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Definition: mobile processor


A CPU chip designed for laptops, tablets, smartphones and other portable devices. Mobile processors use lower voltages and are designed to run cooler than the CPUs in desktop computers. They typically have more "sleep modes" that enable sections of the chip to be throttled down or turned off when not used.

CPU vs. SoC
Laptops have individual CPUs, whereas smartphones and tablets are controlled by a complete system-on-chip (see SoC). Laptops generally use CISC-based Intel x86 CPUs, whereas smartphones and tablets contain mostly RISC-based ARM chips. See RISC, ARM, Intel Atom, mobile platform.