Intel China Starts Pre-Orders for Budget Arrow Lake Chips

Intel China has started accepting pre-orders for its upcoming budget Arrow Lake chips, set to roll out globally next year. JD will conduct the pre-sale, which starts tonight, with its official Weibo account announcing that shipments will be sent on January 13. This pre-sale strategy is a bit odd, as Intel typically announces the processor series before its retail availability once the embargo is up. That might be a bit of a mistake, but here, this pre-sale shows the chips that we can expect to show up next month.

Intel China Opens Pre-Orders for Budget Arrow Lake Chips Ahead of 2025 Global Launch

The possibility of non-K CPUs being included isn’t explicitly stated in the Weibo post, but leaks seem to suggest that they will likely be included in the release timeframe. JD retail link lists some SKUs: Core Ultra 5 225F, Core Ultra 5 230F, Core Ultra 7 265F, Core Ultra 7 265, Core Ultra 9 285. Some SKUs are absent, although they may become available once pre-orders begin. The pre-sale takes place at 22:00 this evening in the land of the Ying,delivery is scheduled for January 13.

The post displays images of boxed unlocked Arrow Lake processors as well, perhaps due to an error considering the post specifically mentions non-K SKUs. Neither are the 35W Arrow Lake-T or Core Ultra 3 200 processors (successors to Intel’s i3-series) included in the marketing material. Early reports show a small price hike, but for now, we must wait for a more official statement from Intel. These include Intel’s Arrow Lake-S or Core Ultra 200S CPUs announced in November, which earned a cold shoulder in early reviews where they struggled to keep pace either with performance or for gaming.

Many of these issues were attributed to software, which Intel has addressed through Windows Updates and BIOS optimizations. Performance improvements are expected with the 0x114 microcode patch arriving by January. Despite the initial drawbacks, the Arrow Lake architecture’s efficiency should appeal to budget-conscious users looking for 65W processors. As for platform adoption, Intel’s Arrow Lake chips face competition from AM5, which offers more established platform optimizations and has support through 2027. Intel has yet to announce the longevity of its LGA 1851 socket, leaving early adopters uncertain.

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