After reports about the cancellation of the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, new information has surfaced regarding the launch date of the Core Ultra 250K Plus and Core Ultra 270K Plus processors.
Intel is preparing to release its Core Ultra 200S “Plus” lineup, also known as Arrow Lake Refresh, with a key date now marked on the calendar: March 23.
This launch is meant to refresh Intel’s desktop CPU lineup after a mixed reception for the original Arrow Lake processors. The new models are expected to bring improvements in core count and clock speeds, helping Intel compete more effectively, especially against AMD’s Ryzen X3D processors.
Key Improvements: More Cores And Higher Speeds
The biggest changes in this refresh focus on the mid-range and high-end models, which now feature more attractive core configurations:
- Core Ultra 7 270K Plus: This processor is expected to move from 20 cores (8P + 12E) on the 265K to 24 cores (8P + 16E), matching the configuration of the Core Ultra 9 285K.
- Core Ultra 5 250K Plus: This model also gets a major upgrade, increasing from 14 cores to 18 cores (6P + 12E), which should offer a solid boost in productivity workloads.
There is also an unconfirmed rumor suggesting native support for DDR5-7200 MT/s, a notable step up from the DDR5-6400 MT/s supported by the first Arrow Lake CPUs.
Although Intel did not make any official announcements during CES 2026, the appearance of these processors in online stores suggests that the launch is very close. The reported date of March 23, 2026, now appears to be the most likely.
Listed prices indicate that the “Plus” models will replace current versions at a similar cost. This would position them as Intel’s final and most complete option for the LGA-1851 socket, ahead of the expected arrival of the Nova Lake architecture later in the year.
