The latest generation of ultra-light laptops are almost as fast as new models and much cheaper

If you’re looking for a new thin and light Windows PC this year, the latest and greatest processors may not be all that necessary. Unlike previous mobile chip releases, the 2023 ultralight CPU options from Intel and AMD are basically the same as their predecessors. In the case of premium ultralights and 2-in-1s based on integrated graphics, the gains are so small that buyers on a budget should consider the latest generation model, assuming everything else is equal, and save hundreds with negligible loss in performance.

When Intel announced its 13th generation mobile device lineup in January, we called the chip “slightly improved.”The new chips are rather dull compared to the 12th Gen release, when Intel brought their Alder Lake hybrid architectures to laptops and introduced the P-series. As our testing has shown, the 13th generation makes such minimal changes that ultralight devices with 12th generation systems still deserve serious attention in comparison. And the spec comparison suggests a similar story with the AMD Ryzen 6000 and 7000.

As Andrew Cunningham of Ars wrote after Intel’s announcement of 13th gen mobile devices, the lineup is “mostly identical to the 12th gen processors it replaces.”The 13th generation brings notable upgrades to the HX chips, including more E-cores than before, and some chips support faster RAM. But when it comes to the chips you’re most likely to find in thin and light laptops – the P and U series – the feeling of “new and shiny”is much less.

With the new U and P series chips (as well as the more powerful H series), Intel has limited generational enhancements to support faster RAM (up to DDR5-4800/LPDDR5-5200 versus DDR5-5200/LPDDR5). -6400) and a slight increase in clock speed. How small? Here’s a quick overview of how the 13th generation U and P series compare to the 12th generation.

The U-series is supposed to be slightly less powerful and more efficient than the P-series, and shows the same minimal differences between the 12th and 13th generations (we used the Intel charts as there are more processors in this series). When the U series moved from the 11th to the 12th generation, it changed two large cores to four to eight small cores, but there are no such changes in the 13th generation.

As we wrote in January, “These upgrades are basically treading water and you shouldn’t wait for a 13th gen laptop if you can find an identical 12th gen laptop for less.” In a moment, I’ll show you some tests that support this thesis.

While this article is mostly about Intel testing, it’s a similar story with AMD’s latest laptop processors. Aside from the new Ryzen 7040 series, the new Zen 4 and RDNA 3 based chip, thin and light devices likely to use Ryzen 7000 chips will likely stick to the Ryzen 7035 series, which we’ve dubbed “Ryzen 6000 with a new name.”» At the time of this writing, Ryzen 7035 series ultra-light processors are not available online in the US, but you can check the table below for a performance comparison between this generation and the predecessor series.

To test the idea that the 13th generation is not worth waiting for if you can find what you need with the latest generation processor at a lower price, I tested the current generation (Gen 8) Lenovo Yoga 9i. An expensive variant from Lenovo’s 2-in-1 Yoga line, the Gen 8 is virtually identical to the Yoga 9i Gen 7 I looked at last year. From the chassis to the 2880×1800 90Hz OLED screen, 75Wh battery, and RAM speed, it’s essentially the same machine. The real difference lies in the processor, and as you can see, the 13th gen chip gives a slight boost in performance and graphics performance.