Almost a year has passed since the launch of Arrow Lake processors, and it’s fair to say the architecture hasn’t taken the world by storm in the way anyone would’ve hoped, least of all Intel. Proper successors are en route, namely Panther Lake and Nova Lake, but those CPUs aren’t ready yet. In the meantime, Team Blue is apparently planning to launch a refresh of its existing stock with frustratingly little in the way of meaningful upgrades.
Whispers of Intel’s firm intent to deploy Arrow Lake Refresh first came earlier this year, following an apparent change of heart after the company cancelled the launch. Now, ZDNet is reaffirming that the processors will hit store shelves before the end of 2025. The outlet also claims to have a deeper understanding of how these CPUs will differentiate themselves from the current pack.
The biggest change for Arrow Lake Refresh comes in the way of a faster Neural Processing Unit (NPU). Intel will apparently swap out the NPU 3 accelerator found in the likes of Core Ultra 9 285K and its ilk, for the newer NPU 4. This is the same accelerator that gives Lunar Lake CPUs their Copilot+ certification and should provide these processors the same accreditation.
Outside of enhancements to AI performance, the only other improvement Arrow Lake Refresh will offer are slightly better clock speeds. It’s currently unclear how much further Intel plans to push frequencies, but I expect uplifts á la Core i9-14900K rather than anything earth shattering.
As much as I’d like to see Intel return to competitive form, Arrow Lake Refresh doesn’t sound like the architecture the company needs. Neither of these upgrades sound like they’ll massively increase the attractiveness of LGA1851, leading consumers to continue purchasing Raptor Lake instead or AMD alternatives.
The proof will be in the pudding, of course, so I’ll save final judgement until we have the processors in hand. For the moment, though, I’m decidedly unenthused about Arrow Lake Refresh in its rumoured form.
While we wait for Intel to give its official word on Arrow Lake Refresh, check out my Ryzen 9 9950X3D review to familiarise yourself with what the architecture is up against. Make sure to follow Club386 on Google News as well, so you’ll be in the know the moment any news drops.
With a mouse in hand from the age of four, Sam brings two-decades-plus of passion for PCs and tech in his duties as Hardware Editor for Club386. Equipped with an English & Creative Writing degree, waxing lyrical about everything from processors to power supplies comes second nature.
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