Intel Retires 'i' Brand as It Shifts to 'Ultra': What's New to the Meteor Lake?

Urian B., Tech Times 15 June 2023, 09:06 pm

Intel has decided to make a major shift in its CPUs by dropping the "i" in its Core i7. This comes as the company is trying to change to Ultra ahead of the launch of its Meteor Lake line.

Intel is Dropping the 'i' in Its Next Series

According to the story by The Verge, the decision by Intel comes as a confirmation to previous rumors regarding how the company would be killing its "i" in multiple series. These include the Core i9, Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3.

These "i" models were previously used to identify what type of CPU was the Intel gadget. This initially helped make it easier for buyers to identify how much power they wanted and know which ones were more affordable.

Aside from dropping the "i", the report noted that Intel will also no longer be referring to its next series of processors by the "Gen" name either. This means that it will no longer be calling its next series of CPUs "14th Gen" or "15th Gen."

The Changes to Core and the Addition of Ultra

However, this doesn't mean that Intel is dropping its Core completely, but rather just putting it aside. This comes as the company wants to change things and come out with what was described as radically different Meteor Lake chips in the second half of 2023, as reported by An and Tech.

Now, the company is changing its strategy as it plans to sell three different consumer chip tiers. These tiers include the plain Intel, the known Intel Core, and the Intel Core Ultra. The company also revealed what its research found regarding the "Core."

Per its research, it was noted that the "Core", was the one that triggered associations with Intel and not the "i5" or "i7." Intel's director of product branding, Christopher Hirsch, questioned whether the "i" in the iPod or iPhone represented Apple.

How the Company Wants Consumers to Describe the New Processors

The new decision would help simplify the association made by consumers regarding the processors. Instead of saying "I bought the i7," consumers would now be able to say "I bought a seven." A report by Tom's Hardware shares how Intel's new Ultra branding makes it similar to AMD's Ryzen branding.

While this move comes as Intel is trying to rebrand itself without overhauling what consumers think of them, only time will tell as to whether the changes will play out. This is because most Intel CPUs are already associated or referred to with the "i" in its name.

Intel brand strategist Tim Thraves suggests that buyers would in the future refer to the models as a "Core 7" or "Ultra 7." This would be extremely useful when the company launches its Ultra series since buyers would also be able to differentiate a "Core" model from an "Ultra" model.

The report by The Verge noted three different Intel chip name examples that represent the changes.