Intel has unveiled a reference design for a Wildcat Lake laptop that bears a striking resemblance to Apple's $599 MacBook Neo. The design features an aluminium chassis with a bright color theme, directly mirroring Apple's popular entry-level notebook. This appears to be Intel's explicit answer to Apple's success in the budget laptop space.

The reference design packs a 6-core Wildcat Lake processor with two Xe3 graphics cores and a 17 TOPS NPU. It operates at 17W PL1 (base TDP) with a 35W PL2 turbo mode, includes a 22W high-performance option, and can run fanless at just 11W. The chip combines two "Cougar Cove" performance cores with four "Darkmont" efficiency cores.

When Intel launched the Wildcat Lake Core 300 series, the company targeted value-oriented buyers seeking solid CPU performance and basic GPU output in small form-factor PCs. Apple has pushed MacBook Neo production to 10 million units, showing the massive opportunity Intel is chasing. Whether Intel can achieve similar market penetration in the entry-level segment remains to be seen, but Wildcat Lake represents a serious test for Intel and its ecosystem partners.