CES 2024 | Core 7 Processor 150U, Intel Core 5 Processor 120U, Intel Core 3 processor 100U: Intel's newest 15 W chips are now official

Alongside the high-power 14th-gen HX processors for gaming laptops, Intel has also announced three new SKUs for low-power applications. However, you may have to unlearn everything you know about how Meteor Lake chips are named because "Intel Core 7 Processor 150U, Intel Core 5 Processor 120U, and Intel Core 3 processor 100U" don't exactly roll off the tongue. Laptops powered by the said CPUs will start launching in Q1, 2024.

The Intel Core 7 Processor 150U is a 12-core, 12-thread part with 2 performance and 8 efficiency cores. Its P/E cores can boost up to 5.4/4.0 GHz, and its GPU can boost up to 1.3 GHz. The Intel Core 5 Processor 120U has identical specs but with lower boost clocks for the P/E cores (5.0/3.8 GHz) and GPU (1.25 GHz). Lastly, the Core Ultra 3 Processor reduces the core/thread count to 6 and 8, which is a result of it using 2 P (4.7 GHz max) and 4 E (3.3 GHz max) cores. All three SKUs have a base TDP of 15 Watts and can turbo up to 55 Watts when required.

Systems running the Intel Core 7 Processor 150U, Intel Core 5 Processor 120U, and Intel Core 3 processor 100U can be configured with up to 96 GB RAM. They support DDR5 5,200, DDR4 3,200 and LPDDR4X 4,267 memory modules. Other than the Core 3 Processor 100U, both models can also run LPDDR5X 6,400 RAM. Other specs include support for up to 4x Thunderbolt 4.0 ports, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4 and Bluetooth LE. If these specs seem vaguely familiar to you, it's because they are.

This is eerily similar to the Raptor Lake-U processors launched a year ago. Intel hasn't specified if it uses Meteor Lake's new Redwood Cove/Crestmont CPU cores, so the Intel Core 7 Processor 150U, Intel Core 5 Processor 120U, and Intel Core 3 processor 100U could very likely be repackaged Raptor Lake dies, just like the 14000HX series.