Intel Core i7-1455U This is how laptop manufacturers refer to processor types on their websites. Now that we know that the Core i7 is one of the most powerful chips in the lineup, let’s take a closer look at the rest of the numbers. The first number (“14”) represents the generation. In this case, it’s a 14th generation chip (currently the latest generation available for laptops). The i7-1355U is a 13th generation chip, which means it’s probably about a year old.
The next two or three numbers (“55”) have to do with performance. The higher these numbers are, the more powerful the chip is. However, this is only true within that chip line. The Intel Core i7-1465U is slightly better than the Intel Core i7-1455U, but few It’s more powerful than the Intel Core i9-1435H. An i9 chip will always be more powerful than an i7, which will always be more powerful than an i5, and the difference will be greater than the difference between any two chips in the same chip line.
The letter at the end of the chip name (in this example, “U”) is an Intel designation for what the chip is used for. For laptops, the letters are Y, U, H, or HX. The Y-series chips are optimized for battery life, good for when you’re often unplugged for long periods of time, but they sacrifice some performance for longer battery life. The H chips are optimized for performance, and the U chips are “power efficient” but not “extremely” efficient like the Y-series. The newest chips are HX designations, and are what Intel calls “desktop replacement class” chips. They are the most powerful, but laptops with HX chips will have shorter battery life.
AMD processor
AMD’s chip naming is just as difficult to decipher as Intel’s. In the name AMD Ryzen 5 8600X, the “8” represents the generation (older, higher is better) and the “6” represents performance. A “6” is a mid-performance chip, while a 3 or 4 is less powerful (slower). The next two numbers don’t have much impact. An “X” at the end represents high performance. Other letter designations include U for ultra-low power (longer battery life).
Are there any big differences between Intel and AMD chips? In my experience, having tested dozens of both every year, it depends. Generally speaking, you can’t tell the difference between an Intel i5 and a Ryzen 5 outside of very specific benchmarks. For tasks like browsing the web or editing documents, they’re both similar. The same goes for an Intel i7 vs. Ryzen 7, and an Intel i3 vs. Ryzen 3.
Where you’ll see a difference is in graphics performance. In my testing, both in benchmarks and in real-world work, AMD’s integrated graphics tend to outperform Intel in graphics-intensive tasks like video editing and game playing. Intel’s latest chip series has closed the gap significantly, but AMD still has the edge. If you’re a video editor or gamer, you might benefit from buying an AMD machine, but what you’ll most likely need is a dedicated graphics card (more on that in the GPU section below).
ARM processor
There are a lot of chips based on the ARM architecture, but the latest and greatest is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X CPU, which is making a big splash when it debuts in 2024 as the only chip that will support Microsoft’s new Copilot+ AI feature (Microsoft says Copilot+ will eventually come to Intel and AMD machines as well). We’ve tested two Copilot+ laptops with Snapdragon X chips and have been very impressed. Speeds are good (though not all benchmark tests have been run yet, making it hard to compare head-to-head), battery life is great, and software compatibility is pretty good thanks to Microsoft’s Prism translation layer, which allows popular apps to run on the ARM platform (albeit slowly). It’s still early days for the Snapdragon X chip, but we like it so far and think it has, at the very least, shaken up the long-ruling Intel/AMD duopoly in the PC market.
Apple Processors
Apple makes a lot of chips these days that are used in MacBooks, iPads, and iPhones. Luckily, the names are pretty simple. There are three chips in the lineup: M1, M2, and M3. M1 is the oldest and slowest chip, and M3 is the newest and fastest. Each of these chip lines has different models: Base, Pro, Max, and Ultra. Base is the least powerful and Ultra is the most powerful. Again, we also have a separate Mac guide with a detailed breakdown of each chip, all the model designations, and which chips are best for different tasks.
How much processing power do you need?
If you’re a general user who will be using a web browser, Microsoft Office Suite, and even photo editing software, we recommend a laptop with an Intel Core i5 10th generation or newer processor, which will look something like an “Intel Core i5-10350U.”
If you have the budget, upgrading to an Intel i7 chip will make your laptop run faster. However, increased power often comes at the expense of shorter battery life, so you’ll need to balance this with your needs. For example, gaming laptops use i7 (or i9) chips, but an i5 is usually sufficient for less demanding tasks. Similarly, for the average user, the AMD Ryzen 5000 series is sufficient, but upgrading to a Ryzen 7000 will again result in shorter battery life.
