Intel's "Core i" brand is dead

New identifier of Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU

On June 15, Intel announced that it would drop the “i” from the Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 names. The new naming scheme will be applied to the company’s next generation of processors, the 14th generation. Intel’s CPU product hierarchy has also been re-tiered. Users will have three main chip lines to choose from, including Intel, Intel Core, and Intel Core Ultra.

However, this naming scheme will also confuse users who want to learn about the new chip range. Intel has not shared specific information about the names and features of each product. The announced sample names include Intel Core Ultra 9 1090H, Intel Core Ultra 7 1070K, Intel Core 5 1050U.

The company said the “Ultra” series does not necessarily represent high performance or the ability to work or play games. It will have a set of typical equipment, such as AI processing, integrated Arc GPU.

New chip versions from Intel

According to the announcement, the Core chip line will have versions of Core 3, Core 5, Core 7. Meanwhile, Ultra 5, Ultra 7, Ultra 9 are variants of the higher-end range. It is not yet clear which of these CPUs will be equivalent to the Core i chip in the 13th generation.

In addition, Intel has a suffix system like U, HX, HK to show overclocking ability, power saving... It seems that they will still be maintained in the new naming method.

Speaking to The Verge, a branding expert for the American semiconductor company said that the most important part of the component’s name has been “dropped” when users call it. Specifically, customers only call it Core i5 or i7, i9 instead of the full Intel brand name. Therefore, the upcoming Meteor Lake chip generation is an opportunity for the company to change.

“When we looked at how the tech press, retailers, and OEM partners were calling the brand, we found it odd that the brand had been reduced to just a cluster of letters and numbers (like “i5,” “i7”),” said Christopher Hirsch, Intel’s director of branding.

After research, the team determined that the word “Core” creates an association with the Intel brand, rather than i5 or i7.

“Does the ‘i’ in iPhone, iPod stand for Apple? That’s a tough question. But it’s also a trade-off, when users don’t know those chips are our products,” Hirsch said of the confusion that can arise when the “i” doesn’t have a strong enough connection to the Intel brand.

However, removing this element from the chip line name is not easy. Users will have difficulty finding products by asking "I want to buy a 7 chip". By using the prefixes Core, Ultra in the name, Intel hopes that users will easily name and remember their brand.

According to Zing