Ultimate 2025 Laptop CPU Naming Convention Guide: Intel vs. AMD Explained

Purchasing laptops in 2025 is walking through a maze, particularly when it comes to interpreting CPU model names. Those days are gone when one could easily know the power grades (e.g., U, P, H, or HX) and performance levels (e.g., Intel i5/i7 or AMD Ryzen 5/7) and still make a good choice. Intel and AMD have updated CPU naming conventions today by adding such words as “Core Ultra,” “Ryzen AI,” “Pro,” and “Max” to the mix, not to mention fresh architectures and voltage levels. Things aren’t any better that more high-end and newer CPUs are not optimized to deliver top-level performance—every series is maximized for an application type ranging from power usage to gaming speeds.

If you’re frustrated with the level of complexity with laptop CPU naming conventions today, you’re not the only one. Within this master guide, we will dissect 2025 CPU naming conventions for Intel and AMD, highlight key differences in performance, and offer useful advice on how to select the appropriate CPU for your purpose. For everyday use, gaming, or content production, this guide will demystify the lingo and allow you to make better purchasing decisions.

Why CPU Name Conventions in 2025 Are Important

Let’s cover why CPU names matter prior to going in-depth. The CPU is what laptops use to function their performance, battery life, and capability to handle activities such as gaming, video editing, or general use. Since there’s fast development in CPU design, the higher number or newer model does not necessarily mean an improvement in performance depending on your own requirements. For instance:

• Some CPUs prioritize power efficiency for ultra-thin laptops, sacrificing raw performance.
• Others are optimized for high-performance gaming or workstation capabilities but at the cost of battery life and portability.
• More recent buzzwords such as “AI” or “Ultra” may be high-tech sounding but don’t necessarily mean significant real-world advantages for all.

By knowing the conventions applied to the names, you can prevent paying too much for features you will never use or selecting a laptop that is not appropriate for your purposes. We will begin with an examination of how Intel and AMD organized their CPU lines in 2025, following trends initiated in 2023.

Intel CPU Naming Trends in 2025: Core Ultra Dominates

Intel was quite straightforward in naming CPUs with a mix of generation names (10th Gen, 13th Gen) and performance tiers (i3, i5, i7, i9). But from 2024, Intel started naming its processors “Core Ultra,” and in 2025 abandoned the conventional “Core” series entirely. This transition, intended to make the lineup easier to navigate, introduced new complexity, particularly with the additional width of names such as Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake. Below is a tutorial on how to decipher Intel’s 2025 CPU naming convention.

Intel’s CPU Naming Evolution (2023–2025)

To put Intel’s 2025 lineup into perspective, it is useful to look at how it arrived:

• 2023 (13th Gen, Raptor Lake): This was Intel’s final “simple” year. CPUs were divided by power classes—U (15W, ultra-low power), P (28W, balanced), H (45W, high performance), and HX (55W, ultra-high performance)—and tiers (i3, i5, i7, i9). The design had a hybrid setup with Performance cores (P-cores) for heavy usage and Efficiency cores (E-cores) for optimizations. Although simple to comprehend, high-end HX versions traded portability in favor of excessive power drain and heat.
• 2024 (14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh & Core Ultra 1st Gen Meteor Lake): Intel bifurcated its line into two streams. The original “Core” series persisted as the 14th Gen Raptor Lake Refresh, a small revision of the 13th Gen with slightly increased clocks, mainly for high-power HX designs. The new “Core Ultra” series emerged with Meteor Lake, for lower-power U and H designs. Meteor Lake was said to introduce further power efficiency to ultrabooks but suffered from a launch problem of driver bugs, which were resolved with later releases.
• 2025 (Core Ultra 2nd Gen Lunar Lake & Arrow Lake): Intel has now abandoned the classic Core brand name altogether and has collectively placed its offerings under the “Core Ultra” umbrella. However, this generation introduces two separate architectures—Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake—with varying power grades and respective uses in mind.

Unraveling Intel Core Ultra in 2025

As of 2025, Intel CPU names follow this pattern: Intel Core Ultra [Performance Tier] [Generation] [Model Number] [Power Grade]. Each of these is described below:

• Core Ultra: This is Intel’s new naming scheme, replacing the traditional “Core” series. All 2025 CPUs fall under this category, with an emphasis on high-performance and efficiency.
• Performance Tier: It still keeps the traditional i3, i5, i7, and i9 naming schemes, and the i9 is the highest.
• Generation: A single-digit number (e.g., 2 for 2nd Gen Core Ultra in 2025).
• Model Number: A two- or three-digit number for the particular model within the tier. Higher numbers generally indicate higher performance within the same tier and generation.
• Power Grade: Specifies the power draw and target use case:
  • U: 15W, ultra-thin notebooks with emphasis on battery life.
  • H: 28–45W, balanced performance for mainstream notebooks.
  • HX: 55W, gaming and workstation laptop high-performance CPUs.
  • V (New in 2025): 17W, only for Lunar Lake, for Copilot+ PCs (Microsoft’s AI-powered Windows certification).

Lunar Lake vs. Arrow Lake: What’s the Difference?

Intel’s 2025 Core Ultra CPUs come in two architectures, both with their respective strengths:

• Lunar Lake (Power Grade V):
  • Target Use Case: Ultra-thin laptops, tablets, and UMPCs (Ultra-Mobile PCs) where battery life and portability are critical.
  • Key Features: Lunar Lake includes RAM built into the CPU chip, enhancing responsiveness and power efficiency and enhancing NPU performance for AI calculations. It provides outstanding integrated graphics and can support light gaming without needing a discrete graphics card.
  • Drawbacks: On-chip RAM design eliminates memory upgradability, and Lunar Lake laptops are pricier due to increased production costs.
  • Power Consumption: Begins at 17W, just slightly above U-series but efficiency-tuned.
• Arrow Lake (Power Grades U, H, HX):
  • Target Use Case: Consumer mainstream laptops, gaming laptops, and workstations where raw performance or cost-sensitivity is at issue.
  • Key Features: Arrow Lake is taking the place of Meteor Lake directly with better performance in every power grade. It maintains upgradable RAM and is cheaper than Lunar Lake and thus will be utilized in more laptops.
  • Drawbacks: Efficient as it is, it is neither as power-efficient as Lunar Lake nor as high-performance as the integrated graphics in ultra-low-power mode.
  • Power Draw: Varies between 15W (U) to 55W (HX), from ultrabooks to gaming machines.

Intel Tip #1: Pick for Your Application, Not Just Specifications

Intel’s 2025 product lineup emphasizes selecting the CPU that will be the best for your application:

• If portability is your priority, go for a Lunar Lake (V-series) laptop. Its low power consumption, excellent integrated graphics, and enhanced AI capabilities make it perfect for thin-and-light devices, though you’ll pay a premium and sacrifice RAM upgradability.
• If raw value or performance matters most, select an Arrow Lake (U, H, or HX) laptop. These offer greater raw performance and versatility, especially for games or workstations, without the related cost of Lunar Lake.

AMD CPU Names in 2025: The Rise of Ryzen AI

AMD’s CPU nomenclature has traditionally been less complicated than that of Intel but has been ratcheting up complexity over the last couple of years, particularly with the roll-out of the “Ryzen AI” naming in 2025. AMD is trying to show its improvements in AI performance, but the new nomenclature has been confusing, especially with repetition of code names and derivative revisions. Below demonstrates how to read AMD’s 2025 CPU lineup.

The AMD CPU Branding History (2023–2025)

AMD brand naming has progressed as follows:

• 2023 (Ryzen 7000 Series): This was the transition year for AMD, with the Ryzen 7000 series covering several architectures (Zen 2, Zen 3, Zen 3+, Zen 4). This led to “gotcha” models where the Ryzen 7040 would have the new Zen 4 architecture and the Ryzen 7020 had the older generation Zen 2, offering lower performance with the higher model number. Integrated graphics also improved considerably from Zen 3+, so model numbers like 7035 and 7040 are attractive for users who utilize integrated GPUs.
• 2024 (Ryzen 8000 Series): AMD simplified its architecture, having all Ryzen 8000 CPUs use Zen 4, to remove the fear of legacy cores on new chips. The series was, however, a side-step from the Ryzen 7000 Zen 4 offerings, the standout addition being an enhanced 16 TOPS NPU for AI, rather than standard CPU operations. The series emphasized low-power U and HS models, without HX high-performance models, indicating a path towards efficiency.
• 2025 (Ryzen AI 300 Series): AMD replaced its naming scheme with the “Ryzen AI 300” label instead of the Ryzen 9000 series to focus on AI processing. The processor architecture has also been updated to Zen 5, which would offer improved performance and efficiency but has added more complexity in terms of naming schemes, such as code names Strix Point and Kraken Point.

Decoding AMD Ryzen AI in 2025

AMD’s 2025 CPU naming convention is: AMD Ryzen AI [Performance Tier] [Model Number] [Derivative] [Power Grade]. Let’s break down what each of these is:

• Ryzen AI: New AMD nomenclature, superseding the legacy “Ryzen” family, emphasizing AI performance with enhanced NPUs.
• Performance Tier: employs AI5, AI7, and AI9, rather than the legacy Ryzen 5, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9 nomenclature. AI9 is the top-of-the-line performance tier.
• Model Number: A three-digit number beginning with “3” (e.g., 300), representing the 2025 generation. Consecutive numbers in the same class represent increased performance.
• Derivative: Further suffixes such as “Pro” or “Max” signify specialized models:
  • Pro: Business models with added security and management features, like Intel’s vPro. Performance is the same as in standard models.
  • Max: High-performance models with significantly improved integrated graphics, competitive with discrete GPUs such as NVIDIA’s RTX 4060.
• Power Grade: Refers to power consumption and targeted usage:
  • U: 15–28W, ultra-slim notebooks.
  • HS: 35W, balanced.
  • HX (New Usage in 2025): No longer used to denote 55W; now a branding term for high-end Ryzen AI9 models, irrespective of power consumption.

Strix Point vs. Kraken Point: What’s the Difference?

AMD’s 2025 Ryzen AI 300 CPUs are grouped into two codenames, with each featuring some unique characteristics:

• Strix Point (Ryzen AI9, Including HX and Max Models):
  • Target Use Case: High-end laptops, e.g., gaming and content creation workloads.
  • Key Features: Strix Point is driven by Zen 5 and offers industry-leading performance and efficiency. The “HX” brand name is now no longer a reference to 55W power but the very high-end Ryzen AI9 chips. The “Max” variant boosts integrated graphics to near RTX 4060 levels, a first for GPU-less gaming laptops. Strix Point Halo is a sub-segment of Max models, which signifies the highest top-end configurations.
  • Disadvantages: More expensive, particularly for Max models, and perhaps higher power consumption than in lower-end offerings.
  • Power Consumption: Comprehensive, with no need for HX models to be capped at 55W.
• Kraken Point (Ryzen AI5 and AI7):
  • Target Use Case: Mid-range laptops where cost and efficiency are taken into account.
  • Key Features: Similarly employing Zen 5, Kraken Point provides good performance but without the premium features of Strix Point, including Max-level integrated graphics. It’s intended for basic productivity and minor creative tasks.
  • Drawbacks: Lower peak performance than Strix Point, particularly for gaming or heavy usage.
  • Power Consumption: Mostly U and HS grades, with a focus on efficiency.

AMD Tip #2: Avoid Naming Traps

AMD’s 2025 naming convention has to be closely watched to prevent confusion:

• HX Misconception: As opposed to Intel, where HX still means 55W, AMD’s HX is actually merely a branding term for higher-end Ryzen AI9 chips. Always double-check the real power grade and the performance spec.
• Max Appeal: If you require robust integrated graphics (e.g., for gaming without a discrete GPU), seek Ryzen AI9 Max models. These are much faster than regular models but are pricier.
• Pro Redundancy: Bypass Pro versions unless you require business-specific features; they are not worth any performance gain over regular versions.

Final Thoughts: Subduing the CPU Maze of 2025

The 2025 CPU naming is intimidating at first, but it’s an indication of the trend towards specialization. Intel and AMD no longer battle on pure performance; they’re optimizing CPUs for a specific niche—ultra-thin efficiency, gaming, AI workloads, and so on. Yes, this complexity is maddening, but that means there’s a laptop CPU exactly optimized for what you need, if you can manage the acronyms.

Keep in mind that the most important aspect of selecting the best CPU is knowing what you’re after. Do you desire portability, brute force power, built-in graphics, or AI processing? Utilize the advice and comparisons on this page to winnow your selection down, and then verify with real-world reviews to determine whether the laptop lives up to promise.

What do you think of 2025 CPU naming conventions? Are Intel’s Lunar Lake and AMD’s Ryzen AI technology interesting or too convoluted? Let us know in the comments below!