Intel is reportedly preparing to launch its Arrow Lake Refresh lineup in the second half of 2025, promising only marginal improvements over the current generation. While the news hasn’t been officially confirmed by Intel, multiple sources, including ZDNET Korea, point to a late 2025 release ahead of the company’s major Nova Lake platform refresh slated for 2026.
The updated Arrow Lake-S desktop chips are said to offer slightly higher clock speeds and a major upgrade in AI performance thanks to the inclusion of NPU4-the same neural processing unit found in the upcoming Lunar Lake Core Ultra 200V processors.
This means the refreshed chips could achieve up to 48 NPU TOPS, finally making them eligible for Microsoft’s Copilot+ certification.
However, in terms of raw CPU performance, expectations are lukewarm
. Reports suggest we should not anticipate anything close to the 14% single-core uplift seen with the Raptor Lake Refresh. Instead, this update seems more like a strategic patch to keep the shelves stocked while Nova Lake gets delayed. There’s also no concrete info yet on potential changes to integrated graphics or memory compatibility.
It’s clear this refresh isn’t about exciting new features or groundbreaking performance. Instead, it’s a stopgap-one that may help Intel stay in the conversation as AMD continues dominating with its Ryzen 9000 and 9000X3D chips, particularly in gaming workloads. Enthusiasts looking for a major leap will likely be disappointed, though AI developers may find the NPU4 addition useful.
With PL/NL (Panther Lake/Nova Lake) reportedly delayed and AMD scooping up available wafers, Intel seems to be biding time with a refresh that feels more like a strategic stall than an innovation push.
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