Similar to the new Intel IPU 7.5 firmware upstreamed for Panther Lake this week, Cirrus has upstreamed their CS42L45 codec firmware for upcoming Dell and Lenovo laptops making use of this audio codec.
Ahead of Intel Panther Lake laptops officially beginning to ship next week, Cirrus today contributed their CS42L45 codec firmware to the upstream linux-firmware.git repository. This commit was for Lenovo laptops with the CS42L45 SDCA codec with SSIDs of 0x2352 and 0x2353. This commit added the CS42L45 SDCA codec firmware for the Dell laptop models.
The commits don’t elaborate on the specific Dell/Lenovo laptops with the CS42L45 codec but given the timing and some of the other search results, this is for upcoming Panther Lake laptop models. These firmware files are needed for audio support on these laptops.
Separate commits today also added firmware for Cirrus Amps on some Lenovo laptops as well as some other Dell firmware updates.
Dell’s 2026 XPS 14 and XPS 16 laptop models are using the Core Ultra Series 3 “Panther Lake” SoCs. The XPS 14 launch configuration price is $1599 and the XPS 16 launch price is $1749. With pre-ordering now they estimate a March delivery.
Lenovo is expected to launch an updated ThinkPad X1 Carbon for Panther Lake later in Q1, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition. A ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 11 with Panther Lake is also expected among their initial models.
Panther Lake laptops officially ship on 27 January. Linux benchmarks of the Panther Lake are coming hopefully next week, one way or another.
