Panther Lake lineup tipped to include new Core Ultra X models

An earlier leak confirmed Intel's Panther Lake lineup would launch with at least four SKUs, with the top-spec Core Ultra 9 variant tipped to feature 4 P-cores, 8 E-cores and 4 LPE-cores. A new leak from @9550pro and @momomo_us on X implies a new line of chips will join Panther Lake with the following additions:

• Core Ultra X9 388H
• Core Ultra X7 368H
• Core Ultra X5 338H
• Core Ultra X7 358H

It is worth noting that the regular Core Ultra chips are here to stay. Their X-branded variants will serve as an addition, but it isn't clear how they're different from non-X counterparts. Lastly, some Core i3, i5 and i7 chips are also expected to surface, and if previous generations are anything to go by, they're probably rebadged Meteor/Raptor Lake SKUs.

Intel's addition of the letter 'X' might be influenced by Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite lineup. Unlike last year, the Arm-based chips are shaping up to be formidable competitors in the low-power CPU market thanks to their increased core count and third-gen Nuvia cores.