Intel has officially launched its Core Ultra Series 3 vPRO series, which brings Panther Lake's 18A prowess to Business PCs.
Intel Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" vPRO CPUs Deliver Next-Gen Security For Business PCs
Today, Intel is finally launching its Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" vPRO CPUs, which are designed to deliver an optimized PC experience for end users with power-efficient performance, industry-leading security, and easy device management for IT teams.
The following are some of the main highlights of Intel's vPRO technologies:
- Intel vPro Certification Program: Improves application and accessory performance through deep ISV and ecosystem collaboration - reducing CPU utilization, improving power efficiency, and minimizing background activity. Early results show as much as 59% reduction in CPU utilization2, 56% power efficiency improvement3, and 74% reduction in busy background activity.
- Intel vPro Intelligence with Device IQ: Introduces AI-driven analytics to proactively detect, diagnose, and resolve device issues, reducing downtime and IT support burden. Integration with Digital Experience (DEX) platforms is planned for the second half of 2026.
- Intel vPro Fleet Services: Simplifies out-of-band manageability and disaster recovery through first and only fully managed, turnkey Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)-based activation and first silicon partner integrated with Microsoft Intune - eliminating the need for additional infrastructure. IT teams can quickly and intuitively activate Intel vPro manageability directly from the Intune admin center, accelerating deployment and reducing complexity. More than 1,300 global commercial customers activated the service in the last quarter.
- Intel vPro Security Enhancements: Adds Intel Total Storage Encryption for Microsoft BitLocker and AI-based threat detection with Intel Threat Detection Technology- (DTECT), the only silicon that detects the most advanced malware threats in real time.
The Intel Core Ultra Series 3 vPRO CPUs offer an unprecedented refresh opportunity, delivering big jumps over 4-year-old PCs running Alder Lake CPUs. For comparison, the Core Ultra 7 365 delivers the following advantages over a PC running an Intel Core i7-1265U chip:
- +32% ST Performance
- +40% MT Performance
- +80% GPU Performance
- +86% Video Editing Performance
- +34% Productivity Performance
- 4x Higher GPU AI Performance
Intel also compares its Panther Lake chips against the competition's Pro SKUs. For example, in a range of apps, the Core Ultra X7 358H offers the following bumps versus the Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375:
- +1% Photo Editing Performance
- +8% Web Application Performance
- +33% General Productivity Performance
- +58% Video Editing Performance
- +149% AI Performance
Taking full advantage of the latest Arc B-Series iGPUs, the new Xe3 architecture is a fantastic upgrade for business users, outclassing the competition by up to 2.18x in 3DMark tests. We have already tested Intel's Arc B390 iGPU and found it to be a disruptive iGPU for thin and light PCs.
The same is the case for AI performance, which sees a large uplift across all IPs (CPU/GPU/NPU), & across various data types.
But the biggest advantage that the Panther Lake "Core Ultra Series 3" vPRO lineup delivers is its battery life. With up to 27 hours of video streaming, up to 17 hours of office productivity, and up to 9 hours of Microsoft Teams run time (with Studio Effects), PCs such as the Lenovo IdeaPad with a 2.8K OLED screen are great for business users who want more than a day's worth of battery time from their machines.
Intel is also introducing its vPRO Fleet Services, which is a one-stop shop for all your vPRO manageability needs. Intel is the first silicon partner integrated into Microsoft's Intune admin center, and users have all the security/manageability options available to them in a single click.
There will be 125+ PC designs from leading partners featuring the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 vPRO SoCs, so expect more details on pricing soon.
Intel Core Ultra Series 3 CPU Lineup Specs (Official):
| CPU Model | P-Cores (Cougar Cove) | E-Cores (Darkmont) | LP-E Cores (Skymont) | CPU Clocks (Max) | Xe3 iGPU Cores | TDP (Base / MTP) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Ultra X9 388H | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5.1 GHz | 12 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 9 386H | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4.9 GHz | 4 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra X7 368H | 4 | 8 | 4 | 5.0 GHz | 12 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 7 366H | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4.8 GHz | 4 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 7 365 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4.8 GHz | 4 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-55W |
| Core Ultra X7 358H | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4.8 GHz | 12 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 7 356H | 4 | 8 | 4 | 4.7 GHz | 4 @ 2.45 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 7 355H | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4.7 GHz | 4 @ 2.50 GHz | 25-55W |
| Core Ultra 5 338H | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.7 GHz | 10 @ 2.40 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 5 336H | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4.6 GHz | 4 @ 2.30 GHz | 25-80W |
| Core Ultra 5 335 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4.6 GHz | 4 @ 2.45 GHz | 25-55W |
| Core Ultra 5 332 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.4 GHz | 2 @ 2.30 GHz | 25-55W |
| Core Ultra 5 325 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 4.5 GHz | 4 @ 2.45 GHz | 25-55W |
| Core Ultra 5 322 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4.4 GHz | 2 @ 2.30 GHz | 25-55W |
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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