1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,920 We have gotten very used to seeing that little eye in front of Intel CPU numbers since the first 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:12,720 i7 came out all the way back in 2008, but now it's the end of an era as Intel is changing 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:19,600 its CPU branding. Instead of the lowercase i and a number, Team Blue CPU lineup will be split into 4 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:27,680 Core and Core Ultra segments, with the Core CPUs being designated as either Core 3, 5, or 7, 5 00:00:27,680 --> 00:00:34,880 while Core Ultra CPUs will be branded as Core Ultra 5, 7, or 9. But why did Intel decide to 6 00:00:34,880 --> 00:00:41,200 make such a big change when many of us have gotten quite used to what Core i5 or whatever 7 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:46,000 means about a processor's performance? We sat down with Intel and got some answers, 8 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:50,640 and we'd like to thank both Intel and Thomas Hannaford for their assistance. 9 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:55,920 First of all, even though many of us in the tech enthusiast space find Intel's Core i 10 00:00:55,920 --> 00:01:00,560 something branding followed by 14th gen or whatever, to be pretty straightforward, 11 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:07,520 it turns out that many other people don't. Intel got feedback from both everyday users and OEMs 12 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,000 who build computers with Intel CPUs that they then have to turn around and sell that the old 13 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:17,280 branding was actually rather confusing. If we're talking about the lowercase i specifically, 14 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:22,000 it appeared that lots of consumers simply didn't know what the heck it's supposed to stand for. 15 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:26,640 So Intel thought a good starting point would be just to remove this extraneous letter. I mean, 16 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:32,640 it's not like they're Apple. But if the goal is simplicity, why are they splitting the lineup 17 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:40,880 into Core and Core Ultra? The Core Core Ultra scheme is part of Intel's plan to de-emphasize 18 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:47,120 what generation or gen a chip is a part of, as they think that future chip architectures will be 19 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:52,960 a little more purpose built than they have been. In the past, you'd see a new broad lineup of CPUs 20 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:57,120 whenever a new architecture was ready to be released. There would be new chips from the 21 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:03,200 Celeron all the way up to the Core i9. The specific chip that you'd buy would depend on what exactly 22 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:08,880 you were going to use it for, but each chip generation would be the same architecture. However, 23 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:16,080 Intel thinks that in the future, certain architectures will work better for some use cases than others. 24 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:19,920 So instead of putting an emphasis on what generation a processor is, 25 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:25,040 the Core versus Core Ultra distinction will be the one that gives the consumer the largest 26 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:30,640 amount of information about what a chip will be good for. And Intel's own market research showed 27 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:36,080 that the generation language was also confusing to many consumers, which kind of makes sense. 28 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:41,680 Fourteenth gen means something to folks who closely follow developments in PC hardware, 29 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:47,040 like, say, a tech-linked viewer. But not much to the average person who walks into a Best Buy 30 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,840 and just wants to know if a certain laptop is good for gaming. Core Ultra is supposed to mean 31 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:57,120 good for gamers and content creators, while just plain Core is supposed to mean good for 32 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:03,360 productivity and general use. Meanwhile, Intel has also ditched the Pentium and Celeron brands 33 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:09,680 and is now simply calling their entry-level offerings Intel processors. Again, the intent 34 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:15,760 is to simplify things, considering later model desktop Pentiums and Celerons weren't super 35 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:20,640 different from each other. But it remains to be seen if this move will instead create a 36 00:03:20,640 --> 00:03:29,360 who's on foist situation. So did you get an Intel processor? Yes. Wait. Well, no. Huh? Who's on first? 37 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:36,960 There will also be shortened model numbers that follow the main Core or Core Ultra designation. 38 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,760 Intel is moving to using just three numbers, with the first telling you the generation, 39 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:46,960 the second telling you the relative performance level, and the third digit appearing to indicate 40 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:53,440 features like a higher clock or more PCIe lanes, though Intel hasn't made this super clear yet. 41 00:03:53,440 --> 00:04:00,080 Is this actually less confusing? Maybe, maybe not. But it's understandable that Intel would 42 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:07,920 consider names like i9-14900KF to be a little unwieldy, and general feedback from OEM so far 43 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:13,200 seems to be positive compared to the old naming system. What might be a bit more confusing, 44 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:20,160 though, is exactly what the numbers 3, 5, 7, and 9 will mean. But this was already becoming an issue 45 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:25,120 with the old naming scheme. For quite a while, Intel's desktop chips followed this pattern, 46 00:04:25,120 --> 00:04:29,840 but as larger Core Counts became more common, it was no longer possible to tell how many 47 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:35,840 cores the CPU had just by looking at i5 or i7, for example. It's likely that these numbers 48 00:04:35,840 --> 00:04:41,840 will indicate a relative performance tier within the Core or Core Ultra brands instead of a specific 49 00:04:41,840 --> 00:04:46,960 number of cores, especially as typical Core Counts will likely continue to change in the future. 50 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:51,440 Plus, there'll be flying cars and, you know, that's complicated. Although there are a handful of 51 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:56,160 mobile chips already out with the new branding, we'll have to wait until at least the second half 52 00:04:56,160 --> 00:05:01,120 of 2024 to see it start appearing on the desktop side. When that happens, we're planning to do a 53 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:05,840 follow-up video with more specific details about the naming scheme, but for now, weigh in down in 54 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:11,040 the comments as to whether you think Intel is simplifying things or just making them more complicated. 55 00:05:11,040 --> 00:05:15,600 But you know what's not complicated? How much I appreciate you and the fact you watch this whole 56 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,880 video. Thanks for watching! Like the video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, 57 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:22,560 check out our other videos, comment below with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe 58 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,680 and follow. And that's the simplest thing anyone's ever said.