A notebook processor is a CPU

Central processing unit

The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...

 optimized for notebook computer

Laptop

A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...

s.

One of the main characteristics differentiating notebook processors from other CPUs is low-power

Low-power electronics

Low-power electronics means that the consumption of electric power is deliberately low, e.g. notebook processors.- Computing elements :The density and speed of integrated-circuit computing elements have increased exponentially for several decades, following a trend described by Moore's Law...

 consumption.

The notebook processor is becoming an increasingly important market segment

Market segment

Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function...

 in the semiconductor industry

Semiconductor industry

The semiconductor industry is the aggregate collection of companies engaged in the design and fabrication of semiconductor devices. It formed around 1960, once the fabrication of semiconductors became a viable business...

. Notebook computers are an increasingly popular format of the broader category of mobile computer

Mobile computing

Mobile computing is a form of human–computer interaction by which a computer is expected to be transported during normal usage. Mobile computing has three aspects: mobile communication, mobile hardware, and mobile software...

s. The objective of a notebook computer is to provide the performance and functionality of a desktop computer

Desktop computer

A desktop computer is a personal computer in a form intended for regular use at a single location, as opposed to a mobile laptop or portable computer. Early desktop computers are designed to lay flat on the desk, while modern towers stand upright...

 in a portable

Portable

Portable may refer to:* Portable building, a manufactured structure that is built off site and moved in upon completion of site and utility work...

 size and weight.

• AMD: Turion 64, Turion 64 X2
• Transmeta
  Transmeta
  Transmeta Corporation was a US-based corporation that licensed low power semiconductor intellectual property. Transmeta originally produced very long instruction word code morphing microprocessors, with a focus on reducing power consumption in electronic devices. It was founded in 1995 by Bob...
  
  : Crusoe
  Transmeta Crusoe
  The Crusoe is a family of x86-compatible microprocessors developed by Transmeta. Crusoe was notable for its method of achieving x86 compatibility. Instead of the instruction set architecture being implemented in hardware, or translated by specialized hardware, the Crusoe runs a software abstraction...
  
   and Efficeon
  Efficeon
  The Efficeon processor is Transmeta's second-generation 256-bit VLIW design which employs a software engine to convert code written for x86 processors to the native instruction set of the chip...
  
  
• Intel: Pentium M
  Pentium M
  The Pentium M brand refers to a family of mobile single-core x86 microprocessors introduced in March 2003 , and forming a part of the Intel Carmel notebook platform under the then new Centrino brand...
  
  , Core Duo
  Intel Core
  Yonah was the code name for Intel's first generation of 65 nm process mobile microprocessors, based on the Banias/Dothan-core Pentium M microarchitecture. SIMD performance has been improved through the addition of SSE3 instructions and improvements to SSE and SSE2 implementations, while integer...
  
  , Core 2 Duo and the budget Celeron M
• Freescale Semiconductor
  Freescale Semiconductor
  Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is a producer and designer of embedded hardware, with 17 billion semiconductor chips in use around the world. The company focuses on the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets with its product portfolio including microprocessors, microcontrollers,...
  
   makes the PowerPC
  PowerPC
  PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
  
   processors that were used in the pre-Intel Apple Computer
  Apple Computer
  Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
  
   notebooks.

Cell phones and PDAs require microcontroller

Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...

s that use even less power than notebook processors.

While it is possible to use desktop processors in laptops, this practice is generally not recommended, as desktop processors heat faster than notebook processors and drain batteries faster.

Currently, the fastest notebook processor is the Intel core i3,i5 and i7 Extreme Edition (i7-940XM), a 2.13 GHz quad-core processor. The new core i7 line has the "Intel® Turbo Boost" mode that can boost its clockspeed over the factory default.
The first "quad-core" notebook processor (code named "Penryn QC") was released by Intel in Q3 2008. http://www.laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=3284

See also

• Personal computing
• Computer architecture
  Computer architecture
  In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
  
  
• Microprocessor
  Microprocessor
  A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...