Intel’s Panther Lake lineup may soon get a budget chip for handhelds

Intel's handheld lineup could soon have a cheaper option. According to leaker Jaykihn, who has a pretty solid track record with Intel leaks, the company may be preparing a Panther Lake chip designed for handheld gaming with a "4+0+4+4" configuration. In plain English, that means four P-cores, no E-cores, four low-power E-cores, and four Xe3 graphics cores.

That's a much smaller setup than the Arc G3 and G3 Extreme chips currently found in high-end handhelds such as the MSI Claw 8 EX AI+. Those chips use 14 CPU cores, including two P-cores, eight E-cores and four LPE cores, along with either 10 or 12 Xe3 graphics cores depending on the model.

Interestingly, the 4+0+4+4 configuration isn't entirely new. Intel already uses it in Panther Lake U laptop chips such as the Core Ultra 7 355 and Core Ultra 5 325, found in systems including Dell's XPS 14 and XPS 16. That suggests Intel could simply be adapting an existing laptop design for a cheaper handheld rather than developing an entirely new chip.

Against AMD's Ryzen Z1 Extreme, things are more mixed. The Intel chip is around 10% faster in single-core performance but roughly 25% slower in multi-core. Its integrated graphics also trail the ROG Ally X's Radeon 780M by around 19%, although they still outperform the Steam Deck's GPU by roughly 34%.

Of course, none of this is official yet. Intel hasn't confirmed the handheld, its clock speeds, or pricing. Still, with Arc G3 and G3 Extreme handhelds comfortably breaking the $1,000 mark, a smaller Panther Lake chip could make systems around $800 (around ~€686 / £592) or potentially even cheaper possible. It probably won't compete with Intel's flagship handheld chips, but a more affordable Panther Lake option could give AMD some much-needed competition in the lower end of the handheld market.

Given current component costs, delivering a truly low-cost Intel handheld remains a tall order, and reaching Steam Deck pricing would be an unexpected triumph. Even so, dividing its focus between high-end performance devices and more accessible mainstream handhelds is precisely the approach Intel must take to evolve Arc beyond an over-engineered niche.

As always, for the latest news on gaming handhelds, Intel hardware, portable gaming PCs, and developments across the PC gaming industry, be sure to follow our dedicated hardware coverage.