AWESOME Intel Laptops... Finally!

September 17, 2024

First Look at Intel Core Ultra Series 2 (aka Lunar Lake). Should you buy a new Intel laptop, boasting better performance, battery life, and AI vs. AMD and Snapdragon rivals? ⁠

I’ve picked the wobbliest table, but let’s give this a go. What I have here is a box containing the new Core Ultra Series 2 chip. If my camera adjusts the focus, you’ll see it right there. This is the latest system on a chip (SoC) that will power next-generation laptops, expected to launch in the coming weeks. In fact, some of them are available for pre-order today. I’ve had a quick hands-on with laptops from brands like Samsung, Asus, MSI, LG, and Dell, all of which feature either the Core Ultra 7 or Ultra 9 processors.

I’ve just come out of a technical briefing by Intel, which flew me out to Berlin for the IFA conference. Nothing here is sponsored, but I wanted to share some key highlights with you from the presentation on these new chips. Now, I won’t bore you with every technical slide, but I’ll summarize the main points and explain why you might want to consider getting a laptop with one of these new chips. Intel first introduced this new Luna Lake architecture a few months ago at Computex, but now, I’ve had the chance to go hands-on and get a better understanding of its performance compared to AMD’s Ryzen AI chips and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite, although Intel didn’t focus much on Apple’s M3 and upcoming M4 chips. In a Q&A, Intel claimed this new architecture would outperform Apple’s M3 in AI performance, but there wasn’t any info on the M4 yet.

Everything I’ll discuss is based on Intel’s benchmarks and data, but I’ll do my own testing once I get a sample in the studio. So, how much faster is this new chip? Is it a big deal? Let me jump right to the end of Intel’s presentation to show you the performance numbers compared to last generation’s Meteor Lake, which only launched in December or January. We’re talking about an 18% faster CPU, a 30% faster GPU, 50% greater efficiency, triple the AI performance, and double the performance per watt. These new chips, designed for premium thin and light laptops, are all about efficiency. They offer better performance while consuming less power, which means longer battery life — and for many of us, battery life is a top priority.

Intel shared impressive battery life estimates, with Dell’s XPS 13 offering up to 24 hours of average use on a single charge with these new chips. That’s the kind of battery life we used to only see from Snapdragon-powered laptops, but without the app compatibility issues. Speaking of Snapdragon, there was a bit of a laugh in the room during Intel’s gaming benchmarks. While Intel’s chips outperformed AMD’s offerings, the Snapdragon X Elite couldn’t even run half the games. Despite Snapdragon’s advantages in AI and efficiency, it seems like Intel’s new chips are either meeting or exceeding those benefits, which is quite interesting. It’s been a big year for laptops.

Intel is launching nine different SKUs of the Core Ultra Series 2. If you’re wondering about the “V” suffix, nobody knows what it stands for — not even Intel. Consumers will see the branding “Intel Core Ultra Series 2” when they shop, and this chip is aimed at high-end, expensive thin and light laptops like the Dell XPS series and Asus ZenBook models. For more affordable options, Intel will still sell the Meteor Lake Core Ultra 100 series. There’s also talk of U- and H-series chips, and later, Intel will launch the Arrow Lake architecture for higher power and performance.

All Core Ultra 200 models feature eight cores, though with different clock speeds, and come with two versions of integrated graphics: the Arc 130V and 140V. Memory options are limited to 16GB or 32GB, integrated onto the chip itself. This is great for efficiency but means you can’t upgrade the memory later. If you’re looking for 64GB, you’re out of luck with these thin and light models. So, without going into too much detail, these chips combine CPU, GPU, memory, AI, and other functions like the Meteor Engine into a single SoC. Despite having fewer cores than AMD’s Ryzen AI chips, Intel claims their CPU still outperforms AMD’s in this category while using less power.

In terms of power consumption, Intel’s Core Ultra 9 runs between 9 to 37 watts, much lower than the previous gen’s 57 watts. For gaming, these chips perform up to 40% faster while using 20% less power, which is a significant improvement. Battery life also benefits from having integrated memory, improved architecture, and no hyperthreading. Intel’s new chips are expected to beat both Snapdragon and Ryzen in terms of battery life for most tasks.

The second-gen Intel Arc Xe2 integrated graphics offer a 30-60% boost over the previous gen, with Intel claiming a 15% lead over AMD’s integrated graphics. They even set up a demo running F1 2024 at high settings, and Intel’s chip outperformed both AMD and Snapdragon, particularly in terms of efficiency and power draw. Gaming aside, fast integrated graphics are crucial for tasks like video editing, 3D rendering, and AI-powered features.

Intel also highlighted their AI performance, with an MPU capable of 48 TOPS (trillion operations per second), offering a 58% boost over Meteor Lake. While many AI features are still cloud-based, the local AI capabilities of these chips will become more important as developers optimize apps to take advantage of them.

To wrap up, we still need to test these chips ourselves against Meteor Lake, AMD Ryzen, Qualcomm Snapdragon, and Apple’s M3 and M4 chips. Intel says over 20 brands are developing 80 different designs with these new chips, and you can already pre-order some models, like the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro. We’ll see more laptops rolling out in the coming weeks, with some models like MSI’s Claw 8 coming in early 2025. Overall, it’s shaping up to be an exciting time for laptops, and I look forward to testing these new chips soon. If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments, and stay tuned for more detailed reviews soon.

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.