Intel has finally unveiled its brand new "Core" branding for next-gen CPUs starting with the 14th-Gen Meteor Lake lineup.

Intel's New "Core" Branding Is Going To Be Just As Confusing As AMD's Laptop Branding

Intel had already teased that it was going to adopt a new branding scheme for its next-gen CPUs. The company reveals that it will no longer place generational messaging in front of the Intel Core brand in marketing or in silicon but would instead be called out in the processor number. That's a lot similar to how AMD is managing the new branding for its Ryzen 7000 mobile SKUs which feature several different generations of Zen CPUs that are then differentiated by their SKU numbering.

So as part of today's update, Intel is:

Introducing Intel Core Ultra processor brand for the most advanced client processors.Simplifying the Intel Core processor brand for mainstream client offerings.Moving to Intel 3/5/7/9 processor tiering starting with upcoming next-generation processors.Evolving the Intel Evo Edition platform brand for Evo-verified designs.Introducing Intel vPro Enterprise and Intel vPro® Essentials device labels for relevant commercial systems.

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The new naming scheme will be applied across all client products so that includes desktops and mobiles but the Meteor Lake CPU family will be the first to utilize it starting in 2H 2023. The most significant change that the new branding brings is dropping the "i" which has been part of Intel's naming scheme for over a decade.

So instead of using the traditional Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, & Core i9 branding, the new chips will shift to Core 3, Core 5, Core 7, and Core 9. Once again, these changes will be reflected in the brand strings, text, and on the badge of the product.

Old Naming Scheme: Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core i9New Naming Scheme: Core 3, Core 5, Core 7, Core 9

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So introducing its new Meteor Lake branding, Intel has announced two lines of products. The client mainstream SKUs feature the Core 3, Core 5, & Core 7 SKUs, and the client premium SKUs that feature the Core Ultra 5, Core Ultra 7, & Core Ultra 9 SKUs. These processors will drop the "i" from their naming entirely and once again, the generation will be embedded within the numbering. I think it would have been even better if Intel had used an example SKU to further elaborate their new naming scheme like AMD did but that isn't the case.

“Our client roadmap demonstrates how Intel is prioritizing innovation and technology leadership with products like Meteor Lake, focused on power efficiency and AI at scale. To better align with our product strategies, we are introducing a branding structure that will help PC buyers better differentiate the best of our latest technology and our mainstream offerings.”

–Caitlin Anderson, Intel vice president and general manager of Client Computing Group Sales

To make things more clear, here's what is being replaced and with what:

Core i9 -> Core 9 UltraCore i7 -> Core 7 Ultra or Core 7Core i5 -> Core 5 Ultra or Core 5Core i3 -> Core 3

If we translate that to products that already exist on the market, we get something like the following:

Current Desktop Branding: Core i9-13900KNew Desktop Branding #1: Core 9 Ultra 13900KNew Desktop Branding #2: Core 9 13900K

And for mobile, it will look something like this:

Current Laptop Branding: Core i7-1370PNew Laptop Branding #1: Core 7 Ultra 1370PNew Laptop Branding #2: Core 7 1370P

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But we know of three Intel Meteor Lake SKUs that have been leaked before and feature the new branding scheme. These include the Core Ultra 7 1003H, Core Ultra 7 1002H, and the Core 5 Ultra 1003H. However, these three SKUs don't reflect the 14th Gen naming scheme which is a criteria of the new branding. The reason this is so is because the new branding completely resets the family generation back to one. So instead of being the 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs, these are the first Gen Core CPUs. The 1st Gen Core & Core Ultra lineup will include a total of two main families and these include Meteor Lake and Raptor Lake-U Refresh.

Meanwhile, the higher-end Desktop and Laptop SKUs, the Raptor Lake-S Refresh & Raptor Lake-HX Refresh will retain the existing "Core i" branding.

All CPUs can be seen using thenew branding scheme which is expected to be unveiled this month while full details of the Meteor Lake-P architecture, specifications, & platforms are expected to be detailed around August-September.

Intel Meteor Lake Mobility CPU Lineup Expected Features:

Triple-Hybrid CPU Architecture (P/E/LP-E Cores)Brand New Redwood Cove (P-Cores)Brand New Crestmont (E-Cores)Up To 14 Cores (6+8) For H/P Series & Up To 12 Cores (4+8) For U Series CPUsIntel 4 Process Node For CPU, TSMC For tGPUIntel 'Xe-MTL' GPU With Up To 192/128 EUsUp To LPDDR5X-7467 & DDR5-5200 SupportUp To 96 GB DDR5 & 64 GB LPDDR5X CapacitiesIntel VPU For AI Inferencing With Atom Coresx8 Gen 5 Lanes For Discrete GPU (Only H-Series)Triple x4 M.2 Gen 4 SSD SupportFour Thunderbolt 4 Ports

The company has anew Innovation event planned out for the 19th of Septemberso we can definitely expect this to be the stage where Pat Gelsinger & his team will finally unveil the 14th Gen CPU family for laptops.

New Core Branding Updates & Logos:

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Intel 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPU Family "Preliminary":