Intel pokes the i out of its Core brand

Intel has changed its Core CPU brand after more than 15 years beginning with the next generation of Intel Core CPUs, code-named Meteor Lake.

The changes involve poking the “i” out from processor tiers such as Intel Core i7 or Intel Core i5, the removal of the generation in front of the brand (like 13th-Gen Intel Core), and the introduction of the “Intel Core Ultra” name for its “most advanced” processors.

Chipzilla claims to have evolved the brand for its Intel Evo premium laptop program and will now label Evo-verified designs with “Intel Evo Edition.” In addition, Intel plans to dole out new Intel vPro labels for commercial systems using vPro processors.

Intel thinks that the changes to help customers better “identify the right client solutions from Intel’s industry-leading partner ecosystem for their compute needs.”

Intel VP Caitlin Anderson said: “Our client road map demonstrates how Intel is prioritizing innovation and technology leadership with products like Meteor Lake, focused on power efficiency and AI at scale.”

She said that this will be a branding structure which will help PC buyers better differentiate the best of our latest technology and our mainstream offering,” she added.

With Intel planning to get rid of the “i” from processor tiers for future releases, partners will no longer see processor names like Intel Core i7 or Intel Core i3 and instead see Intel Core 7 and Intel Core 3.

The company is also moving the processor’s numbering after the word “processor” in names for individual CPUs. This means that instead of having a name like “Intel Core i7-1260P processor”, it will be “Intel Core 7 processor,” followed by the numbering.

Intel said it has yet to determine how the final numbering for each processor will look, but it did say that the numbering will continue to denote the generation of the processor.

However, Intel said, it will no longer note the processor generation in front of the CPU brand.

One of the other major changes to Intel’s 15-year-old client CPU brand is the introduction of the “Intel Core Ultra” name for what it’s calling the “most advanced client processors.”

The company said it will use the Intel Core Ultra name to highlight processors with a “significant shift in architecture and design” and to differentiate those CPUs from “mainstream” offerings.