The names of the most recent 14th Gen processors from Intel, which will power your next-generation laptops, have finally been made public. Intel first debuted the Meteor Lake architecture a few months ago, but at that time, we were not given any information on the actual processor variants.
The names of the most recent 14th Gen processors from Intel, which will power your next-generation laptops, have finally been made public. Intel first debuted the Meteor Lake architecture a few months ago, but at that time, we were not given any information on the actual processor variants.
Intel 14th Gen Meteor Lake: Specifications & CPU Variants
With varying amounts of Xe Cores, GPU frequency, and other differences, only the Core Ultra H-Series chips will include on-board Intel Arc GPU. By the way, both the Intel Core Ultra H-Series and U-Series come with a neural processor called Intel AI boost. Intel 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs are officially launching on new 2024 laptops. The CPU variants in this new lineup range from Intel Core Ultra 9 (highest end) to the more basic Intel Core chips.
You can check out the specifications of the entire Intel Core Ultra processor lineup below. The core configuration (P-core/E-core/LP E-core) has also been mentioned. All these Core Ultra processors support either DDR5-5600MHz or LPDDR5/x-7464MHz RAM.
The capacity for DDR5 is up to 96GB, but for LPDDR5/x equipped systems, it goes up to 64 GB. It is unclear for now how upgradeability will work.
Intel Core Ultra (H-Series) Specifications
| 14th Gen CPU Variant | Total No. Of Cores (C) / Threads (T) | Core Configuration (P/E/LP-E) | Intel Smart Cache (LLC) | Max P-Core Turbo Frequency | Max E-Core Turbo Frequency | Integrated GPU, Xe Cores, GPU Frequency | Base CPU Power | Turbo CPU Power (configurable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core Ultra 9 185H | 16C/22T | 6+8+2 | 24M | 5.10 GHz | 3.80 GHz | Arc Graphics, 8 Xe Cores, 2.35 GHz | 45W | 115W |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 165H | 16C/22T | 6+8+2 | 24M | 5.0 GHz | 3.80 GHz | Arc Graphics, 8 Xe Cores, 2.3 GHz | 28W | 64/115W |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 155H | 16C/22T | 6+8+2 | 24M | 4.80 GHz | 3.80 GHz | Arc Graphics, 8 Xe Cores, 2.25 GHz | 28W | 64/115W |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 135H | 14C/18T | 6+8+2 | 18M | 4.60 GHz | 3.60 GHz | Arc Graphics, 7 Xe Cores, 2.2 GHz | 28W | 64/115W |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 125H | 14C/18T | 6+8+2 | 18M | 4.50 GHz | 3.60 GHz | Arc Graphics, 7 Xe Cores, 2.2 GHz | 28W | 64/115W |
An important note from Intel points out that Intel Arc GPU is only available on systems with 16GB of RAM, with dual channel configuration. If this is not met, or if the system manufacturer pairs the Core Ultra CPU with improper configuration, a bottleneck may occur. Also, new Intel Core Ultra H-Series CPUs are configurable up to 64/115W.
The cooling capacity and feature set of various laptops will determine this. Higher-end laptops, which are also designed for high performance, will undoubtedly have better performance on the same chip because of higher power limitations. Now, let us talk about the U Series.
Intel Core Ultra (U-Series) Specifications
| 14th Gen CPU Variant | Total No. Of Cores (C) / Threads (T) | Core Configuration (P/E/LP-E) | Intel Smart Cache (LLC) | Max P-Core Turbo Frequency | Max E-Core Turbo Frequency | Integrated GPU, Xe Cores, GPU Frequency | Base CPU Power | Turbo CPU Power (configurable) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intel Core Ultra 7 165U | 12C/14T | 2+8+2 | 12M | 4.90 GHz | 3.80 GHz | Intel Graphics, 4 Xe Cores, 2.0 GHz | 15W | 57W |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 155U | 12C/14T | 2+8+2 | 12M | 4.80 GHz | 3.80 GHz | Intel Graphics, 4 Xe Cores, 1.95 GHz | 15W | 57W |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 135U | 12C/14T | 2+8+2 | 12M | 4.40 GHz | 3.60 GHz | Intel Graphics, 4 Xe Cores, 1.9 GHz | 15W | 57W |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 125U | 12C/14T | 2+8+2 | 12M | 4.30 GHz | 3.60 GHz | Intel Graphics, 4 Xe Cores, 1.85 GHz | 15W | 57W |
| Intel Core Ultra 7 164U | 12C/14T | 2+8+2 | 12M | 4.80 GHz | 3.80 GHz | Intel Graphics, 4 Xe Cores, 1.8 GHz | 9W | 30W |
| Intel Core Ultra 5 134U | 12C/14T | 2+8+2 | 12M | 4.40 GHz | 3.60 GHz | Intel Graphics, 4 Xe Cores, 1.75 GHz | 9W | 30W |
The 2024 laptops will also use Intel Core Ultra U-Series chips, which are distinct from the H-Series but also beneficial in their own right. The thinnest and lightest laptops will be equipped with U-Series Intel Core Ultra CPUs.
The base & turbo power limits given for U-Series Core Ultra are dramatically lower as compared to the H-Series counterparts. Moreover, as we said, only the H-Series gets the Arc graphics card. The U-Series gets the basic Intel Graphics, with lower Xe cores & GPU frequencies.
The Core Ultra 9 185H, Core Ultra 7 164U, and Core Ultra 5 134U will release later, with Q1 2024 mentioned by Intel as the expected availability.
Intel has stated that 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs will be available starting today (December 14th). They have listed several retailers and OEM partners. In the coming days, check with your local retailers or sites like Amazon to see if Meteor Lake has launched in your region! So, we do not get a Core i9 successor right away. The other chips that are listed above will be released soon on various new laptops!
Intel 14th Gen Meteor Lake Performance Benchmarks
In terms of performance, Intel claims that the new Core Ultra chips have an 8% improvement in multi-threaded CPU performance when comparing the Core Ultra 7 165H vs. 13th Gen Core i7 -1370P in SPECrate 2017. Additionally, the single-threaded CPU performance has improved, with 12% faster than the AMD counterpart (Ryzen 7 7840U). It is worth noting that this specific CPU (165H) appears to be marginally slower than the i7-1370P when it comes to pure single-threaded performance.
Intel 14th Gen Meteor Lake features up to 2X faster graphics performance than the previous 13th Gen CPUs. Intel claims that content creation is 41% faster in the Puget Bench test for Adobe Premiere Pro.
The performance of the Intel 14th generation chip, which utilizes the entire chip—including the new NPU chip for AI acceleration, the compute tile P-Cores & E-cores, and the integrated Meteor Lake Arc GPU—in a variety of tasks, including gaming and content creation, is shown below.
Since Intel’s most recent architecture offers significant efficiency gains, the company is renaming its processors. Starting with Meteor Lake, new processors will be referred to as Intel Core Ultra for higher-end models or just Intel Core for base models.
The company states that the 14th generation of Meteor Lake CPUs with the Intel 4 manufacturing process will have even better power efficiency than the AMD Zen 4 (Ryzen 7 7840U) at 28W, which is built on TSMC’s 4nm manufacturing process. This means that the Intel Meteor Lake (Core Ultra 7 165H) will consume up to 79% less power!
What’s New in Intel 14th Gen Meteor Lake CPUs?
A lot has been promised with Intel’s latest 14th Gen Meteor Lake architecture, which includes EUV lithography, 20% increased power efficiency, and delivers the company’s new vision of a 3D Performance Hybrid Architecture. With this, Intel finally advances its Intel 4 process.
AI is a major focus for new Intel processors. On-board Meteor Lake architecture, there lies a new NPU chip that can even be seen in the Task Manager. This is essentially a mini powerhouse purpose-built for AI tasks on your Windows PC. You can even perform offline AI processing with it! Overall, the entire chip is purpose-built for AI. Intel is touting Meteor Lake as having ‘three AI engines’.
On the software front, there has been a significant improvement in scheduling (i.e., assigning CPU cores to ongoing tasks). Intel Thread Director provides continuous feedback to the operating system, which helps it make optimal scheduling decisions. On the hardware front, Intel has introduced a highly dynamic architecture in addition to a new type of core called Low Power Island (LP E-cores).
This new LP E-core will handle background tasks and can even handle tasks like video playback while basically sipping power; Intel 14th Gen laptops with Meteor Architecture will perform quite efficiently thanks to the addition of this new core type. This LP E-core is located in the SoC tile of Intel 14th Gen, separate from the compute tile, which contains the main P-Cores & E-Cores.
The correct allocation of cores, respective to the task at hand, is all managed by the CPU & OS automatically. According to Intel, during Netflix video playback, the 14th Gen Core Ultra 7 165H consumes 1150mW (1.15W). Comparing this to the previous 13th Gen (i7-1370P), that CPU consumes 1540mW (1.54W) in the same task.
On the connectivity side of things, Intel is dramatically upgrading things here, too. Intel 14th, Gen Meteor Lake, brings WiFi 7 support. 5 Gig networking is now a thing, thanks to this! By the way, AI is truly everywhere on new processors because Intel will include connection optimization software powered by AI.
Plus, Intel Bluetooth 5.4 is also coming to these latest processors. The newest Bluetooth features include LE audio (low power & high-quality sound), multi-stream features, and accessibility enhancements for PC users with hearing impairments. Thunderbolt 4 is also present, the same as the last gen processors. Maybe with 15th Gen, we’ll get to see Thunderbolt 5!
Also Read: Intel 14th Gen Core i9-14900K Faster than Core i9-13900K in Leaked Cinebench 2024 Benchmark