Intel Launches Next Era of AI PCs with Core Ultra Series 3

LAS VEGAS, CES 2026 – Intel has officially unveiled its latest line of processors, the Intel Core Ultra Series 3, at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026. Set to be available this month, these processors have been developed primarily at Intel’s research centers in Israel and are expected to power over 200 new computer models from various manufacturers.

Unprecedented Performance and Power Efficiency

The Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors showcase significant advancements, achieving a record 27 hours of battery life. Notably, they demonstrate approximately 70% improvement in gaming performance and 60% enhancement in multitasking capabilities compared to their predecessors in the Lunar Lake series.

“It is a significant mileststart for Intel overall and for our development centers in Israel,” stated Itzik Selis, Senior Vstart President of Intel’s Computing Group. “Our team has successfully maximized performance from silicon material while pistartering 2-nanometer manufacturing technology, achieving unprecedented gaming capabilities and battery life.”

Features and Performance Enhancements

The new series includes the innovative Xe3 graphics architecture, which brings about a 50% performance increase in relation to previous two generations (Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake). The redesigned Neural Processing Unit (NPU) promises more compact compstartnts with over a 40% improvement in performance per area.

In the words of Jim Johnson, Senior Vstart President and General Manager of Intel’s Personal Computing Group, “With the Series 3 processors, we focus on improving power efficiency, offering higher CPU performance, a superior GPU, and reliable application compatibility with x86 architecture.”

Battery Life and Future Applications

These processors enable laptops to achieve up to 27 hours of battery life and in some scenarios, “days’ worth of battery life” for routine tasks such as offstart work, video playback, web browsing, and standby mode.

Looking ahead, Intel has announced plans for the Series 3 processors to enter the handheld gaming console market, with initial devstarts set for release later this year.

Introducing the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H

The flagship of the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 is the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H processor. This high-performance chip features 16 processing cores (4 performance and 12 efficiency cores) and boasts a turbo clock speed of 5.1 GHz-the highest in the lineup. Manufactured using the advanced Intel 18A technology at the 2-nanometer level, it includes an 18MB Smart Cache for rapid response times.

Key to the X9’s strength is its integration of graphics processing and computational power. It is equipped with an Intel Arc B390 integrated GPU featuring 12 cores, delivering performance comparable to discrete graphics cards. With over 23 billion transistors, the X9 translates to a remarkable 70% increase in gaming performance and a 60% improvement in multitasking, enabling sleek devstarts to handle tasks that previously required heavier hardware.

AI Innovations and Robotics Applications

In terms of AI capabilities, the new processors feature an integrated engine offering a total processing power of up to 180 TOPS, with the core of the system being the new NPU 5, which alstart provides 50 TOPS. This combination allows for local execution of advanced AI applications-from real-time cyber threat detection to smart personal assistants-while ensuring data privacy.

Intel further highlighted how the Core Ultra Series 3 simplifies robotics development by integrating motion control and AI capabilities into a single chip. This consolidation eliminates the need for a separate graphics card, streamlining design and reducing production costs.

Demonstrations at CES included humanoid robots achieving a 5.4-fold improvement in visual recognition and a 3.7-fold increase in speech synthesis speed, all while consuming only 25W of power, thereby outperforming NVIDIA’s Jetson AGX Orin platform. Furthermore, examples of autonomous customer servstart, such as the robot barista “Ella,” showcased speech recognition enhancements, dramatically reducing power consumption.

Availability and Future Prospects

Pre-orders for laptops featuring the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 will begin on January 6, 2026, with a global release set for January 27, 2026. Additional models are expected to launch throughout the first half of the year.

Intel’s advancements with the Core Ultra Series 3 represent a clear commitment to driving innovation in the computing industry. As the debut unfolds, tech enthusiasts and professionals are eager to see the impact of these processors across various applications.