How new my laptop really needs to be? A guide to modern computing (2024)

Sometimes there are major technological improvements you don't want to miss. For example, when intel moved the memory controller from the chipset in the Core 2 Duo architecture to the processor core in Core i series, which is a change AMD had already done years back to win the performance crown of the PC ecosystem. That's why, despite being only one or two generations newer, a machine like X220 is much faster in practical use, than a X200 (also, Hyperthreading, which doubles the logical cores and its ability to install 16GB of RAM). A lot of people, including myself, consider Sandy Bridge the bare minimum you can realistically expect to be your main computer this days.

There was another major change when intel began shipping U processors with 15W TDPs, instead of previous chips, which were mostly 35W parts. It wasn't really just intel releasing a new and more efficient chip: it's when they began a program to scrutinize the rest of the components of the system, many of them being awful when it comes to power consumption (for example, old CCFL inverted-driven screens). That's when laptops began having a decent battery life for the first time. From maybe 2-3-4 hours before, to 6-8 hours, or more (I rarely used my old stuff on battery because of that). That happened around the 4/5th generation intel (Haswell/Broadwell).

But it was with Skylake (6th generation intel) that all machines became pretty much "modern". They all have UEFI (new BIOS architecture based exclusively on 64 bits), they all have TPM 2.0 (improved security), and so on. Windows 11 runs with all features enabled in such machines, despite Microsoft deciding not to support them (I know because I just installed Windows 11 on my 4th generation X1s). That's probably because the panic after the discovery of the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities (which have already been fixed to my knowledge).

Important, but not critical, is the introduction of the Thunderbolt ports with the 7th generation (Kaby Lake), which AMD machines didn't have for a long time. It's essentially a modern replacement for the old Express Card standard (PCI Express) via the regular USB-C port. With that you can transfer files from and to external memories much faster, and even install an external video card. However, USB 3.0 and above are already pretty fast, which is the main reason USB-C hasn't really become ubiquitous as they planned. People still buy USB-A flash drives in large quantities, and they expect machines to have the corresponding ports. USB-A will be with us for a long, long time.

From there, it doesn't really matter much which generation you have. There are differences in core count (intel increased it from 2c/4t to 4c/8t with Kabby Lake Refresh 8th generation and again to 10c/14t with Alder Lake 12th) and graphics performance, which is always nice to have, but really not strictly necessary unless you're doing truly intensive stuff on your machine (which is always a bad idea due to heat build-up; if you need sustained high power, a Desktop is your answer). The truth is: semiconductor photo-lithography has been really stagnant for the last decade or so; therefore, more performance usually comes at the expense of more power consumption. For example, intel has been steadily increasing the Turbo power limit over generations. Most people don't notice that because they are usually doing light tasks that doesn't stress the processor much.

As a practical example, when I sent my P14s (8 core 4750U and 32GB of RAM) to service (it had a loose USB port and they replaced the motherboard under warranty) I used my X1 Carbon Gen 5 (2 core 7600U and 16GB of RAM) as my main machine for a while and didn't really feel any difference doing normal stuff (browsing, editing documents, copying files, watching videos, listening to music, programming, etc.).

Conclusion: if you can afford a new and shiny machine, please go for it. But if you go for an older one, don't feel bad: rest assured that a machine several generations old will still serve you well. You probably aren't missing anything truly important. And the money savings and ecological benefits are huge.