The first ever PC handheld I tried out was an Intel-powered device. That was the Project UFO, powered by a 10th Gen Intel chip. Then I tried the One-Netbook OneXPlayer, fitted with an Intel Core i7 1165G7. While both times I enjoyed the concept of a PC handheld, the performance was never quite up to expectation. I've used many more handhelds since and had a much better time—though they've all been powered by AMD silicon. Intel has no major share of the handheld market these days.
There's the opportunity, at least, for that to change in coming years. Intel's latest mobile chip, Meteor Lake, has a bigger GPU in it that's absolutely capable enough to game on. It uses an architecture not that dissimilar to the one found in Arc Alchemist graphics cards, and Arc driver support will also extend to Meteor Lake to make for a better gaming experience than we're used to on an integrated GPU. Perhaps most importantly, Meteor Lake focuses on power efficiency, and battery life is a sticking point for most handheld PCs today.
There's a chance we could see Intel back in the handheld game. But whether that happens is down to whether anyone takes Intel up the offer, Intel's graphics guru Tom Petersen tells me.
«I mean, if we have a good enough graphics, and we have great game compatibility, and we have good ecosystem engagement. I mean, it's really just up to the OEMs or what maybe even third party to make the leap.
»It's just a long journey, because people have to become comfortable that our graphics mean something, and we have to make to prove it over years and years."
That's probably where Intel is going to struggle competing with AMD: mind-share.
AMD is, by most measures, the dominant player in semi-custom silicon and designing
Read more on pcgamer.com