If you have looked at gaming PCs lately, you might have noticed many labeled as AI PCs. However, it seems that demand for AI features is lower than companies expected. Recent reports suggest that Intel will soon raise the prices of its 13th and 14th Generation Raptor Lake CPUs by over ten percent. Analysts believe this decision is related to weak sales of AI equipped computers and higher manufacturing costs.
Raptor Lake chips do not include dedicated hardware for AI tasks, which makes them less attractive for users interested in running advanced AI applications locally. Recent Intel chips aimed at AI use, like the new Lunar Lake processors, are efficient and offer good productivity, but they are weaker for gaming. Because AI PCs are not selling as expected, many buyers are choosing to stick with the older but more reliable Raptor Lake CPUs.
According to reports, some Raptor Lake CPUs that used to cost about $150 are now rising to $170 or even $180. This price increase seems surprising, especially since Intel has faced tough competition from AMD and had issues with stability and reliability in its latest chips.
Over the past year and a half, Intel has worked to fix problems with the 13th and 14th Generation CPUs, releasing updates and improving stability. Despite early issues, chips like the Core i9 13900K and Core i9 14900K still perform better in many tasks compared to newer models like the Arrow Lake Core Ultra series.
Intel is preparing for future product launches, including Arrow Lake with better AI support and Nova Lake, which is expected to have up to 52 cores. While these may seem impressive, Intel's newer chips must do more than simply add more cores if they want to compete with AMD. Falling back on proven models like Raptor Lake and raising their prices could be Intel's way of staying profitable as it invests in future technology.
While Intel is partnering with companies like Nvidia and possibly Apple for future growth, it is clear that for now, consumers still value strong gaming and general performance over advanced AI features in their personal computers.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/processors/intels-13th-and-14th-gen-chips-will-reportedly-see-a-10-percent-price-hike-soon-partly-in-response-to-the-lackluster-performance-of-ai-pcs/
