From your smartphone to your gaming rig, silicon is the silent conductor making all of your computing possible, and the driving force behind modern technology. Laptop Mag's Silicon Survey meets with the minds behind some of tech's most powerful computer chips.
However, today's processors target more than Moore's Law. CPU, GPU, SoC, and APU designs are only half of the story following the emergence of powerful generative AI software, after all.
Join us as we take a deep dive into the latest trends shaping the next wave of computing and gain insight into how companies like Apple, AMD, Intel, Qualcomm, Nvidia, ARM, and MediaTek see this space evolving over the coming years, and the architecture, engineering, and innovation needed to make it happen.
Welcome to Laptop Mag's Silicon Survey 2025.
The only constant is progress
Opening words from special issue writer, Madeline Ricchiuto
Whether or not Moore’s Law is actually dead, all of our interviewees for this special issue agreed that performance gains will continue long into the future.
But what that means, and how we get there differs by chip maker. Intel’s Robert Hallock tells Laptop Mag, when it comes to hardware performance and efficiency, “You can't go backwards.”
The only constant is progress. (Read more)
"MediaTek is the number one provider of Arm-based Chromebooks": Adam King unpacks on the Chromebook boom
With years of experience creating processors for the ChromeOS platform, MediaTek looks to maintain its grip on Chromebooks despite competition from Qualcomm
MediaTek chipsets power plenty of smartphones and tablets, but its in Chromebooks that the brand truly takes the lead. As Adam King tells Laptop Mag, "MediaTek is the number one provider of Arm-based Chromebooks."
Despite competition from Qualcomm's budget-friendly Snapdragon X chipset, MediaTek's ChomeOS head start alongside a push to make performance affordable through its Helio, Dimensity, and Kompanio families of processors could be key to its continued success.
The company looks toward a bright future, with King telling Laptop Mag: “MediaTek will keep finding new ways to add more computing power to our chipsets.” (Read more)
“The consumer wins either way”: Arm’s Chris Bergey on the rise of Arm computing and the rivalry with x86
Smartphone success stories are now shaping the computing industry
Arm’s Senior Vice President and General Manager, Client Line of Business, Chris Bergey, tells Laptop Mag about the advantages of Arm technology and how it has shaped the world of silicon — from phones to tablets and Chromebooks to home PCs.
Thanks to the success of Apple’s M-series silicon and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Series, Arm has dominated much of the computing industry in the last few years.
But Arm has done more in the last few years than just making new CPU cores. Arm PCs have become more powerful and efficient than their x86 counterparts, pushing Intel and AMD for further innovation. (Read more)
“AI is dramatically reshaping many industries, including gaming”: Nvidia’s Jesse Clayton muses on the AI-powered future of gaming
If any company can get gamers behind AI, it would be Nvidia.
How much will AI shape gaming in the years ahead? A prediction from Jesse Clayton, a 19-year veteran of Nvidia and its Director of Product Management and Product Marketing for Windows AI, has the answer:
“AI is dramatically reshaping many industries, including gaming ... These neural rendering innovations are laying the path for the future of gaming.”
Nvidia’s GTX and RTX gaming GPUs have dominated the field for years. While AMD and Intel are now both players in the discrete GPU market, most gamers will still opt for the Nvidia card. Laptop Mag hosts an exclusive interview with Clayton to find out the secret to Nvidia's success. (Read more)
Nvidia in action: Top reviewed Nvidia RTX gaming laptops
The Dell G16 (7630) is an absolute stunner with its premium features, like a colorful display and mechanical keyboard, priced at under $1,000. This is the best for the least.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9) strikes a balance between intense RTX 4080 graphics performance and relative affordability. And with few flaws, it makes for the best gaming laptop.
The MSI Titan 18 HX is stacked. It has a beautiful display and a mechanical keyboard, as well as a Core i9 CPU and Nvidia 4090 GPU. It’s a beast of a machine that conquered everything we put in front of it.
MacBooks "without any compromises": Apple's Doug Brooks says performance and battery life dominance will continue as M5 rumors emerge
The Apple veteran exclusively tells Laptop Mag about the future of Apple Silicon — and how Apple arrived at this moment.
One of Apple’s biggest selling points is its quality control.
Because of Apple’s end-to-end authority over its iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks — from the silicon level up to the finished product — the build quality has been difficult to match.
Doug Brooks, who started working at Apple as a Systems Engineer in 1994 and is now Product Manager for Mac Hardware, is enthusiastic about the future, particularly in two areas: Apple’s ability to maintain its dominance in the performance and battery life arenas. And with Apple’s M5 silicon chips reportedly going into mass production, the trend of Apple excellence is looking bright. (Read more)
Apple in action: Top reviewed Apple laptops
The MacBook Air M3 is the MacBook most people should buy right now. The M3 chip gives it plenty of performance for most users. Combine that with over 15 hours of battery life and a bright Retina display, and it's an easy pick.
If you are looking to buy a MacBook affordably, look no further than the MacBook Air M2. It features Apple's current design, 14 hours of battery life, solid performance, a comfortable keyboard, and the always-popular MagSafe charging.
The MacBook Pro 16 with M3 Max can handle any task. Whether it's the larger display, higher peak performance, or four extra hours of battery life, the Pro 16 earns its premium price.
“AI tasks will happen automatically and seamlessly”: Qualcomm’s Kedar Kondap believes AI is the future of computing
Despite legal trouble and fierce competition, the second generation of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X PCs will continue to vie for dominance in 2025
Qualcomm helped define the AI PC market in June 2024 with the release of its Snapdragon X Elite processors, and leaders at the San Diego company hope to continue surfing this wave well into 2025 and beyond.
Senior VP and GM of Compute and Gaming, Kedar Kondap is confident about the future of Qualcomm, noting the company’s early performance leads over rival chip makers like Intel and AMD, alongside the growing potential of AI. From Kondap’s point of view and from the outside, Qualcomm seems well-positioned to compete for dominance in Windows laptops for years to come. (Read more)
Qualcomm in action: Top reviewed Qualcomm laptops
Dell's XPS 13 (9345) is backed by mighty Snapdragon X Elite performance and has one of the longest-lasting in a laptop we've ever tested at just over 19 hours — longer than the MacBook Pro 16 M3 Max.
The Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 has nearly endless battery life, lasting over 21 hours on our battery test. Plus, with the Snapdragon X Elite processor, this ThinkPad features strong performance and a thin design, in addition to its astounding battery life.
The HP EliteBook Ultra brings AI to the business world, offering Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite performance, all the Copilot+ AI PC features, solid battery life, and upgraded HP Wolf Pro Security to keep your files secure.
“Not everybody has a killer app for AI yet”: Intel’s Robert Hallock opens the company playbook on AI, NPUs, and more
Performance, efficiency, gaming, and AI are all cornerstones of the Intel roadmap
To say 2024 was a rough year for Intel may be an understatement. But, as Intel’s Robert Hallock told Laptop Mag, “You can't go backwards. That's unacceptable.”
Even after various setbacks in the past year — from the beleaguered Arrow Lake desktop launch to speculation about the company’s direction and the resignation of CEO Pat Gelsinger — Hallock, the company’s Vice President and General Manager of Client AI and Technical Marketing, says Intel has no choice but to look forward. (Read more)
Intel in action: Top reviewed Intel laptops
Offering nearly 14 hours of battery life, the Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406), powered by Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V is our top pick in the AI PC category and a brilliant overall laptop thanks to a stunning 14-inch, 120Hz, touchscreen OLED display, and impressive performance.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i (Gen 9) blends an impressive Intel Core i9-14900HX processor with a powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU backed by 12GB of VRAM to cement itself as a fantastic gaming laptop when paired with its vivid 16-inch display.
Acer's Swift Go 14 features Intel's Core Ultra 7 155H processor, packaging solid Meteor Lake performance, that leverages a built-in NPU and improved Intel Arc iGPU and a stylish aluminum build with an attractive price tag that those buying on a budget can rely on.
"Boring stuff changes the world": AMD's Jason Banta on what to expect from AI and AMD in the future
Team Red had a clear lead on Intel in 2024, but can AMD maintain the momentum?
“Boring stuff changes the world,” AMD’s Jason Banta, Vice President and General Manager of the Client OEM group, tells Laptop Mag, insisting that what we’ve seen from AI and Microsoft’s Copilot+ suite is only the beginning.
While Microsoft's initial suite of AI tools and features for Windows 11 may seem boring, they're part of a growing snowball effect that could (one day soon) drastically impact the performance and potential we eke out from our hardware and, in turn, the experiences we gain from it. (Read more)
AMD in action: Top reviewed AMD laptops
The Asus Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) is our number-one AMD Ryzen laptop in 2025, offering a solid OLED panel, excellent performance, great gaming, and 11 hours of battery life.
The Razer Blade 14 (Early 2024) is by far the best high-end AMD gaming laptop in 2025. It offers an incredibly sturdy exterior, a colorful display, and phenomenal gaming metrics. It's pricey but worth it.
The Asus ProArt P16 is an outstanding choice for video or photo editors. Its AMD Ryzen performance is bolstered by a discrete Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU. Content creators need to look no further.
