Intel CPUs Might Give up the “i” After 14 Years

For years, Intel has split its mainline desktop processors across a few easily identifiable product lines: Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and (more recently) Core i9. That might be changing soon, though.

A benchmark result for the game Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation was recently published online, which lists a processor called “Intel Core Ultra 5 1003H.” That chip doesn’t currently exist, but it indicates Intel is planning to replace the “i” in its processor names with “Ultra” in the future — at least on some chips, anyway. Intel’s “i” branding dates to at least the Intel Core i5-750, which was released in 2009.

Benchmark leaks on their own are not reliable sources of information, since it can be easy to create fake data, but a statement from Intel gives it some legitimacy. Today, Intel told The Register, “We are making brand changes as we’re at an inflection point in our client roadmap in preparation for the upcoming launch of our Meteor Lake processors. We will provide more details regarding these exciting changes in the coming weeks.”

Intel has been experimenting with other rebrands over the past year, such as replacing its Pentium and Celeron product lines with a new “Intel Processor” lineup. It’s not completely surprising that its main processors would also receive a revamp, but hopefully it’s more nuanced than just injecting “Ultra” into the name of every processor. Intel’s current desktop chips already have complicated names, like the new Intel Core i5-1345UE, and replacing “i5” with “Ultra 5” is adding more syllables and potentially more confusion.

Intel’s Meteor Lake processors are expected to be a significant technical overhaul, according to recent leaks, with a new “disaggregated” architecture that should deliver enhanced performance.

Source: The Register, Ashes of the Singularity