The first Intel CPU debuted in 1971, and the company has been at the forefront of computer processor development ever since, with the only real competition offered by AMD.Since at least the 1980s, Intel has branded its CPUs with the iconic "i", starting with the i860 and popularized by the Core i3, i5, and i7 lineups since 2008. However, there are strong rumors that Intel might be rebranding, changing the "i" moniker it spent decades popularizing.But what is Intel changing its "i" branding too, and why is it changing, to begin with?
Why Is Intel Rebranding Its CPUs?
Bernard Fernandes, Director of Global Communications at Intel, confirmed the name change, stating that Intel is making "brand changes" as the company is at a turning point in its client roadmap in preparation for the upcoming launch of its Meteor Lake processors. It'll release more details regarding these "exciting changes" in the coming weeks.
We don't really know the real reason why Intel's rebranding the 'i' lineup, but with the upcoming upgrade to Meteor Lake, the CPU maker is moving to processors that are more a combination of multiple chiplets assembled into one instead of the previous approach of having the entire CPU on a single die, as was the case with Raptor Lake. That said, Intel's Xeon server and workstation chips look like they'll be carrying the same name going forward.
What this means is that Meteor Lake, which will technically be the 14th-Generation of Intel processors, will be a massive change both in terms of architecture and performance. This makes it the perfect opportunity to make any other big changes, including rebranding CPU names to be something else entirely.
Considering Intel generally has a couple of generations of processors on sale at any given time, it makes sense that a CPU based on a completely different architecture be named something else to help customers easily tell the difference.
Additionally, COMPUTEX Taiwan is just around the corner, scheduled on May 28, 2023, and it's the event where Intel generally announces its latest desktop CPUs. All these changes come together to make this the prime time for Intel to rebrand its CPUs.
Whether Intel should rebrand or not is an entirely different thing.
Could Rebranding 'i' CPUs Be a Bad Move?
Intel spent decades building a CPU monopoly in the PC market. Now that AMD has caught up (and, in some cases, outstripped Intel) and Intel is losing market share, rebranding its CPUs to something completely new to the customers may be a bit jarring.
Making more powerful or efficient chips that make a generation leap is one thing; changing the popular name they've been referred to for years is another.
That said, we have seen this happen in the past when Nvidia changed the name of its GTX GPU lineup to RTX to mark a generational leap when the RTX 20-Series cards launched in 2018. Given how the change panned out for Nvidia, Intel might be able to get away with it.
The bottom line here is that customers are quite familiar with the simple i3, i5, i7, and i9 classifications that Intel has used up until now, and changing it may throw them off. In fact, this terminology has been so successful that even AMD ended up copying Intel's naming scheme for its rival lineup with the Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9.
So while moving to a new name is definitely a risk, it's worth taking if you want to make a specific product stand out as something fresh and are trying to bring about a significant change to a popular consumer product. We'll only know how well this decision will pan out for Intel once the new CPUs hit the shelves.
What Will Intel New CPUs Be Called?
The best guess is that an "Ultra" will replace the "i" as spotted in the now deleted, leaked benchmark on the game Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation listed an Intel processor called "Intel Core Ultra 5 1003H." The name suggests that this is the next i5, so to speak, with the "1003H" indicating a first-generation H-series processor.
Other than that, we won't be surprised to see CPUs named "Ultra," "Max," or even "Pro Max." When it comes to slapping adjectives next to a product's name to show that it's better than the competition or to stand out, phone manufacturers have already paved the way with ridiculous names that combine numbers and words like "Ultra" and "Max."
Even Apple has named its top-of-the-line processors M2 Pro and M2 Max to highlight their differences. There's no reason to believe that Intel won't do something similar. We just hope they don't end up releasing an "Intel Core Ultra Pro Max 9 1009HX" because that'll be quite the handful.
Stepping Into the Next Generation
As Intel heads into its next generation of PC processors, a changed name is a risk that can help you easily identify the company's latest and greatest offerings from the dozens of CPU options both Intel and AMD provide or be an instrument of chaos. We just have to wait for Intel to make its move before we can say for sure.