Intel is the king of gaming Us, with two thirds of gamers using a team blue processor according to Steam's latest Hardware & Software Survey. It's always worth paying attention when a major player looks to change things up, and Intel is planning a major U rebrand, confirming rumors from earlier this month.
Firstly, Intel is dropping the 'i' from its processors. Introduced in 2008, it's been a mainstay of the Intel U naming convention for years. But no more. Intel also says it'll no longer state the processor generation (i.e. 14th Gen, 12th Gen, etc.) at the beginning of new U names.
Intel is also splitting the Meteor Lake Core 5, Core 7, and Core 9 processors into two variants: mainstream and . The latter will be branded Ultra to highlight their superior performance. Current naming conventions would suggest a name like 14th Gen Intel Core i9 14900H for an Meteor Lake processor. According to Intel, that'd now be Intel Core Ultra 9 1900H.
These changes will arrive with the Meteor Lake processor series. Although Intel's new Us are widely expected to improve performance, it's rumored that Intel Meteor Lake Us may feature fewer cores than 13th Gen.
The rebrand is an intriguing move from Intel, and it remains to be seen whether it's trying to obscure an underwhelming generational upgrade or just simplify the branding for non-enthusiasts. At the end of the day, slapping 'Ultra' on a processor ain't gonna make it any faster.
Time will tell whether the Meteor Lake processors are good enough to warrant a place in our guide to the best budget chip for gamers, although a few AMD processors get a mention too.