Intel has announced the launch of its Core Ultra processors at its AI Everywhere event, held in New York today (December 14th). Intel’s new range of mobile CPUs arrives just a little after the announcement of AMD’s 8040 series APUs, also aimed at the mobile market as both companies look to gain favor with ‘AI-capable’ chips that customers can use for everything from productivity to AI-specific applications and…streaming Netflix. So should you be looking to buy Intel Core Ultra products then read on.
When can you buy Core Ultra laptops? Now
The important thing is there’s no waiting around: users have the chance to buy Core Ultra laptops right now, as the new processors have launched into products, sitting at the core of 230 of what Intel is calling the ‘world’s first AI PCs’. Thanks to its healthy partner list including the likes of Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Google, and Microsoft, the new processors built using the Intel 4 process offer are more than a step forward in processing power.
Intel views the new line of arts, formerly known as ‘Metor Lake’ as integral to a market it says will be 80% AI PCs by 2028. What Intel means is that there will be an influx of PCs and laptops ready to handle local AI workloads in applications and operating systems. Although Core Ultra processors are also part of a wider ‘AI everywhere‘ push by the company.
Where to buy Intel Core Ultra laptops – US
Below is an initial list of where you can buy the new Core Ultra laptops from Intel partners. We’ll be growing this list out as soon as we can, so do check back for more options.
Best Buy
- MSI Prestige 13” OLED Laptop – Intel Core Ultra 7, Intel ARC Graphics, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD – Stellar Gray – $1,299.00
- MSI Prestige 16” Laptop – Intel Core Ultra 9, Intel ARC Graphics, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD – Stellar Gray – $1,449.99
- MSI Prestige 16” Laptop – Intel Core Ultra 9, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD – Stellar Gray – $2,299.99
- MSI Prestige 16” Laptop – Intel Core Ultra 9, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 32GB RAM – 1TB SSD – Stellar Gray – $1,899.99
- MSI Prestige 16” Laptop – Intel Core Ultra 7, Intel ARC Graphics, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD – Stellar Gray – $1,399.99
- ASUS ZenBook 14″ Touch Laptop – Intel MTL Ultra 7 CPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD – Ponder Blue – $1,299.99
Newegg
- MSI Prestige 13 AI EVO 13.3″ QHD+ OLED Ultra Thin and Light Professional Laptop Intel Core Ultra 5-125H ARC Graphics 16GB LPDDR5 512GB NVMe SSD – $1,049.00
- MSI Prestige 13 AI EVO 13.3″ QHD+ OLED Ultra Thin and Light Professional Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7-155H ARC Graphics 16GB LPDDR5 1TB NVMe SSD – $1,299.00
- MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO 16″ QHD+ Ultra Thin Professional Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7-155H ARC Graphics 32GB LPDDR5 1TB NVMe SSD – $1,399.00
- MSI Prestige 16 AI EVO 16″ UHD+ OLED Ultra Thin Professional Laptop Intel Core Ultra 7-155H ARC Graphics 32GB LPDDR5 2TB NVMe SSD – $1,649.00
Intel Core Ultra ‘wins’
Intel’s made a few claims about its new processors in a hefty media presentation, and we’re currently combing through it – but here are the headline claims.
Speed – The company is claiming an average 11 percent speed advantage over AMD Ryzen products at similar power – although we’ll note Intel is using AMD’s 7840U, and not the latest announced gen.
Power efficiency – The presentation also offers a 25% power reduction vs last-gen Intel mobile CPUs, as well as a hefty 79% ‘less power’ claim vs AMD’s 7840U.
Graphics performance – There’s also a claimed up to 2x faster graphics performance vs 13th gen Intel Core i7 mobile processors, pretty impressive if for example, Intel’s 100% and 95% performance improvements in the likes of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Resident Evil: Village respectively are demonstrative of progress. That’s thanks to intel’s embedded ARC GPU technology – which we hope to see more of for desktop systems too.
What’s new with Core Ultra processors?
Intel calls the launch the “largest cultural shift in 40 years”, and there are some technical reasons behind it, not just the fact that the new processors will be primed for AI needs. Preparing for AI to touch every corner of technological lives, Core Ultra chips are based around a CPU with dedicated AI acceleration, integrated Intel Arc GPU, and a neural processing unit (NPU). Built on the Intel 4 process, they’ll also bring a new performance-core (P-core) structure with more instructions per clock for better productivity. Alongside that, Core Ultra processors have new Efficient-cores (E-cores) and low-power Efficient cores (LP E-cores).
What is the highest Core Ultra processor?
The highest level of Core Ultra processor is the Core Ultra 9, following the trend of previous Intel Core-i series processors where the Core i9 was the top level. Below the Core Ultra 9 are the Core Ultra 7 and Core Ultra 5.
