Worried your Intel laptop CPU might suffer from instability gremlins? Team Blue clarifies that mobile chips don’t have the same issue as desktops

Intel has clarified that its laptop processors are not affected by the instability issues that have been widely reported on desktops with Core i9 CPUs from its 13th and 14th generations.

Team Blue was prompted to issue a statement to Digital Trends after the tech site reported that the founder of Alderon Games (developer of Path of Titans, a dino-themed MMOG), Matthew Cassells, observed apparently similar crashing issues with mobile CPUs.

Cassells observed: “Yes we have several laptops that have failed with the same crashes. It’s just slightly more rare than the desktop CPU faults.”

In response to this, Intel told Digital Trends: “Intel is aware of a small number of instability reports on Intel Core 13th/14th-gen mobile processors. Based on our in-depth analysis of the reported Intel Core 13th/14th-gen desktop processor instability issues, Intel has determined that mobile products are not exposed to the same issue.

“The symptoms being reported on 13th/14th-gen mobile systems – including system hangs and crashes – are common symptoms stemming from a broad range of potential software and hardware issues. As always, if users are experiencing issues with their Intel-powered laptops we encourage them to reach out to the system manufacturer for further assistance.”

Analysis: No similar mobile woes, Intel insists

So, there you have it. We’ve seen reports of desktop CPU instability going beyond Core i9s to lower-tier processors as well, but this hasn’t been acknowledged by Intel – though this latest creeping of noticed issues with mobile chips definitely has. Indeed, Intel has moved very quickly to defend itself in the laptop arena, perhaps unsurprisingly given how many notebook chips the firm sells (a ton and a half).

In short, Team Blue is telling us that common crashes being experienced on 14th-gen and 13th-gen laptop CPUs are being misdiagnosed as issues pertaining to the instability problems on the desktop – so there’s nothing to see here, move along.

Digital Trends previously theorized that maybe flagship HX chips – the very fastest in Intel’s mobile line-up, as seen in some of the best gaming laptops – could be affected, but Intel is being pretty clear here that this isn’t the case based on its in-depth investigation which has been underway for some time now.

We’re still sitting tight and waiting for the revelations and full picture to come from that investigation, but the longer all this drags on, the worse things look for Intel – and as we’ve discussed before, it’s casting a shadow over the launch of next-gen Arrow Lake processors, too. And those chips are already in trouble with AMD’s Zen 5 launching much earlier, and with plenty of promise as a next-gen rival.