The latest rumour claims that upcoming Intel Nova Lake chips are the desktop successors of Arrow Lake since Panther Lake will be exclusive to mobile. Expected for 2026, these CPUs will likely be manufactured using Intel’s 16/14A or TSMC’s N2P node.
According to Jaykihn0 on X, the current release order will be Arrow Lake, Arrow Lake Refresh, and then Nova Lake. The latter reportedly offers a 40% single-threaded uplift over its predecessor. The leaker added that Panther Lake will be mobile-only like Meteor Lake.
With the new LGA-1851 platform closing in, Intel will have to clarify how many CPU generations it intends to support. Since Arrow Lake Refresh is likely just a slight tweak to the original and Panther Lake is no longer a candidate, it seems logical that Nova Lake will be the next on desktop. And, with AMD announcing AM5 support beyond 2027, Intel has no choice but to offer the same – or better – to stay relevant.
Though information is still scarce, Nova Lake is due in the second half of 2026, offering more than 60% IPC uplift compared to Raptor Lake. Rumours suggest the highest models will pack up to 16 P-cores, 32 E-cores, and four LP E-cores. They also reportedly include up to 180MB of LLC (last level) cache, which will be handy in fighting AMD’s Zen 7. Moreover, according to Moore’s Law Is Dead, Intel is also working on an AMD 3D-V-Cache competitor carrying more LLC, scheduled for the first half of 2027.
Regarding Panther Lake, word on the street talks about up to a 4+8+4 (P/E/LP-E cores) design, utilising a tile layout similar to Nova Lake.
As usual, take these rumours with a grain of salt, especially as launch dates are years away. What is sure is that higher core counts and cache amounts seem to be the way both teams are choosing to improve performance.
