Laptops - Page 15

The very last Apple MacBook Pro to feature a CD/DVD drive inside has now officially been added to the company's list of obsolete products worldwide, according to the company's website.

The change was first spotted by MacRumors with the model in question being the Mid 2012 13-inch MacBook Pro. It first went on sale in June of 2012 and was finally removed from sale in October 2016. While Apple doesn't ship any Mac with a CD/DVD drive inside anymore, those who still need to be able to slide a disc in can do so if they pick up an external SuperDrive although they'll need to get a USB-C adapter in order to connect it to modern Macs.

MacRumors notes that Apple considers its Macs to be obsolete once more than seven years have passed since it was last distributed for sale. Apple notes that the MacBooks may still be eligible for extended battery-only repairs for up to 10 years from the last time the product was distributed for sale, but that's subject to the availability of parts which could well be a problem at this stage.

Apple's MacBook Air is a hugely popular computer all around the world and is often seen as a gateway into the Mac and Apple ecosystems for a lot of people. It's the cheapest laptop that Apple makes, and it's among the cheapest computers the company makes, too. But while we're waiting for a new M3 MacBook Air to arrive within the next few weeks, we almost found ourselves in a world where none of that happened. That's according to a new report by the well-connected journalist Walt Mossberg when speaking on The Vergecast.

Mossberg said that there were talks about potentially canceling the MacBook Air lineup entirely, leaving the MacBook Pro as the only laptop lineup that the company offered. The suggestion originally came from the then head of design at Apple Jony Ive, with his design team believed to have been in a tug of war with Apple's product managers.

The suggestion is that Apple had intended to remove the thin and light MacBook Air from the lineup based on Ive's belief that his team could make the MacBook Pro so thin and light that the MacBook Air would no longer be required. It's also thought that Apple's Ive believed that people would buy the more expensive MacBook Pro whether or not they needed any of the additional capabilities or processing power that they offered.

Apple's MacBook Air notebooks are among the world's most popular computers and that's why it's a huge deal whenever a new model is released. To that point, we now expect there to be as many as two new MacBook Airs announced soon, and at least one of those is already in production in Apple's supply chain.

We've been hearing rumors of new 13- and 15-inch MacBook Airs for a little while at this point and Apple's MacBook Air currently comes in those two configurations, so refreshed models make plenty of sense here.

The latest report surrounding the MacBook Air comes via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman writing in the weekly Power On newsletter. Gurman normally has a good handle on what's going on inside Apple's supply chain and its future hardware plans. And while we can't confirm anything until Apple announces it, the stars are starting to align somewhat. Those stars suggest that Apple is already producing the new 13-inch MacBook Air but we also expect the 15-inch model to join the mix as well.

Eurocom recently announced its new Raptor X17 and Nightsky RX415 laptops, with the Raptor X17 Mobile Supercomputer featuring an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, up to 96GB of RAM, and everything else including the kitchen sink.

The new Eurocom Raptor X17 mobile supercomputer features the Intel Core i9-14900HX processor with 24 cores and 32 threads of Raptor Lake Refresh CPU power and NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU with 16GB of GDDR6 memory.

There are desktop-level CPU, RAM, GPU, and SSD power inside of the Raptor X17 laptop, where inside, Eurocom has three physical M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 SSD slots, each taking up to an 8TB Gen4 SSD for a total of 24TB of Gen4 SSD storage. There are two SO-DIMM slots for 2 x 48GB sticks of up to 96GB of DDR5-5600 memory.

GIGABYTE has just unveiled its new AORUS 17X, which it says is crafted for AI gaming, packing up to an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU.

The new AORUS 17X laptop can be configured with up to the Intel Core i9-14900HX "Raptor Lake Refresh" processor, max TGP NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU with 16GB of GDDR6 memory powered by AI-accelerated for generative AI workloads.

Intel's new Core i9-14900HX processor has 24 cores of CPU power at up to 5.8GHz with 36MB of cache, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU will boost up to 2040MHz and chew down 175W of power on its own. If you opt for the RTX 4080 version of the AORUS 17X, you'll get GPU clocks of up to 2280MHz with the same power consumption.

MSI had multiple new laptops on show at CES 2024 last week, one of those being the new Stealth 18 AI Studio A1V laptop, balancing the worlds of thinness and performance with an updated look and style. Check it out:

The company is rolling out a gorgeous new 18-inch 4K Mini-LED display, with Intel's new flagship Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" processor with an on-board NPU (Neural Processing Unit) for AI functionality on the laptop and up to NVIDIA's flagship GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU.

This is the world's first 18-inch 4K Mini-LED 120Hz display, joining the worlds of the native 4K resolution and super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate with a gorgeous Mini-LED panel. MSI says that it has DisplayHDR 1000 certification, with an AMLED panel powered by AUO.

Alienware revealed its beefed-up M18 R2 gaming laptop at CES 2024, packing the Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics. Check it out:

The new Alienware M18 R2 gaming laptop features an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor with 24 cores and 32 threads that clock up to 5.8GHz, alongside up to 64GB of DDR5-5600 memory and up to 8TB of NVMe M.2 SSD storage support. You can configure the M18 R2 gaming laptop with up to NVIDIA's fastest GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU.

Dell is including a couple of different display options with the Alienware M18 R2 gaming laptop, with the 18-inch panel coming in a QHD+ option with 2560 x 1600 native resolution, a 165Hz refresh rate, and 3ms response time. There's another display option with FHD+ offering 1920 x 1200 resolution and super-fast 480Hz refresh rate, with the same 3ms response time.

Alienware announced a redesigned M16 R2 gaming laptop at CES 2024, something that is a little more travel-friendly, where it's 15% smaller than its predecessor.

The new Alienware M16 R2 gaming laptop has seen the company removing the rear end of the laptop, which, when the M16 R2 is up against the M16 R1, shows the new laptop has a 14% reduction in depth, making it fit into a laptop bag, your actual lap, a smaller desk, or on the lounge easier than before. Dell refers to the back end of its laptops as the "thermal shelf," and now it's gone on the M16 R2 laptop.

Dell has crafted its new Alienware M16 R2 as a new laptop that's for users who want to play games on their laptop but use it as a "regular laptop" all the other time without its unique design that glows brightly and sounds much louder than it really should be.

MSI unveiled a plethora of new products at CES 2024, including its new Cyborg 14 gaming laptop with a transparent chassis that certainly catches your eye. Check it out:

MSI's new Cyborg 14 will be a budget gaming laptop that packs a decent punch in the specifications department. where we can expect the Cyborg 14 gaming laptop configured with an Intel Core i7-13620H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 to be priced at $1099.

This wouldn't be a new laptop without something AI (artificial intelligence) oozing out of it, with MSI pumping its new laptops full of AI. We've got MSI Intelligent Technology being capable of providing whole new AI features, taking automatic tuning to a whole new level says MSI.

AMD had plenty to talk about at CES 2024, but one thing we didn't hear a peep on was their RDNA 3-based Radeon RX 7000M mobile GPU designs... and it's a big disappointment.

ComputerBase was on the ground in Las Vegas at CES 2024, noting that there was not a single new laptop with a Radeon RX 7000M mobile GPU. The site explained: "As CES 2024 concludes, the answer is clearly "no." Not only has there been no new notebooks with Radeon RX 7000 Mobile to the editors' knowledge, but the m16 R2 and m18 R2 have also switched to a pure GeForce RTX 4000 offering - at least currently the RDNA 3 configurations are not available more".

ComputerBase continued: "The same applies to the new ASUS TUF Gaming A16 (2024) , which in combination with an AMD Dragon Range (7x45HX) processor was an AMD Advantage flagship product just a year ago. At least the Ryzen 9 7945HX remained as the CPU. From 2022 with AMD Ryzen 6900HS and Radeon RX 6800S from AMD CEO Dr. There is also no trace of the Corsair Voyager a1600 (test) presented personally by Lisa Su or its successor".

ASUS has revamped its already very powerful G14 Zephyrus 14-inch laptop model that was already a monster in its own right. This year, the G14 Zephyrus features an AMD CPU up to the new Ryzen 8000 series along with up to a NVIDIA RTX 4070 laptop edition with MUX Switch and NVIDIA's Advanced Optimus technology. The display has also been replaced with an OLED 3K 120Hz 0.2ms panel with a DCI-P3 color space of 100%, all while running NVIDIA G-Sync. Audio has also been much improved with a 6-speaker upgrade with dual force canceling woofers. Another change that ASUS has made is the move from the Anime Matrix back panel to Slash Lighting.

Continuing with the improvements that ASUS has made with the G14 Zephyrus, which ASUS is quite proud of is the improved cooling system featuring the 2nd Gen Arc Fan that runs alongside the 4 fat heat piped cooling solution.

ASUS was showing off three versions of the G14 Zephyrus with different configurations.

XMG has unveiled its new NEO 17 gaming laptop with some new and improved features that are found on the inside, while the old chassis is used. Check it out:

Inside, XMG is using Intel's new Core i9-14900HX processor with 24 cores and 32 threads, with the new XMG NEO 17 gaming laptop the first in the NEO series to feature USB-C Power Delivery with up to 100W of power on the ready. There's an integrated GPU on the 14900K, with a fully-supported, hardware-based "iGPU only" mode that guarantees the dGPU can't be accidentally woken up while you're on the go.

NVIDIA's high-end GeForce RTX 4080 and GeForce RTX 4090 graphics are inside, with liquid cooling water pipes extended to cover the CPU directly, too.

XMG had something special to show off at CES 2024 this year, with a prototype XMG gaming laptop featuring Intel's new Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processor... without a discrete GPU inside. Check it out:

Our friends at Wccftech took some photos of XMG's new prototype 15.3-inch gaming laptop, a new thin and light laptop that uses the built-in Arc-based GPU on the Meteor Lake CPU for gaming, and not a discrete GPU like other XMG gaming laptops.

We don't know the exact specs of the prototype XMG gaming laptop, but we do know that it features a 15.3-inch panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio and an edge-to-edge keyboard with a number pad on the side. For connectivity, we have two USB Type-A ports, a single USB4 port, HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120Hz output, and an ethernet port to boot.

GIGABYTE invited us to a special showing during our trip to CES 2024 in Las Vegas. GIGABYTE had us check out a few of their new laptops they were showing off for CES 2024.

GIGABYTE led off with the new G6X, which is aimed more at casual gaming / generative AI in a 16 inch gaming laptop that won't break the bank. The G6X has a FHD display running at 165Hz with extremely slim bezels on all sides. An Intel Core I7 13650HX CPU paired with up to a laptop NVIDIA RTX 4060, which should be able to take on most games with ease. The G6X is rated for up to 16 hours on a 77Wh battery. Release date and pricing is TBD.

The AORUS 16X, is a more extreme 16 inch laptop running the new mobile 14th gen Core I9 14900HX Intel CPU, the AORUS 16X also sports NVIDIA's laptop RTX 4070 GPUs which pumps pixels to an IPS 16:10 WUXGA 165hz slim bezel display running NVIDIA's G-Sync adaptive technology. Keeping things cool, GIGABYTE has integrated its Windforce Infinity Cooling, having dual power fans to draw cool air in and expel the hot internal heat. TGP is rated for 140 watts with a 99Wh battery. Release date and pricing is TBD.

HP has officially unveiled its new OMEN Transcend 14 gaming laptop, with an advanced OLED display and Intel's latest Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processor.

The new HP OMEN Transcend 14 gaming laptop is one of the coolest and lightest 14-inch gaming laptops on the market, with its standout feature being what should be an absolutely beautiful IMAX Enhanced Certified 2.8K 120Hz VRR OLED display.

It's also the world's first gaming laptop with a lattice-less sky-printed RGB keyboard, which in the words of HP "extends the vibrant color experience beyond the screen". Inside, HP powers its new OMEN Transcend 14 gaming laptop with up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and up to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU.

Acer is on a laptop announcing frenzy at CES 2024, with the introduction of its new Acer Swift X 14... a new AI laptop with a Calman-verified display for content creators and students. Check it out:

The new Acer Swift X 14 laptop features Intel's new Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors, NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 40 series Laptop GPUs, and a new Calman-verified 2.8K OLED panel. Acer says that with its new Intel Core Ultra-H series processors and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, the premium laptop enables faster AI-enhanced workflows for higher quality live streaming, video editing, and 3D rendering.

Thanks to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series Laptop GPUs, gamers can enjoy the huge benefits of NVIDIA DLSS 3.5 technology with AI-powered ray reconstruction for upscaled lighting effects and resolutions in graphics-heavy games and applications.

Acer has just announced new members of its Swift Go laptops, with the thin and light laptops featuring Intel's new Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors.

The new Intel Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors are the company's first with a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and integrated AI acceleration capabilities. The new Intel Core Ultra CPUs inside of Acer's Swift Go AI laptops provide even more performance for content creation, education work, productivity, and more.

Acer has unveiled two new members of its Swift Go AI laptops with the introduction of its new Swift Go 16 and Swift Go 14 laptops, powered by Intel Core Ultra CPUs and Intel Arc built-in GPUs. There's all-day battery life here, with up to 12.5 hours for the Swift Go 14 and up to 10.5 hours for the Swift Go 16 laptop.

Dell has just announced its new fleet of XPS 2024 laptops, providing major upgrades across the board with its XPS 16, XPS 14, and XPS 13 laptops.

The new Dell XPS 2024 laptops feature Intel's latest Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" CPUs which have AI at their heart, with Dell taking a minimalistic approach with the design of its new XPS family of laptops. The company is providing a sleek look using CNC-machined aluminum for the body and a Gorilla Glass 3-protected surface.

The new flagship Dell XPS 16 laptop will start at $1899, featuring up to the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H "Meteor Lake" CPU, which can be configured with up to 64GB of faster LPDDR5X-7467 memory, up to 4TB of Gen4 PCIe SSD storage, and up to NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4070 8GB graphics with a 60W TDP.

Razer has just teased its next-gen Blade 18 gaming laptop, where it invites gamers to experience the world's first 18-inch 4K 165Hz display. Check it out:

The new Razer Blade 18 gaming laptop is the most powerful new Blade gaming laptop the company has ever made, bringing out the full capabilities of high-resolution and high refresh rates for gamers and content creators. The new 18-inch 4K 165Hz display will bring "unparalleled detail and sharpness to larger screens".

Razer adds that the additional real estate provides gamers with a more immersive experience. For content creators, the increase real estate will allow them to comfortably fine-tune each minute detail of their creations. The 165Hz refresh rate ensures gamers enjoy a super-smooth gaming experience, but for everyone else, it'll make browsing and everyday tasks feel like butter. Personal note: I can't stand 60Hz displays, so this is something worth underlining.

MSI's next-gen TITAN 18 HX gaming laptop has been teased ahead of CES 2024, inside it'll rock Intel's new mobile flagship Core i9-14900HX "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPU and some delicious hardware to match. Check it out:

The new MSI TITAN 18 HX gaming laptop will feature an Intel Core i9-14900HX processor with 24 cores and 32 threads boosting up to 5.8GHz, with the choice of an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 or GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card. Interestingly, it'll feature a 270W power mode (for the combined CPU and GPU power).

This means we should see a 175W TGP for the GPU (both the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 with 175W) and 95W for the CPU, which is a huge 40W boost from the default TDP of the Core i9-14900HX. What does this mean? MSI stays within the MTP (Maximum Turbo Power) limits of 175W that are set in stone by Intel, but it'll allow the Core i9-14900HX processor to sustain those huge 5.8GHz clock speeds for longer periods of time.