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Do you want to convey a technological discovery that will leave you completely confused? Test which processor you will get in a Windows laptop.
In their zeal to push AI as a selling point, Intel and AMD are renaming their laptop processors and tossing out the naming schemes we’ve come to know over the years. This new branding collides with the previous branding that already exists on older laptops still available today, along with an entirely new breed of laptop chips from Qualcomm.
It’s a lot to wrap your head around, but I’ve done my best to sort through it all — if not for your benefit, than at least for mine. I’m tired of feeling lost by what these companies are offering, and every explanation I’ve seen online gets overly mired in technical complexity.
Whether you’re interested in a computer or just curious about what those corporations do, here’s my own attempt to simplify and make everything understandable in the form of a cheat sheet.
This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday.
If you just need an old Windows computer with the possible processor, here’s what to look for right now:
All three of these processors aim to better compete with the M-series processors in Apple’s MacBooks, both in performance and battery life. Still, there’s a lot more to look for in a laptop than just the processor, and you’ll likely encounter other CPU options that may still be worth considering, too. Read on for a more thorough rundown.
Intel’s latest processors fall into a few buckets:
With Core and Core Ultra, Intel further separates its processors into levels of functionality, counted as numbers 3 through 9. Higher numbers (i. e. , Core Ultra 9) typically mean more cores, which can speed up things like video exports and symbol processing. The Core five and Core Ultra five chips are fantastic for browsing the internet and using in the workplace.
The last letter of the style call is also important, as it indicates how the processor is optimized. Intel has a long list of those suffixes, but the most important ones to know are “U” (which prioritizes battery life) and “H” (which prioritizes performance). The processors I mentioned above use a “V” suffix for the Core Ultra product line.
Older options: If you see a processor with an “i” or “generation” in the name, such as the 12th Gen Intel Core i5 1235U, it’s an older chip. After reaching the 14th generation, Intel reset everything and now counts from the “Series 1”. If you look at the style names, the serial number is the first number (as in “155U”), which means that newer Intel chips have shorter names than older ones. Older styles can still be attractive, but only if the price is right.
AMD isn’t as far along in logo change as Intel. While it has the aforementioned three-hundredth AI chips in the series to compete with Apple and Qualcomm, the rest of its processors stick to a longer, more chaotic naming scheme that was implemented in 2023.
Consider AMD’s Ryzen 5 8640HS as an example:
Chips that follow this naming scheme use AMD’s older Zen 4 architecture, while the newer AI 300 series chips are based on Zen 5. As AMD moves more of its CPU lineup to the new architecture, I think we will see a new matching logo. .
Qualcomm joined the PC CPU wars earlier this year with powerful performance. Its Snapdragon life.
But the real breath of fresh air might be their straightforward branding: Snapdragon X Elite represents Qualcomm’s best, with Snapdragon X Plus one step down. I spent a few weeks with Microsoft’s Snapdragon X Plus-powered Surface Laptop over the summer and it seemed sufficiently snappy while easily offering all-day battery life.
The downside is that much of the Windows software is designed for Arm processors and compatibility challenges can hold up even with Microsoft’s emulation engine running non-Arm apps on Snapdragon-running PCs. The scenario is gradually improving, either with innovations in emulation and more developers releasing Arm versions of their software, but it’s still a potential headache that Intel and AMD laptops don’t have a problem with. not to confront.
Though it can be maddening to sift through these options, and the emphasis on AI is a bit overblown, I’m glad to see some three-headed competition among PC processors.
Apple has spent the past four years trouncing Windows chip makers on power efficiency in particular, and this new wave of processors at least puts them somewhere in the same ballpark. If the trade-off is a period of more confusing branding, I’ll take it.
This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly newsletter of technology recommendations. Sign up for tech tips like this every Tuesday.
Jared has been a freelance journalist for over 15 years and is a regular contributor to PCWorld, Fast Company, and TechHive, where he has written a weekly cord-cutting column since 2014. His weekly Cord Cutter newsletter has over 30,000 subscribers. and its technical advice newsletter Advisorator is read by around 10,000 people each week. Jared has a master’s degree in journalism from New York University and specializes in making it easy to understand complex technical topics, from streaming and cord-cutting to clever apps and helpful tech tips. It is founded in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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