Intel retires Pentium and Celeron: New name for low-end CPUs

After more than 30 years, Intel says goodbye to two classic brand names for its processors that are used again and again. From 2023 they no longer want to offer “Pentium” and “Celeron” chips. However, the new name is not a big hit in terms of marketing.

The terms Pentium and Celeron date back to the 1990s and were used at the time to easily distinguish between the US company’s top-of-the-range and entry-level chips. The high-performance models were called Pentium, while the cheaper versions were sold under the Celeron brand.

Old names were only used for cheap chips

Basically, everyone nowadays knows that when you say “Pentium” or “Celeron” you are talking about an Intel chip. However, the two designations were recently demoted to the point that they were only used for low-end CPUs. In most cases, these were dual or quad-core chips for inexpensive notebooks or 2-in-1 systems.

Now it’s finally over because Intel probably thinks that the names Pentium and Celeron have had their day. However, they have also been “burned”; after all, the performance of the latest Pentium and Celeron chips was anything but outstanding.

Processor is now called ‘Processor’

Instead of continuing to use the world-famous names, Intel intends to market its “entry-level” CPUs for inexpensive notebooks under the following brand name: “Intel Processor”. The US chip giant simply calls the processors “processor”. Supposedly, this is to provide more clarity in the line-up, making it easier for customers to find what they are looking for.

In the future, the cheaper chips will be recognized by the fact that they are no longer assigned a real brand name. If a CPU does not bear the name “Intel Core”, it will be a low-end model in the future. Most buyers of entry-level laptops are likely to pay less attention to the brand name than the so-called enthusiasts who buy the more expensive chips.

According to Intel, the first chips with “Intel Processor” branding should come onto the market in early 2023. For the time being, by the way, there should be no correspondingly branded desktop CPUs that will come onto the market in the same period. In the long term, however, this is likely to change.