Intel just pulled off something it hasn't managed in years - beating Apple at its own game. The company's new Panther Lake chips, officially dubbed the Core Ultra Series 3, outperform Apple's latest M5 by 33 percent in multi-core performance while finally delivering competitive integrated graphics. For a company that's been scrambling to catch up with Apple Silicon since 2020, this isn't just another chip launch - it's validation that Intel's $8.9 billion government-backed turnaround plan is actually working.
Intel hasn't had a moment like this in a long time. The company just shipped its Panther Lake processors - the Core Ultra Series 3 - and early testing reveals something remarkable: these chips actually beat Apple's M5 in multi-core performance. Not by a slim margin either. We're talking 33 percent faster.
This matters because Intel has spent the last four years watching Apple Silicon redefine what laptop processors should be. The M1 launch in 2020 made Intel's chips look power-hungry and slow by comparison. But Panther Lake represents the culmination of a turnaround strategy announced five years ago by former CEO Pat Gelsinger, who called it the "cornerstone of the company's turnaround strategy."
Wired's Luke Larsen tested two laptops powered by the new chips: the Core Ultra X7 358H in the MSI Prestige 14 Flip and the flagship Core Ultra X9 388H in a 16-inch Lenovo IdeaPad reference unit. Both are 16-core CPUs split between four performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and four low-power efficiency cores. The results speak for themselves.
In Cinebench 24 multi-core testing, the X9 388H scored 1,285 points compared to the M5's 922 - that 33 percent advantage. Even the lower-tier X7 358H managed 968 points, still outpacing Apple's base M5. Intel also took the crown in integrated graphics, with the X9 scoring 5,883 in 3DMark Steel Nomad Light versus the M5's 5,077.
Apple still dominates single-core performance, where the M5 scores 199 compared to the X9's 130. And Apple's M4 Pro remains faster overall with a multi-core score of 1,493. But for the first time in years, Intel has a chip that can genuinely compete on the metrics that matter most for everyday computing.
What makes this comeback even more significant is how these chips were made. Panther Lake is built on Intel 18A, the company's latest process node manufactured at its new fab in Arizona. The facility represents a broader bet on bringing advanced chip manufacturing back to the US, funded largely by the CHIPS Act. The US government invested $8.9 billion in Intel and took a 10 percent equity stake in the process.
This also marks Intel's return to manufacturing its own flagship processors after the previous Core Ultra Series 2 chips were partially made by TSMC - a symbolic admission of how far Intel had fallen behind. Those Lunar Lake chips improved efficiency but didn't move the performance needle. Panther Lake reverses that trend decisively.
The graphics improvements might be even more transformative than the CPU gains. Intel's new B390 GPU delivers 12 Xe cores in both the X7 and X9 configurations, with only clock speed separating them. Intel claimed Panther Lake graphics would be 77 percent faster than Lunar Lake, and while real-world testing didn't quite hit that mark, the jump is substantial.
Larsen tested Cyberpunk 2077 on the Lenovo reference unit and hit 55 fps at native medium graphics settings without upscaling or frame generation - impressive for a laptop not marketed as a gaming device. Marvel Rivals ran at 36 fps natively at medium settings, jumping to 54 fps with Intel's XeSS 2.0 upscaling in Quality mode. The combination of XeSS frame generation and low-latency mode pushed frame rates high enough to use the display's full 120-Hz refresh rate.
The MSI Prestige 14 Flip, with its X7 chip, required more reliance on upscaling to hit playable frame rates, but still managed 66 fps in Marvel Rivals at low settings with XeSS in Balanced mode. That's on a laptop just 0.55 inches thick with an OLED screen, 32 GB of RAM, and a terabyte of storage for $1,299.
There are tradeoffs. The X9 chip still falls about 25 percent behind Nvidia's three-year-old RTX 4050 in graphics performance. The MSI Prestige 14 Flip runs hot, with a problematic hotspot above the keyboard that stays warm even at idle - though the Lenovo reference unit didn't have this issue. And while the 50 TOPS neural processing unit meets Microsoft's Copilot+ PC requirements, it trails Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 chips that hit 80 TOPS.
But battery life is where Panther Lake really shines. The Lenovo reference unit delivers 22 hours - a first for a Windows laptop with this level of performance. That's the kind of efficiency that finally puts Intel on par with what Apple has been delivering since the M1.
The competitive landscape remains complex. Apple's M5 Pro and M5 Max are coming soon and will likely reclaim some performance ground. Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite Enhanced is another unknown. And Intel's leadership turmoil - Gelsinger, the architect of this turnaround, left the company - adds uncertainty about what comes next.
But judging by the number of laptops announced at CES sporting Panther Lake chips, Intel hasn't lost its dominance as the primary choice for Windows laptops. The Core Ultra Series 3 delivers on the promises Intel made when these chips were announced: better performance than Lunar Lake with equivalent battery life and efficiency for thin-and-light models, plus improved efficiency with maintained performance for higher-powered gaming laptops.
For a company that's been counted out repeatedly over the last four years, that's a massive win.
Intel's Panther Lake chips represent more than just a spec-sheet victory over Apple - they're proof that the company's ambitious, government-backed turnaround strategy is delivering real results. The Core Ultra Series 3 finally gives Windows laptops the performance and efficiency needed to compete with Apple Silicon while bringing advanced chip manufacturing back to US soil. With dozens of laptop makers embracing Panther Lake and the $1,299 MSI Prestige 14 Flip showing what's possible at accessible price points, Intel has momentum it hasn't enjoyed in years. Whether that momentum survives leadership changes and incoming competition from Apple's M5 Pro and Qualcomm's next-gen chips remains to be seen, but right now, Intel is back in the game.
