Intel is making some weird naming changes to its
processors this year that are certain to confuse people about what
they’re buying. As spotted by Laptop Mag,
the Core m name is largely going away in favor of Core i, which means
it’s going to be much harder to tell exactly how powerful the processor
is inside of a new laptop.
At least in the short term, that’s a problem because
there’s a real difference between the two lines. Core i processors are
what you find in most laptops, like the Surface Pro and MacBook Air, and
are powerful enough that you don’t have to worry about them handling a
modest workload. Core m processors, on the other hand, are what you find
in super-thin fanless laptops; they’re less capable and sometimes choke
up even from browsing the web.
So it’s important to know what you’re getting, because a
laptop is going to work differently depending on what’s inside of it.
But starting with this year’s Kaby Lake processors
from Intel, it’ll be much harder to tell. Processors that formerly
would have been known as m5 and m7 models are now going to be listed
under the i5 and i7 lines. Without a close look at their model number,
it won’t be clear whether you’re getting a powerful MacBook Pro-style
processor or a weaker MacBook-style processor.
The
decision seems likely to confuse people into believing they’re getting a
more capable processor than they actually are. But Intel argues that’s
not quite right. It says the name change comes in response to feedback
from consumers and manufacturers and is “really an effort to make things
less complex.”
“We have also made significant performance improvements”
to the Core m line “such that both form factor and performance lines
were blurring,” Intel’s Scott Massey writes in an email to The Verge.
“So yes, there are differences (as there are with all the different
SKUs), but they aren’t as big as it was when we first introduced Core m
two years ago.”
Massey compares the difference to the distinction between
dual- and quad-core chips, both of which have lived under the Core i
name for years, despite the distinction between them. The difference
between m- and i-style chips isn’t always that large either, he adds, as
m chips range up to 7W in power, while i chips go as low as 7.5W. “So
the handoff from one level to another is very close and not a big leap
as some might have perceived a few years ago,” he writes.
To his point, we’ve seen real improvements in Core m chips year over year: take our 2015 MacBook review, where we found the laptop struggling to manage 10 Chrome tabs, then compare it to our 2016 MacBook review, where we were “actually surprised at how fast it felt.”
It’s easy to understand why Intel would want to
consolidate under the Core i name. Core i is well known and widely
advertised, which means this change is going to be good news for
computers with m-style chips in the short term: they’ll come off looking
better — or, at a minimum, different — than they actually are.
It’ll also be easier for Intel and its partners in the
long term. Core m-style chips will likely become the norm for laptops
over the next few years, as their performance improves and demand for
super-thin laptops continues to grow. By renaming the chips, Intel and
PC manufacturers can keep on promoting the Core i brand, rather than
putting the work into convincing consumers that the Core m name is just
as trustworthy.
But what’s good for manufacturers is not necessarily good for consumers. And it seems fair to say that’ll be the case here.
More often than not, laptops are advertised without
stating their processor’s full model name. You can usually — but not
always — dig the full model name up by looking through spec sheets, but
that’s a frustrating step that most people aren’t going to take. That
means people are going to be buying Core i processors that don’t come
with the performance generally expected of them.
There’ll
still be a way to tell the difference between m-style and i-style
chips, if you can find a processor’s model number. Core m-style chips
include a “Y” in their model number, like this: i5-7Y54. Chips that
traditionally would have been in the Core i line will continue to end
their name with U, like this: i5-7200U.
It’s possible the distinction between m-style and i-style
chips won’t matter as much in a few years. Core m-style chips could get
more capable, or laptops that include power-heavy Core i-style chips
could fall out of fashion. But that doesn’t really matter right now.
Right now there’s a big distinction between the two lines, and if you’re
buying a new laptop, you’ll want to check for that Y to know what
you’re really getting.
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