Intel unveils Wildcat Lake laptop to rival MacBook Neo, focusing on AI performance and power efficiency.

Intel's new laptop model uses a Wildcat Lake chip with a 17-inch TOPS NPU, boasts a thin and light design, and offers optimized performance, ready to compete directly with the MacBook Neo.

Intel launches reference laptop using Wildcat Lake chip.

Intel has just introduced a brand new reference laptop, using a processor from the Wildcat Lake line – a generation of Core Series 3 chips aimed at the thin, light, and power-efficient laptop segment. The device boasts a unibody metal design with a premium aluminum casing, combining two tones of turquoise and cream, in a minimalist style quite similar to MacBooks.

Although the exact CPU model hasn't been announced, the hardware configuration suggests it could be one of two high-end versions, such as the Core 7 360 or Core 7 350. This chip features a 6-core design with a 2P + 4LPE architecture, including two high-performance Cougar Cove cores and four power-efficient Darkmont cores. A notable feature is the presence of a dedicated NPU with 17 TOPS, supporting AI tasks directly on the device.

Focus on AI and energy efficiency

Besides the CPU, the system is also equipped with an integrated Xe GPU with two graphics cores, powerful enough to meet basic image processing needs and accelerate AI. According to Intel, Wildcat Lake is manufactured on the new 18A process, delivering significant performance improvements.

Specifically, the company claims single-core performance has increased by up to 47%, multi-core performance by 41%, and GPU-based AI processing performance by 2.8 times compared to mainstream laptop platforms five years ago. This clearly demonstrates Intel's ambition to make AI the new standard on mobile devices.

Optimized design for thin and lightweight laptops.

This reference laptop model comes with 16GB of RAM soldered directly onto the motherboard, likely operating at 7,467 MT/s. This is a noteworthy option given the sharply rising price of DRAM, making hardware upgrades more expensive.

In terms of power consumption, the device has very low power consumption, with PL1 at only 17W (boosting to 22W) and PL2 reaching 35W. Notably, Intel also offers a fanless design option with a TDP limited to 11W, allowing the machine to operate completely silently while ensuring stable performance without thermal throttling.

Directly targeting the MacBook Neo.

It's not hard to see that Intel's target is the MacBook Neo – Apple's groundbreaking budget laptop. Priced at just $599, the MacBook Neo quickly gained immense popularity and even led to global shortages.

The emergence of Wildcat Lake and similar reference designs is seen as a direct response from the Windows ecosystem. Many companies, such as MSI, have begun releasing affordable laptops with attractive designs and high performance to compete.

Meanwhile, Asus executives also acknowledged that the MacBook Neo was a "shock" to the PC industry, forcing manufacturers to change their strategies.