Intel's budget Core Ultra 200 series chips have smaller heat spreaders than higher-end models

The Core Ultra 5 225 CPU.

The first images of Intel’s incoming budget Arrow Lake CPUs have leaked, and surprisingly, they sport an integrated heat spreader (IHS) smaller than the one used for other Core Ultra 200 Series chips (via @harukaze5719 on X).

The pictures come from the Chinese e-commerce site Taobao, where a merchant has listed the Core Ultra 5 245 and Core Ultra 5 225 for sale before Intel officially launches them. The same merchant is also selling the Core Ultra 7 265 and Core Ultra 9 285. At least in China, the launch of new Core Ultra 200 models is close at hand, and that’s made clear not only because listings are cropping up on Taobao but also since Intel’s China branch has already opened up preorders for many non-K Core Ultra 5 and 7 SKUs.