Intel may drop the i from CPU names

[maflynn]

I saw this being reported elsewhere
Intel may drop the iconic “i” from future Core CPU names

It looks like they'll copy Apple's move and use the work Ultra for some SKUs

Benchmarks of the upcoming “Meteor Lake generation” of CPUs have leaked, showing off the name “Core Ultra 5 1003H,” according to VideoCardz. Note the lack of an “i” before the 5. The CPU in question has 18 cores, putting it on the higher end of Intel’s lineup, which makes sense given the “Ultra” moniker that would be a new differentiator. The Ultra name gives a bit of weight to the idea that this is a deliberate name for an upcoming CPU, not just some data entry flub that made its way to a leaked benchmark.

 

[skaertus]

I saw this being reported elsewhere
Intel may drop the iconic “i” from future Core CPU names

It looks like they'll copy Apple's move and use the work Ultra for some SKUs

Intel is rebranding their processors again?!? The transition to "i" processors was already confusing enough back in 2009 I guess. Then, we had a new naming scheme in 2019 or so, with the introduction of the letter "g" in the middle of numbers to indicate the video card, which made things even more confusing. In 2022, Intel announced it would merge the "Pentium" and "Celeron" lines to be just one. And now this. Can't Intel marketing be more consistent?

 

[floral]

What does the i5, i7, i9 mean anyway? Are more "i"s better than less "i"s? What is an "i"?

 

[maflynn]

What does the i5, i7, i9 mean anyway? Are more "i"s better than less "i"s? What is an "i"?

It means there will be Core 5, Core 7 and Core 9 and maybe the 9 and the i9 13900k is will be called the core 9 ultra

 

[floral]

It means there will be Core 5, Core 7 and Core 9 and maybe the 9 and the i9 13900k is will be called the core 9 ultra

No... I mean what did the numbers indicate.

 

[RedTheReader]

Intel is rebranding their processors again?!? The transition to "i" processors was already confusing enough back in 2009 I guess. Then, we had a new naming scheme in 2019 or so, with the introduction of the letter "g" in the middle of numbers to indicate the video card, which made things even more confusing. In 2022, Intel announced it would merge the "Pentium" and "Celeron" lines to be just one. And now this. Can't Intel marketing be more consistent?

Kind of reminds you of a certain fruit company that can't seem to figure out Pros and Airs in its laptop line, eh?

 

[maflynn]

No... I mean what did the numbers indicate.

The brand modifier is basically way to identify high end CPUs from low end CPUs. That is a low end i3 that has few cores and not very powerful, won't be confused with an i9 with a high count of cores/threads.

These are just marketing terms that have little to any real meaning. Maybe at some point they might have, but I think its all marketing and not technical.

Intel® Processor Names, Numbers and Generation List

Understanding Intel® processor names and numbers helps identify the best laptop, desktop, or mobile device CPU for your computing needs.

www.intel.com

Brand Modifier​

Intel® Core™ processor series include a brand modifier before the remaining parts of the model number. Intel® Pentium® and Intel® Celeron® processors do not use this naming convention. Today, the Intel® Core™ processor series includes the brand modifiers i3, i5, i7, and i9. Higher brand modifier numbers offer a higher level of performance and, in some cases, additional features (like Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology). For example, within a given processor family, an i9 will outperform an i7, which will outperform an i5, and outperform i3.

 

[Juicy Box]

Apple’s branding has been pretty bad as of late, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV app, and Apple TV+ being some of the worst examples.

I wished Apple would have adopted a similar branding for the Mac chips as Intel did for their i-chips. Pro is overused and I think the Max and Ultra sounds a little silly, like a child came up with it. Max is especially confusing in verbal conversation, as it sounds just like “Macs”.

Using something like M* with “*” as a numeric character, starting at “1” for the base, entry level chip, going up as the performance change. It can be followed by the generation of M-chip, just like the i-chips.

M1 = M1 Gen 1
M1 Pro = M3 Gen 1
M2 Max = M5 Gen 2
M3 Ultra = M7 Gen 3
M4 Extreme = M9 Gen 4

 

[Analog Kid]

View attachment 2196666

Notice that the Intel and Core have trademarks, but the i7 doesn't? My guess is that they're dropping the i because people got comfortable calling the processor an i7 without any trademarked branding. Just calling it a "7" probably won't work, so when the i falls out of common usage people will likely have to go back to calling it a Core 7 processor and Intel will keep their protected branding intact.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Apple’s branding has been pretty bad as of late, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV app, and Apple TV+ being some of the worst examples.

I wished Apple would have adopted a similar branding for the Mac chips as Intel did for their i-chips. Pro is overused and I think the Max and Ultra sounds a little silly, like a child came up with it. Max is especially confusing in verbal conversation, as it sounds just like “Macs”.

Using something like M* with “*” as a numeric character, starting at “1” for the base, entry level chip, going up as the performance change. It can be followed by the generation of M-chip, just like the i-chips.

M1 = M1 Gen 1
M1 Pro = M3 Gen 1
M2 Max = M5 Gen 2
M3 Ultra = M7 Gen 3
M4 Extreme = M9 Gen 4

What about M2, M3 and M4. If Apple changed it to what you mentioned, it will be nightmare to remember with some arbitrary numbers. I may not like some of the words used now. But I know exactly what M1 Max, M2 Pro or M1 Ultra Stands for In the lineup. I don’t want to remember or map Multiple numbers.

 

[Juicy Box]

What about M2, M3 and M4.

See this:

M2 Max = M5 Gen 2
M3 Ultra = M7 Gen 3
M4 Extreme = M9 Gen 4

I may not some of the words, But I know exactly what M1 Max, M2 Pro or M1 Ultra Stands for

Was 2nd Gen i5 or 4 Gen i7 really hard to understand?

Did you have to “remember multiple numbers” for Intel Macs?

My example is basically the same concept.

 

[TechnoMonk]

See this:



Was 2nd Gen i5 or 4 Gen i7 really hard to understand?

Did you have to “remember multiple numbers” for Intel Macs?

My example is basically the same concept.

I hated that about Intel macs. Apple moved on with AS, so did the naming convention. One number for generation(M1/M2/M3), name for level of capability(Pro/Max/Ultra).
I saw what you wrote in the first post, I was referring to listing them all combined and trying to read or compare, heads will spin for most regular customers.

 

[Juicy Box]

I was referring to listing them all combined and trying to read or compare, heads will spin for most regular customers.

I don’t think so. Intel Macs chip names didn’t make “heads spin”, and it wasn’t hard to understand, if anything, easier. As the number goes up, the more “pro” it is.

The differences of Pro, Max, and Ultra isn’t inherently known, meaning “Pro” doesn’t necessarily mean less pro or powerful than “Max”.

If it is compared to the iPhone, “Max” has more to do with size. And then there is the AW Ultra, which is a mix.

If anything, thus would be more confusing to “regular customers”, than just a scale if rising numbers.

 

[TechnoMonk]

I don’t think so. Intel Macs chip names didn’t make “heads spin”, and it wasn’t hard to understand, if anything, easier. As the number goes up, the more “pro” it is.

The differences of Pro, Max, and Ultra isn’t inherently known, meaning “Pro” doesn’t necessarily mean less pro or powerful than “Max”.

If it is compared to the iPhone, “Max” has more to do with size. And then there is the AW Ultra, which is a mix.

If anything, thus would be more confusing to “regular customers”, than just a scale if rising numbers.

It did, name instead of number is more human readable. Pro is less than Max and Ultra is more than Max. Not sure what you mean by Pro is not powerful than Max. Intel could get away with numbering as they didn’t really update the chips that often in Macs.
Let’s agree to disagree, I just need simple names, as such I deal with enough numbers for living.
Edit: they should simplify iPhone line like 15, 15 Pro/ 15 Max(drop the Pro Max)/ 15 Ultra(If they do release an upgrade over Max).

 

[skaertus]

Apple’s branding has been pretty bad as of late, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV app, and Apple TV+ being some of the worst examples.

I wished Apple would have adopted a similar branding for the Mac chips as Intel did for their i-chips. Pro is overused and I think the Max and Ultra sounds a little silly, like a child came up with it. Max is especially confusing in verbal conversation, as it sounds just like “Macs”.

Using something like M* with “*” as a numeric character, starting at “1” for the base, entry level chip, going up as the performance change. It can be followed by the generation of M-chip, just like the i-chips.

M1 = M1 Gen 1
M1 Pro = M3 Gen 1
M2 Max = M5 Gen 2
M3 Ultra = M7 Gen 3
M4 Extreme = M9 Gen 4

And it is also wrong. Max = Maximum = the greatest quantity or amount possible. How can Ultra be more than Maximum?

 

[winxmac]

Apple’s branding has been pretty bad as of late, Apple TV 4K, Apple TV app, and Apple TV+ being some of the worst examples.

I wished Apple would have adopted a similar branding for the Mac chips as Intel did for their i-chips. Pro is overused and I think the Max and Ultra sounds a little silly, like a child came up with it. Max is especially confusing in verbal conversation, as it sounds just like “Macs”.

Using something like M* with “*” as a numeric character, starting at “1” for the base, entry level chip, going up as the performance change. It can be followed by the generation of M-chip, just like the i-chips.

M1 = M1 Gen 1
M1 Pro = M3 Gen 1
M2 Max = M5 Gen 2
M3 Ultra = M7 Gen 3
M4 Extreme = M9 Gen 4

You want Apple to go with Qualcomm Snapdragon current naming scheme?

 

[RedTheReader]

Edit: they should simplify iPhone line like 15, 15 Pro/ 15 Max(drop the Pro Max)/ 15 Ultra(If they do release an upgrade over Max).

This is something I've been saying for years. You could have even an expanded line-up of iPhone 15, 15 mini, 15 Plus, 15 Pro, 15 Max, and 15 Ultra.

 

[dotnet]

I’m glad Intel is back on the innovation trail!

 

[Kcetech1]

What does the i5, i7, i9 mean anyway? Are more "i"s better than less "i"s? What is an "i"?

i = intel. was very common to see i80386SX, i80386DX, i80486DX etc back in the late 80's to early 2000's. I dont think the i in part numbers ever disappeared. but was mostly on the dies, chips and part numbers and not always in the marketing.

I think in the " core " series' the i was still intel, and the number modifier 3,5,7,9 ( odd numbers for some reason) were the family or series then the part number 7700k etc was generation and part code

 

[floral]

The brand modifier is basically way to identify high end CPUs from low end CPUs. That is a low end i3 that has few cores and not very powerful, won't be confused with an i9 with a high count of cores/threads.

These are just marketing terms that have little to any real meaning. Maybe at some point they might have, but I think its all marketing and not technical.

Intel® Processor Names, Numbers and Generation List

Understanding Intel® processor names and numbers helps identify the best laptop, desktop, or mobile device CPU for your computing needs.

www.intel.com

View attachment 2196666

Oh that makes sense. So a higher "i" number means better. Thanks

 

[The point and shoot pro]

i = intel. was very common to see i80386SX, i80386DX, i80486DX etc back in the late 80's to early 2000's. I dont think the i in part numbers ever disappeared. but was mostly on the dies, chips and part numbers and not always in the marketing.

I think in the " core " series' the i was still intel, and the number modifier 3,5,7,9 ( odd numbers for some reason) were the family or series then the part number 7700k etc was generation and part code

I had that chip in something! ha ha.

 

[The point and shoot pro]

Oh that makes sense. So a higher "i" number means better. Thanks

Well, not necessarily better, but faster. Someone who only needs basic computing for office programs and surfing the net, the i5 would be the "BETTER" choice as it is cheaper, less power hungry and will create less heat.

 

[Basic75]

What does the i5, i7, i9 mean anyway?

Absolutely nothing! It can be omitted from the model name without losing any information. If I told you I had, say, an Intel Core 920 or an Intel Core 13900K you'd know exactly what it was.

 

[maflynn]

you'd know exactly what it was.

I wouldn't

But I agree, the i5/i7/i9 are naming conventions used for marketing. There's issues with overly complex nomenclatures that by their very nature fail to convey what the product is. Conversely, obtuse, or simplified naming conventions are just as bad as we lose the level of precision that easily allowed us the details to make an educated decision. I fear the latter could be that situation with intel

 

[The point and shoot pro]

I wouldn't

But I agree, the i5/i7/i9 are naming conventions used for marketing. There's issues with overly complex nomenclatures that by their very nature fail to convey what the product is. Conversely, obtuse, or simplified naming conventions are just as bad as we lose the level of precision that easily allowed us the details to make an educated decision. I fear the latter could be that situation with intel

Agree. Try to figure out AMD's naming logic. Good luck!