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Intel debuted its Arrow Lake-S line of processors for desktop computers in October, and now the company is bringing Arrow Lake architecture to laptops and mini PCs with a new line of U, H and HX-Series mobile processors.
The Arrow Lake-H family brings up to a 15 percent boost in CPU and graphics performance when compared with Arrow Lake-H chips, while the new Arrow Lake-HX processors deliver even more CPU performance, but hold back a bit on graphics since these chips are designed for gaming laptops and mobile workstations, where they’ll most likely be paired with discrete GPUs.
Arrow Lake-H
Intel’s first five Arrow Lake-H processors are expected to show up in products launching early this year, and they feature a mix of Performance, Efficiency, and Low-Power Efficiency CPU cores, much like 12th-gen Alder Lake-U and H-series chips.
While these processors have the same 11 TOPS NPU as Intel’s Core Ultra 100-series “Meteor Lake” chips rather than the 45+ TOPS NPUs found in newer Intel Core Ultra 200V-series “Lunar Lake” processors, Intel says they can deliver up to 250% the AI performance of a Meteor Lake processor thanks to big boosts in graphics performance.
The new models feature Intel Arc graphics with XMX cores that can deliver up to 77 TOPS of AI performance – the flagship Core Ultra 9 285H offers up to 99 TOPS of total AI performance when leveraging both the CPU and GPU.
| Arrow Lake-H | ||||
| Processor | Cores / Threads | Base / Max Freq | Intel ARC (iGPU) | GPU TOPS |
| Core Ultra 9 285H | 16 (6P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 16 | 2.9 GHz / 5.4 GHz | 8 cores, up to 2.35 GHz | 77 |
| Core Ultra 9 265H | 16 (6P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 16 | 2.2 GHz / 5.3 GHz | 8 cores, up to 2.4 GHz | 75 |
| Core Ultra 7 255H | 16 (6P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 16 | 2 GHz / 5.1 GHz | 8 cores, up to 2.25 GHz | 74 |
| Core Ultra 7 235H | 14 (6P + 8E + 2LP-E) / 14 | 2.4 GHz / 5 GHz | 8 cores, up to 2.25 GHz | 74 |
| Core Ultra 5 225H | 14 (6P + 8E + 2LP-E) / 14 | 1.7 GHz 4.9 GHz | 7 cores, up to 1.7 GHz | 63 |
All of these chips support up to 96GB of DDR5-6400 memory, up to 64GB of LPDDR5x-8400 memory, and feature integrated support for:
- WiFi 6E, WiFi 7, and Bluetooth 5.4
- 8 PCIe Gen 5 lanes for discrete graphics
- 8 PCIe Gen 4 for up to two SSDs
- 3×4 PCIe Gen 4 (lanes)
- HDMI 2.1
- DisplayPort 2.1
They also have integrated support for up to four Thunderbolt ports, as well as support for a discrete Thunderbolt 5.
TDPs for each processor can be configured to 28 – 60 watts or 45 to 115 watts.
Arrow Lake-U
Intel is also introducing new lower-power chips based on the same architecture, but featuring a little less of everything.
| Arrow Lake-U | ||||
| Processor | Cores / Threads | Base / Max Freq | Intel Graphics (iGPU) | NPU TOPS |
| Core Ultra 7 265U | 12 (2P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 12 | 2.1 GHz / 534 GHz | 4 cores, up to 2.1 GHz | 11 |
| Core Ultra 7 255U | 12 (2P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 12 | 2 GHz / 5.2 GHz | 4 cores, up to 2.1 GHz | 11 |
| Core Ultra 5 235U | 12 (2P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 12 | 2 GHz / 4.9 GHz | 4 cores, up to 2.05 GHz | 11 |
| Core Ultra 5 225U | 12 (2P + 8E + 2 LP-E) / 12 | 1.5 GHz / 4.8 GHz | 4 cores, up to 2 GHz | 11 |
These Arrow Lake-U processors have fewer Performance CPU cores, fewer GPU cores, and use less power. They’re designed for thinner and lighter laptops and lower-power mini PCs and feature a 15 watt processor base power and support for up to 57 watts maximum turbo power.
Arrow Lake-HX
In the other direction we have Intel’s new Arrow Lake-HX chips, which are expected to ship later in the first quarter of 2025. Designed for laptops with discrete graphics, Intel equipped these chips with only 4-core integrated graphics, but the processors feature more CPU cores, support for higher frequencies, and more PCIe lanes.
Effectively, these chips are pared down versions of Intel’s Arrow Lake-S desktop processors, with many of the same capabilities. And while Intel says users will see about a 5 percent boost in single-core performance when compared with Raptor Lake-H processors, multi-core performance should be as much as 20 percent higher.
| Arrow Lake-HX | ||||
| Processor | Cores / Threads | Base / Max Freq | Intel Graphics (iGPU) | NPU TOPS |
| Core Ultra 9 285HX | 24 (8P + 16E) / 24 | 2.8 GHz / 5.5 GHz | 4, up to 2 GHz | 13 |
| Core Ultra 9 275HX | 24 (8P + 16E) / 24 | 2.7 GHz / 5.4 GHz | 4, up to 1.9 GHz | 13 |
| Core Ultra 7 265HX | 20 (8P + 12E) / 24 | 2.6 GHz / 5.3 GHz | 4, up to 1.9 GHz | 13 |
| Core Ultra 7 255HX | 20 (8P + 12E) / 24 | 2.4 GHz / 5.2 GHz | 4, up to 1.85 GHz | 13 |
| Core Ultra 5 245HX | 14 (6P + 8E) / 14 | 3.1 GHz / 5.1 GHz | 3, up to 1.9 GHz | 13 |
| Core Ultra 5 235HX | 14 (6P + 8E) / 14 | 2.9 GHz / 5.1 GHz | 3, up to 1.8 GHz | 13 |
Among other things, these chips feature support for:
- Integrated WiFi 6E and WiFi 7
- 16 PCIe 5.0 lanes for discrete graphics
- 4 x PCIe 4.0 lanes or 4 x PCI 5.0 lanes for SSDs
- DDR5-6400 memory
- DisplayPort 2.1
- HDMI 2.1
- 2 Integrated Thunderbolt 4 ports + discrete Thunderbolt 5 support
With an Intel 800 Series chipset, there’s also support for up to 10 USB 3 ports, 14 USB 2 ports, 24 PCIe 4.0 lanes, 12 PCIe 3.0 lanes, and up to 8 SATA 3.0 drives.
Since these chips don’t need to dedicated as much power to the iGPU as the Arrow Lake-H chips, they’re actually designed to operate in the same power range as the U-series, with a 15 watt processor base power and 57 watt max turbo power level. Just keep in mind that since these chips will most likely be paired with discrete GPUs, you’re unlikely to get the same kind of battery life from an Arrow Lake-HX laptop as you would from an Arrow Lake-U system.
Other new Intel processors (Core 200H, Intel Core 3, and Intel Processor)
Intel has also finally confirmed that Twin Lake processors are a thing.
Mini PC makers began shipping little desktop computers with a 6-watt, quad-core Intel N150 processor in late 2024 even though Intel hadn’t officially announced that processor yet. So we were left to rely on leaks and third-party testing to determine that these are basically just Alder Lake-N processors with slightly higher CPU frequencies.
While Intel didn’t spend much time talking about these new chips in their CES pre-briefing, the company does note that they’ll be available with 2 to 8 CPU cores, use as little as 6 watts, and be available for up to 10 years for business and enterprise customers that rely on long-term availability.
Entry-level processors will be marketed under the Intel Processor brand name, while higher-performance chips will be called Intel Core 3 processors. So while the highest-performance Alder Lake-N chip that launched in 2023 is the Core i3-N305, the new low-power performance champion is the Core N355, with a new name that complies with the company’s updated nomenclature.
The company is also introducing a new Intel Core 200H processor lineup, code-named Bartlett Lake as a step up from the Core 100U series lineup. While Core 100U chips are based on Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, the 200H series gets its own code-name, a higher TDP range, and… performance that won’t quite match what you’d expect from an entry-level Core Ultra 200 series processor.
More details on Intel’s cheaper, lower-power Intel Processor, Core 3, and Core 200H chips should be available soon.