Intel increases prices for 12th generation CPUs by 10%

Intel has raised the prices of its 12th Gen Alder Lake processors in its Ark online product database, representing a whopping 10% price increase for the company’s previous-generation desktop PC chips. In some cases, that can mean a price increase of around $60 for a chip.

Right now, the company’s newer 13th Gen Raptor Lake processors, which have more cores and drastically higher performance, are actually cheaper than previous models. However, one can assume that the Raptor Lake models will also get a price increase soon, which may give AMD a head start in pricing.

Intel announced in the first quarter of last year that it would raise chip prices, but didn’t provide further details. The company reiterated that message during its earnings call in June after suffering a $500 million loss in the second quarter of 2022 — one of the worst quarters in the company’s history. However, Intel again did not specify which products will see price increases and by how much the prices will increase.

CPU price increases

All Intel products have increased in price by 10%. For example, the Core i9-12900K was originally priced at $589 and is now priced at $648. The Core i5-12400 has gone up from $192 to $211, while the Core i7-12700K went from $409 to $450. The Core i5-12600K was $289 but is now available for $318. The cheapest was the Core i3-12100 at $122, which is now $134.

We now know that Intel’s client CPUs are not spared either — you can see that several key Alder Lake SKUs have had their prices changed in the Ark database, but Intel hasn’t officially announced the price increases yet.

Intel also increased the price of Alder Lake desktop CPUs by 10% across the entire range, from Core i3 to Core i9 models. For the top-of-the-line Core i9-12900K, we see an almost $60 increase.

The price rise also comes with the F-Series non-graphics models, which usually come at a discount, and the 65W and 35W “non-K” models, which sell at even lower prices.

12th generation now more expensive than 13th generation

This means that the previous generation Alder Lake models are now more expensive than the current generation Raptor Lake chips. However, the latter has more cores and are noticeably faster, topping both our list of the best CPUs for gaming and our CPU benchmark hierarchy, so we expect these chips to see price increases in the coming days as well.

Intel’s Raptor Lake currently enjoys both a performance advantage and a significant price/performance advantage over AMD’s competing Ryzen 7000 processors. However, Intel’s price hikes could change the pecking order, especially in the lower price brackets, such as the Core i3 and Core i5.

Header: Intel