The second half of 2023 will see an update to Intel’s “Raptor Lake” client CPU architecture, which will go by the name “Raptor Lake Refresh.” There were two possibilities about how Intel would name these chips when we initially learned about this development in December 2022. The first one proposed that it would follow the example of the “Coffee Lake Refresh” (9th Gen Core) and give “Raptor Lake Refresh” a completely new generational number scheme (14th Gen Core); the other claimed that it would attempt to carve out new processor model numbers within the 13th Gen, similar to what it did with the “Haswell Refresh” (4th Gen Core).

The desktop “Raptor Lake Refresh-S” and mainstream notebook “Raptor Lake Refresh-H” will be the final generation of Core i processors (to maintain the present nomenclature), and will be positioned as 14th Gen Core, channel suppliers in Taiwan have been informed. The top desktop SKU might be referred to as “Core i9-14900K,” for instance. While “Meteor Lake” will get the Core Ultra branding since it features next-generation CPU cores, an iGPU, and an on-package AI accelerator, the ultraportable “Raptor Lake Refresh-U” will be the first iteration to use the new nomenclature Core branding.

In terms of what distinguishes “Raptor Lake” from “Raptor Lake Refresh,” we have a theory. In addition to generationally increasing CPU core counts and cache capacities, Intel could put the finishing touches on its Intel 7 foundry node for the series. The previous generation die with 1.25 MB L2 cache per P-core and 2 MB shared L2 cache per E-core cluster is used by the non-K 13th Gen Core i5 CPUs, for instance. The 14th Gen Core i5 might be built using newer silicon that has 4 MB shared L2 cache per E-core cluster and 2 MB L2 cache per P-core. How Intel will divide the Core i7 and Core i9 SKUs is unclear. With the launch of a new 8-core monolithic die for the 9th Gen “Coffee Lake Refresh,” Intel had increased CPU core counts, enabling it to increase CPU core counts for its Core i9 and Core i7 SKUs. In order to increase CPU core/thread counts across the board, the 10th Gen “Comet Lake” processor introduced a 10-core chip and made the final improvements to the 14 nm technology.