Intel on Wednesday released the XeSS 1.3 performance enhancement, which works with Intel Arc "Alchemist" discrete GPUs, and Intel Arc iGPUs powering the Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors. The new super sampling technology brings several under-the-hood improvements to the upscaler, which improves image quality at a given resolution. Intel leveraged this improved upscaler to rework the resolution-scale of each performance preset, thereby improving performance per preset; while also introducing new presets at both ends of the resolution scale. The company released the XeSS 1.3 SDK on GitHub, so developers can begin exploring the tech and implementing it on their games.

The XeSS 1.3 update is predicated on an improved upscaler. Intel says that it has updated the AI models with new optimizations, and additional pre-training, particularly with difficult to upscale elements (such as meshes, as in textures with a lot of alpha pixels). The updated upscaler offers better reconstruction of detail, better AA, less ghosting, and improved temporal stability. Intel then used this up change the resolution scale across all its presets as detailed in the table below. It introduced the new Ultra Performance preset that does a 3.0x resolution scale, something that didn't exist in the previous versions of XeSS. On the other end of the spectrum is Native AA, a mode that has zero upscaling, but just the full application of the upscaler as a varnish—this is essentially Intel's take on DLAA.

MSI's new handheld gaming PC—Claw—has (so far) experienced a scattershot global launch and review program. Initial impressions from embargo-busting Chinese evaluators indicated that the Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" APU-based devices struggled to keep up with 2023's lineup of AMD-powered handhelds—namely the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go. YouTube tech channel, Retro Tech Dad, has acquired two MSI Claw SKUs for testing purposes—the more expensive model sports an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, while the basic variant makes do with a Core Ultra 5 135H. The plucky new-ish competitors—updated with freshly-released drivers—were pitched against both ASUS ROG Ally variants (Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Z1 vanilla), but the main takeaway from Retro Tech Dad's testing activities is the higher-end Claw's apparent inability to outpace its weaker sibling.

Once again, we see these Intel "Meteor Lake" mobile chips falling behind AMD's popular Ryzen Z1 Extreme APU—the standard Ryzen Z1 seems to be a closer rival. VideoCardz has analyzed Retro Tech Dad's initial findings—these figures: "suggests that the Core Ultra 5 135H performs better than the Core Ultra 7 155H in low-TDP settings. However, overall, both APUs provide nearly identical performance." It is worth watching Retro Tech Dad's full video coverage—he posits that Intel's silicon is capable of trading blows with equivalent AMD parts, but current drivers could be holding back this unrealized potential. The cheapest Claw SKU seems to be the de facto choice (for Team Blue enthusiasts), given its demonstrated ability to keep up with higher-priced options within MSI's handheld family.

MSI's official North American online store has started to sell their brand-new Claw A1M handheld portable gaming PC—earlier in the week media outlets spotted a premature Newegg store listing, perhaps foreshadowing a widespread US launch on March 8 (today). MSI appears to be staggering the Claw's rollout across the global markets—late last month, German customers were treated to "early" pre-order access thanks to de-store.msi.com listing the basic model (Handheld CLAW A1M-036), with units declared as being "in stock." US customers are similarly limited to the entry level "052US" SKU—the region's MSI store official launch day price sits at $699.00. This model sports an Intel Core 5 135H "Meteor Lake" processor, and 512 GB of internal storage.

Newegg has relisted the three MSI Claw A1M variants, albeit with a revised release date of March 15—interested parties can pre-order the Core Ultra 7 + 1 TB SSD version for $799, or MSI's middle-of-the-pack Core Ultra 7 + 512 GB model for $749. Newegg's product page for the basic Core Ultra 5 + 512 GB SSD configuration bears the same $699 price tag as seen on MSI's official store listing. We are not entirely sure whether Western embargoes have been lifted to coincide with today's North American launch—a trickle out of English language evaluations could occur next week. Chinese review outlets have been experimenting with press samples since mid-February.

MSI Claw A1M, the company's ambitious attempt at a handheld gaming console based on the Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processor, instead of AMD Ryzen Z1 "Zen 4," goes on sale from March 8, 2024. This is according to a now-retracted Newegg store listing that mentions the release dates of the three Claw A1M models. The lineup is led by the Claw A1M powered by a Core Ultra 155H processor, 16 GB of LPDDR5-6400 memory, and 1 TB of NVMe SSD storage; for $799. For $50 less at $749, you get the same device, but with 512 GB of NVMe SSD storage. For a further $100 less, at $699, you get a model with the Core Ultra 5 135H processor, but the same 16 GB LPDDR5 memory, and 512 GB SSD, as the $749 model.

All three models feature a physically identical body design, including the controller layout, and lighting. Performance between the Core Ultra 7 155H and Core Ultra 5 135H models, is bound to differ. The 155H has a 6P+8E+2LP CPU core configuration, but more importantly, maxes out the Graphics Tile, with all 8 Xe cores being enabled (1,024 unified shaders). The Core Ultra 5 135H has a 4P+8E+2LP CPU core config, while its iGPU has 7 Xe cores. The star attraction with this console is its 7-inch touchscreen with 1080p resolution at 120 Hz refresh rate. Comms on all three models include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Intel today launched Core Ultra vPro line of mobile processors for commercial notebooks. These chips are based on the "Meteor Lake" silicon, but come with the exhaustive vPro Enterprise or vPro Essentials set of features that let large organizations manage notebooks and other devices they hand out to their personnel. The processor models themselves align with the regular Core Ultra chips the company launched in December for the consumer notebook segment; but with the added vPro brand extension. Notebooks with Core Ultra vPro processors will be available in the commercial notebook channels open to large organizations ordering from OEMs to their exact specs in large enough volumes.

Among the vPro Enterprise features are the popular Intel Active Management tech, which allows remote administration of devices; Remote Platform Erase; Unique Platform ID, Service Record, and platform features such as VT-D, System Resources Defence, total memory encryption, Threat Detection Technology, CFET, and a hardware-based firmware authentication mechanism. All current Core Ultra 5, Core Ultra 7, and Core Ultra 9 processor models have vPro variants, with identical clock speeds, core-configurations, cache sizes, and performance levels to their consumer notebook siblings.

Global technology brand HONOR today unveiled the HONOR MagicBook Pro 16, a revolutionary AI-powered laptop which sets to redefine the traditional laptop landscape. Based on HONOR's platform-level AI capabilities and joint efforts with technology partners such as Microsoft, Intel and NVIDIA, HONOR is bringing PCs into the AI PC era, marking a significant milestone in computing, offering users an unparalleled AI experience and transforming their device interactions.

"At HONOR, our commitment lies in embracing open collaboration with industry partners to foster a flourishing ecosystem. We firmly believe in the transformative power of collaborative synergy, especially in the era of AI. By leveraging the collective expertise of top industry players, we are dedicated to crafting exceptional products and delivering unparalleled experiences to consumers worldwide," said George Zhao, CEO at HONOR.

Chinese review outlets have received MSI Claw sample units—the "Please, Xiao Fengfeng" Bilibili video channel has produced several comparison pieces detailing how the plucky Intel Meteor Lake-powered handheld stands up against its closest rival; ASUS ROG Ally. The latter utilizes an AMD Ryzen Z1 APU—in Extreme or Standard forms—many news outlets have pointed out that the Z1 Extreme processor is a slightly reworked Ryzen 7 7840U "Phoenix" processor. Intel and its handheld hardware partners have not dressed up Meteor Lake chips with alternative gaming monikers—simply put, the MSI Claw arrives with Core Ultra 7-155H or Ultra 5-135H processors onboard. The two rival systems both run on Window 11, and also share the same screen size, resolution, display technology (IPS) and 16 GB LPDDR5-6400 memory configuration. The almost eight months old ASUS handheld seems to outperform its near-launch competition.

Xiao Fengfeng's review (Ultra 7-155H versus Z1 Extreme) focuses on different power levels and how they affect handheld performance—the Claw and Ally have user selectable TDP modes. A VideoCardz analysis piece lays out key divergences: "Both companies offer easy TDP profile switches, allowing users to adjust performance based on the game's requirements or available battery life. The Claw's larger battery could theoretically offer more gaming time or higher TDP with the same battery life. The system can work at 40 W TDP level (but in reality it's between 35 and 40 watts)...In the Shadow of the Tomb Raider test, the Claw doesn't seem to outperform the ROG Ally. According to a Bilibili creator's test, the system falls short at four different power levels: 15 W, 20 W, 25 W, and max TDP (40 W for Claw and 30 W for Ally)."

MSI has officially confirmed the price for all three Claw gaming handheld SKUs, including two SKUs with the Intel Core Ultra 7-155H CPU and one equipped with the Core Ultra-135H CPU. The MSI Claw starts at $699.99 for the base version with an Intel Core Ultra 5-135H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and 512 GB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. The other two SKUs, are priced at $749.99 and $799.99, both come with a Core Ultra 7-155H CPU, 16 GB of LPDDR5 memory, and either 512 GB or 1 TB of PCIe Gen 4 M.2 storage. Unfortunately, there is no word on the rumored SKU with 32 GB of LPDDR5 memory.

These prices make the MSI Claw just a tad bit more expensive than the ASUS ROG Ally and the Lenovo Legion Go, but it should do well if the performance is there. MSI has also confirmed to The Verge that the Claw's 7-inch 1080p screen comes with Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) operating between 48 and 120 Hz. The MSI Claw is rumored to launch in February or March.

ASUS today announced the 2024 version of the premium Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304), now powered by up to the latest AI-powered Intel Core Ultra 7 processor. Zenbook S 13 OLED is the world's slimmest 13.3-inch OLED laptop, and it's also the most eco-friendly Zenbook ever. It takes the brand's signature qualities of ultraportable design, sustainability and on-the-go performance to a new level, proving conclusively that less can be more.

With a world-beating super-slim 1 cm profile and a super-light 1 kg chassis, the sophisticated Zenbook S 13 OLED delivers no-compromise performance, connectivity and battery life, making it the epitome of ultraportable design, and finished in brand-new Basalt Gray or classic Ponder Blue. It's also designed with the environment and carbon neutrality firmly in mind, using recycled metals and plastics in its construction, FSC Mix-certified packaging, an elegant new eco-friendly plasma ceramic aluminium for the Basalt Gray model, and halogen-free electronics, to make this the most eco-friendly Zenbook model we've ever produced. The Zenbook series excels at delivering unrivaled on-the-go performance, and Zenbook S 13 OLED is no exception, harnessing the power of up to the AI-ready Intel Core Ultra 7 processor with 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM and a 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD. There's a full set of I/O ports for on-the-go connections, and a long-lasting 63 Wh battery. The 2024 Zenbook S 13 OLED additionally features a dedicated Windows Copilot key for instant access to the new AI-powered Windows 11 assistant. For immersive true-to-life visuals, Zenbook S 13 OLED has a gorgeous 16:10 3K ASUS Lumina OLED display that's Dolby Vision certified, with Pantone Validated color rendering and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, ensuring incredible detail and the deepest black levels.

During the CES 2024 show, the ASUS booth had a wide variety of products on display. Among the more interesting solutions was the highly-anticipated ROG NUC. Initially, Intel sold the NUC design and manufacturing license to ASUS, and we were left wondering how ASUS would adapt its compact design. We had a booth tour and took pictures of the new design in person. The ASUS ROG NUC can be configured with Intel's flagship Meteor Lake-H Core Ultra 9 185H processor, a 16-core/22-thread CPU with a 115 W maximum turbo TDP that boosts up to 5.1 GHz. It features six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and two low-power performance cores. The system can be equipped with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU for graphics.

A more affordable option pairs the Core Ultra 7 155H processor with an RTX 4060 Laptop GPU. Other key specifications include support for up to 32 GB of DDR5 memory across two SO-DIMM slots, three M.2 PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD slots, Intel Killer WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3, 2.5G LAN, Thunderbolt 4, as much as six USB ports, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and a choice of Windows 11 Home 64-bit, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, or no pre-installed OS. The 2.5-liter chassis shows that miniature size can equal big performance and can easily provide great gaming and productivity results.

MSI made a really bold move building a handheld game console around an Intel Core Ultra processor, when traditional logic would've pushed them to the AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme. The Claw is powered by a Core Ultra 7 155H processor with some tight power management by MSI. The 155H comes with a maxed out Arc Xe-LPG integrated graphics, with 8 Xe cores, worth 128 EU (1,024 unified shaders). In comparison, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme has a maxed out Radeon 780M with 12 CU worth 768 stream processors. Specs are just half the story, the design win the Arc Graphics gets from MSI as the primary GPU, over the Radeon 780M that comes from company that's been designing GPUs for close to 3 decades, is the main story here.

The MSI Claw is about the same size as an ASUS ROG Ally (powered by the Ryzen Z1), with a 16:9 1080p, 120 Hz touchscreen in the middle, flanked by two halves of the main controller. The MSI Center M is the main user interface, which runs on top of Windows 11. This has a game launcher, a platform aggregator (though not with a storefront), and will probably get some gamer social media features down the line. There are two variants of the Claw, the $749 main variant powered by the Core Ultra 7 155U, and a cheaper $699 variant that rocks a Core Ultra 5 135H (with 4P+8E CPU). Both come with a 53 Wh battery that's larger than the 40 Wh on the ROG Ally. The demo piece is the $749 model powered by the 155H, and was shown running "Assassin's Creed: Mirage" with XeSS enabled. Gameplay was butter smooth, and with reasonably good settings. The Claw is a much needed vote of confidence for the Arc Graphics team, more than anything.

Acer announced new additions to its Aspire laptop line, showcasing an extensive range of performance and design options to support everyday computing needs.

The Aspire Vero 16 is the latest from its Vero product line, powered by the new Intel Core Ultra processors with Intel AI Boost and Wi-Fi 7 compatibility. Acer has committed to carbon neutrality for the Aspire Vero 16, following international standards for carbon footprint calculation and carbon neutrality. Actions are taken at each stage of the device lifecycle to minimize its carbon footprint, and then, high-quality carbon credits will be applied to attain carbon neutrality. The Intel Evo Edition laptop has increased the usage of post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials on the chassis, doubling that of the 2021 model, to combine eco-innovation and premium PC experiences on the device.

Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" mobile processor may be the the company's most efficient, but isn't a generation ahead of the 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" mobile processors in terms of performance. This isn't just because it has an overall lower CPU core count in its H-segment of SKUs, but also because its performance cores (P-cores) actually post a generational reduction in IPC, as David Huang in his blog testing contemporary mobile processors found out, through a series of single-threaded benchmarks. Huang did a SPECint 2017 performance comparison of Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H, and Core i7-13700H "Raptor Lake," with AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS, 7840H "Phoenix, Zen 4," and Apple M3 Pro and M2 Pro.

In his testing, the 155H, an H-segment processor, was found roughly matching the "Zen 4" based 7840U and 7840HS; while the Core i7-13700H was ahead of the three. Apple's M2 Pro and M3 Pro are a league ahead of all the other chips in terms of IPC. To determine IPC, Huang tested all processors with only one core, and their default clock speeds, and divided SPECint 2017 scores upon average clock speed of the loaded core logged during the course of the benchmark. Its worth noting here that the i7-13000H notebook was using dual-channel (4 sub-channel) DDR5 memory, while the Core Ultra 7 155H notebook was using LPDDR5, however Huang remarks that this shouldn't affect his conclusion that there has been an IPC regression between "Raptor Lake" and "Meteor Lake."

Mini PC designer Geekom is bring three innovative desktops to the 2024 International CES, based on the very latest mobile processors by Intel and AMD. These boxes are hinged on MoDT (mobile on desktop) hardware, meaning that energy efficient mobile processors are crammed into compact desktop cases, and wired out with all the connectivity they can put out. The three mini PC models Geekom is launching includes the IT14 Pro, the A8 Max, and the APro8 Max. The Geekcom IT14 Pro comes in a 0.7-liter chassis (about the size of a NUC), and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H "Meteor Lake" processor configured with 6P+8E+2LP cores, or 16-core/22-thread. The desktop relies entirely on the maxed out Arc iGPU with all its 8 Xe cores enabled (128 EU). The NPU is also enabled. The company didn't reveal the memory, storage, or WLAN configuration of this desktop, yet.

The A8 Max is based on a similar 1-liter class chassis, but uses an AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS or Ryzen 9 8940HS "Hawk Point" processor, both of which are 8-core/16-thread "Zen 4," and configured with the full Radeon 780M iGPU available (12 CU or 768 stream processors). The star attraction here is the updated Ryzen AI NPU, which drives up the AI inference performance of these chips to 39 TOPS, compared to 34 TOPS of the Intel "Meteor Lake" chips. The APro8 Max is a based on a physically larger chassis that looks a bit like a game console. It's based on mostly the same hardware as the A8 Max, but with an added Radeon RX 7600M XT discrete GPU, which should give it the ability to offer maxed out AAA gaming at 1080p, or power productivity workloads at 4K UHD. We shoud know more about these three in Vegas next month.

On December 14 Intel launched its first generation Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" line of mobile processors, and here is a a brief overview of the various processor models on offer at launch, thanks to a compilation by ComputerBase.de. "Meteor Lake" is Intel's first completely disaggregated processor, in which its numerous components are broken up into chiplets fabricated on different foundry nodes that strike the right performance/Watt suitable to the component, all held together by Intel's Foveros packaging technology (an evolution in multi-chip modules with a design focus on reducing inter-chiplet latencies to levels comparable to components on a monolithic chip). "Meteor Lake" also introduces a 3-tiered heterogeneous CPU architecture, with the introduction of the low-power island CPU cores.

Intel's mobile processor lineup is broadly categorized into the U-segment, targeting thin-and-light and ultraportable devices; and the H-segment, targeting notebooks of conventional thickness. At launch, the Core Ultra H-segment, and U-segment processors will coexist with P-segment processor models from the 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" series; as well as the upcoming 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" HX-segment. The P-segment is positioned between the U- and H-segments, targeting a class of devices that either what to be thin-and-light mainstream notebooks, or higher performance ultraportables. The HX-segment caters to high performance gaming notebooks and mobile workstations.

GIGABYTE, the world's leading computer brand, proudly introduces the latest evolution in gaming laptops for 2024 - the AORUS 17 and AORUS 15 - delivering cutting-edge performance in their signature sleek and portable package.

Powered by the all-new Intel Core Ultra 7 processors and equipped with full-powered NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 Series Laptop GPUs alongside expandable DDR5 memory, the AORUS 17 and AORUS 15 effortlessly handle demanding gaming and creative tasks on the go. The exclusive WINDFORCE Infinity cooling technology ensures optimal performance in a super-portable chassis, while the addition of Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technologies provides an immersive personal cinema experience.

ASUS today announced ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus, the first Chromebook to feature the all-new Intel Core Ultra 7 processor to supercharge business and personal productivity - and the first Expert-series Chromebook Plus from ASUS.

ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus is exquisitely engineered to elevate the competitive edge for organizations of all sizes, with 2X the power, speed, memory and storage of other devices, and a high-definition camera and display, empowering companies and colleagues to do their best work. Google's built-in AI video call features enhance clarity and lighting, cancel noise, and blur the background. With the power of ChromeOS and a raft of new AI features, ASUS ExpertBook CX54 Chromebook Plus helps drive the modern workforce, unleashing organizational creativity and enabling offline work from anywhere -ready for business success in style.

Acer today announced new models of the AI-ready Acer Swift Go 14 (SFG14-72) powered by Intel Core Ultra processors that feature Intel Arc graphics processing unit (GPU) and Intel AI Boost, its new integrated neural processing unit (NPU), to deliver efficient computing performance of AI workloads and immersive experiences on the thin-and-light laptop. Students, professionals, and creators can leverage the Swift Go 14's array of AI features such as Acer PurifiedVoice and Acer PurifiedView for videoconferencing and customization tools on the OLED laptop. Accomplishing tasks and workflows are also made easier on the Swift laptop with Microsoft's Copilot in Windows 11.

"Our new Swift Go 14 goes beyond its stylish design and high-resolution display, delivering the latest suite of collaboration technology to support a wide variety of functions and lifestyles," said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, Acer Inc. "The Swift Go 14 is one of the first devices in the market to be outfitted with Intel Core Ultra processors, paving the way to enhance support of generative AI tasks on more Acer devices moving forward."

Intel on Wednesday held a pre-launch round-table with HotHardware, in which it made several performance disclosures of its upcoming Core "Meteor Lake" mobile processor, comparing it with the current U-segment chips based on the 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake," and competing AMD Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix." In these, the company is claiming that its next-generation iGPU based on the Xe-LPG graphics architecture, armed with 128 EU, is significantly outperforming the Radeon 780M RDNA3 iGPU of the Ryzen 7040, while its CPU is ahead in multi-threaded performance.

In its comparison, the company picked the Core Ultra 7 165H, a middle-of-the-market performance segment part in the 28 W class. This is compared to the Core i7-1370P "Raptor Lake," and the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U. The company also dropped in the fastest Windows-ready Arm chip in the market, the Qualcomm 8cx Gen 3. In the 33 games that the 165H was compared to the 7840U, the Intel iGPU is shown posting performance leads ranging between 3% to 70% over the Radeon 780M, in 23 out of 33 games. In one of the games, the two perform on par with each other. In 9 out of 33 games, the Radeon 780M beats the Intel Xe-LPG by 2% to 18%. The iGPU of the 165H packs 8 Xe cores, or 128 EU (1,024 unified shaders). The Radeon 780M is powered by 12 RDNA3 compute units (768 stream processors).

Intel is slowly preparing to launch its next-generation Meteor Lake mobile processor family, dropping the Core i brand name in favor of Core Ultra. Today, we are witnessing some early Geekbench v6 benchmarks with the latest leak of the Core Ultra 7 155H processor, boasting an integrated Arc GPU featuring 8 Xe-Cores—the complete configuration expected in the GPU tile. This tile is also projected to be a part of the more potent Core 9 Ultra 185H CPU. The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor has been benchmarked in the new ASUS Zenbook 14, which houses a 16-core and 22-thread hybrid CPU configuration capable of boosting up to 4.8 GHz. Paired with 32 GB of memory, the configuration was well equipped to supply CPU and GPU with sufficient memory space.

Perhaps the most interesting information from the submission was the OpenCL score of the GPU. Clocking in at 33948 points in Geekbench v6, the GPU is running over AMD's Radeon 780M GPU found in APU solutions like AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and Ryzen 9 7940U, which scored 30585 and 27345 points in the same benchmark, respectively. The GPU tile is millimeters away from closing the gap between itself and the desktop Intel Arc A380 discrete GPU, which scored 37105 points for less than a 10% difference. The Xe-LPG GPU version is bringing some interesting performance points for the integrated GPU platform, which means that Intel's Meteor Lake SKUs will bring more performance/watt than ever.

Intel's forthcoming Core Ultra 7 1002H "Meteor Lake" mobile CPU has been sighted a few times, thanks to samples turning up on the Geekbench Browser database. We are months away from the official launch day—December 14—but multiple models have been leaking out since late summer. Team Blue has used different designations for evaluation and qualification silicon—we can assume that another Ultra 7 165H appearing online (courtesy of Geekbench 6.1 tests) has concreted that nomenclature as the finished/final article. Model codes and hierarchy information were not made available at Intel Innovation 2023 (last week), where Team Blue reps discussed Meteor Lake's AI-crunching capabilities.

Leaked information shows the Core Ultra 7 1002H being nigh identical in terms of specifications (16 cores/22 threads) and engineering platform (MTL-P). Benchmarked results between the engineering sample (1002H) and Core Ultra 7 165H are pretty close—respectively: 2439 versus 2502 (single-core) and 12668 versus 12545 (multi-core). We are seeing a slight improvement in single-threaded performance, but the prototype edges out its newer counterpart by 123 points. Both units were benched on an "Intel Corporation Meteor Lake Client Platform," using balanced power plans in Windows 11 (Pro and Enterprise, respectively).

Pre-release Meteor Lake silicon has popped up again thanks to an Intel Corporation Client Platform getting submitted for evaluation through Geekbench 6.1.0. The latest database entry—discovered by Benchleaks—presents yet another Core Ultra 100H mobile CPU series engineering sample. This new candidate could end up being named "Core Ultra 165H" once it hits retail in finalized form. Team Blue seems to be playing around with its naming/identifying schemes ahead of an official unveiling—we hope to see something sensible presented at this month's Innovation event.

The tested Meteor Lake Client Platform featured a Core Ultra 7 1002H CPU mounted on an MTL-P LP5x T4 RVP board, with access to 12 GB of memory. Clock speeds of 3.4 GHz (base) and 4.988 GHz are mentioned on the Geekbench Browser page. A 6 P-Core and 10 E-Core configuration aligns this evaluated sample with the previously leaked Core Ultra 7 165H SKU. It achieved a single-core score of 2439 points in Geekbench 6.1, placing it above previously submitted Meteor Lake samples. The multi-core tally comes in at 12668, which trails slightly behind other compiled scores.

Intel today announced its first major branding change for its client-segment Core desktop and mobile processor family in over 15 years (since the introduction of the very first Core "Nehalem"). "Core" still remains Intel's main client-segment processor brand, but the way the company draws its processor model numbers, is being significantly changed. The company is also introducing the Core Ultra brand of premium processors. The new nomenclature also sees Intel discontinue the use of "generations" within the SKU name.

The current Intel naming scheme sees the company mention processor generation before the main brand Core. For example, the 13th Gen Core is Intel's current line of client-segment products. Right next to Core, Intel places the brand extension "i" followed by the product tiering number 3, 5, 7, or 9. The product model number follows, and even this model number tends to begin with the processor generation. For example, the "i9-13900" already conveys that it is a processor from Intel's 13th Gen Core family. This is where Intel is making its two main changes.

A few weeks ago, we spotted an Intel Core Ultra 7 1003H Meteor Lake-P processor in the wild, running a PugetBench set of benchmarks. Today, we are in luck as there is another Meteor Lake-P processor running in the wild, spotted by @InstLatX64 on Twitter. Called Intel Core Ultra 7 1002H, the CPU represents a similar SKU to the previously discovered 1003. Also, having 16 cores in total, they are split into two categories: 6 Performance cores, and ten Efficient cores, two of which are on the SoC die, divided from the remaining eight on the compute die. Interestingly, only P-cores feature 2-way hyperthreaded, so 12 threads from P-cores and ten threads from E-cores combine into 22 threads.

What we don't know is the frequency of this chip and the position it plays in the Meteor Lake-P family of processors. The screenshot states a potential base clock of 3000 MHz; however, it could be an early engineering sample chip, so we have to wait for the final design. With 1003H having exactly the same core/thread number, we expect that the newly discovered 1002H has potentially lower clocks and TDP to match.

A hardware tipster - Benchleaks - has highlighted an interesting new entry for an Intel Meteor Lake Client Platform CPU on the PugetBench site - it seems that early platform validation results have been uploaded by mistake (prior to embargo restrictions). The MTL-P CPU in question appears to be a laptop/mobile variant given its "H" designation. We are also looking at another example of Team Blue's new SKU naming system with this Core Ultra 7 1003H processor - the company has confirmed that revised branding will debut as part of the Meteor Lake family.

The previously leaked Core model (5 1003H) also sported an "Ultra" tag, so it is possible that only high-end examples have been outed online over the past month. Puget System Lightroom Classic benchmark results that were produced by the Core Ultra 7 1003H CPU were not exactly next level - scoring only 534.5 points overall - this could indicate that a prototype unit was benched. An older Core i7-8665U laptop processor only lagged behind by 32.5 points. The test platform was fitted with 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) of DDR5-5600 memory, and ran in a Windows 11 Enterprise (22621) OS environment. Intel's latest marketing spiel is bigging up the potential of Meteor Lake's AI acceleration capabilities, via the built-in neural VPU.