Intel quietly adds an 18‑core Core Ultra 7 SKU as OEMs begin shipping it in high‑end Legion laptops

New SKU spotted and minor “Plus” refreshes

It has been reported that Intel has expanded its Core Ultra mobile lineup with a new mid‑range SKU, the Core Ultra 7 251HX, while simultaneously publishing “Plus” refreshes — Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and Core Ultra 7 270HX Plus — that primarily boost inter‑module connectivity. The Plus parts keep their base specifications but raise the D2D (die‑to‑die) interconnect frequency by about 900 MHz, a tweak that matters for Intel’s tiled chip designs.

Specs and why this matters

The 251HX reportedly sits between the existing 255HX and 245HX SKUs in core count, configured with 18 CPU cores in a 6P (performance) + 12E (efficiency) split — a P/E balance Intel notebooks have not commonly shipped before. Peak turbo is listed at 5.1 GHz, P‑core range about 2.9–5.1 GHz and E‑core range about 2.5–4.5 GHz. The integrated GPU drops from four Xe cores to three and the iGPU peak clocks fall to roughly 1.8 GHz. Why add an in‑between SKU? It gives OEMs a finer granularity to hit price‑performance points for gaming and AI‑heavy mobile rigs.

Availability, pricing and broader context

Lenovo (联想) has reportedly begun offering the chip in overseas configurations of its Legion line — the Legion 5i 2026 (Legion Y7000P overseas) can be specified with the 251HX, an NVIDIA RTX 5070 mobile GPU, 32 GB RAM and a 1 TB SSD for about $4,000. These moves come as Intel tunes its hybrid Core Ultra platform for a crowded laptop market where OEM partners in China and globally must balance raw CPU power, integrated AI capability, thermals and pricing. Amid broader US‑China tech tensions and export controls on the most advanced accelerators, mainstream and high‑end laptop SKUs remain an active space for incremental productization rather than headline‑grabbing new silicon.