2022 has arrived with a slew of new CPUs for laptops, desktops, phones, and other devices. In this article, we will be going through all you need to know about the biggest chips coming this year.
Nvidia came out swinging with the unveiling of its most powerful GPU yet, while Intel introduced new CPUs for practically every device it manufactures. AMD revamped its laptop processors and graphics cards for its entire portfolio and began teasing its next major desktop makeover. It was a lot if you weren’t keeping up (or even if you were). And that was only at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES): In December, Qualcomm introduced its next-generation CPUs for smartphones and laptops, and Samsung is working on a new Exynos processor as well. That’s not even taking into account Apple, which prefers to keep its cards close to its home.
But, when the dust settles and products with that multitude of processors begin to appear on the horizon, here’s a rundown of 2022’s most essential chips and what they’ll mean whether you’re in the market for a new laptop, PC, or phone this year.
Desktop
At CES 2022, things were a tad quieter on the desktop side of things. The remainder of Intel’s desktop portfolio has also been updated to Alder Lake. Intel’s new architectural plan should be extended to the remainder of its desktop portfolio, including more consumer-friendly desktop towers and all-in-one PCs. To go along with the larger distribution of processors, the business also released new, less expensive motherboard designs.
AMD has only revealed one new chip for the first half of the year, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which leverages AMD’s 3D V-Cache stacking technology to squeeze out an extra 15% of power over the Ryzen 5900X. AMD hasn’t updated its desktop portfolio since late 2020.
However, more exciting things are on the way for later in 2022, even if they will come with a bit of a wait. AMD has begun production of the Ryzen 7000 series of processors, which will be powered by the company’s new Zen 4 architecture, have a 5nm fabrication node, and include a new socket. The processors will use AMD’s new AM5 architecture, which places pins on the motherboard rather than on the CPUs. That means you’ll have to buy a new motherboard for the first time in over five years to take advantage of AMD’s new CPUs. Those chips won’t come until the second part of the year, but when they do, they’ll create quite an impact.
Nvidia also demonstrated its forthcoming RTX 3090 Ti graphics card, which will be the company’s most powerful consumer graphics card when it launches later this year.
Intel’s impending Arc discrete GPUs are the most enigmatic semiconductor release in 2022, similar to the laptop side of things. When Intel’s highly anticipated consumer graphics cards, codenamed “Alchemist,” are released later in 2022, it will finally aim to compete directly with AMD and Nvidia for the minds, hearts, and GPU slots of gamers and creatives alike.
Intel has previously demonstrated several cool features, such as their XeSS super-sampling for 4K scaling. The true test will come when the first GPUs are delivered. According to the latest speculations, Intel will aim for the middle of the road with its first generation of GPUs, but we’ll have to wait until later this year to see how well Intel’s first significant discrete GPUs stand up.
Finally, there’s Apple, which is said to be spreading its Arm-based processors to the remainder of its desktop portfolio in 2022, despite the fact that some of its most exciting products, such as the high-powered Mac Pro desktop, have yet to be upgraded. It’ll be intriguing to see how Apple manages to scale up its processor designs to that level of power and performance, especially given AMD and Intel’s revamped portfolios.
Mobile
When it comes to mobile chips, things are a little easier. If you buy an Android phone in the United States, it’s likely to be powered by a Qualcomm processor. If it’s a flagship handset, it’ll be powered by Qualcomm’s latest and best SoC, the Qualcomm 8 Gen 1, which is scheduled to debut in goods like Samsung’s Galaxy S22 range in the coming weeks.
Apple will use whatever name it chooses for the next generation of A-series CPUs in the iPhone, but only in Apple goods. Samsung has their new Exynos 2200 CPU, which will shake things up with an AMD RDNA 2-powered GPU, but it’s unlikely to make it to the United States due to a combination of licensing and modem concerns, as well as the simple reality that Qualcomm’s processors have consistently outperformed Samsung’s.
With its new Tensor SoC platform, which is introduced on the Pixel 6 series last year, Google is a firm to keep an eye on; presumably, Google will be seeking to follow up with a second-generation version to power its 2022 devices. In a world where Apple’s comparable custom-designed Arm-based laptops are some of the best computers around, the business is reported to be working on more powerful in-house CPUs for future Chromebooks, which might be incredibly fascinating.
At the speed tech is evolving, we expect great things from tech companies. Processes such as removing duplicate contacts will become a breeze at this rate. We saw some amazing innovations in the year 2021 and are hoping 2022 will outperform in every aspect.