Intel Fattens the U-segment with "Raptor Lake Refresh" Based Core Series 1 Processors
Intel's current generation mobile processor product stack is vast, to say the least. In Q4-2023, the company launched its Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" mobile processors spanning the U-segment (7 W to 28 W), and H-segment (35 W to 45 W). Today, the company capped the upper end of the stack with the 14th Gen Core HX-series mobile processors based on "Raptor Lake Refresh," which dial up core counts to 8P+16E. And now, the company is adding more choice to the U-segment with the Core Processor Series 1, based on a lower core-count variant of the "Raptor Lake Refresh" architecture.
The Core Processor Series 1 follows the same nomenclature as the Core Ultra, where the "Ultra" denotes the latest "Meteor Lake" architecture. Processor model numbering and case badges are similar between Core Processor Series 1 and Core Ultra, except the lack of the "Ultra" brand extension. These chips are built on the monolithic "Raptor Lake Refresh" dies on the Intel 7 foundry node, and lack innovations such as the Low-power Island cores, 3D Performance Hybrid architecture, the all important AI Boost and on-silicon NPU; as well as that 2x faster Arc Xe-LPG integrated graphics, but use existing combinations of "Raptor Cove" and "Gracemont" CPU cores, along with older Xe-LP graphics with up to 96 EU; and a mostly similar I/O.
The Core Processor Series 1 follows the same nomenclature as the Core Ultra, where the "Ultra" denotes the latest "Meteor Lake" architecture. Processor model numbering and case badges are similar between Core Processor Series 1 and Core Ultra, except the lack of the "Ultra" brand extension. These chips are built on the monolithic "Raptor Lake Refresh" dies on the Intel 7 foundry node, and lack innovations such as the Low-power Island cores, 3D Performance Hybrid architecture, the all important AI Boost and on-silicon NPU; as well as that 2x faster Arc Xe-LPG integrated graphics, but use existing combinations of "Raptor Cove" and "Gracemont" CPU cores, along with older Xe-LP graphics with up to 96 EU; and a mostly similar I/O.