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In a nutshell: Intel is reportedly developing an all-new x86 CPU core architecture called "Cobra Core" to follow the previously rumored "Royal Core" P-core architecture. While Royal Core is expected to power future products like Nova Lake and Beast Lake, details about Cobra Core remain scarce. However, the latest leaks suggest that it will deliver faster performance and greater efficiency than its predecessors.
The codename for Intel's future CPU core architecture was spotted in the LinkedIn profile of Intel engineer Antony Jose Emmatty by data-mining experts at the Korean tech blog Gamma0Burst. According to his profile, Intel has been working on Royal Core and Cobra Core since 2023 as part of the company's plans to deliver "more power efficiency and high[er] performance" than competing products, presumably from AMD and Qualcomm.
It's unclear which family of products will be powered by Cobra Core, but its predecessor, Royal Core, is expected to be featured in upcoming Nova Lake processors. A modified version of Royal Core, dubbed Royal Core 1.1, is rumored to power Beast Lake CPUs. Intel was also once said to be developing the Beast Lake Next micro-architecture with Royal Core 2.0 performance cores, but it has reportedly been canceled.
Information about the Royal Core architecture was originally shared by the YouTube channel Moore's Law is Dead, which has a mixed track record regarding leaks and rumors. However, new details from the Intel engineer's LinkedIn profile lend credibility to the earlier report, suggesting that Intel is indeed developing the Royal Core and Cobra Core architectures for future products.
Royal Core and Cobra Core appear to mark a shift in Intel's CPU core naming convention. The company has been using the "Cove" suffix for the past few generations, but if the rumors are accurate, Intel may be preparing to move away from the "Cove" nomenclature in favor of "Core."
That said, this latest rumor should be treated with caution, as it contradicts earlier reports suggesting that Nova Lake would feature Panther Cove performance cores and Arctic Wolf efficient cores. Neither rumor has been confirmed by Intel, so it's uncertain whether Panther Cove for Nova Lake is still in development.