Just like a desktop computer, the heart of every laptop is the central processing unit (CPU), often called the processor, which is responsible for nearly everything that happens inside. Today’s laptops use a range of different CPUs from AMD, Intel, Apple and Qualcomm – seemingly endless options, but also complex names. But if you know a few basic rules, the choice is easier than you think.
This article will help you decipher the terminology in each laptop’s spec sheet – from core count to gigahertz, from TDP to cache – and help you choose the model that’s best for you and convenient. With almost all exceptions, a laptop’s processor cannot be changed or upgraded later, as is the case with some desktop computers. Therefore, it is important to make the right choice from the beginning. (With that in mind, also check out our guide to the best desktop CPUs.)
First up: some basic laptop CPU concepts
The CPU is responsible for the main logical operations in the computer. It’s about everything: mouse clicks, streaming videos smoothly, responding to in-game commands, encoding your family’s home videos, and more. It is the most important piece of hardware inside.
Before we get into specific CPU recommendations, let’s understand what sets one chip apart from another by focusing on the key features that laptop processors share.
Laptop Processor Architecture: Silicon Basics
Every processor is based on an underlying design called an instruction set architecture. This blueprint determines how the processor understands the computer code. Because software operating systems and applications are written to work most efficiently on specific architectures (or sometimes only on specific architectures), this is probably the most important decision point for your next processor.
In general, modern laptop processors use ARM or x86 architecture. The latter, developed by Intel in 1978, dominated the PC industry, with Intel and AMD vying for market share dominance. Arm-based chips, on the other hand, are made by hundreds of different companies under license from British company Arm Limited, which is majority-owned by SoftBank. (For a while, it looked like Nvidia was in the process of acquiring Arm, but the graphics chip maker abandoned that effort.)
Arm chips were already in billions of devices, from smartphones to supercomputers, and had little use in PCs (only in some Chromebooks and a handful of Qualcomm-based Windows laptops) until Apple ditched Intel in late 2020 , switching to his own M1. Arm architecture gave up. Apple’s introduction, now with the M2 and M3 generations, is one of the main reasons why Arm chips are seeing widespread adoption in mainstream computing as an alternative to x86.
Number of Cores and Threads: Launch on all (CPU) cylinders
Current laptop CPUs are made up of two or more physical cores. The nucleus is essentially a logical brain. All else being equal, more cores are better than fewer, although there is an upper limit on the number of cores that can be used in a given situation. A popular and oversimplified analogy is the number of cylinders in a car engine.
It’s hard to find a modern laptop with fewer than four processor cores. Today, quad-core chips are basically the bare minimum for everyday tasks like web surfing, word processing, and video streaming. Serious multitaskers will be better off with a processor with six, eight, or even ten cores.
Core counts vary widely between Intel and AMD CPUs, a fact compounded by the fact that newer Intel chips contain multiple core types (what the company calls “performance” and “efficiency” cores). With the latest “Meteor Lake” Core Ultra chips, Intel is also introducing what it calls “low-power E-Core,” designed to save battery by performing minimal tasks on the PC. (More on that later.)
For processor-intensive applications such as video editing and gaming, we recommend an AMD processor with six or eight cores or an Intel chip with six or more performance cores. This level of CPU is typically found in mid-sized and large laptops, not ultraportable compact laptops, as they require additional cooling. (You’ll learn more about the different CPU classes when we look at the specifics of Intel and AMD chips.)
Which path should you go: Intel or AMD?
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s start with a specific brand of processor. This section focuses on the x86 processors offered by AMD and Intel since Apple’s MacBooks switched to the company’s own Arm-based chips. (If you want a MacBook, you get Apple’s M-series chips in every new model.)
Intel dominated the laptop processor market in the 2010s with faster, more power efficient chips, largely pushing AMD into the low-cost entry level laptop market. But AMD soon made a comeback, and the two companies have been fierce competitors for market share so far in the 2020s.
We’re just starting to see 14th Gen Intel and AMD Ryzen 8000 chips at the top end of the laptop market, so we can’t talk about absolute peak performance right now. But over the past few years and generations, the two rivals have had a tough showdown with their respective top-tier HX series processors. Both have credible offers. (See, for example, our testing article on AMD Ryzen 7000 “Dragon Range” versus Intel’s 13th Gen “Raptor Lake.”) Even before that, AMD had demonstrated its superiority in mobile CPUs in recent years, and Proving they’re not just fast enough to keep up.
Laptop Processor Generations and Codenames: Here’s Your Codec Ring
Intel used to divide its processors by generation (12th-gen CPUs had model numbers starting with 12; 13th-gen chips started with 13), but abandoned that practice with 14th-gen parts in favor of generation-less Core and Core Ultra. AMD still embeds codenames into model numbers; for example, the Ryzen 9 7940HS is the top chip of the seventh generation (Ryzen 9 rather than 5 or 7).
Can laptop CPUs be overclocked?
Almost all laptop CPUs are not overclockable – meaning hot rodders cannot increase clock speeds beyond factory values, as is the case with some power user desktop processors. The exceptions are Intel Core processors with the HK and HX suffixes and AMD’s Ryzen HX series.
These special suffixes mean that the processor has unlocked multipliers that can be used to change the clock speed. (For more information on desktop PCs, see our How to Overclock Your Intel CPU feature. Although the thermal headroom is smaller on laptops, the process is essentially the same.) Intel’s latest overclockable mobile chip is the Core i9-13900HK .
