So far, the only laptop processors available from Intel are built on the Lunar Lake design. This architecture is not aimed at high-performance tasks, which means we need to wait for Arrow Lake-HX models to come out, probably during CES 2025. Nevertheless, gaming laptop makers are reportedly planning to stick with the previous generation of hardware, according to a leaker known as Golden Pig Upgrade on Weibo.
Next-Gen Pairings
It seems that many original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are looking to combine Nvidia's upcoming GeForce RTX 50 series laptop GPUs with either Meteor Lake or 14th-gen Raptor Lake processors instead of waiting for Arrow Lake. The leaker highlighted the Core i7-14650HX as a 'main force,' suggesting it could be the driving chip for numerous gaming laptops in 2025. Furthermore, there's a chance we might also see some high-end Meteor Lake models included in this lineup.
AMD's Confusing Situation
The situation gets even more complicated with AMD, as Strix Point has already been around for some time. A lot of laptops are already pairing a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with dedicated GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs. However, this may not apply to the new RTX 50 series, as they are likely to work with Zen 4 processors (Ryzen 7000/Ryzen 8000) instead.
In summary, it looks like we won't see many (or perhaps any) laptops featuring 'truly' next-generation hardware in 2025, forcing consumers to choose between an up-to-date CPU or GPU. This isn't necessarily a negative situation because the previous generation of laptop chips can still handle gaming tasks effectively and shouldn't limit the performance of the more advanced GeForce RTX 50 graphics cards.
