WEBVTT 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 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 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 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, 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 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 00:00:41.200 --> 00:00:46.000 means about a processor's performance? We sat down with Intel and got some answers, 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:50.640 and we'd like to thank both Intel and Thomas Hannaford for their assistance. 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 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:00.560 something branding followed by 14th gen or whatever, to be pretty straightforward, 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 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 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:17.280 branding was actually rather confusing. If we're talking about the lowercase i specifically, 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. 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, 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 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 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 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 00:01:52.960 --> 00:01:57.120 whenever a new architecture was ready to be released. There would be new chips from the 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 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, 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. 00:02:16.080 --> 00:02:19.920 So instead of putting an emphasis on what generation a processor is, 00:02:19.920 --> 00:02:25.040 the Core versus Core Ultra distinction will be the one that gives the consumer the largest 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 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:36.080 that the generation language was also confusing to many consumers, which kind of makes sense. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:41.680 Fourteenth gen means something to folks who closely follow developments in PC hardware, 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 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 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:57.120 good for gamers and content creators, while just plain Core is supposed to mean good for 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:03.360 productivity and general use. Meanwhile, Intel has also ditched the Pentium and Celeron brands 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:09.680 and is now simply calling their entry-level offerings Intel processors. Again, the intent 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:15.760 is to simplify things, considering later model desktop Pentiums and Celerons weren't super 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 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? 00:03:30.720 --> 00:03:36.960 There will also be shortened model numbers that follow the main Core or Core Ultra designation. 00:03:37.040 --> 00:03:41.760 Intel is moving to using just three numbers, with the first telling you the generation, 00:03:41.760 --> 00:03:46.960 the second telling you the relative performance level, and the third digit appearing to indicate 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. 00:03:53.440 --> 00:04:00.080 Is this actually less confusing? Maybe, maybe not. But it's understandable that Intel would 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 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, 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 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:25.120 with the old naming scheme. For quite a while, Intel's desktop chips followed this pattern, 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 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 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 00:04:41.840 --> 00:04:46.960 number of cores, especially as typical Core Counts will likely continue to change in the future. 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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, 00:05:18.880 --> 00:05:22.560 check out our other videos, comment below with video suggestions, and don't forget to subscribe 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:25.680 and follow. And that's the simplest thing anyone's ever said.