When buying a laptop, the process is perhaps the most stressful. This is only possible if you don’t opt for a MacBook Pro, and then things are simpler.
Here’s some information about processors that might make your decision easier.
How much processing power do you need?
If you’re a regular user who runs a web browser, Microsoft Office suite, and maybe even photo editing software, a laptop with a 10th generation Intel Core i5 processor or newer is recommended. This would be displayed as something like “Intel Core i5-10350U”. If you can afford it, an Intel i7 chip makes a nice upgrade and will make your laptop feel faster.
The extra power often means shorter battery life, so you’ll need to balance that against your needs. A gaming laptop, for example, would use an i7 (or i9) chip, but an i5 is usually good for less demanding tasks.
Also, for the average user, the AMD Ryzen 5000 series will suffice, but the Ryzen 7000 makes a nice upgrade – again at the cost of battery life.
In general, it’s recommended to avoid Intel Core i3 (and by extension AMD Ryzen 3) chips with Windows 11. The experience can be frustratingly slow, with frequent and loud fan noise. While both Series 3 chips are fine for Chromebooks and minimal Linux setups, Windows users are better off with an Intel i5 or Ryzen 5 chip.
Are you a power user? If you’re building software, editing videos, or working with very large databases, you’ll want more processing power than others. An Intel i7 or Ryzen 7 is suggested. You’ll also want to put more RAM on your PC for such operations.
The best processors for Chrome OS devices
Chrome OS is built around Google’s Chrome web browser and runs most software directly in the browser. That means it doesn’t need big, powerful Intel chips. That’s the theory, at least.
Chrome OS does best with at least an Intel i3 chip or, the best you can get with a Chromebook today, an AMD Ryzen 4000 chip. The AMD Ryzen 4000 series is one of the preferred chipsets for Chromebooks . This series is powerful enough for most tasks and offers excellent battery life—a combination that’s harder to find in Intel-powered Chromebooks.
There are high-end Chromebooks with Intel i5 chips and even some i7 models available, but unless you’re really into Chrome OS, you’re better off buying a more capable Windows PC.
Google has introduced a new class of Chromebook called Chromebook Plus. “Plus” means that these models are more powerful. Most had Intel i3 or better, along with more memory, more storage, and better cameras than traditional Chromebooks. The good news is that they are not much more expensive than the older models.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are also a growing number of Chromebooks with Qualcomm Snapdragon series chips, which offer a good compromise between power and price. They should be a nice addition to the lower-end Chromebook market, offering more power than Intel’s Celeron without the extra battery drain of the Core series processors.
The cheapest Chromebooks still use Intel Celeron series processors. If your needs are minimal and you’ll never do anything but surf the web, Celeron processors are sufficient. But if you’re hoping to run Android apps or install Linux apps on your Chromebook, Celeron processors will struggle and likely frustrate you.
