On YouTube there have been many videos talking about the SnapDragon and AMD 5 CPUs. I have been studying to see how they perform.
The quick answer is that SnapDragon CPU laptops are a step forward in laptops that are quieter and last longer on battery. They are more efficient than Intel, but come at the cost of potential incompatibility with existing applications. This will get better, but if you are a heavy video editor or use specialized software you may not want to move.
The AMD CPUs are a step forward as well and are quiet and last longer on battery. They don’t have the same compatibility issues that SnapDragon has, but they don’t always perform as well as older Intel chips do.
Both of these processors are a mixed bag. In some ways they both outperform Intel by a great margin, and in some ways Intel is better than them in very specific cases. I can’t say that for you, one would be better but it is interesting. Apple is going to release the M4 but based on the mixed performance of the M2/M3 relative to M1, it most likely will be an even smaller improvement and that will be mixed as well.
The fact is that M1 can still outperform the M2/M3 and probably the M4 in some ways. It has a wider bandwidth which surprisingly means it can outperform newer M series chips. If I were Apple I would be worried. Users/reviewers are demonstrating this and I don’t know what that means for the future of the M series. I would bet that Apple will have to come out with a different type of chip or throw their lot in with Snapdragon/AMD because I suspect in the next 5 years the M series chip will not see meaningful improvements. I say this because they are nearly at the wall with the current fabrication technology.
So what does this mean if you need a Windows compatible laptop? It means that either the Snapdragon or AMD is an excellent choice. Sorry Intel, you missed the boat. I personally would probably buy an AMD laptop if I wanted gaming, and a SnapDragon laptop if I wanted energy saving/battery life/performance per watt.
There are two laptops that I think are interesting at this moment. I think the HP Omnibook X is interesting because it is quiet and capable for most average computer users. I also like the Surface 7 which reviewers have said is the most Mac Air like computer there is in quality. I have seen the reviews on both and I like them. I don’t like that they don’t have an HDMI port which I need to connect to my projector, but an USB to HDMI adapter is cheap and I am ok with buying that.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Framework was interesting. It is interesting, but the cost is too much and there seem to be continuous problems with quality. I think they will get it together, but that is just the struggle of a low volume machine. It takes time to refine things and I think they are on a good path. I just don’t see them as competitive until they can have a comparable fit and finish and I don’t think that will happen for years.
I don’t like any computer that is made with slave labor or made in China. This means that although Lenovo/MSI are excellent computers I can’t support them anymore. I learned in the last week that MSI moved their factory to China, and when I researched it originally the information I read was that it was manufactured in Tawain. I do not want to support any country that uses slave labor, so I can’t recommend these computers. I also do not like Asus because of the way that they treated their customers. So although I have both an Thinkpad (donated), MSI (bought), Asus (bought), I will not be buying or supporting them in the future. I can’t tell you what you should do, just sharing what I learned.
I will use these computers until they break because it would be wasteful not to do so, but I am also strongly encouraged to buy/support a computer company that is more ethical. Ok I found out that Surface was made in China/Vietnam in the past but is now shifting to other countries. https://www.channelnews.com.au/google-microsoft-pull-the-plug-on-made-in-china/ If I had discovered they were committed to China, I would have edited this article and changed my recommendations.
HP is manufacturing in other countries and not in China according to my research. So that is one reason that I suggested it, plus I have had excellent experiences with HP laptops and found them to be reliable.
Dell/Alienware continue to get cheaper and less reliability made. Many people have had issues with their devices, and Dell continues to made anti-consumer decisions in how they manufacture/treat their employees. For that reason, I won’t suggest them.
Should you buy an Apple laptop? I can’t tell you what is best for you to do. While Apple does have many good qualities, it isn’t perfect. Apple continues to pile up the ethical issues, which I will detail in an article later. Besides that, I think Apple has overplayed its hand. It has charged too much for the performance it offers. In some ways, new laptops are faster than Apple with things that Apple claimed to be its strengths. Some new laptops are faster at encoding video, have higher frame rates, and offer a better value for the money.
Apple isn’t the clear winner anymore than it used to be. I love that the SnapDragon/AMD competition is there. It is remarkable to have the competition that we have now. Many windows laptops have some very compelling features. For example, Thinkpad/Dell offer something called user sensing. It uses its camera and security built into Windows to recognize you and automatically login you in. No more putting in passwords. This is awesome. What is even better is when you step away, it will lock itself. What a time saver.
If gaming is your thing, then Gigabyte seems to be manufactured in Tawain as far as I can research it. HP also offers gaming laptops and has gotten some good reviews. I probably won’t choose another laptop based on gaming performance. While interesting, I am just not as interested in gaming as I once was.
Good luck on finding the laptop that works best for you. Lots of wonderful choices.