First Tests! Intel's 13th Gen Core U Series, 'Raptor Lake' CPU Power for Thin Laptops

pcmag.com:

Intel's 13th Generation "Raptor Lake" processors kicked off months ago on desktops with the Intel Core i9-13900K flagship CPU on down, then progressed to laptops with the introduction of the most powerful Core i9 laptop CPUs earlier this year, in the 13th Gen Core H Series. But, as anyone shopping for an ultraportable laptop could tell you, the low-voltage processors needed to power the thinnest and lightest laptops hadn't yet caught up. Even the most recent models were built around 12th Gen chips.

That all changes with the first 13th Gen U Series chip in our labs and already tested, arriving in the soon-to-be-reviewed Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304). While our full review is still in the works, our initial tests give us a telling look at what the newest U Series chips bring to the market, and whether you should be excited to upgrade to one of the first ultraportable laptops to get them.

Intel's U Series processors aren't made for heavy gaming or crunching massive numbers like a workstation PC. Instead, the U Series is built to give you peppy performance in lower-cost mainstream systems and thin-and-light ultraportables, especially in the latter designs, where little or no room may be available for bulky cooling fans. Meanwhile, battery life is expected to stretch well beyond the 10 hours or so that would qualify as "all-day" battery life.

Made to run on just 15 watts of power, this is really where the rubber meets the road on Intel's biggest claims about efficient performance. Will the new chips deliver better test results than last year's best U Series systems? It's easy to think that such gains are pretty much guaranteed. (Results vary from laptop design to laptop design with the same chip inside, of course.) But that