This week’s Gear news: New Intel chips are arriving, and Apple may debut iPads and MacBooks this month

Intel has a future It didn’t seem at all uncertain. But much of the company’s rollercoaster ride throughout the year has been a lead-up to the launch of its next-generation CPU that was announced this week. The chips will be known as the Intel Core Ultra Series 3, codenamed Panther Lake, which it is It is manufactured at its new manufacturing plant in Arizona.

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 the full lineup yet, but Panther Lake will include up to 16 CPU cores with 50 percent faster CPU performance compared to the previous generation. Intel claims the new integrated GPU has up to 12 GPU cores and is also 50 percent faster than the previous generation, boosted by a new architecture.

Intel is resisting intense competition. Qualcomm has entered the Windows laptop race in a big way in 2024 with its highly efficient Arm-based Snapdragon While Intel was able to respond to the competition on battery life with its Core Ultra Series 2 V-series chipsets in late 2024, performance took a hit on these laptops, and efficiency only applied to its thin and light flagship laptops. Budget and high-performance laptops use a different architecture and therefore don’t get the same amount of efficiency.

This made Shopping for a laptop The year 2025 is even more head-scratching than usual. These next chips will try to solve this problem using A promising company “Lunar Lake-class energy efficiency” and “Arrow Lake-class performance.” Intel really needs to deliver on this promise, because it’s with Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite With the Apple M5 just previewed and on the way, the stakes continue to rise. —Luke Larsen

The following devices from Apple will be launched soon

Tim Cook on stage during an Apple Keynote on September 9, 2025.Photo: Julian Chocato

If you’re thinking, didn’t Apple just hold an event? Yes, the company debuts new iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods Just last month. But rumors are growing that the company will announce more products this month, with the focus on that iPads and MacBooks. This isn’t unusual, as the company has been holding October events for the past few years, usually for its tablet and Mac lineup. It’s unclear whether this will be an actual event or a silent launch via a press release. The company has done both in the past.

So what can you expect? The notable announcement will center around the expected M5 chipset, which may debut inside the new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro. The flagship tablet likely won’t look or feel very different from the tablet Previous M4 version. MacBooks are getting higher in the air at launch; It could be at this event or in early 2026. If announced, it will be a new 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 chip, the M5 Pro and M5 Max. Apple is also reportedly preparing to launch a budget MacBook powered by an iPhone processor, but this could arrive as early as 2026 instead.

Other devices that may debut at next October’s event include a new Vision Pro powered by an M4 or M5 chip with a more comfortable head strap, though it’s otherwise the same. The original speaker. There may be something new Apple TV With a faster chipset, a new version of Siri (although that won’t come until 2026), and Wi-Fi 7 support. We may finally see a second generation Air signwith a longer range.

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