Intel Panther Lake processors delayed until 2026 — new roadmap

It looks like the rumors about the Panther Lake delay are true. Intel will officially launch the processors in the fall, but regular customers will see them only next year.

During a special event in China, Intel unveiled its latest Core Ultra products, as well as the current roadmap. The company is going to launch the next generation of Core Ultra chips, known as Panther Lake, in the first quarter of 2026. In fact, Intel has once again chosen a stretched launch tactic: the mass launch is scheduled for next year, but the EEP (early access program for manufacturers) should start this fall.

According to news estimate intel 18A Panther Lake will HVM in September and will launch in October , start EEP (Early Enablement Program) limit supply to OEM , will be available on the market Q1 2026 (actually Jan) . pic.twitter.com/9rbV9cdgjO

— meng (@meng59739449) March 14, 2025

Industry insiders confirm that the launch of the Core Ultra 300 series should be similar to the launch of Lunar Lake, for which the number of product announcements increased only around CES 2025, although the platform was officially launched three months earlier. Panther Lake design will be a successor, but not a follower of Lunar Lake. Intel has confirmed that Lunar Lake with a memory-on-a-substrate design was the last such chip, and it currently has no plans for MoP in the Panther or Nova Lake lines.

Intel’s Lunar Lake processors have generally been a success, although received a lot of complaints at the launch, as well as fierce competition from AMD. Their advantages include low-power consumption and powerful graphics, which have even found their way into portable consoles. Earlier it was reported that Panther Lake delayed until 2026 due to low yield of usable chips on the 18A process. The delayed release on the market neither directly confirms nor denies these rumors.

Source: VideoCardz