Intel has made significant progress in its GPU business over the last couple of years, especially in the budget segment, and that is reflected in the company's latest release, Intel's Arc B580. However, Intel's CPU business isn't doing anywhere near as well as its GPU division, with Bill Gates claiming that "Intel basically lost its way." But the good news for Team Blue fans is that the CPU setbacks don't deter Intel from setting ambitious targets, as the company has reportedly planned a massive core upgrade for the upcoming Nova Lake CPUs.

Intel Nova Lake may get more than twice the number of cores as Core Ultra 9 285K

While there are conflicting reports about whether the Intel Arrow Lake refresh (rumored to be released in late 2025) exists, in its earnings call last month, Intel officially confirmed that Nova Lake will come out in 2026. That's far away from now, but we don't have to wait for that long to get an idea about what it might offer, courtesy of the reliable leaker Jaykihn.

As per the leaker, the highest configuration for Nova Lake or Core Ultra Series 4 CPUs will have a total of 52 cores, which is more than twice the 24 cores in Core Ultra 9 285K. It might consist of 16 P-cores, 32 E-cores, and 4 LPE-cores, while the other two SKUs might have 8 P-cores + 16 E-cores + 4 LPE cores (28 cores), and 4 P-cores + 8 E-cores + 4 LPE cores (16 cores). The Nova Lake will be available for both desktop and laptop computers, with the highest configuration Nova Lake-S desktop processor getting the maximum number of cores, while the Nova Lake-HX platform for gaming laptops might get up to 28 cores.

New details about a new Intel entry-tier CPU have leaked

While Nova Lake will be available for both laptops and desktops, the Panther Lake processor will be mobile-only. However, Panther Lake isn't the only processor Intel is planning to launch in the second half of 2025. Rumor has it that in addition to Panther Lake, the company has plans to unveil a new entry-tier Wildcat Lake processor (likely successor of Alder Lake-N) designed for lightweight laptops and mini-PCs. According to @Jaykihn, the Wildcat Lake will have 2 P-Cores, 0 E-Cores, and 4 LPE cores with 2 Xe3 iGPUs, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, LPDDR5x/DDR5 memory support, and 40 TOPS. We'll get more details about the lineup as we get close to its launch date.