Ultralight laptops of the last generation have a better performance-price ratio than the current ones of 2023

When choosing a laptop because it is time to renew it, it is possible to think that a new one is better. It has new CPUs, and with it new improvements in architecture, RAM and batteries, and better overall performance. Yes, it gives a higher raw performance, but in relation to its price, the ultralights of the last generation are a better offer than the new ones that came out in 2023.

As Andrew Cunningham of Ars technica wrote after Intel's announcement of the 13th generation of mobiles, the line is “virtually identical to the 12th generation CPUs they replace“. LA brings notable upgrades to the HX chips. But for chips likely to be used in thin, light notebooks, the improvement is much less.

In ultralights there are hardly any improvements between the 12th and 13th gen of Intel

With the new U and P series chips, Intel has limited improvements from one generation to the next to support faster RAM and small clock speed increases. The U series is supposed to it is slightly less powerful and more efficient than the P series, and shows minimal differences between the 12th and 13th Gen. When the U series moved from the 11th to the 12th Gen, it replaced two large cores with four to eight small cores, but there are no such changes with the 13th Gen.

According to Arts Technica, to test the idea that you don't have to wait for the 13th generation if you can find what you need with a cheaper next-generation processor. They tested a current-gen Lenovo Yoga 9i, and found that it's pretty much the same as the Yoga 9i Gen 7 they reviewed last year. The real difference is the processor, and as you can see, so the 13th generation processor brings a small leap in productivity and graphics performance. As for integrated graphics for ultralight laptops and convertibles, they haven't seen huge productivity improvements from the 2022 class to the 2023 class.

They claim that ultraportables do not usually offer the best performanceNo selection of ports or other features for its price. They say it's worth saving a few hundred bucks on a state-of-the-art machine if it still meets the rest of the user's needs. The new ones are almost 42% more for a single-digit performance increase.

Source: ArsTechnica