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s Data Center Group, said: “AI in networks isn’t “CPU vs. GPU” — it’s right compute for the workload”.

The idea is that not every AI task inside a telecom network requires a separate accelerator. In many cases, inference can run directly on Xeon processors depending on performance and power constraints.

In the RAN, Xeon 6 SoC integrates Advanced Matrix Extensions and vRAN Boost, allowing inference workloads to run on the same server that handles virtualized network software. That can limit the need for extra hardware in certain deployments.

Rakuten Mobile is working with Intel to train and deploy AI models for low latency RAN workloads using Xeon 6 SoC. Vodafone has committed to adopting Xeon 6 SoCs for Open RAN and vRAN modernization projects across Europe.

Clearwater Forest, branded simply Xeon 6+, increases core density and shifts to Intel’s 18A process.

In testing by Ericsson, a single 288-core Xeon 6990E+ Clearwater Forest processor reduced runtime rack power by 38 percent, delivered more than 60 percent better performance per watt, and improved overall performance by 30 percent compared with a dual socket 288-core Xeon 6780E Sierra Forest system.

Higher core counts and lower power consumption sit at the center of Intel’s pitch as AI workloads expand inside telecom infrastructure and networks move closer to early 6G development.

These days, the Mac mini is one of the best Macs money can buy, and arguably the best in terms of value for money. It packs tremendous power into its pint-sized frame, blowing away its rivals and rightfully taking its place as the best mini-PC on the market. If you’re after performance, features, and build quality at a fair price, it’s hard to beat.

A big part of that comes down to the Apple silicon chips that it offers. But the Mac mini wasn’t always outfitted with Apple’s own silicon. For almost 15 years, it was powered by Intel processors, and for a long time these were seen as the best option around – until Apple silicon came along, that is.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of the launch of the first-ever Mac mini powered by an Intel chip, and its introduction was almost as momentous as the unveiling of the first Apple silicon Mac mini in 2020. Here, we’re looking back at that first Intel Mac mini and the influence it had on the market and on Apple itself. It’s an impact that is hard to overstate.

The PowerPC era

Before the Intel Mac mini came along, Apple was running all of its computers on PowerPC chips. These were made by a consortium of companies – chiefly Apple, IBM, and Motorola – known as AIM, after their initials. The idea was to counter the dominance of Microsoft and Intel while giving the AIM companies an opportunity to work more closely together.

Apple originally started using PowerPC chips in 1994, but had grown weary of the platform’s limitations by the early 2000s. PowerPC processors ran hot and chugged energy at a rapid rate, which severely limited their potential in desktop computers. At the same time, both Motorola and IBM were backing out of the chip manufacturing business, leaving Apple in a tricky spot.

With Apple looking for an alternative, the company found its answer in the form of Intel and announced in 2005 that it would start transitioning to that company’s chips. The first Intel Macs were the iMac and the 15-inch MacBook Pro, which arrived in January 2006 and replaced the iMac G4 and the PowerBook, respectively. One month later, the Intel Mac mini arrived on the scene – and changed the world of small-sized PCs in an instant.

The first Intel Mac mini

When Apple brought Intel chips to the Mac mini, expectations were low. Apple had only launched one PowerPC Mac mini -- it was released in January 2005 -- and it met with a mixed reaction. While its compact frame, low noise, and affordable price generated praise, its sluggish storage speeds and the difficulty of upgrading its components drew criticism. That meant that Apple had a chance to effectively relaunch the Mac mini when the Intel model arrived a year later in February 2006.

If that was Apple’s goal, it largely succeeded. The headline improvement gained by the Intel Mac mini could be found in its performance. Apple boasted that the new model offered up to four times the performance of its PowerPC predecessor, an incredible step up and a remarkable statement of intent.

It also brought other new features not found in the PowerPC model, including Gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, DVI and VGA output, two additional USB-A ports, and more. Apple raised the starting price by $100 from $499 for the PowerPC edition to $599 for the Intel version, but considering its significant performance improvements, that wasn’t too surprising.

By packing such a huge performance uptick into an incredibly compact desktop computer, Apple demonstrated – to the world and, perhaps, to itself – that it was right to switch from PowerPC to Intel. Maybe more so than any other Mac, the Mac mini was symbolic of the new world of computing that was then emerging, and it wasn’t until the 2010s that things started to change.

Why did Apple give up on Intel?

By the late 2010s, Intel chips were starting to suffer from the exact same problems that befell PowerPC in the early 2000s. They were hot and inefficient, which caused them to frequently throttle when under load. This was particularly problematic in Apple’s laptops, as the company was shifting towards ever-thinner designs that had far less internal space for active cooling.

That could be seen clearly in 2015’s 12-inch MacBook: Intel’s chips were so inefficient that Apple had to resort to using Intel’s mobile M-series processors for the fanless laptop. Contrast that to the fanless MacBook Air today, which contains a desktop-class processor – something that was unimaginable back in the Intel days.

The inefficiency of Intel’s chips also meant that Apple’s computers would frequently have to spin up their fans, resulting in a loud, distracting experience for users. Steve Jobs, of course, hated that.

In the past, Jobs often insisted on omitting the fan from his computers in order to let customers work in complete silence – that was the case with the landmark iMac G3, for example, as well as the Apple III, the Macintosh 128K, and the eye-catching Power Mac G4 Cube. Selling laptops that were hot and loud was the antithesis of what Jobs wanted for Apple’s products. And if you know anything about Steve Jobs, you know that was a situation that couldn’t survive long.

At the same time, Apple was already having notable success running its own chips. After all, the iPhone had been powered by an Apple-designed chip right from the get-go in 2007. These chips had long shown that they were capable of delivering both high performance and high efficiency at the same time, and it was this factor that made them a leading candidate for Apple’s computers.

Mirroring the transition to Intel chips, the first Apple silicon Mac mini ushered in a sea change in performance compared to its predecessor. Apple said the new M1 chip offered three times the CPU output of the previous Intel Mac mini and up to six times the graphics output. Machine learning, meanwhile, saw a mind-boggling 15x improvement.

The entry-level model with an eight-core M1 chip was priced at $699, which Apple pointed out was $100 less than the previous Intel edition, despite that product coming with a processor bearing half the number of cores. Overall, this was a serious step up after years of stagnation.

Nothing lasts forever, and it was clear by the late 2010s both that the Intel Mac mini’s goose was cooked and that Apple made the right decision to switch to its own chips. But that shouldn’t take away from what the first Intel Mac mini meant when it first arrived in 2006. While it was far from a perfect computer, it showed what a mini-PC could do when it was equipped with a fresh, performant processor.

On its 20th anniversary, it’s worth pondering the parallels with the introduction of Apple silicon – and what the future might hold for Apple’s dinkiest computer.

• Intel predicts AI-enabled PCs will comprise over half of total shipments in 2026
• AI silicon can perform basic tasks locally without relying on cloud processing
• Current buyers prioritize speed and battery over AI-specific capabilities in laptops

Intel is forecasting a major shift in personal computing, predicting that AI-enabled PCs will account for more than half of all shipments in 2026.

The company estimates roughly 130 million out of 260 million units shipped globally will feature built-in AI processing, such as an NPU or similar hardware.

This trend suggests a growing focus on machines capable of performing local AI tasks, although the exact practical applications for most users remain limited at this stage.

AI is moving beyond niche markets

Currently, AI PCs are largely seen as premium products, with high-end business laptops and workstations leading adoption.

Intel’s Japan president, Makoto Ohno, emphasized the company wants to shift perception quickly, aiming to make AI-capable devices standard rather than exceptional.

The push is not only about marketing AI as a feature but also about creating systems optimized for tasks that benefit from localized AI processing.

For now, many users could acquire these devices for traditional benefits such as speed, multitasking, or extended battery life rather than AI-specific functionality.

“Given the current situation, reasons for choosing an AI PC include its high performance and the long battery life provided by the use of an NPU,” Ohno said.

“In other words, it is important to reflect on the fact that people are not currently purchasing an AI PC in order to use its AI-related functions.”

The defining characteristic of an AI PC is the presence of dedicated AI silicon, which can handle basic local AI tasks without depending entirely on cloud processing.

While the AI functions themselves could not drive initial purchases, the integration of newer silicon improves overall system efficiency and responsiveness.

This enhancement allows AI PCs, including mini PCs, to outperform older business laptops in routine tasks, making them appealing to a wider audience.

Intel has also acknowledged that broader software support is necessary to make AI PCs genuinely useful for everyday users.

The company envisions a future where people buy these devices for a specific AI-enabled purpose rather than simply upgrading to the latest technology.

Without compelling applications, the market could struggle to justify AI-specific features beyond performance improvements.

Via TechPowerUp

• Linux kernel 7.0 officially removes the 440BX EDAC driver, ending software support
• ECC RAM continues correcting errors, but software notifications will no longer appear
• Linux distros focus on maintainable code and modern CPU architectures

The upcoming Linux kernel 7.0 will officially remove support for the Intel 440BX chipset’s EDAC driver, ending a software era that lasted over two decades.

This driver has been nonfunctional since 2007 because of incompatibilities with the Intel AGP driver, yet its removal signals Linux distros are formally abandoning legacy support for this once-critical chipset.

Devices using ECC RAM will continue correcting memory errors at the hardware level, but software-side notifications for bit flips will no longer be available.

Linux distros phase out legacy hardware support

The change reflects the ongoing modernization of Linux distros, which increasingly prioritize current architectures and maintainable code over legacy hardware.

The Intel 440BX chipset earned its place in computing history for stability, speed, and wide compatibility at a time when standards often felt more like suggestions than rules.

Before its arrival, hardware incompatibilities were common, and the early Plug and Play protocol earned the nickname “plug-and-pray” for good reason.

Motherboard choice heavily influenced overall system performance, and a stable chipset often meant the difference between a smooth machine and an agonizing slog.

The 440BX solved both stability and compatibility issues in a single design, quickly earning respect among enthusiasts and professionals alike.

Its ability to run out-of-spec hardware with minimal issues set it apart from competing motherboards, cementing its reputation as a reliable workhorse.

Overclocking in the 440BX era was accessible to everyday users, and the chipset excelled in this area.

Cheap Celeron 300A CPUs could be boosted from 300MHz to 450MHz — an increase of 50% — without the need for enhanced cooling solutions, offering a cost-effective alternative to buying a pricier Pentium II-450 processor while achieving similar or superior performance.

Nearly every overclock attempt succeeded, contributing to the chipset’s mythos among enthusiasts.

The 440BX’s tolerance for pushing hardware beyond official specifications turned it into a foundational component for countless custom builds, including server fleets.

Its reliability earned comparisons to a Toyota Hilux, durable, adaptable, and seemingly immortal even under extreme use.

Nevertheless, the 440BX’s design legacy continues, modern virtualization software, including VMware, still defaults to emulating the 440BX for both Windows 11 hosts and guests.

The removal of the 440BX EDAC driver shows how Linux distros evolve alongside hardware innovation.

For long-term Linux users, this change reinforces the importance of migrating away from ancient hardware or maintaining specialized environments for vintage machines.

As kernel development progresses, attention will shift toward contemporary memory management, peripheral support, and optimizations for new CPU architectures.

Via Tom's Hardware

• Intel shut down On Demand after customers rejected paying for dormant silicon
• Archiving SDSi signals the end of hardware features sold as add-ons
• Cloud buyers refused fees for capabilities already fused into processors

Intel has moved to shut down its pay-as-you-go hardware upgrade effort with little public explanation or formal announcement.

The Software Defined Silicon initiative, later called Intel On Demand, has effectively been abandoned after years of limited visibility and sparse maintenance.

Evidence of this shift emerged through the archiving of the Intel SDSi GitHub repository and the removal of most supporting pages from Intel’s own website.

Software updates are down

Software updates linked to the feature have also stopped appearing, reinforcing the sense that the program has reached its end.

This marks a clear retreat from the idea that processor capabilities could be unlocked after purchase through additional payments.

Intel On Demand was built around selected Xeon processors that shipped with accelerators and security functions disabled by default.

Customers were expected to pay either once or through consumption-based terms to activate features such as QuickAssist, Data Streaming Accelerator, or In Memory Analytics Accelerator.

According to the company, this offered flexible access to silicon already present on the chip, but in practice, adoption remained narrow and inconsistent.

Large cloud operators, which buy processors in massive quantities, showed little interest in paying extra fees to unlock features on hardware they already owned.

Smaller enterprise buyers also faced uncertainty around long-term costs and operational complexity.

The decision to walk away from Intel On Demand inevitably recalls the Intel Upgrade Service from the early 2010s, which allowed owners of a low-end Pentium processor to unlock additional cache and Hyper Threading by purchasing an activation code.

Although limited to a single model, the reaction from the specialist press and enthusiast community was swift and hostile. The service was widely panned and quickly discontinued.

Although Intel On Demand operated in a different market and at a much larger scale, both efforts relied on the same basic principle of charging to access dormant silicon features.

The pay-to-use model for processor features has repeatedly struggled to gain acceptance, regardless of market segment or branding.

Hardware buyers generally expect physical capabilities to be fully available at the point of sale, with software licensing treated as a separate concern.

By archiving SDSi and letting related documentation fade away, Intel appears to accept that this approach did not align with customer expectations.

Via TechPowerUp

• Nova Lake flagship is rumored to hit 700W of power consumption
• That's a fleeting peak-wattage figure, though (and still just a rumor)
• The reality may be that the next-gen flagship is more of an enthusiast CPU than it has previously been – but that won't necessarily reflect on the lower tiers of Nova Lake

Intel's next-gen flagship desktop processor has been rumored to reach eye-opening levels of power consumption – although there's a lot to unpack here, and we shouldn't be panicking about CPUs eating monstrous amounts of wattage just yet.

First of all, the rumor itself – and it is just a rumor – comes from a regular hardware leaker on X, Kopitekimi7, as flagged by VideoCardz.

The top Nova Lake processor, which is rumored to have 52 cores (and is an unlocked 'K' model that can be overclocked, which is why the leaker refers to it as 'NVL-K'), apparently reaches a power consumption of over 700 Watts at "full-load".

I'll come back to exactly what that means in a moment, but obviously it's a huge figure, remembering that this is the power being piped to the CPU, and only that (not the full system load of wattage across all the PC's components, as somebody on X asked for a clarification about).

If you're wondering how the Nova Lake desktop flagship has 52 cores, it's because most of them are efficiency cores, or low-power (tiny) cores – there are 32 and four of these respectively, plus 16 performance (normal) cores.

This Core Ultra 9 flagship is supposedly a dual-chip model, meaning those cores are split across two chiplets – as already seen with AMD's top desktop CPUs – and Nova Lake has Big Last-Level Cache (bLLC) which is essentially Intel's equivalent to AMD's 3D V-Cache (X3D models).

Analysis: it's too early to start fretting about 'Supernova Lake' heat levels

Okay, so what's going on here, and what could it mean for the average PC buyer (or upgrader) when Nova Lake turns up? (These desktop chips might debut later this year, or possibly in 2027 – Intel hasn't confirmed exactly when, though we should get some silicon in 2026, but it could be the laptop variants for all we know).

The figure floated by Kopitekimi7 – which may or may not be accurate, it should be noted – is 700W under full load, which the leaker clarifies is with power limits removed. In other words, this is theoretically the absolute limit of power that can temporarily peak with the CPU (known as 'PL4'), which, crucially, is a momentary load, not a working level of wattage.

Of course, you still need a PC with a motherboard and power supply (plus CPU cooling) that can deal with such a fleeting surge. And on top of that, we can compare this to the PL4 of Intel's Raptor Lake flagship processor, which saw a peak of 314W – so this is a good deal more than double that.

In effect, this is a hint that Nova Lake could be more power-hungry than we expected. However, I wouldn't go leaping to conclusions yet, because we don't know if this leak is accurate. And even if it is, the rest of Nova Lake may not be built along those lines.

Remember, this is a dual-chip flagship with a lot of cores, and it's a processor that looks to be more in HEDT (high-end desktop) territory – a very expensive CPU aimed at enthusiasts who need a processor to do seriously heavyweight work.

The average consumer or gamer won't be looking at this Core Ultra 9 flagship, then – even less so than would normally be the case with an Intel flagship. They'll be much better served by the Core Ultra 7 model, which is rumored to be a single chiplet CPU, and that configuration may work better for gaming with the bLLC cache setup, too.

So, what this points to more than anything is an even more heavyweight, pricier flagship coming with Nova Lake. Away from that top-end CPU, it's possible Nova Lake could be more efficient in terms of power consumption, and in fact I'd bet on that. I don't think Intel is going to retread old ground – as seen with Raptor Lake (and its refresh), where power envelopes were pushed very (too) hard – with its brand-new Nova Lake desktop range built to try and take the initiative back from AMD's Ryzen silicon (following a string of desktop mishaps on Intel's part).

For high-end PCs, though, the Nova Lake flagship could be a handful for a power supply to deal with when paired with a power-hungry GPU like an Nvidia RTX 5090, for example.

• Intel is returning to GPUs to challenge Nvidia’s market leadership directly
• The company plans to produce GPUs internally for tighter manufacturing control
• Eric Demers joins Intel from Qualcomm as a key technical figure in GPU development

Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan has publicly confirmed internal work on graphics hardware remains active, directly addressing questions about whether the company intends to stay involved in that segment.

Speaking during the recent Cisco AI Summit, Tan said upcoming products will be built internally and that Intel’s manufacturing arm will also support production at scale.

When asked if Intel is going to build GPUs, Tan said, “I just hired the chief GPU architect, and he's very good. I'm very delighted he joined me, and it takes some persuasion.”

Hiring decisions point to renewed technical focus

Tan’s comments makes clear Intel is deliberately expanding beyond its traditional CPU focus to challenge Nvidia in the GPU market.

The company does not intend to rely solely on external suppliers for these chips, and it wants tighter control over development and manufacturing.

As part of its efforts to produce GPUs, Intel recently hired Eric Demers, recruited from Qualcomm after more than a decade there.

While Demers is a central technical figure in the renewed graphics effort, broader oversight reportedly lies with data center executive Kevork Kechichian, who joined during a restructuring.

The addition of experienced leadership signals Intel’s seriousness about entering high-performance GPU markets, where Nvidia currently dominates both consumer and AI-focused workloads.

These appointments suggest that the company is trying to rebuild internal capability rather than simply rebrand older designs.

Analysts note that Intel’s approach could influence Nvidia’s strategy, especially as AI tools and accelerators continue to drive demand for specialized graphics hardware.

Intel’s renewed GPU push highlights the stakes in the market for AI and gaming accelerators, areas where Nvidia has maintained a strong lead.

GPUs are now central to both gaming and AI workloads, and Intel’s in-house effort positions it to compete directly in this high-margin segment.

By combining GPU development with internal manufacturing and leveraging its CPU ecosystem, Intel could offer integrated platforms attractive to enterprise and AI-focused customers.

While results are uncertain, Tan’s hiring choices suggest a sustained, deliberate push rather than a short-term experiment.

Investors and competitors are watching closely, as Intel’s entry may pressure Nvidia on pricing, product cycles, and ecosystem dominance.

Although Intel intends to be a long-term player in the GPU market, execution and performance will determine whether these plans alter competitive dynamics or remain a technical demonstration.

• Intel’s Xeon 600-series returns desktop workstations with up to 86 cores
• Octa-channel DDR5 and MRDIMM support deliver unprecedented memory bandwidth speeds
• All cores use Hyper-Threading for consistent performance across demanding workloads

Intel has returned to the desktop workstation market after nearly three years with its new Xeon 600-series processors, offering up to 86 cores and clock speeds reaching 4.9GHz.

Built on the Granite Rapids architecture, these chips expand on 2025’s Xeon 6700P series and support up to eight channels of DDR5 memory and 128 lanes of PCIe 5.0 connectivity.

The lineup spans 12 to 86 cores, with memory capacities ranging from 4GB to 4TB, depending on DIMM configuration.

Memory and Bandwidth Improvements

These processors use the Redwood Cove microarchitecture, which Intel first introduced in its mobile chips and later expanded to deliver higher desktop performance.

All Xeon 600 CPUs support octa-channel memory officially rated at 6,400MT/s, while the top five SKUs include MRDIMM support capable of reaching 8,000MT/s.

This marks the first introduction of MRDIMMs to desktop workstations, allowing memory from multiple ranks to combine for higher transfer speeds.

Each CPU can handle up to 4TB of memory, doubling the capacity of AMD’s Threadripper Pro 9000 WX and quadrupling that of the standard Threadripper 9000 series.

These changes benefit data-intensive workloads on desktop workstations and high-end content creation systems.

The flagship Xeon 698X delivers 86 cores and 172 threads, while other SKUs scale down to 12 cores.

Unlike earlier heterogeneous Xeon designs, all Xeon 600 CPUs use only performance cores with Hyper-Threading enabled, which ensures consistent execution across workloads.

Xeon 600 processors also feature 128 PCIe 5.0 lanes and CXL 2.0 support. AMX accelerators in each core now support FP16 instructions, improving AI performance.

Intel claims up to 9% better single-threaded performance and 61% higher multithreaded performance compared to the previous Xeon W-2500 and W-3500 chips.

Benchmarks from SPEC Workstation 4 indicate gains across AI, financial services, energy, and life sciences workloads.

Applications such as Blender and Topaz Labs reportedly benefit from the integrated AMX accelerators.

Although these claims point to performance gains, Intel has not released direct comparisons with AMD’s Threadripper 9000, leaving performance per dollar and real-world advantages uncertain.

The X-series SKUs are overclockable, and boxed versions will be sold individually, with prices ranging from $499 for 12-core models to $7,699 for the 86-core flagship.

New W890 motherboards from Dell, Lenovo, Supermicro, and Puget are expected to arrive in late March 2026, although Intel has not confirmed a release window for boxed chips.

• AMD desktop shipments rose from 3 million to over 35 million units quarterly
• Intel’s server share fell from 97% in 2019 to 72% by 2025
• AMD’s revenue from EPYC grew from under $100 million to $3.5 billion (3400%) in 8 years

Intel’s market share in the desktop segment has declined since 2017, coinciding with the introduction of AMD’s first Ryzen CPUs.

Although Intel regained some ground with its 12th Gen Alder Lake and 13th Gen Raptor Lake chips, reports indicate that performance and thermal issues in later generations pushed many DIY enthusiasts and OEMs to switch to Ryzen processors.

AMD has steadily increased its desktop share to over 30%, while Intel now holds around 60%.

AMD’s adoption trends continue to rise

Between 2017 and 2025, AMD’s desktop unit shipments rose from approximately 3 million to over 35 million per quarter.

In the notebook segment, AMD’s growth has remained limited to approximately 20% share due to competitive ARM-based alternatives.

However, Apple and AMD have indirectly benefited from Intel’s weaker positioning in this market.

Intel’s decline also appears in the server segment, where EPYC processors have driven major market shifts.

AMD launched the first EPYC family, Naples, in 2017, and early adopters reacted with surprise at its performance and efficiency.

Initial EPYC adoption accounted for roughly 5% of new server deployments in 2017 and grew to 28% by 2025.

The processors gained traction among enterprise customers and cloud hosting providers that sought higher core counts and improved performance per watt.

Intel’s server unit share dropped from 97% in early 2019 to around 72% in 2025, with revenue share falling to roughly 61%.

AMD’s EPYC now approaches 30% of the server market, up from less than 2% in 2018, according to Mercury Research.

Its revenue share also grew from under $100 million in 2017 to over $3.5 billion in 2025.

Successive Zen architecture updates and the introduction of X3D chips helped drive AMD’s rise.

Cloud storage and cloud hosting environments increasingly favor EPYC processors due to their scalability and energy efficiency.

Intel continues to compete with offerings like the 5th Gen Xeon for AI workloads and claims advantages in certain optimized scenarios.

Yet adoption data shows that its overall unit and revenue shares continue to decline across both client and server markets.

Intel’s server shipments fell from approximately 12 million units in 2019 to under 8.5 million in 2025.

Although Intel remains the largest vendor in both segments, its declining market share points to growing pressure from AMD.

Client CPU markets show slower recovery prospects, while servers and cloud infrastructure continue to shift toward high-core, high-efficiency alternatives.

Observers note that ongoing adoption of EPYC processors in cloud hosting and enterprise servers could further accelerate AMD’s growth, leaving Intel’s long-term lead increasingly uncertain.

Analysts estimate that by 2026, AMD could capture over 35% of the server market if current growth trends continue.

Via Wccf Tech

• President Trump comments suggest Apple joined Nvidia and others in investing in Intel
• Apple may have signed a contract with Intel for chip production
• Apple and Broadcom job listings indicate interest in Intel EMIB technology

President Donald Trump has suggested Apple may have joined Nvidia and other investors while discussing the US government’s 10% stake in Intel.

In a recent press briefing at Joint Base Andrews, Trump stated, “As soon as we went in, Apple went in, Nvidia went in, a lot of smart people went in — they followed us.”

The statement has prompted discussion among analysts and the press about whether Apple has actually invested in Intel - or if the president just misspoke.

Possible explanations for Apple’s involvement

One plausible interpretation is that Trump referred not to a stock purchase but to a potential contract with Intel to produce chips.

Intel’s 18A and 14A process nodes have been cited as potential technologies Apple could use for future M-series SoCs, including entry-level models.

Another possibility is confusion with SoftBank Group, which announced in August 2025 that it would acquire $2 billion in Intel shares.

Reports indicate Apple and Broadcom have posted job listings seeking expertise in Intel’s EMIB packaging technology.

Additionally, sources suggest Apple acquired Intel’s 18A process design kit for potential use in its chip production.

These developments may point toward a future collaboration rather than a direct equity investment.

Industry observers note large orders from Apple, expected to reach 15 to 20 million units, would normally appear in Intel’s filings, which are due in the coming weeks.

For now, the President’s remark remains vague, and it is not clear whether he was referring to a formal investment or a partnership agreement.

Although Apple has made strategic use of Intel technologies in the past, no verified filings or official confirmations support the claim of an equity purchase.

The combination of job postings, design kit acquisitions, and Intel’s recent interactions with Apple suggests collaboration could be underway, but the specifics remain unclear.

Trump’s comments, whether accurate or a misstatement, show how public statements from high-profile figures can fuel speculation.

Until Apple or Intel confirms any investment, the nature of Apple’s involvement remains uncertain.

Via Tom's Hardware

• AMD needed a solution to product failures
• NexGen produced some powerful equipment
• The company used a unique x86 architecture

NexGen was among the highest flying semiconductor US companies during a boom time in the 1980s.

Based out of Milpitas in California, the company gained a reputation for its rather unique implementation of the x86 architecture in its processors.

Notably, CPUs developed by NexGen run code on the chip’s internal RISC architecture as opposed to translating code that was then run on the CISC-based x86 architecture.

It was a design that set the company apart at the time and drew the attention of some major industry players in years to come. Better still, its flagship processor design paved the way for a revival at one of the industries biggest manufacturers.

Here’s everything you need to know about NexGen.

NexGen’s plan to challenge Intel

The company was founded in 1986 by Thampy Thomas, who’d previously co-founded Elxski, a California-based minicomputer manufacturer. NexGen was a fabless design house, relying on other companies for product, with chips produced by IBM’s Microelectronics division in Vermont.

NexGen had some big backers during the early days, most notably Compaq, ASCII, and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

It’s safe to say NexGen had Intel in the crosshairs. Its first design specifically targeted Intel’s 80286 (i386) processor line, but early production challenges meant it failed to launch a challenge.

With its second product line, the Nx587, NexGen aimed to mount a direct challenge against the Intel Pentium line. There was a big stumbling block here, however.

Other chips on the market competing with Intel, such as those from AMD and Cyrix, were pin-compatible with both the Pentium range and other Intel chips.

The Nx586 wasn't, and instead required its own custom-made motherboard and chipset. Regardless, the performance of the Nx586 was impressive. The Nx586-P80 CPU, for example, could go toe-to-toe with the Pentium range, clocking in at 75MHz.

It wasn’t exactly a hit, but did see some enterprise uptake, most notably from Compaq. Its performance did catch the eye of AMD, however, and the chip giant began circling the wagons.

AMD comes knocking

Shortly after NexGen went public in 1994, AMD came knocking with a significant offer. Sales of the chip giant’s K5 chip range had flopped amid sluggish performance and efficiency.

Eyeing up a solution to the problem, AMD acquired NexGen for $850 million in 1995 - and it quickly began working to integrate the firm’s designs into its own successor range.

AMD’s K6 range drew heavily from the Nx686 design and when launched in 1997 mounted a serious challenge to Intel's Pentium dominance. The microprocessor was specifically designed to integrate with existing desktop designs which used Pentium CPUs.

Moreover, it was a powerful bit of kit for the time. The initial version clocked in at speeds of up to 200MHz, with a 233MHz version launching later in the year.

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• Intel announced that there'll be a handheld gaming platform with the Panther Lake series
• Partnerships with MSI, Acer, GPD, and Microsoft mean a good few handhelds could be on the way
• These devices won't be here any time soon, but more details are expected later in 2026

Nothing much has been happening with handheld gaming PCs at CES 2026, but Intel has hinted at the potential for a raft of major new launches later in 2026.

As reported by Notebookcheck, Intel has promised that handhelds are coming which are built with its Panther Lake series of processors. This potentially includes partnerships with the likes of MSI, Acer, GPD, Microsoft, and Onexplayer, with further updates set to be revealed later this year.

With both Lenovo and Asus recently launching the Legion Go 2 and the ROG Xbox Ally X respectively, this leaves both of those manufacturers effectively out of the picture for a handheld refresh powered by these new Intel chips – new devices surely won't be coming for some time on those fronts.

Essentially, this leaves room open for one of the big players, namely MSI, to make a successor to the Claw AI+ handhelds that use Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V processor.

Based on Intel's performance claims for Panther Lake's Arc B390 integrated GPU, which is said to be 73% faster than AMD's Radeon 890M while running at a lower power usage, it's safe to say that Team Blue could give Team Red a run for its money in the handheld space here.

If it was built around a Panther Lake CPU, we could see a new MSI Claw device with significantly better performance than most of the current-gen mainstream handhelds. As Intel claims, this is supposed to be next-gen handheld gaming performance (see the graph above).

It also helps that XeSS 3 (supported by Panther Lake and older Xe integrated graphics) comes with the benefits of multi-frame generation, a technology that we've only seen Nvidia utilize for its RTX 5000 series GPUs (although it's also possible via Lossless Scaling on Steam).

More importantly, in the grand scheme of things, the battle between AMD and Intel in the handheld market is on.

Analysis: Intel is making a stronger name for itself in the gaming market

While AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 APU essentially provides gaming laptop-tier performance for the GPD Win 5 and other premium handhelds, Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V is still the most impressive chip overall for me.

It's the processor used in the MSI Claw AI+ handhelds, and the MSI Claw 8 AI+ is the best handheld I've used to date. Yes, the Claw's $899 price tag was a point of contention for me, but with Max+ 395 handhelds costing nearly $2,000, there's a clear winner in terms of value.

If Intel's generational performance leap claims are accurate, we'll be in for a far more powerful successor to the MSI Claw 8 AI+ with a Panther Lake chip as its engine. And Intel will further establish itself as more of a presence when it comes to hardware for gaming – especially since its upcoming Arc B770 discrete GPU has leaked, supposedly packed with 16GB of VRAM.

There's plenty to look forward to from both AMD and Intel, not only in the desktop GPU department, but also for SoCs and their powerful integrated graphics for handhelds. I'm pumped to see what happens in 2026.

TechRadar will be extensively covering this year's CES, and will bring you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 live news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything we've seen.

You can also ask us a question about the show in our CES 2026 live Q&A and we’ll do our best to answer it.

And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok for the latest from the CES show floor!

Intel launched its highly anticipated Panther Lake mobile processors today at CES 2026 as the Intel Core Ultra Series 3. The new chips will be shipping out with laptops starting this week.

Jim Johnson, Intel's Senior VP and General Manager for Intel's Client Computing Group, said at the company's CES press conference that Intel 18A is the center of the company's effort to reestablish its leadership position in the semiconductor industry.

The major rearchitecting of the SoC promises better power efficiency, better performance, and lower power overall.

Intel says its most excited about the new integrated GPU in the Intel Core Ultra Series 3, with the 12 Xe3 core GPU branded as the Intel Arc B390.

Importantly, this new GPU will be the first integrated GPU to feature multiframe generation through Intel XeSS 3. Intel says this will allow a game like Battlefield 6 run at 147 fps at 1080p on its highest graphics settings (Overkill settings).

Intel also revealed that it is developing an entire PC gaming handheld platform around Intel Core Ultra Series 3 that its partners like MSI, Acer, and others can use to develop their own products.

This is a major challenge to AMD's APU dominance for handhelds with its AMD Ryzen Z-series chips. Details on this framework are a bit light at the moment, but I can assume we're going to hear a lot more about this in the weeks and months ahead.

As for AI, Intel promises that its deep collaboration with its software ISVs, including Microsoft, will give Intel Core Ultra series 3 chips a definitive advantage over AMD and Qualcomm for on-device AI applications.

What those applications will be remains to be seen, but if AI really is the future of computing, Intel feels very confident that it is best positioned for it.

• Intel places seven CPUs in PassMark's top ten price performance rankings
• AMD leads only through discounted Ryzen 5 clearance entries
• Value favors Intel across widely available desktop CPUs

Intel dominates the top end of PassMark’s price performance rankings in a way that would have seemed unlikely just a few years ago. Looking at the current leaderboard, Intel places seven CPUs in the top ten when performance is measured against price.

AMD does hold the top two spots, but don't be fooled. One comes from an entry-level Ryzen 5 benefiting from clearance pricing, while the other is an EPYC part listed at prices that are likely drawn from second-hand or refurbished markets rather than new retail.

The Ryzen 5’s position reflects its low price rather than performance that rivals AMD’s newer midrange or high-end desktop CPUs.

Intel favored across a wide spread of price points

Intel’s representation across the top ten is more consistent, with a mix of Core Ultra and older Core processors clustered closely in price efficiency without relying on clearance-level discounts.

That creates a leaderboard where Intel performs well across a wide range of price points rather than via a few isolated bargains.

Further down the table, AMD’s higher core count desktop CPUs fall behind in price performance, as their stronger raw scores don’t translate into better value once pricing is factored in.

Outside of the discounted entries near the top, much of AMD’s mainstream desktop lineup trails Intel on performance per dollar.

This matters because PassMark's chart blends current retail CPUs with clearance-priced and non-standard listings, meaning not every high-ranking position reflects what buyers will see when shopping for new parts.

Even so, the overall pattern remains clear, with Intel filling most of the highest value positions using CPUs that are current and widely available.

AMD’s strongest value showing comes from older or discounted products rather than its latest releases, which limits how broadly those results apply to new system builds.

For buyers focused on performance per dollar, PassMark’s data points toward Intel offering more predictable value across its lineup.

AMD still competes at the very top and in specific discounted cases, but the balance of everyday value now leans heavily in Team Blue’s favor.

• Intel’s flagship undercuts AMD while delivering similar overall desktop performance
• AMD charges much more for only modest gains at the very top end
• Power efficiency and pricing now define flagship CPU value

I’ve already written about Intel offering buyers better value at the low end of the desktop CPU market, asking whether the iconic chip maker is becoming the new AMD. That question feels even more relevant given that the same pattern is also noticeable when looking at top tier processors.

Intel’s Core Ultra 9 285K is Team Blue's fastest desktop chip and currently sells for $519 on Amazon (discounted from $599). AMD’s competing Ryzen 9 9950X3D, positioned as a premium gaming and content creation processor, costs roughly $676 there.

Despite that price difference, benchmark results show the performance gap between the two CPUs remains relatively narrow.

Single-thread performance favors Intel

Before we go on, I should note the following comparison looks only at mainstream desktop CPUs. It doesn't include high-end desktop or server platforms such as Threadripper Pro or Xeon and EPYC processors, which target very different workloads and price ranges.

Looking at aggregate CPU benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D leads with a CPU Mark score of around 70,155.

The Core Ultra 9 285K follows closely at about 67,427, leaving AMD ahead by a single digit percentage.

The hardware configurations explain some of the difference, but certainly not all of it.

AMD’s chip offers 16 cores and 32 threads with a 170W rating, while Intel’s processor uses 8 performance cores and 16 efficiency cores for 24 threads at 125W.

Single-thread performance favors Intel. The Core Ultra 9 285K scores about 5,092 compared with roughly 4,739 for the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which matters for games and everyday applications that don’t scale cleanly across many cores.

Power use also separates the two. Estimated yearly energy costs put the Intel chip at around $22.81, while AMD’s processor sits closer to $31.03 under similar assumptions.

That combination of pricing and efficiency explains much of the cost difference. Intel trades a small amount of peak multithreaded performance for lower power draw and a much lower retail price.

AMD’s advantage shows up most clearly in heavily threaded workloads and cache-sensitive tasks, where the X3D design can still pull ahead.

While those gains exist, they don’t double performance in the way the price difference between the two chips might suggest.

For buyers focused on creative tasks, gaming, general productivity, or mixed workloads, Intel’s top chip delivers near-flagship results without flagship pricing.

AMD still leads on absolute performance, but the premium it's charging for this certainly looks harder to justify than it once did.

• Intel’s cheaper CPUs now challenge AMD’s high end pricing logic
• Performance gaps shrink as AMD charges more for modest desktop gains
• Power efficiency and cost pressure reshape high end CPU value

I’ve already written about Intel quietly taking control of the low end of the desktop CPU market, where chips priced around $200 now offer performance that used to sit far higher up the stack.

However, making things even more uncomfortable for AMD is the fact that a similar pattern is creeping into the high end, where Team Red’s pricing no longer stretches as far as it once did.

A comparison between AMD’s Ryzen 9 7950X and Intel’s Core Ultra 7 265KF shows why. On paper, the Ryzen part looks comfortably dominant with 16 cores and 32 threads, while Intel’s chip tops out at 20 threads using a mix of performance and efficiency cores. Benchmark results, however, tell a less dramatic - and far more interesting - story.

AMD ahead... marginally

The Ryzen 9 7950X scores around 62,260 in PassMark’s CPU Mark, while the Core Ultra 7 265KF lands at roughly 58,734. That puts AMD ahead, but not by much, especially considering the hardware and pricing differences.

Single-thread performance narrows the gap far further. Intel’s processor scores about 4,926, slightly ahead of the Ryzen 9 7950X at roughly 4,876, which matters for everyday desktop workloads that don’t scale cleanly across dozens of threads.

Pricing makes the situation harder to defend. The Core Ultra 7 265KF sells for about $270 on Amazon, while the Ryzen 9 7950X can be found selling for a far pricier $501 over on B&H.

Paying almost twice as much for a single-digit percentage lead in aggregate benchmarks shifts the value argument away from core counts and toward efficiency.

Power draw adds to that imbalance. AMD’s chip carries a 170W rating compared with Intel’s 125W, and estimated yearly energy costs reflect that difference at roughly $31 for the Ryzen processor versus about $23 for Intel’s chip.

The Ryzen 9 7950X still has a place in heavily threaded workloads like rendering, simulation, and large-scale code compilation, where its extra threads stay busy. Outside those scenarios, that advantage drops off quickly.

In my earlier look at the sub-$200 segment, I said that Intel was starting to resemble the old AMD by offering more performance for less money.

At the high end, the roles don’t flip completely, but the pressure feels familiar, with Intel delivering close enough performance that makes AMD’s premium pricing awkwardly hard to justify.

This year saw some pretty big changes for Intel, some of them being positive, and others, well, not so much. Overall, though, it was clearly a better year for Team Blue than the rocky 2024 Intel experienced, which culminated in the resignation of chief executive Pat Gelsinger – and the eventual appointment of a new CEO this year, Lip-Bu Tan, who took the top job in March 2025.

Tan's time at the helm has already been marked by some distinct turnarounds and progress, albeit there has been pain elsewhere, particularly on the job loss front. Let's dig into the ups and downs for Intel in 2025.

Another Arc Battlemage desktop GPU turned up – and XeSS 3, too

As the year kicked off, in the world of discrete GPUs, Intel followed the successful Arc B580 – which arrived late in 2024 – with a second Battlemage offering, the B570. It pitched up in January 2025, and we liked this graphics card, but not as much as its beefier sibling. As we observed at the time, the savings to be made on the B570 just aren't worth the drop in performance compared to the B580, and that remains true based on their relative pricing as this year comes to a close.

Still, both are good GPUs – particularly the B580, priced at under $250 in the US – and they were bolstered by the announcement of XeSS 3 in October. This represented a new take on frame rate boosting from Intel, complete with Multi-Frame Generation (similar to Nvidia's tech) that notably supports older Arc GPUs. While XeSS 3 still hasn't debuted yet, it's imminent, and the other good news is that it'll be compatible with all current XeSS 2 games.

Not a lot else happened with Arc on the desktop, though, and sadly that theoretical Arc B770 discrete GPU – the higher-end offering which was much-rumored throughout the year – never showed up. However, even as this year rolled to a close, there were still hints dropped that the B770 remains inbound, but add plenty of seasoning to that assertion.

Intel's laptop chips went from strength to strength

Following a limited launch late in 2024, Intel's Lunar Lake laptops truly arrived in numbers as we headed into the second quarter of 2025, and these excellent (and supremely efficient) chips proved to be a big win for Team Blue.

On top of that, we witnessed Arrow Lake mobile processors being revealed at CES 2025 to offer a higher-tier of more powerful laptop CPUs for enthusiasts.

Intel built up more excitement later in the year with the revelation of Panther Lake, the mobile range to take the baton from Lunar Lake – and it's set to do an even better job, by all accounts. We were very impressed by our early glimpse of these processors in October, and a particular strong suit for Panther Lake is its Xe3 (next-gen Celestial) integrated graphics, offering what Intel claims to be a 50% performance boost on the already impressive Battlemage (Xe2).

Panther Lake is now imminent (with an official launch at CES 2026) and looking extremely strong in terms of providing gaming chops to thin-and-light laptops, particularly when combined with the aforementioned XeSS 3 frame generation as a further speed boost (for supported games).

Intel's desktop CPUs continued to come under fire – but there were signs of a turnaround

Last year was a disastrous one on the desktop CPU front for Intel, as some buyers of 13th-gen (Raptor Lake) and 14th-gen (Raptor Lake Refresh) chips suffered serious stability problems with them. On top of that, the successor to Raptor Lake Refresh, Arrow Lake, also stumbled on launch with disappointing performance levels (particularly with gaming).

While Arrow Lake didn't recover its reputation with gamers in 2025 – and performance question marks remain on that front – these processors did gain favor in terms of their performance in professional and creative workloads (with some meaningful honing reported), and indeed for everyday use.

Not everyone is a gamer, of course, and late in the year, we witnessed Arrow Lake processors become a compelling purchase towards the budget end of the desktop CPU spectrum. Products like Intel's Core Ultra 5 245K looked very good value compared to rival AMD Ryzen processors as 2025 rolled to a close, and Team Blue is now delivering peppy levels of multi-core performance for not a lot of money (not much more than $200 in the US).

This represents a distinct turnaround – and perhaps even the start of a bigger turning point next year for Intel. Especially as people buying or building PCs may be looking to save money on other components like the CPU, as RAM and storage prices continue to be hiked in a ridiculous fashion.

Intel also announced an Arrow Lake Refresh (for 2026) late in the year, but there wasn't much to shout about here, as the next-gen range is looking like a minor performance bump. Nova Lake CPUs will be the true next generation for desktop chips (as Panther Lake is for laptops only, like Lunar Lake).

Big job cuts and big deals

As mentioned at the outset, there was a change of leadership for Intel as Lip-Bu Tan took the reins in March 2025.

Part of Tan's business strategy involved serious cost-cutting by enacting a series of major job losses, which included some 22,000 job cuts in April and 5,000 more in July. The stated goal was a 15% overall reduction in Intel staff, and "streamlining the number of management layers by about 50%" as part of a drive to "eliminate bureaucracy".

On top of that painful bedrock of streamlining came a bunch of deals that Tan cut. That included multi-billion dollar funding from the US government (in exchange for Intel stock), a deal with Softbank to the tune of $2 billion, as well as putting out feelers in terms of AI acquisitions to make some effort to catch up on that front. Intel has even reportedly been (and perhaps still is) talking to AMD about a plan to manufacture Ryzen chips for its big CPU rival (believe it or not – albeit not higher-end silicon).

However, Intel's most eye-opening deal for 2025 was with another major rival, Nvidia, whereby the latter pushed a huge $5 billion investment in Team Blue's direction. The partnership means that Intel will be manufacturing custom x86 CPUs for Nvidia's data center (AI) efforts, alongside consumer chips, too. The latter will be Intel SoCs with integrated Nvidia RTX GPU chiplets – although that does throw some question marks over how this will pan out in terms of Intel's own Arc integrated GPU efforts, of course.

Intel: in conclusion

There was a definite feeling of Intel regrouping this year, albeit at quite a cost in terms of major job losses. Clearly the new CEO has a vision, though, and those huge deals that were cut with Nvidia and the US government (and others besides) were critical to Intel's viability going forward.

Lunar Lake laptops proved popular this year, and rightly so, with Intel's revelation of Panther Lake promising even more along the same lines: powerful mobile processors that are seriously power-efficient, too.

The Celestial integrated graphics that Panther Lake packs are a particularly exciting development, given the potential of ushering in more wallet-friendly thin-and-light laptops that are capable of doing PC games justice. That said, there's something of a muddying of the GPU waters with that massive chip deal struck with Nvidia, where RTX chiplets provide the integrated graphics, not Intel's Arc range. (And the lack of any further Battlemage discrete releases since the Arc B570 casts doubt on Team Blue's desktop GPU ambitions, as well.)

However, with something of a resurgence in desktop processors, too – as Intel started to carve out territory for Arrow Lake in the more budget-friendly CPU space – it's clear that on balance, 2025 was a much better year for Intel compared to 2024. That said, there's plenty of work still to be done in terms of a fuller recovery here.

There's part of me that would like nothing more than to sit here and bask in the warm glow of multiple spot-on predictions for 2025. I saw the humanoid robot army coming, folding phones rise, more AI-ready local CPUs, more agents, smart glasses turning a big corner, and AI hardware collapsing; but gloating won't get you anywhere. It's time for me to turn my attention to the fast-approaching new year. What will 2026 bring to the technology table?

I have some ideas, and I considered for a moment making this a one-word article: 'AI.' It's more nuanced than that, of course. Developments across this vast and ever-expanding field, represented by that increasingly ubiquitous initialism, will be myriad.

When I consider 2026, my mind is stuffed full of possibilities and, not being an actual prophet, I have only my reasonably well-informed guesswork to go by. That's why, as I've done in previous years, I talked to my good friend and long-time industry watcher Tim Bajarin, who serves as chairman of the analyst group Creative Strategies, Inc.

Few people understand the tech industry and the tectonic shifts that periodically occur within it, better, and Bajarin has a unique ability to call BS on some of my wilder predictions. This year, I found we were mostly in alignment.

The AI of everything

You don't need me to tell you that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will continue its steady march into and through every part of our lives. There will be no bubble to burst, just bigger and better models, and some monetization through integrated advertising in our prompt results.

It's likely that OpenAI, the current generative AI market leader, will deliver GPT-6. This will be a massive leap in computational power and reasoning. Bajarin agreed, telling me he'd been "hearing it will be significant."

The question, though, is if this will be the first baby step in our long walk to Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the form of AI in which the systems think and act more like us.

Early this year, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the path to AGI was already solved; but since then, Altman has distanced himself from a declaration of achieving AGI partially because he thinks the term, perhaps like the soul or human consciousness, has lost meaning.

Maybe that's why Bajarin and I were a little out of alignment on AGI. I predicted we'd see the first clearly definable signs of it next year.

"Not in 2026. AGI still has a lot of work to be done on processing speed and software. My personal belief is we won’t see real AGI before 2028 at the earliest," Bajarin wrote to me via email.

The problem, as he explained it to me, is that these AI systems have yet to achieve something called "polymathic artificial general intelligence."

What is that? Imagine someone who understands music, art, physics, biology, theology and architecture, and, at a deep enough level, can think across these disciplines to reach new and fresh insights. Such a person is known as a polymath, and a true AGI should exhibit analogous qualities, albeit on an infinitely greater scale.

As Bajarin said, 2026 won't be the year for this momentous event. Guess we'll compare notes in 12 months.

A tight race

Not that there won't be some big changes in the AI race.

Even though there are multiple AI companies all vying for your prompts and attention, in 2026 we may see the race boil down to a head-to-head battle between the big two: OpenAI and Google.

Google will be laser-focused on pushing Gemini into everything. The thin dividing line between AI overviews and standard Google Search results will disappear, and eventually, you won't know if you're searching the knowledge graph or Gemini's big brain.

Meanwhile, ChatGPT's growth as a search engine of choice, often called just 'Chat' by loyal users, will, Bajarin agreed, help OpenAI draw "neck and neck" with Google.

There will be no clear winner, but their combined dominance may see other AI players fall or be consumed by rivals. Bajarin agreed, and said the consolidation was "inevitable."

One thing we will not see in 2026 is any real AI regulation, at least on US shores. In a way, this is to be expected. It's hard to regulate a world now running on AI Time. "Governments do not have a solid grasp on how to regulate, given the fast-moving AI developments," wrote Bajarin.

In a way, I almost feel for officials struggling to stay up to date. On the other hand, this is their job, and wholly unregulated AI development, especially if agentic AI really takes off and we get a glimmer of AGI, is a recipe for disaster.

Chip fallout

Elsewhere, the RAM crisis that began in 2025 will intensify in 2026, with supplies reaching record lows and prices skyrocketing. The winners will be companies that stockpiled low-cost RAM.

The losers, though, will be consumers who struggle to buy affordable graphics cards with enough RAM, or to upgrade underperforming systems with a RAM boost.

Most RAM is produced outside the US, in places like China and in Taiwan by TSMC. 2026 should be the year we hear more about efforts to build RAM manufacturing capabilities in the US, but that will have zero impact on supply and prices in 2026.

What say you, Nvidia

Nvidia's leadership position in the AI chip space will continue its global expansion (as long as the White House continues to allow it to sell those chips to places like China), and GPU fans will continue to suffer.

It's not clear to me if Nvidia has any real interest in developing consumer-grade products beyond the current RTX 50 Series lineup.

"This will become more important as 2026 develops," Bajarin wrote, and I think he's right. PC gaming fans' disenfranchisement will grow into deep frustration unless Nvidia can demonstrate some commitment to their market sector.

Windows, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm

The ARM desktop computing revolution has been something of a revelation for consumers who have long put up with powerful but power-sucking Intel CPUs, and thought they had to live with mediocre battery life.

I got on board years ago with my first M1 MacBook Air, and I'm now using the ultra-powerful M5-running MacBook Pro 14. I've also been impressed with what I've seen of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series Elite and Plus – those systems are matching Apple for performance and battery life. My prediction for 2026 is that Qualcomm's share of shipped and sold Windows Copilot PCs might become measurable.

In 2024, Qualcomm Windows PCs made up less than 1% of the market. Qualcomm claimed they accounted for 10% of systems selling for at least $800 in 2025, but Bajarin remains unconvinced that ARM-based Windows systems will move the needle that far in 2026. "It is picking up steam, but most of what we see are Intel and AMD-based PCs being shipped today."

That makes sense; but Intel's troubles, and AMD's sticking with more affordable systems make me think the opportunity for Snapdragon PCs in 2026 will be huge.

Apple's big year

I have a lot of thoughts about Apple, but let's start with the glasses. Apple CEO Tim Cook has been talking about augmented reality (AR) for years, and I'm sure he's trying to figure out how to reposition the Vision Pro, shifting it fully to the enterprise sector, while he makes room for iGlasses.

It's clear to me that, with Meta, Google, Samsung, Xreal, and others delivering compelling lightweight, eyeglass AR experiences, Apple can no longer wait to show its hand in this space.

"I think Apple glasses will be out by the end of 2026," says Bajarin in one of his bolder claims. "They have been working on AR glasses since 2017," he adds. "Just needed the right technology and is now close to having what they need for first-gen glasses."

That sounds exciting, but Apple had better deliver something that feels like more than 'first-gen'. If the glasses arrive in late 2026 (and if they do I think it would be in September, and they'd show up with just three new iPhone 18 handsets), they need to be as polished as the Vision Pro, as light as the Meta Ray Ban Display, and as affordable as Echo Frames.

It's possible we'll see the first glimpse of these Apple iGlasses at WWDC 2026, but we might have to wait until late in the year for commercial release (there's a chance they slip to 2027).

In the meantime, promised Android XR AI display frames will arrive, likely over the summer, and will quickly establish themselves among the must-have wearable gadgets of 2026.

No folding now

While I was starting work on this article, Samsung surprised with an early reveal of the Galaxy Z Trifold, with a promise to deliver it in South Korea this year, and in the US in 2026.

It's yet another sign from the foldable phone pacesetter that this form factor is here to stay, and will grow as a market around what Samsung and second-tier competitors like Google have built.

The competition will get more interesting this year, with Apple set to finally deliver its version of the iFold or iPhone Fold, or an iPad Fold (possibly both).

I'd like to say that Apple will learn its lesson from the Vision Pro, and will not price the folding iPhone Fold wildly out of reach for most consumers – but the fact that it has not yet relented on the Vision Pro price gives me less confidence here.

Google, Siri

On the AI front, it's no secret that Apple is rumored to be in deep discussion with Google about integrating Gemini into Siri (for a heavy licensing fee).

This is how Apple will finally deliver the Siri and Apple Intelligence it first promised almost two years ago. Bajarin agreed with me on this point, and so I turned the discussion more directly to Tim Cook and the subject of succession.

I fully expect Tim Cook to remain as CEO through 2026, but there will be some elevation of Hardware Engineering lead John Ternus to CEO-in-waiting. In recent months, Apple's executive suite has better resembled a revolving door, but that won't touch Cook or Ternus.

Bajarin agreed with my general assessment, but gave me a better reason for Cook sticking around, "AR glasses is his baby and [he] won’t leave until it is released and makes the impact he has envisioned for AR."

Don't forget the robots

The effort to bring humanoid robots to market in a big way will gather pace in 2026, kicked off early in the year when 1X delivers the first tranche of $20,000 Neo Betas to customers. But I predict a rough go for this brand, as early adopters will quickly grow frustrated with their robot's plodding capabilities. If you're happy with your robot taking 45 minutes to empty the dishwasher, you'll be fine.

The good news is that the pace of development will be fast (like some of those running robots that showed up late this year). Most of the major robotics companies are using AI to accelerate training, and these humanoids will become better than ever at navigating the unexpected.

Still, the hard reality is that we are years away from any of these robots being fully ready for home deployment. Bajarin agrees, telling me, "It's still 2-to-3 years away." That, I believe, is being generous.

The rest

Those are my major thoughts, but there will be so many other areas of movement, surprise, and controversy:

• AI actors will appear in more commercials and pop up, mostly as background players, in movies and TV shows. The actors' union will make a lot of noise, but I worry there won't be much they can do about it.
• The next version of Windows will be called Windows Copilot.
• OpenAI will continue to move fast and break things: GPT-6 will surely go too far in some respect, OpenAI will apologize, revise with GPT-6.1, and move on.
• Consumers will have to decide between OLED TVs and a new selection of micro RGB TVs promising more brightness and better colors with less filtering.
• 8K TVs will still fail to take off.
• Social media's impact will diminish as Gen Z and especially Gen Alpha reject it in favor of phone-free in-person relationships and activities. Footnote: TikTok's ownership and algorithm may still not be resolved.
• Sam Altman and Jony Ive will release their AI hardware to universal interest and buzz, but huge sales will not follow.
• AI-powered network attacks will increase, and may lead to big platform and cloud outages.

I know, it's a lot to think about. At this time of year my brain is a jumble of possibilities and prognostication, and I'm sure I've missed a few things, certainly some of your own pet topics. Plus, there are sure to be some big, genuine surprises in 2026. Whatever comes, I'm here for it. It's what I do.

• Intel’s sub-$200 CPUs now deliver performance once reserved for far pricier processors
• Core Ultra 5 chips pressure AMD by pairing clocks with multicore results
• AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900XT struggles to justify pricing against newer Intel alternatives

I've spotted something interesting in the low end of the desktop CPU market - right now, some of the fastest processors you can buy for around $200 come from Intel, not AMD, and the performance gap is uncomfortable enough to raise an intriguing question: Is Intel starting to look like the old AMD, the company that wins by offering more performance for less money?

The clearest example here is Intel’s Core Ultra 5 245KF. At a penny under $220 on Amazon, it delivers performance that would have seemed impossible at this price not so long ago.

With 14 cores split between six performance cores and eight efficiency cores, boost clocks up to 5.2GHz, and a PassMark score hovering around 43,000, it outpaces many older high-end chips that once cost far more.

Intel offers better value

Even better for buyers chasing value, this level of performance sits close to the $200 mark rather than drifting toward $300 or beyond.

There is also a slightly more expensive alternative in the Core Ultra 5 245K, which adds integrated Intel Graphics and moves to the newer LGA1851 platform. At a penny under $230 at Newegg, it undercuts most competing high-core-count CPUs while offering modern features like PCIe 5.0 support and large cache sizes.

This is the kind of balance users building general-purpose systems, workstations, or mid-range gaming PCs really want.

In comparison, AMD’s Ryzen 9 5900XT tells a very different story. It’s a capable processor with 16 cores and 32 threads, but based on the older Zen 3 architecture and limited to DDR4 and PCIe 4.0.

It’s selling for $309 at Amazon, and even discounted from its list price of $349, it struggles to justify the premium when newer Intel chips offer comparable or better everyday performance for far less money.

That pricing pressure matters. AMD built its comeback years ago by undercutting Intel with aggressive core counts and solid value.

Now Intel is doing something similar, flooding the lower price tiers with CPUs that deliver strong multi-threaded performance without demanding flagship pricing.

For everyday work, creative tasks, and heavy multitasking, the numbers increasingly favor Intel.

Newer Ryzen platforms still compete well at higher price points, and platform longevity remains a big strength for AMD of course, but in the sub-$200 to $230 range, Intel currently sets the pace.

• Intel B50 completes AI first-token tasks comparable to 4000 Blackwell performance
• Blender renders with the B50 remain functional, suitable for entry-level workflows
• Topaz Video AI tasks complete steadily with consistent performance across scenes

The professional GPU market has expanded rapidly in 2025, with Nvidia releasing its Blackwell generation and AMD updating its Radeon PRO lineup.

Intel has also entered the market, offering the B50 as a surprisingly capable option for budget-conscious professionals.

The performance of this chip does not match high-end Blackwell cards, yet it provides enough power to be relevant in certain professional workflows.

Performance across benchmarks

At about $300, many mini PC brands may find this chip appealing due to its lower cost and modest power requirements.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Intel B50 achieves first-token generation times in MLPerf comparable to a 4000 Blackwell, demonstrating that single-query AI tasks can run efficiently.

Sustained throughput aligns it with the 2000 Blackwell and Radeon W7600, providing a usable baseline for lighter machine learning workloads.

Blender’s cycles render benchmark shows the B50 trailing higher-end GPUs, but it remains capable of completing scenes, highlighting functional performance for entry-level 3D work.

For real-time engines such as Unreal and Unigine, the B50 produces playable frame rates suitable for basic visualization and preview tasks, while mid-tier Ada and Blackwell GPUs naturally outperform it.

In media editing applications, the card accelerates 2D workflows in After Effects and handles standard DaVinci Resolve timelines without issue.

GPU-intensive 3D effects show expected differences versus more powerful cards, yet the B50 still allows creative work to proceed in compact setups.

Topaz Video AI completes scenes at a moderate pace, and stability remains consistent across tasks.

CPU usage becomes a factor in certain AI-assisted and GPU-heavy effects, though the B50’s efficiency permits experimentation in machine learning and video inference at a low cost.

AMD’s RDNA3 cards continue to provide higher throughput for a similar price, yet Intel offers a viable option for creators seeking functionality without significant investment.

Users requiring modest acceleration can achieve practical results without multi-thousand-dollar hardware.

Intel’s B50 occupies an unusual niche in professional GPUs. It cannot rival Blackwell or high-end AMD GPUs in raw performance, offline rendering, or sustained AI workloads.

Yet its $300 price and low power draw make it suitable for entry-level content creation or compact PC builds.

For budget-conscious or space-constrained users, the B50 offers a surprisingly capable alternative able to handle lighter professional workloads efficiently.

Via PugetSystems

• Intel moves toward SambaNova as competitors gain ground in AI hardware
• DeepSeek’s rapid progress intensifies urgency around Intel’s acquisition strategy
• SambaNova showcases its hardware strength through DeepSeek model deployment claims

AMD and Nvidia’s growing influence in artificial intelligence hardware has put pressure on Intel, prompting it to pursue the acquisition of SambaNova Systems.

The company has signed a term sheet that outlines a potential deal, according to sources who spoke to Wired.

The agreement remains non-binding, and it can still be withdrawn without penalty. Intel and SambaNova have not issued any official public statement regarding the deal.

Intel's interest in SambaNova is linked to DeepSeek's success

Deliberations remain in early stages, and the timeline for regulatory checks, financial reviews, and detailed negotiations may extend for months.

The backdrop to Intel’s interest includes rapid advances by companies such as DeepSeek, which drew wide attention in 2025 for the performance of its R1 model.

The model has demonstrated reasoning capabilities competitive with leading systems while maintaining lower operating costs.

SambaNova recently announced what it describes as the fastest deployment of the DeepSeek-R1 671B model using its custom hardware.

The company claims it achieved 198 tokens per second for each user with only sixteen of its processors, replacing configurations that would normally require extensive GPU racks.

SambaNova was founded in 2017 by a group of Stanford-affiliated researchers and an experienced Oracle executive.

The company secured $1.14 billion in funding by early 2025 and reached a valuation of $5 billion during a SoftBank-led round in 2021.

Its shift toward inference-focused systems marked a strategic response to Nvidia’s dominance in model training hardware.

The startup now offers both cloud-based and on-premises solutions and reduced its workforce earlier this year.

Reports indicate that SambaNova could be sold at a price below its previous valuation, although the exact terms remain undisclosed.

Intel’s potential acquisition may be influenced by its existing connections, since its CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, previously held senior roles within SambaNova.

The company recently received substantial US government support, and discussions have surfaced about the government potentially taking a stake in Intel itself.

These developments create an environment in which strategic purchases gain additional relevance.

There are also reports that the startup is in discussion with other prospective buyers, which implies that Intel is not alone in the race, and there could be another bidder.

• Ukrainian civilians are suing Intel, AMD, and TI, alleging their chips ended up in Russian weapons
• Lawsuit claims “willful ignorance,” citing third‑party resellers and attacks that killed civilians
• Firms deny wrongdoing, saying they halted Russia sales and comply with all export sanctions

Three giants of the US computer hardware industry - Intel, AMD, and Texas Instruments - are being sued by “dozens” of Ukrainian civilians. The plaintiffs are arguing that these companies decided to look the other way whilst Russia used their hardware to build bombs which later killed Ukrainian citizens.

According to Bloomberg, the plaintiffs are being represented by an American law firm, Baker Hostetler, and are saying the three firms demonstrated “willful ignorance” since Russia was able to buy the hardware from third parties to whom the three firms sold their products.

Among the third parties is Mouser Electronics which allegedly helped Russian proxies obtain the hardware. Its VP of Marketing, Kevin Hess, told Bloomberg that the company did not want to discuss the matter over media, but rather - in the courtroom.

Google employees against warfare

Bloomberg says, citing filings which aren’t public yet, that the plaintiffs detailed five attacks between 2023 and 2025 that killed “dozens” of people, and in at least one of those incidents, Iranian-made drones were used, which also contained Intel and AMD parts.

“These companies know their chip technology is making its way into Russia,” Watts, a veteran US mass-tort lawyer, said at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday morning.

Intel, on the other hand, told TechRadar Pro that it doesn’t do business in Russia, suspended all shipments to the country (and to Belarus) when the war started, and is operating “in strict accordance with export laws, sanctions and regulations in the US and every market in which we operate, and we hold our suppliers, customers, and distributors accountable to these same standards.”

Texas Instruments and AMD are yet to officially comment on the news, but both have said in the past that they fully comply with sanctions requirements, and that they stopped doing business in Russia with the start of the war.

Via Cybernews

• Intel was found guilty of anticompetitive behavior between 2002 and 2006
• The original fine was cut from €1.06 billion to €376 million, now €237 million
• It's unclear whether Intel will pay, or whether it plans to appeal again

Intel lost its appeal against an EU antitrust ruling over anticompetitive behavior, but the original €376 million fine set out in 2023 has been reduced by around €140 million to soften the blow, per Reuters reporting.

The new fine of €237 million has been judged to be more proportionate to the scale and timeframe of the violations.

This case in particular relates to payments Intel was found guilty of making to HP, Acer, and Lenovo between 2002 and 2006 to delay or altogether stop the use of AMD components in their devices.

Intel's EU antitrust fine has been reduced

Despite the drop in penalty amount, we can't take it as confirmation that the case will have a line drawn under it. Intel was initially issued a much bigger €1.06 billion fine in 2009, which was thrown out of court in 2023, making this an extremely drawn-out legal battle.

"An amount of 237,105,540 euros is a more appropriate reflection of the gravity and duration of the infringement at issue," the Luxembourg-based court noted.

In 2023, when the 2009 billion-dollar fine was reduced to 'just' €376.36 million, Commissioner Didier Reynders said: "Our decision shows the Commission’s commitment to ensure that very serious antitrust breaches do not go unsanctioned."

Intel's payments to stifle AMD sales were classified as 'naked restrictions', which the EU rules as "an abuse of dominant market position."

After a troubling couple of years, dwindling sales, competition from Nvidia in the AI market, and a near-$9 billion investment from the US government in aid of supporting American manufacturing, Intel is now readying its next-generation Panther Lake (Intel Core Ultra series 3) laptop processors destined for higher-end AI PCs.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan emphasized Panther Lake's significant in "build[ing] a new Intel."

"We are pleased that the General Court acknowledged several of Intel’s key arguments in this latest stage of the proceedings, resulting in a substantial reduction of the fine. We will carefully review the judgment to determine whether there are grounds to appeal to the European Court of Justice," an Intel spokesperson told TechRadar Pro.

• Intel confirms plans to keep its NEX business in-house
• The company was looking for buyers in July 2025
• NEX is key to its AI, data center, and edge strategy

Intel has reportedly changed its mind with regards to selling of its Networking and Communications (NEX) unit after previously exploring strategic options like a sale or a spin-off.

The US chipmaker has decided that greater long-term value will come from selling products and platforms - rather than divesting the business.

By keeping the NEX unit in-house, Intel will have tighter control over silicon, software, and systems - ultimately benefitting its AI, data center, and edge offerings.

Intel wants to keep its NEX business after all

Earlier in July, we reported that Intel was seeking buyers for its NEX business as part of its profitability plans. “We plan to establish key elements of our Networking and Communications business as a stand-alone company,” an Intel spokesperson said at the time.

In fiscal 2024, NEX accounted for around 11% of Intel’s entire revenue (or $5.8 billion of the $53.1 billion it made in the 12-month period).

However, despite slow growth, the unit is now being considered as a key asset in the company’s portfolio.

“After a thorough review of strategic options for NEX – including a potential standalone path – we determined the business is best positioned to succeed within Intel,” the company said (via Reuters).

“Keeping NEX in-house enables tighter integration between silicon, software and systems, strengthening customer offerings across AI, data center, and edge.”

In recent months, though, Intel’s financial position has drastically improved. It traded around 10% of the company for around $8.9 billion from the US government. $2 billion and $5 billion investments from SoftBank and Nvidia have also been crucial.

Intel shares are up 102% this year to date.

• A leak has surfaced for the rumored Intel Core Ultra X7 358H
• This Panther Lake CPU is shown with a strong Geekbench graphics score
• It's better than a previous leak by 7%, which indicates Intel's driver honing is coming along nicely with Panther Lake

Intel's incoming Panther Lake laptop CPUs are once again stirring up excitement as another leak paints a picture of fast-performing chips when it comes to graphics and gaming.

As Wccftech reports, this is a Geekbench leak for the Core Ultra X7 358H 16-core CPU, a Panther Lake offering in a Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro which somebody benchmarked.

The Core Ultra X7 358H has Xe3 integrated graphics – meaning Battlemage (B390) – and managed to hit a score of 57,000 in the OpenCL test, which is pretty nippy indeed. It's also notably 7% faster than a previous Geekbench leak for this Core Ultra X7 358H processor.

Why the considerable improvement? That's down to Intel's honing and driver improvements for the GPU as it gets nearer to release. Panther Lake is expected to debut in laptops early in 2026, and what's exciting here is that we could have more performance boosts before these mobile CPUs are in notebooks on the shelves.

The rumored spec of the Core Ultra X7 358H is that the chip has a 12-core Xe3 integrated GPU, with the processor itself sporting four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and four low-power efforts, for a total of 16-cores. (Although discounting the low-power cores, which are tiny, it's a 12-core processor).

Analysis: Panther Lake promise

With the Xe3 integrated graphics pitching in at the 57,000 mark in OpenCL, this means the Panther Lake CPU outguns the RTX 3050 discrete laptop GPU by over 10% or so. In other words, we're looking at something equal to the RTX 3050 Ti here, and if we get further performance improvements before the launch of Panther Lake, this Xe3 GPU may even edge out that standalone Nvidia GPU.

This once again illustrates the kind of leaps which are being made with graphics solutions that are baked into processors, allowing for very thin-and-light gaming laptops which can be more affordable. Remember, a standalone GPU takes up space in a laptop chassis, requires more effort around cooling, and pushes up the total cost of the device, too.

Not to mention that the Xe3 graphics here is using far less wattage than the likes of an Nvidia RTX 3050 typically does – which is 60W to 80W, whereas the whole chip only uses that with the Core Ultra X7 358H (depending on the laptop configuration in both cases, mind). This should translate into considerably better battery life with Intel's Arc integrated solution, there's no doubt about that.

Granted, Geekbench is not the first benchmark I'd turn to when evaluating the gaming prowess of any graphics card, but it does offer some indication of where the performance levels of the GPU lie. Indeed, we may see synthetic gaming benchmarks – or actual in-game tests – show that this Panther Lake chip has even more oomph to give than is suggested here.

This imminent range of mobile processors from Intel is looking a strong contender to seriously pep up budget gaming laptops in terms of both efficiency (battery) and performance. Indeed they'll be even better news for handhelds, which are more restricted still in the claustrophobic confines of their compact form-factors.

• Ex-employee Jinfeng Luo accused of stealing around 18,000 secret Intel files
• Luo worked with Intel for around a decade before being let go
• Attempts to locate Luo have been unsuccessful so far

Former Intel software engineer Jinfeng Luo has been accused of stealing around 18,000 Intel files, including data labelled “Top Secret,” upon leaving the company, per The Mercury News.

Luo joined the company in 2014 and received notice of termination in July 2024, but the company has since gone after the former worker with a lawsuit to recover its files.

The report claims Luo had tried to copy files a week before leaving, but this was successful blocked by the company’s security measures.

Intel’s top secrets have been stolen

Despite initial failure, Luo managed to transfer files to a network-attached storage device three days before departure.

Intel was said to have detected these transfers soon after, before spending a number of months calling, emailing and sending letters to the former employee, but to no avail.

The company is now seeking $250,000 in damages as well as for all the stolen files to be returned – a process it’s already familiar with after another former employee was found guilty of copying information illegally before moving to Microsoft.

As of the time of writing, Luo is still MIA and has not responded to any allegations.

Intel declined to comment.

More broadly, Intel revenue is finally starting to climb as share prices continue to head in the right direction. The company saw a 3% year-over-year rise in revenue last quarter after preceding quarters of flat, flat and decline.

Investors are also starting to see some returns – shares are up 78% in three months, though today’s $38.85 valuation is still far below the near-$70 highs of 2021.

• OpenSFI aims to standardize how CPUs and firmware talk across architectures
• ByteDance’s participation signals rare cooperation between Chinese and U.S. tech giants
• The project could simplify cross-vendor firmware integration for future chip generations

A new collaboration between leading chipmakers and cloud firms will bring together AMD, Arm, Intel, Google, ByteDance, Microsoft, MiTAC, HPE, and others to create a more unified firmware foundation.

The initiative, known as openSFI (Open Silicon Firmware Interface), seeks to define a single, architecture-neutral interface for how host firmware communicates with CPU silicon during initialization and operation.

The project is notable for its broad membership, as ByteDance stands out as the only Chinese participant among American and European technology giants.

How openSFI fits into the firmware stack

The openSFI project builds upon and complements AMD’s ongoing openSIL effort, which aims to replace the proprietary AGESA codebase for silicon initialization with a transparent, open-source alternative.

Within this new structure, openSFI acts as a unified layer sitting atop AMD’s openSIL and Intel’s FSP (Firmware Support Package).

In effect, it serves as a shared abstraction point that lets host firmware call standardized functions without concern for the underlying silicon vendor.

This approach could streamline platform development, reduce redundant engineering, and allow firmware to be reused across different CPUs.

The published openSFI 0.3 specification lays out the project’s design principles and integration model, noting its goal is to, “enable modular, scalable, and vendor-agnostic integration of silicon into host firmware environments.”

The specification emphasizes a stable API contract for host firmware to call silicon initialization functions predictably and consistently.

It also outlines the primary objectives of openSFI: unifying silicon initialization interfaces, simplifying firmware integration, and promoting reusability between vendors to cut validation costs and improve sustainability.

ByteDance’s involvement is notable in a field often dominated by Western and Japanese semiconductor firms.

By joining openSFI, ByteDance opens an unusual level of engagement between a Chinese tech firm and major U.S. semiconductor companies.

Although the ambition is promising, there is no information on how openSFI will be adopted across competing hardware ecosystems.

Previous attempts at firmware standardization have struggled due to differing vendor interests and evolving hardware platforms.

Still, the shared backing of major chip and data center firms gives openSFI a stronger starting point than past efforts.

• Windows 10 end of life means only newer hardware can stay fully supported
• Older Intel and AMD chips will lose security and compatibility updates
• Check processor generation before buying new or used computers

Windows 10 has finally reached its end of its life and users looking to buy a new or second-hand computer need to be careful.

Any PC without Windows 11 support will no longer receive updates, leaving it exposed to security risks and compatibility problems. Provided you’re running a good antivirus and anti-malware program that won’t be too much of an issue short term, but it will be down the line.

Windows 11 introduced stricter hardware requirements than any previous version of Microsoft’s operating system. This includes needing TPM 2.0 support, Secure Boot compatibility, and built-in security mitigations.

Check your processor

Because of these restrictions, many older CPUs simply can’t run Windows 11.

That includes many systems running Intel’s 7th generation Core processors and older, as well as early AMD Ryzen chips.

These restrictions mean that older processors lack the underlying design features to meet Microsoft’s new security and reliability goals.

For Intel, Windows 11 compatibility begins with the 8th generation Core series and newer, so includes all i3, i5, i7, and i9 chips from 2017 onwards, as well as modern Xeon and Core Ultra processors.

Anything older, such as 6th or 7th generation Core models, are not officially supported (the exception is the Core i7-7820HQ, found in a few laptops that shipped with newer driver frameworks).

The same is true for older AMD chips. Only Ryzen 2000 series processors and later meet Windows 11’s baseline.

First-generation Ryzen 1000 processors, as well as older FX and A-series chips, don’t, nor do some early Ryzen Mobile ones.

If you’re considering a second hand PC, check what processor it has. Desktops or laptops built before 2018 likely won’t qualify for official Windows 11 updates, no matter how fast they feel.

Windows 11 can be manually installed on some unsupported systems (there are workarounds), but of course Microsoft frowns upon the idea.

If you’re not sure whether the PC you’re considering buying has the right hardware, you can check the list of supported Intel chips here, and the AMD equivalent here.

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Intel changed the game in 1985 with the launch of its 386 CPU, ushering in the age of the 32-bit processor and paving the way for the lofty performance heights we take for granted today.

Originally released as the 80386 before being renamed as the i386, it was a third-generation x86 microprocessor, developed in collaboration with AMD and IBM.

The launch was a significant milestone for Intel, largely due to the poor reception of its predecessor, which Bill Gates famously described as “brain dead”.

Initially clocking in at speeds of 16 MHz - and eventually 33 MHz - the Intel 386 marked a step change for the company. First and foremost, it doubled the number of transistors compared to its predecessor to 275,000 while also boasting an on-chip memory management unit.

This powerful bit of kit could handle up to 4GB of memory, which for its time is impressive, and allowed for switching between three modes: ‘protected’ mode, ‘real’ mode, and ‘virtual’ mode.

The 386 proved a major hit globally, and quickly became the go-to CPU for an array of workstations and personal computers. In 1991, sales of the CPU accounted for around half of Intel’s total annual revenue, which may have been a relief given the company spent around $100 million developing the chip.

Its longevity is also a notable aspect of its success. While public use waned toward the end of the 1980s with the arrival of new processors, it still remained in use in embedded systems up until around 2007.

A deep dive into the make up of the 386

3D X-ray technology company, Lumafield, performed a CT scan on the chip on behalf of computer history blogger, Ken Shirriff. The resulting images give a fascinating glimpse into the make up of the CPU.

As Shirriff noted in a blog post, the scan produced hundreds of images that were eventually pulled together into a 3D model, allowing users to pull back the layers and see under the hood.

Starting with the package, Shirriff commented that this “provides no hint of the complex wiring embedded inside the ceramic”.

As the folks at Tom’s Hardware noted, it’s once you get deeper down that you see where the iconic chip’s power came from.

“It’s essentially a six-layer circuit board in miniature. Two internal layers carry the signals while four dedicated copper planes deliver clean, stable power and ground to different sections of the chip,” Hassam Nasir writes.

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• Intel has announced XeSS 3 upscaling and XeSS Multi-Frame Generation
• Its take on MFG will work with older GPUs - even Xe1 integrated graphics
• This is a big advantage over Nvidia's MFG, and with Panther Lake chips due as 2026 arrives, there are exciting possibilities on the horizon

Intel has taken the wraps off its next-gen XeSS tech to boost frame rates with its Arc (and Xe) GPUs, and Team Blue is following in Nvidia's footsteps with its own take on Multi-Frame Generation (MFG).

VideoCardz reports that Intel announced XeSS 3 upscaling and XeSS-MFG, which facilitates multi-frame interpolation, meaning that the feature inserts multiple AI-generated frames in between the (real) frames rendered by the GPU.

This artificially boosts the frame rate, of course, and XeSS-MFG will offer up to 4x frame generation (meaning three AI frames for every real one, to quadruple the frame rate).

The welcome twist with Intel's MFG tech is that it's going to be backwards compatible with older Arc GPUs, which means the Arc Alchemist 1st-gen desktop graphics cards - and Xe2 integrated GPUs (and eventually Xe1, too).

There was no release date revealed for XeSS 3 plus MFG, but it's expected to debut next year.

Analysis: making the panther sprint faster

To be more precise, XeSS 3 with MFG is expected to be part of Intel's grand plan to pep up mobile CPUs along with Panther Lake. Those Intel Core Ultra series 3 processors for laptops (and handhelds) will see "broad market availability starting January 2026", Intel also told us in a press release.

So, Panther Lake with integrated Xe3 graphics is already expected to 'set a new standard' and provide over 50% faster graphics performance compared to Xe2 - a big leap, and one that can be made into an even bigger jump when you throw frame generation into the equation (with supported games, that is).

In short, next year we could see some very compelling wallet-friendly gaming laptops packing Intel chips with seriously powerful integrated GPUs (not to mention fast thin-and-light gaming notebooks and peppy handhelds, too).

Intel is also claiming a notable achievement in that it'll be the first GPU maker to allow previous generations of its graphics cards to use MFG - Nvidia is the only firm offering MFG right now, but the feature remains exclusive to its most recent RTX 5000 GPUs.

AMD has frame generation, but has not entered the Multi-Frame Generation race just yet - though it's expected to do so with its next-gen take on FSR codenamed ‘Redstone’.

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