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Intel’s future has never seemed so uncertain. But most of the company’s roller-coaster ride of a year has been a lead-up to its next-gen CPU launch, announced this week. The chips will be known as Intel Core Ultra Series 3, codenamed Panther Lake, and they’re being manufactured in its new Arizona-based fabrication plant.

Intel claims the first configurations will ship before the end of the year and then more broadly starting in January 2026. We don’t have a complete lineup yet, but Panther Lake will include up to 16-core CPUs with a “more than 50 percent faster CPU” performance over the previous generation. Intel claims that the new integrated GPU with have up to 12 GPU cores that are also 50 percent faster than the prior generation, boosted by a new architecture.

Intel is fighting back against the stiff competition. Qualcomm dramatically entered the Windows laptop race in 2024 with its Arm-based, highly-efficient Snapdragon X chips, doubling the battery life of current Intel-powered laptops in some cases. While Intel was able to respond to the battery-life competition with its Core Ultra Series 2 V-series chips in late 2024, performance took a hit on these laptops, and the efficiency only applied to flagship, thin, and light laptops. Budget-level and high-performance laptops used a different architecture and therefore didn’t get that same bump in efficiency.

That made shopping for a laptop in 2025 even more head-scratching than normal. These next chips will attempt to fix this problem, with the company promising “Lunar Lake–level power efficiency” and “Arrow Lake–class performance.” Intel really needs to achieve that promise, because with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite having just been previewed and the Apple M5 on the way, the stakes keep rising. —Luke Larsen

Apple’s Next Hardware Launch Is Coming Soon

If you’re thinking, didn’t Apple just have an event? Yes, the company debuted new iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods just last month. But rumors are heating up that the company will announce more products this month, focused on iPads and MacBooks. That’s not unusual, as the company has held October events for the past few years, usually for the tablet and Mac lineups. It’s unclear whether this will be an actual event or a silent launch via press release. The company has done both in the past.

So what can you expect? The marquee announcement will revolve around the anticipated M5 chipset, which may debut inside a new MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro. The flagship tablet likely won’t look or feel too different from the prior M4 version. MacBooks are a little more up in the air on launch timing; it could be at this event or early in 2026. If they are announced, it’ll be a new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with an M5, M5 Pro, and M5 Max chip. Apple has also reportedly been gearing up for a budget MacBook launch powered by an iPhone processor, but this may arrive early in 2026 instead.

Other hardware that may debut at this October event includes a new Vision Pro powered by an M4 or M5 chip with a comfier head strap, though it’s otherwise the same as the original headset. There may be a new Apple TV with a faster chipset, the new version of Siri (though this won’t come until 2026), and Wi-Fi 7 support. And we may finally see a second-gen AirTag, with a longer range.

The PlayStation 6 May Arrive in a ‘Few Years’

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MKS Instruments, a supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, is selling a $1bn speciality chemicals division in a bid to focus its operations on supplying chipmakers, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Massachusetts-based technology group, which specialises in advanced manufacturing equipment crucial to the semiconductor supply chain, is working with advisers to divest the division, which it acquired as part of its $5.1bn takeover of Atotech in 2021.

The unit, which generates about $100mn in adjusted earnings a year, focuses on supplying technology used to apply coatings and finishes to automobiles and industrial equipment. MKS will hold on to the remainder of the division that provides equipment used to produce semiconductors and circuit boards.

MKS is trying to sell investors on how the boom in artificial intelligence and other technologies will drive a surge in demand for its manufacturing instruments, which it says are essential to the next wave of innovation. The company supplies semiconductor giants such as TSMC, Applied Materials and Lam Research.

Both its semiconductor and electronics divisions delivered revenue growth above analyst projections in the most recent quarter.

John Lee, MKS chief executive, said on an earnings call in August that the double-digit growth in its electronics and packaging arm was “validating MKS’s position in a market where complex electronics applications like AI are driving growth”.

MKS declined to comment. Shares in MKS stood at $121.3 each at Friday’s close, up 14.4 per cent this year, giving it a market value of $8.3bn.

A wide array of strategic buyers and private equity groups had been approached as part of the auction, the people said. The sale process was at an advanced stage, but there were no guarantees that a deal will be clinched, they added.

Private equity groups have jumped on similar carve-outs in recent weeks. This month, Carlyle struck a €7.7bn deal to take control of BASF’s coating unit, as part of which the German chemicals giant will retain a minority stake.

Before MKS struck a deal to buy Atotech, Carlyle owned 79 per cent of the outstanding shares.