At IFA Berlin 2024, Intel revealed the second generation of its Core Ultra laptops.
Following the introduction of neural processing units (NPUs) with the first generation, the new Lunar Lake series boasts improved efficiency, enhanced power, and includes Microsoft’s Copilot+ standard.
For reference, the Copilot+ standard mandates that PCs must have at least 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD/UFS storage, and an NPU capable of at least 40 TOPS (trillion operations per second).
The Intel Core Ultra 200V (Lunar Lake) laptops will be released globally starting September 24. Pre-orders are already available in India through Amazon, Croma, Flipkart, Reliance Digital, and Vijay Sales.
These laptops will be offered by a range of brands, including Asus, Acer, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, and Samsung, among others.
According to Intel, over 80 laptop models from more than 20 OEMs will feature Lunar Lake processors in select markets.
One of the most striking claims by Intel is the impressive battery life of its new chips.
The company asserts that the new processors can provide up to 20 hours of battery life, a milestone for Intel-powered laptops.
This is a significant factor in my preference for the M2 MacBook Air, despite the existence of more productive machines like the Asus Zenbook Duo in the Windows segment.
The Intel Core Ultra 200V is reported to deliver up to 120 TOPS (tera operations per second) across the CPU, GPU, and NPU, with the NPU alone contributing 47 TOPS for AI tasks.
In comparison, the latest Snapdragon X Elite chips offer up to 45 TOPS.
Intel also claims that the Core Ultra 200V processors are up to 50% more power-efficient than their predecessors.
These processors feature eight CPU cores and up to eight GPU cores. The CPU configuration includes four Lion Cove performance cores and four Skymont efficiency cores.
All Core Ultra 200V processors, except for the Core Ultra 9 288V, have a default 17W TDP.
The Core Ultra 5 processors are equipped with seven GPU cores, while the Core Ultra 7 and Ultra 9 CPUs have eight GPU cores.
These processors are the first to incorporate Intel’s new Xe2 graphics microarchitecture, which reportedly delivers 30% better graphics performance than the Snapdragon X Elite chipset and is 16% faster than AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 370HX.
The Intel Core Ultra 200V processors support up to 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, connectivity for up to three 4K monitors, and include Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 (with LE Audio).
Lunar Lake-powered PCs can also feature up to three Thunderbolt 4 ports, six USB 2.0 ports, and two USB 3.0 ports.
These ambitious claims will soon be evaluated when the new laptops hit the market in 10 days, and it will be interesting to see how they perform against their competitors.
