Intel (INTC) is hitting CES 2023 with some serious swagger, announcing a new line of mobile processors including what it says is the world’s fastest chip for a laptop. The company’s 13th-generation Intel Core chips range from the high-end HX series to the entry-level N series, and will land in consumer laptops from a slew of manufacturers later this year.
At the top of the spectrum is Intel’s Core i9-13980HX chip. Packing a whopping 24 cores, a first for a laptop, including 8 performance cores for heavy duty tasks like gaming and 14 efficiency cores for mundane activities like web browsing, the top of the line HX can reach peak speeds of 5.6GHz.
That’s wildly fast for a processor, and, in most cases, unnecessary for the large majority of consumers. Of course, that's only the chip’s performance cores and only when pushed to their limits. Otherwise, they’ll run at 2.2GHz. To put that in perspective, Apple’s (AAPL) M1 Max, the company’s most powerful chip, reaches clock speeds of 3.2GHz, according to Anandtech.
Outside of its high speeds, the HX is compatible with up to 128GB of RAM, an absurd number that gamers and professionals in need of hardcore performance will love to see. Don’t expect laptops equipped with the HX chip to be cheap, though. These processors will end up in only the priciest laptops around.
“The 13th-generation Intel Core mobile processor family delivers unrivaled, scalable performance for leadership platforms across all laptop segments,” Michelle Johnston Holthaus, executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s Client Computing Group, said in a statement.
“With our industry-leading technologies and unmatched global partner ecosystem, people can expect a high-caliber mobile experience in new and unique form factors so they can game or create from anywhere.”
In addition to the HX series of chips, Intel also rolled out its new 13th-generation Core P and Core U series processors. Those chips are meant for more mainstream laptops that will find their way into the majority of consumers’ homes. The Core P and Core U processors feature 14 cores, 6 for performance and 8 for efficiency.
Then there’s Intel’s new Core N series chips. Designed for the education market, Intel says the processors offer improved performance and power efficiency, with up to 10 hours of HD video playback.
Intel’s announcements come at a perilous time for the company. CEO Pat Gelsinger is pouring billions of dollars into turning the firm around by building up its own chip-making facilities and diving into the discrete graphics chip market.
The last 12 months, however, haven’t been kind to chip makers. Consumers are purchasing fewer PCs than they did during the height of the pandemic, crushing stock prices. Shares of Intel are down 48% in the past year, while shares of rivals Nvidia and AMD are off 50% and 54%, respectively.
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