Intel Panther Lake Chromebooks are inbound, starting with ‘Fatcat’

As we roll into 2025, it’s only right that we get to talk about a new set of development boards that I came across a few weeks back and simply haven’t revisited until lately. That new lineup of devices spawns from a baseboard called ‘Fatcat’, and its name is about as apt as they come. Because, you see, this new board is the jumping-off point for the new wave of Intel Panther Lake-powered Chromebooks we expect to see throughout 2025.

The above-referenced commit is simply one of many in the Chromium Repositories, and they each point to a future line of Chromebooks that will house the latest, greatest silicon from Intel. As chip makers like MediaTek and Qualcomm continue pushing out desktop-class SoCs of the ARM variety, Intel is facing pressure to deliver better and better battery life while keeping up with performance enhancements and AI capabilities as well. The past few years have been tough as the pressure from ARM chips mount, but Panther Lake looks to be a formidable competitor if it can deliver on the early promises.

We don’t have firm details on all the upsides of Intel’s newest chips, but mentions of more speed, and improved Xe3 GPU, and more AI prowess are scattered around the web and will all likely be in play. Another big change is the fact that Intel is trying to move away from reliance on TSMC for their chip fabrication, and may bring as much as 70% of it in-house for Panther Lake.

Since I first came across Panther Lake earlier this year, it definitely has a feeling of importance surrounding it. The past few large-core releases from Intel have felt very iterative, and though I don’t think Panther Lake will be some all-new design, there’s definitely the sense that Intel has a lot riding on these chips.

Based on the roadmap, I don’t think we’ll see any Panther Lake Chromebooks at the (assumed) Chromebook event in the spring, but I definitely see them on the way for the fall of 2025. Timelines on these sorts of things can be tricky, though, so I won’t completely rule out a late spring Panther Lake Chromebook or two just yet.

Whenever they arrive, I’m looking forward to some new Chromebooks to get excited for. Whether or not they have some of the innovations I’m hoping for in the ChromeOS space is yet to be seen, but we definitely need some fresh hardware sooner than later. CES will likely be a bust for Chromebooks once again, but here’s hoping we get some news in early spring that a new Chromebook event is on the horizon. And maybe a tease of a Panther Lake device will be along for the ride.