Intel branding change heralds new era for AI hardware

Intel on Thursday announced that its upcoming Meteor Lake processors will bring about a major change to its classic naming convention. The Core i series, which has used the same branding for 15 years, will drop the “i” from its naming scheme starting with the upcoming Meteor Lake processors. Meanwhile, the Intel Core brand will now have a new segment: the performance-focused Ultra brand.

“To better align with our product strategies, we are introducing a branding structure that helps PC buyers understand our latest technology and our mainstream offerings,” said Caitlin Anderson, vice president and general manager of Client Computing Group Sales, Intel. Better differentiate.” in a press release.

These changes are also part of a broader trend of tech companies emphasizing that their products adapt to customer interest in artificial intelligence.

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Intel’s upcoming branding change

Starting in the second half of 2023, Intel will no longer use the “i” name on client processors. For example, Core i3/i5/i7/i9 would be referred to as Core 3/5/7/9.

The Core brand will now have two tiers: Core and Core Ultra. The more performance-focused of the two tiers will be the Core Ultra. Intel Arc Graphics will work with either Core or Core Ultra processors.

The change streamlines the naming system and is intended to “highlight significant changes to the architecture and design,” according to Intel’s marketing materials.

Brand changes also include:

• A new Intel Evo Edition platform brand for Evo-Verified designs.
• Introduction of the Intel vPro Enterprise and Intel vPro Essentials device labels for relevant commercial systems.

Meteor Lake is built on an Intel 4 process node

Meteor is a line of Lake client processors – the first to be built on the new Intel 4 process node. It will also be the first Intel client processor to include a dedicated artificial intelligence engine. It is expected to be available in the second half of 2023.

The chipset configuration is Intel’s first designed using Foveros Advanced 3D Packaging.

Look: NVIDIA also has an answer to AI demand — if you’re in the market for a supercomputer.

Intel AI Boost is a dedicated AI engine

Intel AI Boost joins the company’s portfolio of AI accelerators (or “neural processing units”) and other supporting hardware. With many of today’s enterprises interested in deploying AI services, Intel needs to keep AI at the forefront to keep up with Apple and other competitors. It’s not yet known how the AI ​​engine might be integrated into Meteor Lake products, but Intel already has AI and deep learning accelerators in other parts of its portfolio.

Intel Core Alternatives

The biggest competitors to Intel’s Core CPUs are AMD and Apple. In 2020, Apple announced that it would switch from Intel-made chips to the company’s own M1 chips in Macs. Nvidia is also a major player in the field of AI-accelerated chips.