Historically, Intel’s H-series laptop chips have been meant for beefy gaming and workhorse PCs. That’s in contrast to its U-series CPUs, which are aimed at efficient ultraportables. Putting an H-series chip into a thin and light notebook would normally be a thermal nightmare. But this year, Intel is taking a different approach with its 11th-gen H-series laptop CPUs. The first batch of chips we’re seeing are actually meant for ultraportable gaming laptops that dip below four pounds. Even better, they can hit up to 5GHz and offer a 15 percent speed bump over the 10th-gen i7 H-series, all while squeezing into cases measuring as thin as
And unlike last year’s chips, which were stuck on an aging 14nm process, the 11th-gen H-series feature Intel’s new 10nm SuperFin architecture. That’s likely a major reason why the company is able to get them into thin computers, since a smaller manufacturing process is inherently more efficient. In comparison, AMD’s Ryzen 4000 chips from last year feature a similar 7nm architecture, allowing them to fit into thin and light gaming notebooks like the ASUS Zephyrus G14. As much as Intel wants to highlight ultraportable gaming laptops this year, AMD made them happen first in 2020.