[News] First Intel Wildcat Lake Laptops Near Launch; Reportedly Built on 18A, Taking Aim at Apple’s MacBook Neo

The first laptops powered by Intel’s “Wildcat Lake” Core Series 300 processors for the entry-level PC segment are reportedly nearing launch. According to Wccftech, Intel Core Series 3 laptops could hit retail shelves as early as next week, with initial models including 14-inch and 16-inch designs from Honor and ASUS, while more OEMs are expected to follow.

Chinese media outlet Mydrivers notes that the Honor Notebook X14 2026 Combat Edition will be the first commercially available laptop based on Intel’s Wildcat Lake platform, featuring an Intel Core 5 320 processor. Another Wccftech report notes that the device comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X 7467 MT/s memory, double the capacity of Apple’s MacBook Neo, along with a 512GB SSD. By comparison, the Neo starts at 256GB of storage and tops out at 512GB.

Intel’s Wildcat Lake Targets AI PCs With Better Battery Life

The SoC package integrates two dies, with the primary die built on Intel’s 18A node, according to TechPowerUp. This die features a 6-core CPU configuration, NPU 5 delivering 40 TOPS of INT8 performance, and a GPU with up to two Xe3 cores. It also integrates the memory controller and cache pool. Meanwhile, Intel dedicates the second die to I/O functions, the report adds.

Wccftech notes that Intel’s Core Series 3 emphasizes AI capability and battery efficiency, marking the company’s first hybrid AI-ready Core Series processor. The report adds that the chips are designed for all-day battery life and everyday productivity, offering up to 2.1 times faster creation and productivity performance, up to 64% lower processor power consumption, and up to 2.7 times higher AI GPU performance compared with previous-generation Intel Core 7 150U processors.

Looking ahead, Wildcat Lake could see broader adoption across future devices. TechPowerUp reports that Google is likely to pair its rumored “Googlebook” laptops with Intel’s latest Core Series 300 “Wildcat Lake” processors. However, Intel is not expected to be the exclusive platform provider, with Qualcomm and MediaTek also said to be among Google’s partners.

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(Photo credit: Intel)