Want to go down a tech rabbit hole that’ll leave you utterly confused? Try understanding what processor you’re getting 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 shopping for a laptop or just curious what these companies are up to, here’s my own attempt to simplify everything down and make it all digestible in cheat sheet format.
This column first appeared in Advisorator, Jared’s weekly tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday.
The extra-short version in a nutshell
If you just want a regular Windows laptop with the best possible processor, here’s what to seek out right now:
- Intel: Core Ultra Series 2 with a model name that starts with a “2” and ends with a “V,” such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V (Series 2). UltrabookReview has a helpful list of laptops.
- AMD: Ryzen AI 300 Series, such as the AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360. UltrabookReview has a list of these as well.
- Qualcomm: Snapdragon X in either Plus or Elite variants. Qualcomm’s website has a list of those.
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 processors, explained
Intel’s latest processors fall into a few buckets:
- Intel Core Ultra denotes premium chips with dedicated processors for on-device AI applications (e.g., Intel Core Ultra 7 155U).
- Intel Core is a step below the Core Ultra and is mainly used in mainstream machines (e.g., Intel Core 7 150U).
- Intel Processor is the new name for budget PC chips that previously used Pentium and Celeron branding (e.g., Intel Processor N200).
With Core and Core Ultra, Intel further separates its processors into performance tiers, counted as odd numbers from 3 through 9. Higher numbers (i.e., Core Ultra 9) generally indicate more cores, which can speed up things like video exports and image processing, but Core 5 and Core Ultra 5 chips are perfectly fine for web browsing and office use.
Intel
The last letter in the model name is also important, indicating how the processor is optimized. Intel maintains a long list of these suffixes, but the main ones to know are “U” (which prioritizes battery life) and “H” (which prioritizes performance). The processors I mentioned earlier use a “V” suffix, which is unique to the Core Ultra product line.
Older options: If you see a processor with an “i” or a “generation” in the name, such as the Intel 12th-generation Core i5 1235U, that’s an older chip. After reaching the 14th generation, Intel reset everything and is now counting from “Series 1” onward. If you’re looking at model names, the Series number is the first digit (as in “155U”), which means newer Intel chips have shorter names than older ones. Older models can still be worth considering, but only if the price is right.
AMD’s processors, explained
AMD isn’t as far along in its branding makeover as Intel. While it has the aforementioned AI 300 Series chips to compete with Apple and Qualcomm, the rest of its processors follow a lengthier and more chaotic naming scheme that was rolled out in 2023.
AMD
Consider AMD’s Ryzen 5 8640HS as an example:
- The first digit in 8640HS indicates the generation, with “8” indicating chips released in the year 2024. (If you see something like 7735HS, that’s from 2023.)
- The “5” in Ryzen 5 indicates the performance tier, counted in odd numbers similar to Intel’s Core 5 and Core 7 scheme.
- As with Intel, the letter at the end indicates how the processor is optimized. For instance, “U” prioritizes battery life while “H” prioritizes performance.
The chips that follow this naming scheme use AMD’s older Zen 4 architecture, while newer AI 300 Series chips are built on Zen 5. As AMD moves more of its processor line to the newer architecture, I suspect we’ll see some new branding to match.
Qualcomm’s processors, explained
Qualcomm joined the PC CPU wars earlier this year with a big emphasis on power efficiency. Its Snapdragon X chips use the same Arm-based architecture found in phones, tablets, and Apple’s M-series processors, and they offer both solid PC performance and long battery 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 trade-off is that a lot of Windows software isn’t built for Arm-based processors, and compatibility issues can arise even with Microsoft’s emulation engine that runs non-Arm apps on Snapdragon PCs. The situation is gradually improving, both with emulation improvements and more developers releasing Arm versions of their software, but it’s still a potential headache that Intel and AMD laptops don’t have to deal with.
Three cheers for CPU competition
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 tech advice newsletter. Sign up to get tech advice like this every Tuesday.
