Intel Arrow Lake Refresh is back in the rumour mill as new information indicates that these upcoming chips may not offer much to the majority of users. Processors based on this design will mainly focus on improving AI performance compared to the current generation, rendering them a bit niche for an upgrade.
Arrow Lake Refresh rumours continue to be all over the place with some claiming Intel has gone back to the drawing board and others touting significant updates offering double Skymont cores – jumping from 16 to 32. The latter would have been the most encouraging, resulting in a massive 40-core chip when adding the eight multi-tasking Lion Cove performance cores. However, these changes seem to no longer be on the menu as leaker Golden Pig claims otherwise.
For some reason, Intel will seemingly pursue the AI route, only boosting its NPU (Neural Processing Unit) capabilities to the detriment of general compute performance. If correct, Intel will likely target at least 48 TOPS of performance on said NPU to mirror its Core Ultra 200V mobile chips and cover Microsoft Copilot requirements. For reference, the flagship Core Ultra 285K CPU carries a mere 13 TOPS NPU, resulting in up to 36 TOPS of total AI power when factoring in the CPU’s 15 TOPS and the iGPU’s eight TOPS.
Lastly, the leaker added that Arrow Lake Refresh should arrive on both Desktop S-series and mobile HX-series lineups, probably with minimal changes to suit the lower power targets of laptops.
With Intel expected to launch its Panther Lake CPUs this year and Nova Lake in 2026, Arrow Lake could take the second half of 2025 to fill the gap until its replacement is ready. The good, news is that this refresh would technically boost the LGA1851 support/longevity, offering another year. But, without many improvements for regular users, success could be on the line.
