As CES 2025 approaches, we're preparing for the expected launch of next-gen Intel Panther Lake-equipped laptops. And so are brands like HP and MSI, as the first Core Ultra series 3 machines have now appeared at retailers — including their prices.
The first laptops with Intel Panther Lake CPUs are now listed at multiple stores, including Walmart. As spotted by tipster @momomo_us on X, there's now an HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, and it's priced at $999.
Since Intel has yet to officially launch its upcoming chips, the laptop isn't available to purchase yet. This is just a placeholder as the retailer prepares a new lineup of next-gen notebooks, but for now, it gives us an idea of the cost we can expect. And, as it turns out, it's not the major price bump we'd expect.
With every new generation of laptops sporting the latest specs, prices are always expected to be set at a premium, especially over last-gen products. Plus, the RAM crisis will only see costs soar higher. According to this listing, though, this Intel Panther Lake laptop is at the same price as the previous-gen model.
You can find the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V CPU priced at $999 over on the HP Store, even though it's currently reduced to $649 thanks to a sale. Arguably, the latest OmniBook with a Core Ultra 7 processor is the better deal at full price.
Along with its Core Ultra 7 355 CPU, the next-gen model of HP's OmniBook X Flip 16 also comes with Intel integrated graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 512GB of storage and a 16-inch (1920 x 1200) LED touchscreen (not the 2K the listing mentions).
Since this is a listing that's published before the official launch of the laptop, pricing may change. But it's a good indication of costs to come, especially on machines sporting the upgraded Intel Core Ultra 300 processors.
Gaming laptops with Intel are a little high...
It's not unheard of to see MSI laptops set at premium prices, with the monstrous MSI Titan 18 HX priced from a whopping $5,000. But these new Intel Panther Lake laptops appearing on EU retailer sites (via Wccftech) seem a tad overpriced. Or at least, hopefully.
For example, there's an MSI 16I with an Intel Core Ultra 7 355 (same as the HP OmniBook) priced at €2,611 at French retailer PC21, so around $3,061. Despite it also boasting a 2.8K resolution OLED display and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, that seems awfully expensive.
There's also an MSI 16I with a much stronger Intel Core Ultra X9 388H CPU for €3,006 at PC21, making it around $3,524. There's no GPU in sight here, with this chip coming with Xe3 graphics architecture to deliver onboard graphics performance for gaming, albeit not to the level of a discrete RTX 50-series GPU.
Those prices seem strangely high for these kinds of laptops, even with next-gen Intel CPUs inside. These could be random placeholder numbers for these retailers, as again, these laptops aren't available to purchase yet.
We've seen how Intel Panther Lake has the gaming chops to power the future of handheld gaming, and that's also a good sign for thin, lightweight laptops to play the latest AAA games with just an Intel chip. The question is, how pricey will these machines be? For now, if Walmart's listing price on the HP OmniBook X Flip 16 is accurate, it may not be at such a high price.
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