CES 2026: Intel drops Core Ultra Series 3 chips with big AI boost
Intel just revealed its Core Ultra Series 3 processors at CES 2026, marking their first AI PC platform built on US-made Intel 18A tech.
These chips are set to power over 200 designs, promising smoother performance, better graphics, and a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that handles up to 50 trillion operations per second.
Specs at a glance
The top X9/X7 models pack up to 16 CPU cores and 12 Xe-cores—meaning faster multitasking and gaming.
Expect up to 60% better multithreading, a huge 77% jump in gaming speed, and battery life stretching up to 27 hours.
There are also mainstream versions for laptops at lower price points and Edge models for things like robotics or healthcare.
What's new with AI?
These processors seriously level up AI tasks: nearly double the speed for large language models (think smarter chatbots), over twice the efficiency for video analytics, and much higher throughput on vision language action (VLA) models—all on one chip.
If you're eyeing a laptop upgrade, pre-orders start January 6 and they hit stores January 27.