The tech glossary

A computer marketed as having hardware for running AI workloads locally, usually a neural processing unit (NPU).

In plain English: A laptop with a new kind of chip. It may help with specific AI features, but the label does not guarantee useful performance for every AI task.

Ask next: Ask which application uses the NPU, what work it accelerates, and whether the feature works without an internet connection.

A repeatable test used to measure a device or component under a defined workload.

In plain English: A test, not a universal verdict.

Ask next: Benchmarks are useful when the workload, settings, power mode, and comparison product are clear. A benchmark chosen for marketing can be technically honest and still irrelevant to you.

The frequency at which a processor operates, measured in hertz such as GHz.

In plain English: How many cycles a chip runs per second, not how much useful work it completes.

Ask next: Architecture, core count, cache, power limits, and cooling also matter. Comparing GHz across generations is usually a trap.

A rendering technique that simulates the paths of light to produce more realistic reflections, shadows, and illumination.

In plain English: More realistic-looking graphics at a potentially large performance cost.

Ask next: It can make a scene look better. Whether it is worth the frame-rate cost depends on the game, GPU, and your preference.

Using software or machine learning to render at a lower resolution and reconstruct an image at a higher one.

In plain English: A performance trade: render fewer pixels, then make the result look larger.

Ask next: Good upscaling can look excellent and improve frame rates. Check the quality mode, artifacts, and whether the advertised frame rate includes generated frames.

Automatic performance reduction that protects a chip when it reaches a temperature or power limit.

In plain English: The device slows itself down because it got too hot or used too much power.

Ask next: Peak clock speed does not tell you sustained performance. Look for long-running tests, not only short bursts.

The actual task or pattern of use used to exercise a device or component.

In plain English: What you are really asking the machine to do.

Ask next: A computer that is fast in a benchmark may still be a poor fit for your workload. Start with the task, then choose the specification.

The electrical power a chip or device is allowed to draw under defined conditions.

In plain English: How much energy the device is allowed to use to make performance.

Ask next: The same processor can perform very differently at different power limits. Thin laptops often trade sustained speed for heat, noise, and battery life.

A smaller, faster storage area used to hold data temporarily so it can be accessed more quickly.

In plain English: A fast waiting area that helps with bursts, not unlimited speed.

Ask next: An SSD may look extremely fast until its write cache fills. Ask for sustained performance if long transfers matter.

The delay between requesting an operation and receiving a response.

In plain English: How long you wait before something starts responding.

Ask next: Throughput and latency are different. A high maximum transfer rate does not guarantee a quick response for small operations.

The amount of data or work completed over a period of time.

In plain English: How much gets done per second.

Ask next: Throughput is useful for large transfers and sustained work. It does not replace latency, responsiveness, or quality measurements.

How many times per second a display can update its image, measured in hertz.

In plain English: How often the screen can draw a new frame.

Ask next: A higher refresh rate can make motion feel smoother, but it can use more power and does not automatically improve color, resolution, or text clarity.

The number of pixels used to form an image or display.

In plain English: How much image detail can fit on the screen or in the frame.

Ask next: Resolution is not brightness, contrast, color accuracy, or refresh rate. More pixels can also demand more graphics performance.

The level of performance a device can maintain over an extended period rather than during a short burst.

In plain English: How fast it stays after the excitement wears off.

Ask next: Look for long tests, temperatures, power mode, and fan behavior. Peak performance alone can hide throttling.

Dynamic random-access memory, the working memory used by computers and many other devices while they are running.

In plain English: The short-term workspace your computer uses for open programs and data.

Ask next: More DRAM can help with multitasking, but it does not automatically make every task faster. Capacity and speed answer different questions.

A non-volatile memory technology used in SSDs, phones, USB drives, and memory cards.

In plain English: The storage memory that keeps your files when the power is off.

Ask next: NAND is storage, not working memory. Compare capacity, controller, cache, endurance, and sustained speed rather than only the interface headline.

High Bandwidth Memory, a stacked memory technology designed to move very large amounts of data close to high-performance processors.

In plain English: Specialized, expensive memory built for bandwidth-hungry accelerators.

Ask next: HBM is excellent for AI and scientific workloads, but demand for it can pull manufacturing capacity away from ordinary memory.

A solid-state drive that stores data on flash memory rather than spinning magnetic disks.

In plain English: Fast, silent storage with no moving parts.

Ask next: An SSD can improve startup and file access, but peak sequential speed is not the same as sustained or everyday responsiveness.

A thin slice of semiconductor material on which many individual chips are manufactured.

In plain English: The round piece of silicon from which chips are made.

Ask next: A wafer allocated to one product family cannot simultaneously produce the same area for another. Capacity shifts can therefore affect supply and price.

A material and industry category used to make electronic components whose electrical behavior can be controlled.

In plain English: The foundation material behind chips, memory, sensors, and many electronics.

Ask next: “Semiconductor shortage” can refer to different chips, factories, processes, or regions. Ask which component is constrained.

A processor specialized for machine-learning operations, such as a GPU, NPU, or other purpose-built chip.

In plain English: A chip designed to do certain AI math more efficiently than a general-purpose CPU.

Ask next: The accelerator is only part of the system. Memory capacity, memory bandwidth, software support, and power all affect the result.

A very large cloud or internet company operating data centers at massive scale.

In plain English: A company that buys computing infrastructure by the warehouse.

Ask next: Hyperscalers can reserve supply and negotiate prices in ways ordinary consumers and smaller PC makers cannot.

The point at which a company stops maintaining, selling, or supporting a product or software version.

In plain English: The company is done supporting it. The hardware may still work.

Ask next: Find out whether EOL means no security patches, no feature updates, no parts, or simply no customer service. They are different consequences.

An older system, component, or technology that remains in use while newer versions exist.

In plain English: Old, but not automatically bad.

Ask next: Legacy software may be stable and well understood. It may also have compatibility or security problems. Ask which one applies.

Software whose source code is available under a license that permits defined forms of inspection, modification, and redistribution.

In plain English: People can inspect and improve the code under the license rules.

Ask next: Open source does not mean unmaintained, free of bugs, or automatically secure. It does mean the code is not controlled only by one vendor.

Computing and storage delivered through remote data centers over a network.

In plain English: Someone else’s computer, accessed over the internet.

Ask next: Cloud services can be convenient and resilient. They also create recurring costs, outages, data-dependence, and a provider relationship you cannot fully control.

A recurring payment that keeps software, storage, content, or features available.

In plain English: You keep paying to keep using it.

Ask next: Compare the total cost over the life of the device. A subscription can fund ongoing updates, but it can also turn a one-time tool into a permanent bill.

Whether software, hardware, files, or services can work together as expected.

In plain English: Whether the thing you want to use will work with the thing you have.

Ask next: Compatibility claims need a version, operating system, connector, driver, and feature list. “Works with” is not a complete test plan.

A software update that fixes known vulnerabilities or strengthens protection against attacks.

In plain English: Maintenance that helps keep a device safe, not just new features.

Ask next: A device that still runs apps but no longer receives security updates needs a serious risk assessment or a maintained alternative.

A family of open-source operating systems built around the Linux kernel.

In plain English: An alternative computer operating system that can extend the life of many PCs.

Ask next: Linux is not one identical product. Check hardware support, application compatibility, backup plans, and which distribution is maintained.

The core software that manages hardware and provides the platform for applications.

In plain English: The software layer that makes the computer usable.

Ask next: A manufacturer ending support for one operating system does not necessarily mean the hardware has stopped working.

A device startup system that allows an authorized user to install or boot alternative software.

In plain English: A door that lets you replace the manufacturer’s operating system.

Ask next: Phones often lock this door. PCs more commonly leave it open, which is one reason computers can have longer second lives.

A maximum result observed under a particular set of conditions.

In plain English: The best case, not the normal case.

Ask next: Look for the test conditions and a sustained or typical result. “Up to” is not a lie; it is a ceiling.

A promotional description for a newer product or technology generation.

In plain English: Newer, with no fixed amount of better implied.

Ask next: Compare the exact improvements: speed, battery, support, repairability, noise, price, or something else. The phrase itself proves nothing.

A claim that a product will remain suitable as technology and requirements change.

In plain English: A prediction about a future nobody has specified.

Ask next: No product is future-proof. Prefer a longer support commitment, replaceable parts, upgradeable memory or storage, and enough performance headroom.

A label suggesting professional-level capability, quality, or durability.

In plain English: A status signal that needs a specification behind it.

Ask next: Ask which measurable property makes it professional: sustained performance, color accuracy, duty cycle, warranty, ports, or serviceability.

A claim that reported emissions are balanced by reductions, removals, or offsets under a defined accounting boundary.

In plain English: The company says the emissions balance out on paper.

Ask next: Check whether the claim covers manufacturing, shipping, use, and end of life, and whether it relies on offsets rather than reducing emissions at the source.

A collection of products and services designed to work together within one company’s platform.

In plain English: The products are convenient together, and harder to leave.

Ask next: An ecosystem can improve setup and continuity. It can also create switching costs, duplicate purchases, and lock-in.

The increasing cost or difficulty of moving from one provider, platform, format, or service to another.

In plain English: Leaving is possible, but deliberately inconvenient.

Ask next: Check export formats, interoperability, account requirements, and whether your purchases continue to work after cancellation.

A business model offering a basic version at no cost while charging for additional features or capacity.

In plain English: Free to start; the useful part may cost money.

Ask next: The price is not the whole exchange. Understand limits, advertising, data use, and what happens to your work if you do not upgrade.

The collection and analysis of user or device data, often across services, for product, advertising, security, or other purposes.

In plain English: The product may be collecting more about you than you expected.

Ask next: Read what is collected, why, how long it is retained, and whether you can use the product without consenting to unnecessary collection.

The idea that products are intentionally designed or managed to become unusable, undesirable, or unsupported sooner than necessary.

In plain English: The product’s useful life is shortened on purpose or through business choices.

Ask next: The phrase is often used too broadly. Look for concrete evidence: non-replaceable parts, blocked repairs, short support windows, or software changes that disable working hardware.

A product or component whose availability is limited by manufacturing capacity, materials, logistics, or demand.

In plain English: There may not be enough of it, or the company wants you to think there will not be.

Ask next: Check the date, region, actual inventory, and whether the constraint applies to the exact model. Scarcity language can describe reality or create urgency.

The list and cost of components, materials, and parts used to manufacture a product.

In plain English: What the product costs to build before the company sells it.

Ask next: A higher component cost can lead to a higher price, a lower margin, or a cheaper part elsewhere. BOM estimates are not the same as retail price.

The money, time, effort, or lost functionality involved in moving to a different product or provider.

In plain English: What leaving will actually cost you.

Ask next: A low purchase price can hide a high switching cost if your files, accessories, subscriptions, or habits do not transfer easily.