Arrow Lake S desktop processors from Intel and the Core Ultra 200S family arrived late last year with a mixed reception. New benchmark data, however, shows the platform continuing to mature and deliver faster performance as software and drivers improve. In the latest Phoronix tests, the flagship Core Ultra 9 285K demonstrates roughly a 9 percent speed boost across a range of workloads, suggesting Arrow Lake CPUs can get noticeably quicker as optimization cycles continue. What drives these gains? Ongoing driver updates, kernel and compiler optimizations, and better power management and task scheduling on modern operating systems help unlock the architecture s potential. Even if you bought an Arrow Lake PC earlier, you may experience smoother everyday performance, faster content creation tasks, and steadier gaming frames as the software stack catches up to the hardware. For buyers and builders, Arrow Lake S remains a solid choice for those seeking up to date cores, efficiency, and a platform with room to mature without a full hardware upgrade. If you re eyeing an upgrade, factor in the maturation curve and growing software support when evaluating performance, as real world speeds can improve without new components.