Intel’s 12th Gen mobile chips are coming to laptops early 2022

Intel announced its lineup of 12th Gen mobile processors at CES 2022. These are set to complement its Alder Lake desktop chips, released November 2021. While you can’t buy the mobile chips on their own, they are set to begin appearing in laptops early 2022. Keep an eye out in February, March, and April for the first models to start showing up.

To name a few, Lenovo’s new ThinkBooks, X1 ThinkPads, Legion gaming laptops, and Yoga convertibles are getting 12th Gen Intel CPUs, as are MSI’s Creator and gaming laptops. Acer, HP, ASUS, and Dell also have new laptops with the latest from Intel.

What’s so good about 12th Gen Intel mobile CPUs?

Intel’s 12th Gen mobile chips are split up into three different categories. There’s the powerful 45W H-series, the modest 28W P-series, and the power-efficient 15W U-series. These mobile CPUs employ Intel’s big.LITTLE hybrid design with performance (P) and efficient (E) cores. It’s similar to what ARM chips pioneered, mixing single-threaded efficient cores for low priority tasks with multi-threaded performance cores for everything else.

H-series chips are reserved for gaming, creator, and workstation laptops. There are eight CPUs here, ranging from the Core i5-12450H up to the mighty Core i9-12900HK with 14 cores (6 P-cores and 8 E-cores) and a 5GHz frequency. These H-series chips are more efficient than ever, and they also bring DDR5 RAM, PCIe 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, and Wi-Fi 6E support.

Intel’s P-series is made up of seven CPUs, ranging from the Core i3-1220P up to the Core i7-1280P. These chips are meant for thin and light laptops that require more performance than your average U-series CPU can handle. The i7-1280P can notably deliver 14 cores, 20 threads, and a 4.8GHz clock at a 28W base TDP (up to 64W when boosted).

Dell’s new XPS 13 Plus includes Intel’s P-series chips; keep an eye out for it spring 2022.

Intel’s 12th Gen U-series CPUs round out the mobile portfolio, intended for use in affordable laptops and next-gen designs (like foldable PCs). There are 10 chips here, ranging from the Core i3-1210U up to the Core i7-1265U. The i7-1265U is really no slouch, with 10 cores, 12 threads, and a 4.8GHz clock at a 15W base and 55W boost.