Intel was aiming for the moon with Lunar Lake chips this year, but was it enough to beat Qualcomm and AMD?

On June 4, 2024, then-Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger excitedly arrived at his AI PC keynote highlight at Computex in Taipei, Taiwan.

Gelsinger compared that day’s announcement to the launch of Wi-Fi 25 years ago, saying, “We expect 80% of all PCs to be AI PCs by 2028, and Intel is leading the way. ” he predicted with confidence.

Just moments later, Gelsinger pulled back the literal curtain and announced 12 upcoming AI PCs. Some of them were running Intel’s latest chip, Lunar Lake, which was the star of the show that day.

Intel’s Lunar Lake chips are the newest addition to the Core Ultra lineup and are the most advanced consumer AI chips to date. Gelsinger promised in his Computex presentation that these chips will deliver up to 50% better graphics performance and up to four times more NPU AI computing power. In a presentation at IFA Berlin in September 2024, Intel claimed that Lunar Lake’s power consumption would be reduced by up to 50%.

This has set a high bar for Lunar Lake laptops, especially after the success of AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series chips and the launch of Copilot+ PCs powered by Qualcomm chips this year. However, Intel has risen to the challenge and achieved success in one important area. The Lunar Lake laptops we tested this year had some serious flaws, but Intel also had one surprising victory.

COMPUTEX 2024 Keynote: Intel – YouTube

watch on

Intel has the edge on battery life with Lunar Lake, but at what cost?

When the first test results for laptops powered by Intel Lunar Lake chips were released earlier this year, it quickly became clear that they were laptops with very long battery life. For example, the Dell XPS 13 with Intel Core Ultra 7 258V lasted 18 hours and 34 minutes in our battery life test. One charge is enough for two full days of work.

Of course, if you’re running resource-intensive tasks like gaming or Photoshop, your battery life will drain much faster. However, this score is still incredibly impressive, especially for commuters and students who need strong battery life.

The Dell XPS 13 wasn’t the only one to fail the battery life test. The Asus Zenbook S14, Asus ExpertBook P5, and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition boasted over 13 hours of battery life. So Intel’s claims about Lunar Lake’s superior battery life are based in reality.

However, Lunar Lake is still not without its drawbacks.

Great battery life usually comes at the expense of something else. For example, a more powerful processor or a fancier display will generally drain battery life faster than a less powerful alternative or a fancier display. Great battery life comes with big compromises.

Ironically, the perfect example is the Dell XPS 13. In our battery life test, the non-OLED version lasted 18 hours and 34 minutes. The version with the premium OLED display lasted just 8 hours and 40 minutes, less than half that.

Display quality isn’t the only trade-off we noticed. In our review of the Acer Swift 14 AI, we noted that Lunar Lake seemed to lag behind in multi-core performance, which could be a major drawback for multitasking.

Reviewer Joanna Nellius writes, “Perhaps this is a result of Intel doing away with hyper-threading in new processors, a process that increases a computer’s multitasking ability and increases multi-core performance.”

While these shortcomings are disappointing, they don’t mean Intel can’t win with Lunar Lake. Its biggest win will probably surprise you.

A surprising ray of hope with Intel Lunar Lake

Lunar Lake laptops may not be perfect, but Intel’s latest chip series did have one surprising last-minute win this year. MSI Claw 8 AI Plus.

If you heard anything about the disastrous original MSI Claw earlier this year, you’re probably scratching your head at that. I guess so too.

At least until I tried the new and improved Claw at IFA Berlin in September. Even in my short practice, I found that MSI listens to user feedback. The new version of MSI’s flagship handheld gaming PC has received a number of updates and design changes in response to the previous model’s rough launch. One of those updates was the Intel Lunar Lake chips.

MSI Claw 8 AI Plus was one of the best high-tech glow-ups of the year. While the original Claw received just 2.5 stars from us, the Claw 8 AI Plus earned a prestigious Editor’s Choice award thanks to its Lunar Lake processor for top-class performance and excellent battery life. did.

Gelsinger left Intel later this year, leaving the legendary company in a state of uncertainty, at least publicly. But with the success of MSI Claw AI Plus, we may be heading in the right direction.

Whether you’re an AI enthusiast or an average AI tinkerer (or just looking for the extra features offered through Apple Intelligence on Windows Copilot+ PCs and Macs), you’ll need a powerful tool to keep up with the latest trends. You need a high-performance laptop. We respond at a speed that suits your needs.

At Laptop Mag, we review laptops throughout the year to ensure we have the most up-to-date, expert-backed recommendations on which notebook is right for you. When it comes to the best AI PC category, top picks include the excellent Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) ​​for Windows users and the impressive Apple Macbook Air M3 for those running macOS.

So if you’re in the market for a new laptop and are considering investing in an AI PC (or a good laptop in general), check out our current top picks below.