Intel's Panther Lake review embargoes are reportedly split between the Core Ultra X9 388H and the rest of the lineup. According to hardware reviewer and leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, Intel has set two separate embargoes for the new Core Ultra 300 series. While Intel has confirmed that laptops featuring Core Ultra 300 will launch on January 27, the leak suggests that the first review embargo will lift for the Core Ultra X9 388H on January 26, followed by reviews for the remaining Panther Lake chips on January 27. The X9 388H is the flagship SKU, boasting higher clocks and the most capable iGPU configuration, Arc B390, also running at the highest clocks. Intel has not explained the split, and it remains unclear how many laptops will ship with the 388H at launch. January is also packed with other embargoes, including Ryzen AI 400 laptops on January 22, Ryzen 7 9850X3D reviews and sales on January 28 and 29, respectively. The X9 388H sits at the top of the lineup with 16 CPU cores, support for LPDDR5X-9600 memory, and a maximum power limit of up to 80W. Based on what we saw at CES, these CPUs are expected to appear in higher-end systems such as the MSI Prestige 16 Flip AI+, Acer Swift 16 AI, GMKtec Evo-T2 mini PC, and the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, which was reportedly canceled shortly before CES.
