- Intels Panther Lake -lineup does not come to consumers before Q1 2026, according to a leaked presentation slide
- This comes after the expected full launch at the end of 2025 but it is only for the early activation program
- Rumors suggest that the delay is due to Intel’s 18A production process
Intels Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200 processors are already here, present across powerful laptops (such as MSI Prestige Evo AI+ lineup) and handheld (especially MSI Claw 8 AI+). Now it’s time to look forward to Team Blue’s Panther Lake -lineup – but it may not come as soon as it originally promised.
As reported by Videocardz, a leaked slide from a special event in China has apparently revealed that Intels Panther Lake processors are not launched before Q1 2026, while its EEP (early activation program) starts later this year in preparation. This is unlike former temporary CEO Michelle Holthaus’ previous confirmation of the launch and availability of the set -up in the second half of 2025, indicating a delay. In the end, this means that consumers may have to wait until 2026 to get their hands on Intel Panther Lake-powered products.
The reasons for the delay are reportedly stemming from difficulties with CEO TEAM BLUE’s 18A making process with regard to the original production plan. It is not exactly clear why this delay is in place, but if the setback is significant enough, it may have an impact on Intel’s location in the market (especially up against AMD).
We know that AMD still has its Ryzen AI 400 series processors to advertise and we still don’t know if it will launch at the same time as Intels Panther Lake.
It is also worth noting that Team Red’s Ryzen AI 300 series APUs have already made huge jumps in Processing Power, especially Ryzen AI 395+ MAX -so if its new lineup arrives in Q1 2026, it will be interesting to see how it messes against Panther Lake Chips using the XE3 architecture.
What does that mean for handheld games -PCs?
With Intel’s core Ultra 7 258V processor, we have seen the new MSI Claw 8 AI+ (the same chip is also used in Dell’s XPS 13 -bearable computer) Work Wonders to provide huge improvements in games -especially in comparison to the previous MSI Claw A1m. Spoiler: It wasn’t good.
With Panther Lake processors that are now on the (somewhat distant) horizon, I hope we can get even stronger games -ultrabooks and handheld games -PCs based on these new chips. Intel’s technical marketing vice president, Robert Hallock, confirmed Team Blue’s plans to support game handhelds (as reported by laptopmag), and this could work perfectly for competition.
AMDS RYZEN Z2 Extreme is scheduled for ‘Early 2025’ as part of the Ryzen AI 300 series – it will be used for handheld as Lenovo Legion Go 2 (still a prototype), but it is still not clear when it will be launched. It looks like it will compete with the Core Ultra 7 258V processor, which could end up being a good indication of how both Team Red and Team Blue’s upcoming lineups could appear against each other.
I hope both lineups give drastic leaps in power for handhelds everywhere, which further places handheld games within the limelight where it belongs – let’s just hope these delays do not make it a long wait …
