This work compares different types of laminated soft magnetic cores in inductive power transfer (IPT) applications. Laminated cores are typically made with highly metallic properties. They exhibit high saturation flux density and low hysteresis loss and demonstrate a good potential to enhance IPT applications with high power density and efficiency. Nevertheless, their high conductivity and elevated eddy current loss degrades this potential. In this paper, the typical vertical and horizontal laminated cores are analyzed first based on their unique structure and characteristics. The problems of the two types of cores and corresponding optimization directions are given. Finally, experiments are performed and compared and measured experimentally.