At CES 2026, Intel introduced Core Ultra Series 3, The first AI-PC platform built using 18A technology, which Intel says is the world's best process.
According to the company, Series 3 will offer a new class of Intel Core Ultra X9 and X7 processors. The flagship Ultra Series 3 devices will have up to 16 CPU cores, 12 efficiency cores and 50 NPU cores, delivering up to 60 percent better multi-threaded performance, more than 77 percent faster gaming performance and up to 27 hours of battery life.
This is a comparison of Lunar Lake against the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and Intel Core Ultra 9 288V using Cinebench, Geomean and others. If you're confused about SKUs, you're not the only one. During a Q&A with reporters, Intel provided more details about the various SKUs. While Lunar Lake uses the “V” SKU and Arrow Lake provides SKUs H and X, Panther Lake 2026 will use SKU H for 10-core devices, and 6-core devices will not have either of the letter SKUs. For comparison, Intel says the Intel Core X9 388H was tuned to have the same power as the Intel Core Ultra 9 288V, so it was more of an apples-to-apples comparison.
This SOC also provides up to 80 TOPS, up to 120 GPU TOPS and up to 95 GB RAM.
Pre-orders for the first laptops powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors begin tomorrow, January 6, with additional models available throughout the first quarter of the year. Intel Core Ultra Series 3 will be used in more than 200 developments from partners around the world.
Update: 01/05/26: During a Q&A with reporters, Intel provided more details on how Lunar Lake compares to Panther Lake.
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