Identifying your processor starts with much more than just the manufacturer, and this week Intel re-tooled its venerable Core branding approach in a bid to simplify identifying the best CPU for your needs. However, the company is still keeping the details of some of its new 'Core' and 'Core Ultra' branding approaches close to its chest, but signs are starting to emerge that the branding scheme matches our expectations. Today we’ve got some new confirmation to share from IT Home that seemingly confirms the branding details for Intel’s new Meteor Lake architecture.
Yesterday we published an article detailing the official announcement from Intel that the company would change its CPU branding for the first time in over a decade. You can say goodbye to the classic 'i' prefix for chip identifiers like i3, i5, i7, and i9. They'll also be dropping the generation identification used to distinguish newly released processors.
While they plan to drop the generational identifiers, you can still find them in the official processor product names. For example, what used to be known as the "Intel 14th-Generation Core i9-14900K Processor" would be known today as either "Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 14900K" or "Intel Core 9 processor 14900K".
However, Intel did not confirm whether or not the new Meteor Lake chips would be the only ones to receive the Core Ultra label, or if any of the Raptor Lake Refresh processors would fall under that category. However, leak details from IT Home suggest this is the case. Everything from Raptor Lake U and prior will be considered a Core processor, while Meteor Lake processors appear to be the only CPUs to receive the new Core Ultra label. Thus, the Core Ultra branding will purportedly be used to signify the newest core microarchitecture in any given Intel processor family.
This information comes to us from IT Home, who shared these leak details on Intel’s new branding over at their official website. There you’ll find an article as well as some detailed charts they’ve created for a quick explanation of the new branding.
You can read more about the changes coming from the new branding initiative in our original post unveiling the Core Ultra branding.
