The next two or three numbers (“55”) refer to performance. The higher these numbers are, the more powerful the chip is. However, this only applies to this line of chips. The Intel Core i7-1465U is slightly more powerful than the Intel Core i7-1455U, but by a lot fewer more powerful than the Intel Core i9-1435H. The i9 chip is always more powerful than the i7, the i7 is more powerful than the i5, and the difference is greater than the difference between any two chips of the same chip series.
The letter at the end of the chip name (“U” in our example) is Intel’s designation for the chip’s purpose. On laptops, the letters you see at the end are Y, U, H, and HX. The Y-series chips are optimized for battery life, which is good if you’re often away from the power outlet for long periods, but that extra battery life comes at the expense of performance. H chips are optimized for performance and U chips are “energy efficient” but not “extremely” efficient like the Y series. The latest in the bunch is the HX designation, which refers to chips that Intel calls the “desktop replacement class.” They are the most powerful of all, but laptops with HX chips have shorter battery life.
AMD processors
AMD’s chip name is just as difficult to decipher as Intel’s. In the name AMD Ryzen 5 8600X, the “8” represents the generation (how old it is – the higher the better) and the “6” indicates how powerful it is. A “6” would make this example a medium-strength chip, whereas a 3 or 4 would be weaker (slower). The next two numbers don’t have much of an impact on anything. The “X” at the end indicates high performance. Other letter designations include U for “Ultra Low Power” (for longer battery life).
Is there a big difference between Intel and AMD chips? I’ve tested dozens of both every year and my experience is that it matters. In general, an Intel i5 is indistinguishable from a Ryzen 5 outside of very specific benchmarks. They are similar when you surf the Internet or edit documents, for example. The same applies to the Intel i7 and Ryzen 7 as well as the Intel i3 and Ryzen 3.
You will notice a difference in graphics performance. In my tests, both in benchmarks and real-world work use, AMD’s integrated graphics tend to perform better than Intel’s in graphics-intensive tasks – such as editing videos or playing games. Intel’s latest chip series has significantly closed this gap, but AMD still has the edge. If you are a video editor or gamer, purchasing an AMD computer may be beneficial for you, but most likely you will want a dedicated graphics card. (More on this in the GPU section below.)
Apple processors
Apple makes a range of chips these days that are used in both MacBooks, iPads and iPhones. Fortunately, the names are pretty simple. There are three chips in the range: M1, M2 and M3. The M1 is the oldest and slowest; The M3 is the newest and fastest. Within each of these chip lines there are different models, ranging from the base model through Pro, Max and Ultra. The base model is the weakest model, while the Ultra is the most powerful. Again, we have a separate guide to Macs with a full breakdown of each chip, all model names, and which one you need for different tasks.
How much computing power do you need?
If you’re a typical user who uses a web browser, Microsoft’s Office suite, and maybe even some photo editing software, we recommend a laptop with a 10th Gen Intel Core i5 processor or higher. This would appear as something like “Intel Core i5-10350U”.
If you can afford it, an Intel i7 chip is a nice upgrade and will make your laptop feel faster. However, the extra power often means shorter battery life, so you’ll need to balance that with your needs. For example, a gaming laptop would use an i7 (or i9) chip, but for less demanding tasks an i5 is usually sufficient. Likewise, for the average user, the AMD Ryzen 5000 series will be sufficient, but the Ryzen 7000 represents a nice upgrade – again at the expense of battery life.