Intel Arc laptop GPUs will be unveiled on 30 March

Intel has confirmed it will be holding a showcase for its upcoming Intel Arc discrete GPUs for laptops.

The Intel Arc event will be held on 30 March, and will start streaming at 8am Pacific Time (which is 4PM UK time). You’ll be able to watch the showcase on Intel’s own website.

Don’t expect to see Intel’s upcoming desktop graphics card though, as the company has confirmed the showcase will focus primarily on discrete mobile GPUs for laptops.

Lisa Pearce, Intel’s Vice President and General Manager for the Visual Compute Group, explained that the company is focusing on laptop GPUs first since this is an area where Intel already has decades of experience.

“Intel technology powers a significant share of the world’s notebooks, and we have decades of experience building leadership platforms with our partners,” Lisa Pearce said. “By beginning to launch our mobile products first, we aim to bring all our technologies (CPU, graphics, media, display, I/O, etc.) to bear to deliver great experiences.”

Intel claims the new Arc GPU will offer a 2x improvement in graphics performance compared to integrated graphics, while still being able to maintain “similar form factors”.

Discrete mobile GPUs, like those from AMD and Nvidia, generally require advanced cooling systems that force laptop manufacturers to create larger and heavier designs to accommodate the component. If Intel is able to drive up graphics performance while still being able to fit its discrete GPU inside ultra-portable laptops, then it may well have an advantage over its rivals.

We’ll have to wait until the event to hear exactly what kind of performance the Intel Arc GPU is actually capable of, but it’s guaranteed to be a watershed moment with Intel intensifying its rivalry with AMD and Nvidia in the graphics space.

The Trusted Take

It’s a big moment for Intel, as it’s been promising to unveil its Intel Arc discrete GPUs for a very long time now. We only have a few weeks to wait now, in what could be a ground-breaking moment for the company.

It’s a shame that we still have longer to wait to see its Intel Arc desktop graphics cards, which are undoubtedly the most exciting element of the range. But it will nevertheless be fascinating to see how Intel’s new mobile GPUs stack up against AMD and Nvidia.

ByRyan Jones Contact via Twitter

Computing and Gaming Editor