Laptops - Page 2

Acer's new Predator Helios 18 AI gaming laptop is a beast; it's the company's latest flagship, and it pairs the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU. Acer notes that it's "purpose-built for enthusiast gamers and esports competitors in need of top-tier performance."

And with its massive 18-inch Mini LED WQUXGA display, featuring an impressive peak brightness of 1000 nits in HDR mode and Calman Verified 100% DCI-P3 color accuracy, it's a full desktop replacement. The display is also a rarity in the gaming laptop space, as it's Dual Mode, meaning it can switch between 4K 120 Hz and Full HD 240 Hz for ultra-smooth motion clarity when playing competitive games.

Acer's clearly gone all out here, as it can be configured to include as much as 256GB of memory and 6TB of internal SSD storage, specs that we'd be scared to see what that would do to the price. At Computex 2026, we got to go hands-on with the laptop in an isolated sound booth, and yeah, it's an impressive laptop - albeit not something you'd call lightweight or portable. Translation: it's a flagship gaming laptop.

NVIDIA has teased a new era of PC ahead of Computex, fueling speculation about the imminent launch of its own ARM-based PC chips. On Friday morning, both NVIDIA's and Microsoft's Windows accounts posted the phrase "A new era of PC" on X, along with cryptic numbers "25.0528, 121.5990," which appear to be latitude and longitude coordinates.

If you plug those numbers into Google Maps, they will point directly to Taiwan, specifically the Taipei Music Center, where NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will host his GTC Taipei keynote during Computex. There is no official confirmation about the announcements, but simultaneous posts from both companies make it clear that the clues were intentional.

Back in October 2023, Reuters reported that NVIDIA had been developing Arm-based CPUs capable of running Windows. Since then, rumors and alleged sightings of the mysterious N1 chip have surfaced regularly. That is where our money is. Microsoft's Pavan Davuluri, who leads Windows and Surface, has already ruled out a new OS version, so Windows 12 is off the table.

Dell's new XPS 13 (DX13260) debuts as the company's thinnest and lightest XPS model to date. Targeting the mainstream market, the ultra-lightweight chassis is configured with Intel's new Wildcat Lake or Panther Lake CPUs, lowering the entry barrier for students.

The XPS family has been Dell's flagship ultrabook brand, strictly targeted at the $1,000+ premium prosumer market with CNC-machined metal, high-fidelity displays, and bleeding-edge silicon. The recent Panther Lake-powered XPS 14 and 16 refreshes pushed that premium envelope even further, commanding prices north of $2,000. While this flagship tier delivers unmatched build quality, buyers pay a massive premium for the experience.

The new XPS 13 breaks this trend by bringing the same premium laptop design to the mainstream market. Under the hood, Dell offers entry-level configurations with Intel's latest Wildcat Lake chips alongside higher-tier Panther Lake options.

Acer's new Swift Spin 14 AI (SFSP14-Q51T) lives up to its name thanks to its convertible design, featuring 360-degree hinges that let it transform from a powerful productivity laptop to a tablet-like device for note-taking, presenting, and other tasks. With a 14-inch WUXGA IPS touch-enabled glass display, it responds to fingertip strokes and is fully compatible with the Acer Active Pen 420, which supports 4,096 pressure levels and tilt detection for artists and creators, and is included as standard.

This premium, versatile, AI-ready laptop is powered by the new Snapdragon X2 Elite or Snapdragon X2 Plus processor, delivering up to 80 TOPS of performance. The device is built for performance and efficiency, with multi-day battery life offering up to 20 hours of pure video playback or 16.5 hours of web browsing. As a Snapdragon X2 Series laptop, it uses the integrated next-gen Adreno GPU, which supports the latest DirectX 12 games with hardware ray-tracing.

Configurations of the new Swift Spin 14 AI will be available with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory and up to 512GB of internal SSD storage. It's also portable, measuring 15.9-16.5 mm thin, in a lightweight 1.34 kg build. It's also built to last, with a stylish cobalt-blue aluminum chassis that's MIL-STD-810H-certified. Basically, it's military-grade. And port-wise, it's stacked with dual USB Type-C, dual USB Type-A, and HDMI 2.1.

Apple's MacBook Neo changed what people expect from a budget laptop, and the PC industry is now responding. Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon C, a new processor platform designed specifically for entry-level Windows laptops, with a $300 starting price, and Acer, HP, and Lenovo already signed on as launch partners.

The C in Snapdragon C stands for Compute, and Qualcomm is positioning it as a platform that brings genuine everyday performance to the bottom of the market. The company promises all-day battery life, cool, quiet operation, and responsive performance for typical workloads such as web browsing, video streaming, video calls, and productivity tasks. While the Snapdragon X2 and X2 Elite cater to high-end needs, the Snapdragon C is built for everyday performance.

Qualcomm is staying tight-lipped on specs for now, but has confirmed that Snapdragon C chips will include a dedicated NPU for on-device AI, something largely absent from entry-level laptops until now. That said, the platform will not meet Microsoft's Copilot Plus PC requirements, so the full suite of AI tools won't be available. Clock speeds, core counts, memory configurations, and the NPU's TOPS rating have not yet been shared.

There are plenty of signals pointing toward NVIDIA's rumored N1X chip. The latest comes from Lenovo, whose internal ADFS authentication system has been spotted referencing an "NVIDIA N1x Portal," confirming the OEM is actively working on N1X-powered laptops ahead of Computex 2026.

The discovery, spotted by VideoCardz, shows two entries in Lenovo's public sign-in system: "NVIDIA N1x Portal PROD" and "NVIDIA N1x Portal Test." These labels suggest production and test environments for an internal Lenovo portal, confirming that N1X hardware is moving through Lenovo's internal systems. No product specs, model names, or launch dates were revealed.

Interestingly, this isn't the first time N1X has broken cover. Earlier support page leaks listed several unreleased Lenovo systems with N1 and N1X labels, including the Legion 7 15N1X11, suggesting a Legion 7 gaming laptop built around the N1X chip. Yoga Pro 7, IdeaPad Slim 5, and Yoga 9 2-in-1 models were also listed, suggesting Lenovo is preparing a wide range of N1X-powered devices across different categories. We also recently covered a laptop motherboard with an N1 chip and 128GB of memory that appeared on Goofish.

HP has started listing configurations for its new HyperX Omen 15 gaming laptop, giving us a clearer picture of what to expect when it starts shipping. First announced at CES 2026 in Las Vegas over four months ago, the Omen 15 is a smaller alternative to the Omen 16 and appears to be exclusive to North America for now.

The Intel version of the Omen 15 is now listed with up to the Core Ultra 9 386H, with another configuration using the Core Ultra 7 356H. Both chips belong to Intel's Core Ultra Series 3, known as Panther Lake, and share the same 16-core layout with 4 Performance cores, 8 Efficient cores, and 4 Low Power Efficient cores. The Core Ultra 9 386H boosts up to 4.9GHz while the Core Ultra 7 356H reaches 4.7GHz. Both carry 18 MB of Smart Cache, 25W base power, and up to 80W maximum turbo power.

It is worth noting that the standard 386H and 356H use only 4 Xe3 cores for integrated graphics, unlike the Core Ultra X models, which feature stronger Arc B390 graphics with 12 Xe3 cores. However, the H SKUs are better suited for gaming laptops with discrete GPUs due to their higher PCIe bandwidth, which is exactly how HP is positioning the Omen 15.

Laptops with Intel's Core 300 "Wildcat Lake" CPUs have started rolling out. We have already covered the CHUWI UniBook and Honor MagicBook X14, which have launched at $449 and $849, respectively, giving users two different Wildcat Lake options at different price points. Intel and its partners need to keep the value proposition of these laptops quite high if they are to compete with Apple's $599 MacBook Neo.

This is where "Project Firefly" comes in. According to the Golden Pig Upgrade Pack, a report corroborated by Videocardz, Intel has unveiled Project Firefly in China, an initiative to provide more affordable laptops powered by the Core 300 Wildcat Lake processors. Intel's VP and GM of Client Products in China announced this program as a way to standardize the interfaces of these laptops so they can be reused widely.

Project Firefly aims to optimize the supply chain by borrowing from China's mobile phone market. Apparently, Intel is looking to integrate some standardized phone-derived components, such as adapter boards, into these affordable Wildcat Lake laptops. This project will also allow Intel to work with all partners in the supply chain to reduce costs and increase efficiency by implementing a unified interface.

The PC hardware market is in an unprecedented state, with memory and storage prices increasing dramatically, and the biggest players all focused on serving the data center market and the AI boom. However, even in this climate, Dell has announced a new, affordable Alienware gaming laptop, the Alienware 15 for 2026.

Alienware is Dell's premium PC gaming brand, so seeing a more affordable entry is both surprising and welcome. Starting at $1,299 USD, the new Alienware 15 certainly hits the right sweet spot, price-wise, especially for a laptop with a 15.3-inch 16:10 WUXGA (1920x1200) panel that sports a 165Hz refresh rate and is built for gaming. And best of all, it has gone through the same rigorous testing as the flagship Area-51 for durability and long-term reliability.

However, as we're talking about an affordable gaming laptop in 2026, the entry-level $1,299 configuration features 16GB of DDR5 memory, the 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 220 processor, and the GeForce RTX 4050 laptop graphics card. For those wanting an Intel processor or the more powerful GeForce RTX 5060 laptop GPU, the price increases pretty dramatically. That said, no matter the choice, owners will have access to NVIDIA DLSS to boost performance.

Intel's new Core 300 "Wildcat Lake" platform has been making waves since its official launch, and laptops powered by the new chips are already starting to appear. Several OEMs, including Honor, ASUS, and HP, have launched Wildcat Lake models in China. The cheapest of the bunch is the CHUWI UniBook, which is priced at an estimated $449 US.

The UniBook is powered by the Intel Core 3 304, which is the entry-level chip in the Wildcat Lake lineup. Keep in mind that this is a 5-core, 5-thread CPU with 1 "Cougar Cove" P-core and 4 "Darkmont" LPE-cores, boosting up to 4.3 GHz. Importantly, the Core 3 304 is built on Intel's cutting-edge 18A process node, the same node used for the higher-end "Panther Lake" chips. The chip is not meant for heavy workloads, but it should have no trouble handling everyday tasks like web browsing, office applications, and video calls.

For the rest of the spec sheet, the UniBook sports a 14-inch IPS display with a 1920x1200 resolution and 100% sRGB coverage, paired with 8GB of LPDDR5X memory and a 256GB PCIe 3.0 SSD. Connectivity is a notable strong suit, with two full-function USB-C ports, three USB-A ports, HDMI 2.0, Gigabit Ethernet, and a TF card slot, all running Windows 11 Pro. CHUWI also claims up to 20 hours of battery life from the 53Wh cell inside.

Intel's Wildcat Lake is finally making its retail debut, with the first wave of laptops hitting shelves in China tomorrow. Honor is among the first out of the gate with its MagicBook X14 2026. Though the company is keeping the official price sticker under wraps, the storefront's installment calculator suggests a sharp ~$650 entry point for the mainstream 16GB/512GB model.

Honor's MagicBook X14 is part of its thin-and-light, affordable Windows laptop series. For now, listings remain exclusive to Honor's Chinese storefront, with sales expected to go live tomorrow, May 18th. A larger variant, the MagicBook X16, should follow in short order as well, being among the teased models at the Wildcat Lake launch.

As it stands, we've seen only one global listing for Wildcat Lake: HP's Omnibook 5 at an eye-watering $1,229. In any case, Intel has a sizeable list of partners with an international presence, including Lenovo, MSI, Acer, ASUS, and Dell. It is projected that Google's forthcoming Googlebooks may also be powered by these chips.

Google recently announced Googlebook, a series of laptops designed around the Gemini AI model. This new laptop series is supposed to fall somewhere between a Chromebook and a traditional Windows laptop. Information surrounding the Googlebook is pretty vague right now, except for a few nifty features such as the Magic Pointer, Widget Creator, and general Gemini integration.

However, now it seems like we are getting more clarity about the hardware side of Googlebook. Intel has announced that it is the official CPU partner for Googlebook, providing processors for the upcoming series of laptops from various manufacturers. The company took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce that it is prepping "premium, powerful devices designed for intelligence." Google has previously confirmed that Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo are the official launch partners for this laptop series.

Intel has not yet confirmed which CPU lineup will power Googlebooks, but the most optimal candidate has to be the Core 300 "Wildcat Lake" processors. These processors are a perfect match for these laptops since they are built on Intel's 18A process node, and offer 2 "Cougar Cove" P-cores and 4 "Darkmont" LPE cores, with no traditional E-cores. The models come with a 15W TDP and a maximum power package of 35W, and include an NPU 5 with 40 TOPs, as well as an Xe display and media engine.

ASUS first introduced the Zenbook Duo 2026 at CES in January, and the company has now opened pre-orders for the Zenbook DUO UX8407 model. The Zenbook Duo is the company's dual-screen laptop based on Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors.

The standout feature here is the displays. Plural. The laptop comes with two 14-inch OLED touchscreen panels at 2880x1800 resolution, 144Hz refresh rate, 500-nit SDR brightness, and 1000-nit HDR peak brightness. The upper screen sits in the top section, while the lower screen replaces the typical keyboard location. ASUS says the new hideaway hinge reduces the gap between both panels by 70%, while the chassis is 5% smaller than the previous model.

The keyboard is detachable and can be placed on top of the bottom screen for a more traditional laptop experience. ASUS lists two configurations. The UX8407 with Intel Core Ultra 9 386H and Intel Graphics is available for pre-order now at $2,499. A $2,699 version with the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and Intel Arc Graphics is also listed, with availability expected in late Q2 2026.

OneXPlayer has released its Panther Lake-powered Super V 14-inch 2-in-1 gaming tablet that was initially unveiled at CES 2026. YouTuber ETA Prime benchmarked the tablet in several games and found performance to be excellent, achieving well over 60 FPS at the tablet's native 2880x1800 resolution in AAA games.

The Super V comes in just one configuration for now, featuring a Core Ultra X7 358H with four P-cores, eight E-cores, four LPE-cores, and a turbo boost frequency of up to 4.8GHz. The integrated Arc B390 is based on Intel's Xe3 architectures and comes with 12 EUs clocked up to 2.5GHz. Memory and storage are comprised of 48GB of LPDDR5X operating at 8533MT/s, a single internal M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 1TB SSD, and an external Mini SSD slot. The Super V is the first OneXPlayer device to pack an external Mini SSD slot. The shell of the device is made out of CNC aluminum with a thickness of 13mm. The display features a 14-inch AMOLED screen that covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, with a 120Hz variable refresh rate and a resolution of 2880x1800.

ETA Prime tested the tablet in Geekbench, Cinebench R24, Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption 2, Forza Horizon 5, Black Myth: Wukong, Spider-Man 2, and an unnamed indie game. Geekbench saw the Ultra X7 358H in the SuperV achieve 2,743 points in the single-core benchmark, and 16,596 points in the multi-core benchmark. Cinebench 2024 achieved 121 points single-core and 1225 points multi-core. For most of the gaming tests, the tablet was benchmarked at its maximum 60-watt TDP.

If you were planning to get your hands on the Framework 13 Pro, you'll have to sit tight until August. With the device up for pre-order, Framework has already burned through its early stock. As demand outpaces supply, Framework is already down to Batch 8, with more users choosing Ubuntu over Windows, per the company. This certainly shows that its "MacBook Pro for Linux users" appeal is quite real.

In a tweet on X (spotted by PC Gamer), Framework highlighted how the 13 Pro is flying off shelves. While the company had slated initial batches for June-July, it has pushed the latest batch back to August. In addition, buyers are choosing pre-built configurations with Ubuntu over Windows. As the Framework 13 Pro is Ubuntu Certified, buyers can select Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or Windows 11 Pro right out of the box, and it seems the Linux crowd is leading the charge.

Framework hasn't specified whether these numbers include the DIY Edition or just the pre-built models. On the DIY side, users typically bring their own storage and OS to save money, so most users rarely purchase a Windows key. Even when looking at DIY (Windows/No OS) and pre-built (Windows/Ubuntu) models together, Framework's claim that Ubuntu is leading the charge seems like a safe bet.

Framework has announced several new upgrades for the Framework laptop 16, including a new CPU option and a more advanced touchpad module. But the biggest upgrade is the introduction of an OCuLink Dev Kit coming later this year that introduces compatibility with PCIe devices, including eGPU docks and PCIe cards.

The kit comes in three parts. The first is an OCuLink Adapter Board that sits inside the Laptop 16's expansion bay shell and routes an OCuLink connector to the back of the laptop, rated at up to 128Gbps through an x8 interface. The Graphics Module OCuLink Dock is the second module, aimed at providing OCuLink connectivity to the Framework Laptop 16's graphics module externally. Basically, this component allows users to use the graphics module as an external GPU. The third component is the PCIe OCuLink Dock that enables users to plug PCIe cards into the laptop, including network cards and video capture cards. Framework claims the PCIe OCuLink Dock provides desktop-like PCIe performance with very little overhead.

Framework designed its OCuLink Dev Kit as a full package, featuring the three aforementioned components and reference 3D-printable designs, so users can build whatever they need around the PCIe devices they will be using with the laptop. As an example, Framework showed an image of a Framework Laptop 16 hooked up to its graphics module externally, mounted to a 3D printed chassis with an SFX power supply mounted at the bottom.

Unveiled at Framework's Next Gen event, the Framework 13 Pro represents the first ground-up redesign of the modular chassis since its 2021 debut. The new flagship features a rigid CNC-milled aluminum body, a custom 120Hz VRR touchscreen, and a haptic trackpad. Powered by Intel's Panther Lake and a sizeable 74 Wh battery, this is a clear shot across the bow of the MacBook Pro, starting at $1,199 for the DIY version.

The new chassis provides a unibody-like feel, similar to Apple's MacBook, and is built from 75% pre-consumer recycled 6063 aluminum. It includes a haptic trackpad, fingerprint reader, and keyboard with 1.5mm travel and a white backlight. The all-metal input cover replaces the previous metal-and-plastic construction for a better typing experience.

Framework has introduced a new Graphite finish, with Silver staying. Standalone chassis swaps start at $179. The 13.5-inch 2.8K (2880x1920) LTPS display keeps the 3:2 aspect ratio but adds 30-120Hz VRR and in-cell touch. With 700 nits peak brightness, 1800:1 contrast, 100% sRGB, and starting at $299, this is Framework's first custom panel.

Apple's $599 MacBook Neo ($499 for students) has sent shockwaves through the budget laptop segment, and Microsoft is the first to respond. The company has announced a new "Microsoft College Offer," a bundle that gives students Microsoft 365 Premium, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a custom Xbox controller, and a discounted laptop, potentially aimed at swaying students away from Apple's highlight.

As announced in a blog post and spotted by The Verge, students can choose a qualifying Windows PC from top makers including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, and Lenovo. Surface devices, including the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, are also getting discounted, despite Microsoft recently hiking prices on those same models. The bundle includes the following for US students with an eligible PC purchase:

The laptop deals include a 15.3-inch Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x for $499 at Best Buy, about $250 off its usual $750 price, and a 16-inch HP OmniBook 3 for $429 at Walmart, a $270 discount off its usual $699 price. Other retailers have similar deals.

MSI has unveiled its redesigned flagship 16-inch gaming laptop series, with the new MSI Raider 16 Max and Raider 16 laptops featuring up to 300W of "combined CPU and GPU power." These laptops feature the latest Intel Core Ultra 200HX Plus processors paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 Series laptop GPUs, with the top configuration pairing the Core Ultra 290HX Plus CPU with the GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU.

MSI notes that these redesigned Raider 16 Max and Raider 16 gaming laptops are some of the most powerful on the planet, with the extreme performance on offer due to the 'Cooler Boost Trinity' and 'Intra Flow' thermal system. This includes up to three fans, six heat pipes, and a five-exhaust vent system that MSI says is an industry-exclusive feature.

Of course, when it comes to powerful gaming laptops, one major concern is overall noise. For anyone who has used a powerful gaming laptop in the past decade or so, comparing the sound to a "jet engine" is not uncommon; however, with the new MSI Raider laptops, the company confirms that overall fan and cooling noise remains below 50 dBA during heavy gaming workloads.

A new study from the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund, examining the repairability of 2026 laptops and smartphones, provides insight into the repairability of modern hardware. The study uses the French index to calculate results, which measures the availability of repair documentation and spare parts, the affordability of parts, tool requirements, software updates, and more.

And with that, the Failing the Fix (2026) report assigns a letter grade to companies based on the repairability of their devices. The two companies that scored the lowest are Apple, which got a C-, and then Lenovo, which scored a C. The good news for Lenovo is that this is an improvement over last year's F grade, indicating that the company's ThinkPad, Yoga, and Legion laptop lines have seen notable gains in repairability.

This gives Apple the lowest score among the top eight brands, with ASUS scoring the highest at B+, followed by Acer at B. One of the main reasons Apple now scores the lowest for its MacBook range is a low disassembly score, which makes it hard for consumers to access hardware components directly.