Intel Core Ultra Ushers in the Age of the AI PC

oday at Intel’s “AI Everywhere” event, the company launched its Intel® Core™ Ultra mobile processors that deliver reimagined power efficiency, world-class compute and graphics performance and the best AI PC experience¹ to mobile platforms and out to the edge. Available globally on-shelf and online starting today, new Intel Core Ultra mobile processors will power more than 230 of the world’s first AI PCs from partners including Acer, ASUS, Dell, Dynabook, Gigabyte, Google Chromebook, HP, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft Surface, MSI and Samsung.

“The launch of Intel Core Ultra represents the unmatched scale and speed at which Intel is enabling AI on the PC. By 2028, AI PCs will comprise 80% of the PC market2 and together with our vast ecosystem of hardware and software partners, Intel is best positioned to deliver this next generation of computing.”–Michelle Johnston Holthaus, Intel executive vice president and general manager of Client Computing Group

Why It Matters: Whether you’re working, learning, streaming, gaming or creating on-the-go, people need more performance and battery life out of their PCs while taking full advantage of the AI capabilities that are increasingly present in operating systems and applications. The AI PC represents a new generation of personal computers to meet this demand. With dedicated AI acceleration capability spread across the central processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU) and neural processing unit (NPU) architectures, Intel Core Ultra is the most AI-capable and power-efficient client processor in Intel’s history.  

The AI PC experience is only as strong as the enabled software. As part of Intel’s AI PC Acceleration Program, more than 100 independent software vendors (ISVs) and more than 300 AI-accelerated features will be uniquely optimized for Intel Core Ultra processors – that is three times more AI apps and frameworks than any competing silicon vendor³. 

Beyond the PC, Intel Core Ultra also delivers power-efficient AI acceleration at the edge, supporting demanding visual workloads and driving innovation across a range of vertical markets including healthcare, retail and manufacturing.

What It Does: Intel Core Ultra is the first processor built on the Intel 4 process technology and represents the company’s largest architectural shift in 40 years. It uses Foveros 3D advanced packaging technology, allowing advanced intellectual properties (IPs) to match leading-edge processes to optimize performance and capability. New Performance-core (P-core) architecture brings improved instructions per cycle (IPC). And new Efficient-cores (E-cores) and low-power Efficient-cores (LP E-cores) provide scalable, multi-threaded performance of up to 11% over the competition to deliver leadership CPU compute for ultrathin PCs⁴.

Intel Core Ultra offers a built-in Intel® Arc™ GPU³ that features up to eight X^e-cores, AI-based X^e Super Sampling (X^eSS), DX12 Ultimate support, and up to double the graphics performance over the previous generation⁵ The GPU includes support for modern graphics features including hardware-accelerated ray tracing, mesh shading, AV1 encode and decode, HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 2.1 20G.

Intel’s newest NPU, branded Intel® AI Boost, is purpose-built to handle longer-running AI workloads at low power, and it complements AI handled on both the CPU and GPU, enabling 2.5x better power efficiency than the previous generation⁶.

The new processor family also offers:

• Up to 16 cores (six P-cores, eight E-cores, two LP E-cores), 22 threads and next-generation Intel® Thread Director for optimal workload scheduling.

• Up to 5.1 gigahertz (GHz) maximum turbo frequency.
• Up to 64 gigabytes (GB) LP5/x and up to 96 GB DDR5 maximum memory capacity.
• Leading wireless features including integrated Intel® Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) and support for discrete Intel® Wi-Fi 7⁷ (5 Gig) for multi-gigabit speeds in more locations, wired-like responsiveness and extreme reliability.
• Intel® Killer™ software for intelligent connection optimization and network traffic prioritization for gamer and creator applications.
• Intel® Bluetooth® LE Audio to enable low-power, immersive, high-fidelity PC sonic experiences and support for new Bluetooth® Auracast™ capabilities for broadcast audio tuning, personal audio sharing, and enhanced accessibility for hearing aids and new assisted listening services.
• Blazing connection speeds of 40 gigabits per second (Gbps) with Thunderbolt™ 4 providing PC connectivity to multiple 4K monitors, fast storage and other accessories.
• OpenVINO™ toolkits support with minimal code changes and automatic device detection enhances AI performance by routing workloads to the right compute engine and streamlined workflow with ONNX and ONNX Runtime for faster inferencing.