Qualcomm has steadily iterated on its Arm SoC efforts in the Windows space and made further gains with the launch of the Snapdragon X platform.

Now we’re seeing a wave of new systems using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 series of Arm processors, and the HP OmniBook Ultra is the latest to take a bow. Our review unit is powered by a new flagship Snapdragon X2 Elite (X2E-90-100) SoC, paired with a generous 64GB of memory and a capacious 2TB SSD, and features an all-new chassis design.

The OmniBook Ultra proved to be a top contender in performance benchmarks and is a great all-around system, but about that price…

Design of the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

Our OmniBook Ultra 14 review unit arrived with an entirely new design language compared to the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375-equipped system that I tested in 2024. This year’s design features a more angular look and is finished in a color that HP calls “Stone Blue.” The edges of the forged aluminum-alloy chassis are highly polished to a mirror-like finish. It has a decidedly more upscale appearance compared to its predecessor, although the overall quality feels the same (which is to say, excellent).

Upon opening the OmniBook Ultra, you’ll notice “OmniBook Ultra” printed vertically along the forward right palm rest of the keyboard deck. “OmniBook” is printed on the chassis, while the Ultra is actually engraved with the same polished finish as the chassis edges. A massive 5.4 x 3.4-inch trackpad sits at the center of the deck, while the keyboard is directly above, with the keys finished in dark “stone blue” plastic. One thing of note: the fingerprint reader integrated into the power button on the 2024 model is missing this time around.

The 14-inch display has tiny bezels on the left and right, and thicker ones along the top and bottom. The bottom bezel also features “HP” branding in the middle. The display is covered with a glossy glass, which does wonders for improving image vibrancy but tends to increase reflections.

I complained about the fussy USB-A port on the previous-generation OmniBook Ultra, which was partially covered by a spring-loaded door. This time, HP just ditched the USB-A port entirely and replaced it with another USB-C port. As a result, the new OmniBook Ultra has a single USB-C port and a 3.5 mm jack on its left side, and two USB-C ports on its right side. None of the ports support Thunderbolt, although they do feature USB Power Delivery 3.1, DisplayPort 1.4, and a 40 Gbps signaling rate.

The OmniBook Ultra measures 12.25 x 8.49 x 0.42 inches and weighs 2.81 pounds. The Asus Zenbook A16 is just a hair heavier at 2.87 pounds, while the 13-inch MacBook Air is a smidge lighter (2.7 pounds). The previous generation OmniBook Ultra tips the scales at 3.4 pounds.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14 Specifications

Productivity Performance on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

The OmniBook Ultra is among the first laptops we’ve tested to use the new Snapdragon X2 Elite SoC (up to 5.0 GHz clock speed, 18 cores), with the first being the Asus Zenbook A16. As we learned in our review of the ZenBook A16, the Snapdragon X2 Elite is a strong performer, and it’s made even more potent by the inclusion of 64GB of LPDDR5x-9523 in our review unit, paired with a 2TB PCIe 5.0 SSD.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite also includes an integrated Hexagon NPU, which delivers up to 85 TOPS of compute performance.

The OmniBook Ultra made a strong showing in the Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark, securing a single-core score of 3,942, putting it in second behind the MacBook Air with its M5 SoC (4,168). The ZenBook A16 wasn’t far behind with 3,807. Looking at multi-core performance, the ZenBook A16 jumped up in the lead with 22,733 compared to 20,075 for the new OmniBook Ultra. The new OmniBook Ultra was also well ahead of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 model (2,846 single-core, 14,838 multi-core).

HP has opted for a PCIe 5.0 SSD on the OmniBook Ultra, and our review unit came in at a healthy 2TB of capacity. The laptop dominated our 25GB file transfer test, delivering 2,620.91 MBps compared to 1,924.84 MBps for the second-place MacBook Air.

The Snapdragon X2 Elite in the OmniBook Ultra again flexed its muscle in our Handbrake test, which involves transcoding a 4K video file to 1080p. Here, the OmniBook Ultra completed the task in 2 minutes and 11 seconds, putting it just three seconds behind the ZenBook A16. Both the AMD-equipped UltraBook Ultra and the MacBook Air took well over 4 minutes to complete transcoding.

We run Cinebench 2024 through ten loops to stress-test ultrabooks. The first run delivered the highest score at 1,099. The subsequent runs fell short of that high mark, settling between 920 and 950 towards the end of the test. The 12 Prime cores averaged 4.03 GHz, while the 6 Performance cores averaged 3.05 GHz.

Display on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

HP is using a 14-inch 2880 x 1800 display on the OmniBook Ultra, and it, like many in this segment, is an OLED panel. The panel has a 120 Hz refresh rate and a glossy finish. However, with the brightness cranked to the max, stray reflections were hardly noticeable.

I used the OmniBook Ultra to watch about half an hour of Marvel’s Thunderbolts on Disney Plus, and spent a good chunk of time watching the San Antonio Spurs blow the biggest lead in an NBA championship series via Sling TV. In both instances, the display looked great with accurate colors and excellent contrast.

In our testing, the OmniBook Ultra covered 87% of DCI-P3 and 122%of sRGB, placing it at the top of the rankings among the assembled laptops. Maximum brightness measured crested 400 nits, specifically hitting 414 nits. While impressive for an OLED display, the ZenBook A16 (429.4 nits) and MacBook Air (458.8 nits) were brighter still.

The display on the OmniBook Ultra is multi-touch-capable, and I had no trouble navigating the Windows interface or using swiping gestures. However, reaching out to touch the screen isn't a natural movement for me, and it isn’t very ergonomic. I was perfectly fine using the humongous trackpad.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

The OmniBook's keyboard is full-size and backlit, and the lattice-free keys themselves felt good under my fingers. There’s no clickiness to the keys, and you’ll hear a gentle, low “thud” as you type along. There’s plenty of key travel, and I was comfortable typing on the keyboard for an extended period of time. My only complaint concerns the half-height up and down arrows squeezed between the full-size left and right arrows.

Using my trusty keyhero.com typing benchmark tool, I managed 87 words per minute with 97 percent accuracy. This was roughly equivalent to what I scored with the keyboard on the previous-generation model.

Complementing the keyboard is a haptic touchpad measuring a large 5.4 x 3.4 inches. It’s a haptic touchpad that provides a satisfying “click” no matter where you press on its surface. While some top-hinged touchpads require additional force to register a click as you move towards the top of the mousing surface, there are no such limitations on the OmniBook Ultra.

Audio on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

The OmniBook Ultra 14 features quad downward-firing speakers on the underside near the front of the chassis. The speakers sounded excellent, with little to no distortion at higher volume levels (80% and higher), and were loud enough to fill my home office.

I played a wide variety of music, ranging from Steve Wonder’s keyboard-heavy and soft vocals on Superwoman from 1972 to the ear-splitting screaming and electric guitars of Linkin Park’s Lying from You, from the band's early 2000’s sophomore album.

Interestingly, no sound utilities are installed by default to tune the speakers further.

Upgradeability of the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

Hopping inside the OmniBook Ultra is incredibly easy – there are only four screws to remove from the bottom panel, which is at least half as many as you’ll typically find on a thin laptop.

Once the bottom panel is removed, there’s not much that’s replaceable. The battery is at least easily accessible, with four screws securing it and one cable connecting it to the motherboard. You also have access to the PCIe 5.0 SSD, which sits beneath a heat shield. That’s about it when it comes to upgrades for the OmniBook Ultra.

Battery Life on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

Our OmniBook Ultra 14 review unit came powered by a 70 WHr battery, which is topped off using a 65-watt GaN USB-C charger. Our battery life test includes web browsing, video streaming, and WebGL tests, with the display set to 150 nits.

We were able to extract 13 hours and 27 minutes out of the OmniBook Ultra, exceeding the runtime of the ZenBook A16 with the same Snapdragon X2 Elite chip by 3 hours. It also outlasted its predecessor by over half an hour. The only laptop that stood in its way was the MacBook Air, which lasted an impressive 15 hours and 28 minutes.

Heat on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

Heat output on the OmniBook Ultra was measured while running our Cinebench 2024 stress test. The keyboard measured around 95 degrees Fahrenheit between the G and H keys, while the hottest part of the laptop was the bottom rear near the exhaust vents, at 118 F.

The touchpad stayed cool to the touch at 77 degrees, the ambient temperature in the room at the time.

While we usually mention CPU temperatures in this section, HWInfo, in its current iteration, does not provide the specific values we need for reporting.

Webcam on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

HP has included a 5MP webcam on the OmniBook Ultra, which has IR capabilities to support Windows Hello biometric authentication. Like the previous generation, the image quality was decent, but not segment-leading.

My face and shirt looked slightly blurry, and my skin tones were "off." This performance would be passable for a laptop costing in the $1,000 to $1,500 range. But for a laptop with an MSRP of nearly $2,900, it's a tough pill to swallow. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition I recently tested, with an MSRP of $1,700, had a far better onboard webcam.

Software and Warranty on the HP OmniBook Ultra 14

HP loads plenty of its own utilities on the OmniBook Ultra, which seems a bit excessive. There’s an HP app that provides limited system information and access to HP’s online store to purchase accessories. There’s also HP Documentation, HP Energy Star (lets you purchase Energy Star-compliant appliances… why?), HP Privacy Settings, HP System Event Utility, and HP TV+. Finally, there’s Find My HP by Absolute, which allows you to track/locate, remote lock, and remote wipe your laptop.

And of course, there’s also the usual Windows bloat in the form of app links to Booking.com, Dropbox, and various other services. And we can’t forget McAfee, which is always an instant delete when I set up a new PC for friends and family.

The OmniBook Ultra comes with a 1-year manufacturer's warranty.

HP OmniBook Ultra 14 Configurations

There are several prebuilt versions of the OmniBook Ultra with Snapdragon X2 Series chips, the cheapest starting at $1,249.99. It features a Snapdragon X2 Plus processor, a 512GB PCIe 5.0 SSD, 16GB of RAM, and a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 OLED display.

The next prebuilt system comes with a Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 2880 x 1800, 120 Hz OLED display for $2,399. For an extra $300, you get the same specs with a 2TB SSD.

Finally, our review configuration can only be obtained through the “Customize and Buy” option, which gives you a wide pricing range to play with. It has the Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, 64GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a 2880 x 1800 OLED display, priced at $2,879.99.

Bottom Line

HP has built a solid foundation with the OmniBook Ultra and the Snapdragon X2 Elite SoC. Our review unit came fully loaded, with 64GB of memory and a capacious 2TB SSD. The ultrabook excelled in our productivity benchmarks, including a stellar run on our storage test. In addition, its battery endurance was only topped by the 13-inch MacBook Air. The laptop also has a beautiful 120 Hz 3K OLED panel and comes standard with a Wi-Fi 7 radio.

On the other hand, the biggest knock against our particular unit is the price: nearly $2,900 is a tough pill to swallow for an ultrabook, primarily due to its lofty memory and storage configurations. However, if you go light on options, you can dramatically lower that price. If you go light on the options, you can opt for a Snapdragon X2 Elite chip, 32GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and a 3K OLED display for $1,719.99, or add a 1TB SSD for an additional $120.

At that price, the OmniBook Ultra makes a lot more sense and would help us overlook the lack of Thunderbolt ports and the so-so webcam.

Gaming laptops are harder and harder to find at good prices thanks to the ongoing AI component crisis, but this HP Omen Max discount in honor of July 4 is pretty excellent. Right now at HP, you can save $1,300 on this Omen Max 16-inch beast with an RTX 5080, Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

● Check out this HP laptop deal

The headline spec on this laptop is the RTX 5080 GPU. Even though it's only the mobile version, it still packs 16GB of VRAM and 7,680 CUDA cores, which should make light work of pretty much every title at the 2560 x 1600 resolution you'll be playing.

While we haven't reviewed this exact spec, the Omen Max 16 with RTX 5090 scored well in our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review. It is a little on the heavy side, but the aluminum enclosure gives it a premium look and feel. As you can see from our Geekbench testing, productivity performance beats out rivals with the same CPU in both single- and multi-core testing. That CPU is Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX, a capable 24-core processor with 8 performance cores and boost clocks of up to 5.4GHz.

The display here is IPS rather than OLED, but you'll still get up to 240Hz refresh rates and 500 nits of brightness.

Other noteworthy features include 32GB of RAM, which is becoming increasingly rare in this economy due to the impact of AI on PC components. The 1TB SSD is Gen 4, so it should be plenty quick enough for gaming and workloads. You also get speedy Ethernet and Wi-Fi 7, as well as two USB-A ports, HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

For your troubles, you'll also get a copy of the new LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, a nice addition to any Steam library. As mentioned, this 34% discount is part of HP's July 4th sale, so there's no guarantee as to how long this deal will last. If you're interested, act sooner rather than later.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

With no new GPUs or major mobile CPU platform launches surrounding the show, the laptop announcements at Computex this year fell into two disparate categories, appealing to users with very different budgets. There were devices trying to compete with the MacBook Neo, like Dell’s attractive XPS 13 ($599 to start, with a limited-time student discount) and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon C platform, which promises laptops as low as $300 (we saw it in person in the as-yet-unpriced Acer Aspire Go 15). Both of those, like Apple’s competing Neo, will start with just 8GB of RAM (actually, Acer says “up to 8GB”), thanks to the ongoing AI-driven memory crisis.

On the opposite end of the Computex laptop spectrum, there was, of course, Nvidia’s long-anticipated Windows-on-Arm announcement: RTX Spark Superchip for laptops (formerly N1X), which pairs a 20-core Arm CPU with 6,144 CUDA cores. And since Nvidia and its partners (both laptop makers and Microsoft) are pitching RTX Spark as the agentic computing platform of the future, Spark laptops get all the RAM that portable, local AI PCs could ask for – up to 128GB of LPDDR5X.

The specs sound impressive, but let’s just say I am curious to see how Microsoft and Nvidia’s partnership will implement local agents into Windows 11 in the coming months, and how much useful and intuitive functionality will exist specifically for RTX Spark laptops by the time they actually launch. It’s not like Microsoft has the best track record when it comes to Copilot features, both in Windows and elsewhere. At Build, Microsoft focused on running OpenClaw in Windows with execution containers that create boundaries, such as certain files or programs.

And while we don’t yet know pricing for the RTX Spark laptops, with similarly configured DGX Spark desktops selling for close to $5,000, it’s a safe bet that high-end RTX Spark laptops are going to be well out of the price range of most consumers – although lesser versions based on N1 silicon (and with far less RAM) may slip below the $2,000 mark. While gaming performance on top-end Spark laptops is expected to be roughly similar to an RTX 5070, I suspect pricing will make the platform a tough sell for those primarily interested in gaming, just as it is for AMD’s Strix Halo – and AMD’s x86 silicon doesn’t have the gaming complications that Spark’s Arm CPU will have to navigate.

So it feels like AI developers (and I suppose well-heeled AI tinkerers) will be the primary early adopters of RTX Spark laptops when they begin shipping (this fall, according to Nvidia). By then, we’ll also likely know more about both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon C SoC and Dell’s Intel Wildcat Lake-powered XPS 13 (including how much it will cost to configure it above the baseline 8GB of RAM or with a Panther Lake processor). But as limiting and backward-looking as an 8GB laptop may be in 2026, so far I find these more traditional, more affordable laptops more interesting than RTX Spark – in part because while I don’t know exactly how they will perform, I do know generally what I will and won’t be able to do with them when they arrive.

And given how expensive seemingly everything is these days, it’s nice to see a few companies focused on making things look and feel nice while remaining relatively affordable. It may have taken a big push from Apple and its MacBook Neo. But if Windows wants to remain relevant as a platform, it needs both forward-looking options like RTX Spark and affordable options that still look and feel great, like Dell’s XPS 13. I just wish the latter could happen with more RAM than the laptop I bought in early 2019.

Microsoft is further shrinking its Surface lineup of flagship Windows devices. According to a report from Windows Central, citing "sources that are familiar with Microsoft's hardware roadmap," the company is no longer manufacturing its budget-focused Surface Go 4 and Surface Laptop Go 3, and doesn't plan to follow them up with new devices.

Over the last few years, Microsoft has discontinued many of its most interesting designs, including the powerhouse Surface Laptop Studio, the Surface Studio desktop, Surface Headphones and Earbuds, the Surface Book, and the Surface Duo smartphone. The entire line has been simplified down to the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, with the Surface Laptop Ultra coming later this year with Nvidia's RTX Spark. (Microsoft's RTX Spark Dev Box is also Surface-branded, but isn't consumer-facing).

But the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop each come in more sizes than ever. The Surface Pro comes in 12- and 13-inch sizes. That 12-incher, starting at $849 with Snapdragon X Plus, could arguably be a replacement for the Surface Go, except that it's far more expensive than the Surface Go 4 was priced at $579. On the Laptop side, there are 13-, 13.8-, and 15-inch systems, with the smallest using the same chip at $949.99 that could be considered the entry-level option.

It's possible that you may find these systems in stock at some retailers, but they're hard to find. The Surface Go 4's last iteration was only ever part of Microsoft's Surface for Business line and was seemingly popular with commercial customers that needed a device for fieldwork.

Microsoft didn't immediately return Tom's Hardware's request for comment. A representative pointed Windows Central to Microsoft's Surface website, which doesn't list either the Surface Go or Surface Laptop Go, but just a simplified lineup of the Surface Laptop, Surface Pro, and upcoming Surface Laptop Ultra and the Dev Box.

Windows Central's sources suggested that the decision to end these device lines was made prior to memory price hikes due to component shortages. Either way, with just two main device lines, Surface, which used to be a playground for form factors under former head Panos Panay, has been extremely simplified and far less experimental —if you could call it that at all.

With ongoing inflation in PC component prices, investing in a gaming laptop can be a wise choice to avoid the rising cost of building a desktop PC from scratch. Additionally, it is portable, allowing you to game, work, or study anywhere without sacrificing much on performance. A standout laptop deal we've spotted is the Gigabyte Aero X16, now available for its lowest-ever price of $1,099.99 at Best Buy. The laptop is originally priced at $1,399.99, so you save $300.

• Check out this deal on Best Buy

The Gigabyte Aero X16 features an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, an 8-core, 16-thread processor that can boost up to 5 GHz, paired with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD for storage. One can upgrade the RAM up to 64GB, and there is a secondary M.2 slot to add more storage. For graphics, the laptop comes with an Nvidia RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM. The laptop sports a 16-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels, offering 100% sRGB color gamut coverage and up to 400 nits of brightness. It also supports refresh rates of up to 165 Hz and a 3 ms response time for a fast, responsive visual experience.

The laptop also comes with a single-zone RGB-backlit keyboard, a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello support, and built-in Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. I/O options include two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports, a USB 4.0 Type-C port, a USB 2.0 Type-A port, a 3.5mm headphone and mic combo jack, and an Ethernet port. There’s also built-in Wi-Fi 6E along with Bluetooth 5.2. The battery has a capacity of 76 Wh, and the charging brick is rated at 150W.

Overall, the Gigabyte Aero X16 is a well-rounded gaming laptop that balances performance, modern features, and upgrade potential, making it a compelling choice at its current discounted price of $1,099.99. Do note that the deal is only valid until June 29, so you'd better hurry before stocks run out.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

Given the spikes in RAM and storage prices, finding the best deals on systems can be somewhat challenging. Luckily, there are still deals to be found for those looking for a value-priced gaming laptop, and the best ones aren’t always from Amazon. Best Buy is currently running a promotion on the Gigabyte Aero X16, with the price dropping from its MSRP of $1,399.99 to $1,099.99.

So what exactly do you get for your just under $1,100 outlay? Well, the Aero X16 is powered by a Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, which is based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. It has four Zen 5 cores and four Zen 5c cores, with a max boost of 5 GHz (3.5 GHz for the Zen 5c cores). Although it’s common to see 16GB of DDR5 memory in budget laptops, the Aero X16 doubles that figure to 32GB. On the storage front, you’ll find a 1TB SSD. I should note that the laptop supports up to 64GB of memory and up to a 4TB SSD – that is, if you’re made of money when it comes to future upgrades.

Gaming is likely front and center on your mind, and the Aero X6 makes use of a GeForce RTX 5060 discrete GPU. This is towards the lower end of Nvidia’s mobile GeForce GPU lineup, but you can expect pretty good frame rates at 1080p or the laptop’s native resolution, which is 2560 x 1600. Speaking of the display, it’s a 16-inch IPS panel with a 165 Hz refresh rate, 3 ms response time, and 100% sRGB color space coverage. You can also expect 400 nits of brightness in typical situations.

As for physical ports, the laptop features three USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB-C port (USB4), an HDMI 2.1 port, a GbE port, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. For wireless connectivity, there’s Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2. Finally, Aero X16 packs a 76 Whr battery into its 4.19-pound frame, which Gigabyte says can last for up to 12 hours per charge.

This Best Buy promotion is only available for a limited time, so the $1,099 price for the Aero X16 could disappear at any moment.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, gaming chair, or CPU Deals pages.

In an act of defiance, Framework, the modular manufacturer behind laptops and desktops, has actually reduced prices on one of its products. The DIY edition of the Framework Laptop 13 Pro will now come with cheaper PCIe 5.0 SSDs. If you already placed a pre-order with the 500GB drive, it will be upgraded to the new 1TB option automatically, while a new 2TB option is also available in the configurator now.

• Configure your Framework Laptop 13 Pro

In the more comprehensive update posted on its website, Framework outlined that it has switched specifically to Adata's Mars 970 Plus SSDs that cost substantially less than what the company used previously — that model was never revealed publicly. The Mars 970 Plus is a proper Gen5 drive with read speeds up to 11,000 MB/s, and it's powered by the excellent Silicon Motion SM2508 controller that we've praised before.

Despite being cheaper to source, Framework says the Mars 970 Plus offers "better performance, efficiency, and long-term reliability." PCIe 5.0 drives are generally avoided in even high-end laptops today because they can be incredibly thermally demanding and require more power. Therefore, manufacturers simply opt for cutting-edge PCIe 4.0 drives instead, which are also available in a much wider variety of sizes.

A 500GB PCIe 5.0 drive sounds like it should be cheaper than a 1TB option, but because of interleaving, having an SSD with fewer channels actually means the controller isn't fully saturated to perform at its top speed. So, OEMs don't produce 500GB PCIe 5.0 drives at scale; almost every option you'll see on the market starts at 1TB. That's likely why Framework was paying more for that compared to its new 1TB inventory.

Unfortunately, we're in the middle of the component crisis, so we have to take the good with the bad. And the bad news is that Framework thinks another CPU price hike is on the horizon. It's not confirmed just yet, but when a vendor says it's receiving "signals," it's more than likely to come to fruition. The company is suggesting placing pre-orders now since it will have to update the overall prices of the Laptop 13 Pro once changes come into effect.

The Laptop 13 Pro was originally supposed to start shipping this month, but because of the unprecedented situation we're in, it was delayed to July. All orders for this laptop are, therefore, pre-orders, and that's how the company is able to easily upgrade customers from 500GB drives to 1TB on the DIY edition. The prebuilt edition of the laptop still features PCIe 4.0 drives from Western Digital / SanDisk, and storage can't be manually configured for these.

Apple has just announced that it has hiked prices for its line-up of MacBooks and iPads. MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models are expected to see prices rise by up to $400 in some cases, while the budget-friendly MacBook Neo is expected to see its MSRP rise by $100, from $599 to $699.

Luckily, we're in Amazon Prime Day sales week, and discounts are live on Amazon for several Apple MacBooks from 2026 and 2025. Now really might be your last chance to secure a decent deal on a new MacBook before Apple's new pricing structure filters down, as we'll be expecting tech retailers (including Amazon) to raise prices to match Apple's own soon enough.

● Check out these Apple deals at Amazon

These deals won't be around for long, either. With price rises now confirmed, those thinking about purchasing one of these Apple laptops will be rushing to hit the purchase button before paying extra. Stock shortages, especially on the cheapest models, could become a real possibility by the end of this sales week.

If you're interested, here are some of the best MacBook deals on sale right now, because you'll want to jump on them while you can.

Prime Day Deals on Apple MacBooks

MacBook Pro, Air, and Neo models from 2025 and 2026 are all on sale right now at Amazon for Prime Day. Amazon hasn't put all models on sale, however, but here are some of the deals we've spotted so far.

One thing to point out, however, is the MacBook Neo. Apple has just raised its MSRP to $699, meaning that Amazon's $589.99 price is $110 cheaper. This will not last long, so make sure to grab it at this price.

Other MacBook models, including the MacBook Air 2026 with a 512GB SSD, are seeing $200 price rises. The MacBook Pro, meanwhile, is getting a price rise of up to $400. This isn't reflected in these Amazon deal prices yet, which have knocked up to $150 off Apple's original prices, so you're guaranteed an even bigger bargain today if you can get your order in quickly enough.

Apple MacBook Prime Day Deals

More Prime Day Tech Deals

Best Tech and PC deals | Best gaming PC deals | Best RAM combo deals | Best 3D printer deals | Best RAM deals | Best gaming laptop deals | Best monitor deals | Best Wi-Fi Router deals | Best GPU deals | Best SSD deals | Best hard drive HDD deals | Best CPU deals | Best gaming chair deals | Best PC building tool deals | Best PC peripherals deals | Best filament and resin deals | Best motherboard deals | Best CPU cooler deals | Best PC case deals | Best Dell and Alienware deals | Best USB charger deals | Best gaming and productivity laptop deals under $1,000 | Best laptop PC deals

Also, you can join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

Apple has made the unprecedented decision to hike the prices of all its current computers and tablets. iPhone prices remain as they were, for now. Bloomberg indicates that the rather steep price rises have been precipitated by increased costs of memory and storage. One of the most impactful hikes we see is the entry-level MacBook Pro going from $1,699 to $1,999. However, even the recently released but resource-starved MacBook Neo has had another $100 piled onto its price, so now it starts at $699 before tax.

In addition to Gurman’s highlighted price increases, we spotted that the cheapest Mac Studio M4 Max (mini PC desktop) has had its price increased to $2,499 from $1,999. There’s a lot to take in, so check out our at-a-glance before and after table for quick reference.

Bloomberg’s resident Apple expert, Mark Gurman, quoted an apologetic company rep. “We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions,” a spokesperson from Apple told the reporter. Other interesting assertions from that conversation were that Apple had never seen component prices rise so high, so quickly. Moreover, its representative claimed that the firm did all it could to shield customers from any knock-on device price rises, stating the company had "shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products including today’s increases for iPad and Mac."

While newsrooms might be agog at these price rises being implemented today, the writing has been on the wall of the RAMpocalypse for several months. Back in April, Tim Cook publicly forecast that the component shortages and price rises didn’t appear to be going anywhere soon. That statement came in the wake of the withdrawal of the entry-level $599 configuration of the Mac Mini, and Apple softening the blow of higher prices of its latest MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models by upgrading memory and other tech specs.

Until now, it seemed like Apple’s massive buying power and vertical integration had managed to help it hold off computer and tablet price increases. Today, the brakes came off, pretty dramatically.

There are plenty of great deals out there with discounts on Intel, AMD, and Nvidia's latest mobile hardware. We're constantly combing through the best deals across multiple retailers, backing up our deal selections with in-depth reviews, benchmarks, and comprehensive historical pricing analysis. We're checking deals around the clock to find the best options and keep this page up to date, but please note that they often won't last long, so you'll need to act quickly.

There may also be some older laptops, which you should definitely avoid. For instance, anything older than one generation is better off avoided. If you have the cash, spring for a system with a GPU that has at least 8GB of VRAM, as well as 16GB of RAM and at least 512GB of storage.

We also maintain lists of the best gaming laptops, the best gaming laptops under $1,500, and the best gaming laptops under $1,000, should you want to peruse some of our favorites.

Best Gaming Laptop Deals: Quick Links

• Amazon: All Gaming Laptop Deals, up to $1,000 off
• Amazon: Up to 29% off MSI Gaming Laptops

Best Gaming Laptop Deals

More Tech Deals

Best Tech and PC deals | Best gaming PC deals | Best RAM combo deals | Best 3D printer deals | Best RAM deals | Best gaming laptop deals | Best monitor deals | Best Wi-Fi Router deals | Best GPU deals | Best SSD deals | Best hard drive HDD deals | Best CPU deals | Best gaming chair deals | Best PC building tool deals | Best PC peripherals deals | Best filament and resin deals | Best motherboard deals | Best CPU cooler deals | Best PC case deals | Best Dell and Alienware deals | Best USB charger deals | Best gaming and productivity laptop deals under $1,000 | Best laptop PC deals

Also, you can join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

SELLIN' FAST: These deals are still in stock, and the discounts are still live, 24 hours later! We're seeing a lot of interest, so jump on these while you can.

With memory prices at all-time highs, it can be challenging to find stellar deals on gaming systems. Luckily for all of us, Walmart has some deals on MSI gaming laptops, starting at $1,089 for the Cyborg 15. It may be the eve of Amazon Prime Day, but who’s to say that Walmart can’t get in on the deals action?

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The Cyborg 15 is the definite value play wth its $1,089 asking price (a $510 discount). That price gets you an Intel Core 7-240H processor, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB SSD. The Series 2 “Raptor Lake” processor has a maximum turbo frequency of 5.2 GHz and 10 cores in total: 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores. You’ll also find an 8GB GeForce RTX 5070 discrete GPU.

Front and center is a 15.6-inch 1080p IPS display with a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz. Also on deck are a four-zone RGB keyboard, Wi-Fi 6E/Bluetooth 5.3, and a 55.2 WHr battery. Regarding ports, the Cyborg 15 has a healthy balance of USB-A and USB-C ports along with a GbE port (which is becoming rarer these days as manufacturers aim for thinness).

If you need a bit more spring in your gaming step, look no further than the MSI Vector 16, priced at $1,899, or a discount of $800. This system delivers a healthy performance boost over the Cyborg 15, which uses a Core Ultra 9 275HX processor. This “Arrow Lake” chip has 24 cores in total (8 performance, 16 efficiency), a maximum turbo frequency of 5.4 GHz, and 40MB of total L2 cache.

You still get 16GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD, but you also get a big performance boost with a 16GB GeForce RTX 5080 GPU. Not only do you get a higher-resolution, larger 16-inch panel (2560 x 1600) with a 240 Hz refresh rate, but you also get a much larger 80 Wh battery to power the system. As for the keyboard, you get another upgrade courtesy of a 24-zone RGB setup.

Both of these MSI laptops are compelling options for gamers, no matter your budget. Especially with the Vector 16, which offers a lot of bang for the buck at $1,799. After all, that value proposition is made even more abundantly clear, as who would have thought we’d live in the age of $1,800 handheld gaming PCs?

Join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

Best Tech and PC deals | Best gaming PC deals | Best RAM combo deals | Best 3D printer deals | Best RAM deals | Best gaming laptop deals | Best monitor deals | Best Wi-Fi Router deals | Best GPU deals | Best SSD deals | Best hard drive HDD deals | Best CPU deals | Best gaming chair deals | Best PC building tool deals | Best PC peripherals deals | Best filament and resin deals | Best motherboard deals | Best CPU cooler deals | Best PC case deals | Best Dell and Alienware deals | Best USB charger deals | Best gaming and productivity laptop deals under $1,000 | Best laptop PC deals

For years, Apple kept its M1 MacBook Air around as the ultimate budget pick in its laptop lineup. Now, the M3 MacBook Air from 2024 has just hit the same heady discount heights, plunging to $799 at Amazon in the early Prime Day sale in a deal that makes the MacBook Neo look pretty tame by comparison.

• Check out this deal on Amazon

The M3 MacBook Air came out in 2024, so it's a couple of years old now. However, if you want a fantastic portable machine that will give you great battery life, this is not to be sniffed at. For just $200 more, this blows the MacBook Neo out of the water. Its M3 chip has an 8-core GPU and 10-core CPU, and you also get 16GB of RAM and 512GB SSD. That means you get a better CPU and GPU core count, twice the RAM, twice the storage, and higher memory bandwidth versus the Neo. The M3 also offers drastically better battery life and a host of other extra features.

Both the M4 and M5 MacBook Air are on sale for around $950 at Amazon right now. That makes this deal $150 less than those more expensive options. While the M4 and M5 chips are faster than this M3 model, this older version is no slouch.

Our Geekbench testing does reveal a fairly substantial uplift on the M4 model, which scored around 3,800 in similar Geekbench 6 single-core tests and nearly 15,000 in multi-core.

What you're getting here is really the ultimate budget MacBook right now. Of course, the MacBook Neo is cheaper at $589, but for that price, you get a meager 8GB of RAM and just 256GB of storage, half what you get with the M3. The M3 has more CPU cores (10 vs 6) than the MacBook Neo, and more GPU cores (8 vs 5). Battery life is also rated for longer (18 hours versus the Neo's 16 hours), and the M3 comes with significantly better 102 GB/s maximum memory bandwidth compared to the Neo's 60 GB/s.

Versus the Neo, the M3 MacBook Air also has a higher resolution display that is slightly larger, and has better color with Wide color (P3) and True Tone Technology. The M3 also has more speakers, support for spatial audio, better microphones for calls, and support for high-impedance headphones, which you won't find on the MacBook Neo.

If you can stretch from the Neo to this $799 Macbook Air, this one is a no-brainer as a great laptop for a college student, a gift for a relative, or a high school student.

Join the Tom's Hardware deals Discord for up-to-the-minute hardware deals.

Best Tech and PC deals | Best gaming PC deals | Best RAM combo deals | Best 3D printer deals | Best RAM deals | Best gaming laptop deals | Best monitor deals | Best Wi-Fi Router deals | Best GPU deals | Best SSD deals | Best hard drive HDD deals | Best CPU deals | Best gaming chair deals | Best PC building tool deals | Best PC peripherals deals | Best filament and resin deals | Best motherboard deals | Best CPU cooler deals | Best PC case deals | Best Dell and Alienware deals | Best USB charger deals | Best gaming and productivity laptop deals under $1,000 | Best laptop PC deals

Apple CEO Tim Cook has warned in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that price hikes on Apple products are unavoidable because the price of memory has increased to a degree that the company must now pass on increases to customers. The outgoing chief executive of Apple did not disclose the scope of the increases or when to expect them to happen, though the warning itself is noteworthy.

Cook said in the interview that price increases had become necessary due to skyrocketing prices of LPDDR and 3D NAND memory, which the company uses in its PCs, smartphones, tablets, and other products. He noted that Apple had attempted to offset rising component costs and protect customers from higher prices, but indicated in the interview that the company could no longer absorb the increases indefinitely. While Cook declined to discuss timing or the magnitude of the planned price hikes, some Apple products may see higher prices sooner rather than later. The company already raised the base price of its Mac Mini last month and eliminated its highest-end model.

TechInsights estimates that Apple will need to hike the price of a flagship iPhone Pro model by about $270 to maintain its current gross margins, which could push flagship iPhone pricing into a substantially higher price band. To make matters worse, Apple faces rising DRAM requirements as it expands memory-hungry on-device AI capabilities.

Apple is a unique company in the sense that it is both one of the world's largest suppliers of smartphones and one of the industry's biggest PC OEMs. Still, its Mac business is negligible compared to the iPhone business.

Memory makers are more inclined to ship non-volatile NAND memory to smartphone makers as they can ship LPDDR with it, according to Nelson Duann, a senior vice president of Silicon Motion, speaking in an interview with Tom's Hardware. If Duann is correct that NAND makers prefer smartphones because they can bundle NAND and LPDDR sales, then Apple should be among the most favored customers in the industry, not among the disadvantaged ones.

Also, keep in mind that historically Apple has used long-term supply agreements, prepayments, equipment financing, and advance capacity reservations to secure key components, including DRAM, NAND flash, displays, advanced packaging, and even semiconductor foundry capacity. As one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers and semiconductor buyers, Apple is among the few companies capable of negotiating with memory suppliers from a position of considerable strength.

As a result, Apple is not in a situation where it cannot get enough memory; it can probably get more than other suppliers of smartphones and PCs, but it surely has to buy both DRAM and NAND at a premium. That said, it is not surprising that Apple will have to increase prices; what remains to be seen is the magnitude of the increase.

Dell's new XPS 13 is available for sale, starting at $599 for students and $699 for everyone else. Revealed as a MacBook Neo competitor sporting Intel's Wildcat Lake chips last month, the XPS 13 attempts to strike a balance between premium XPS design and entry-level specs. Given the state of DRAM and NAND flash prices, designs like the XPS 13 and Neo are an attempt to get premium-feeling devices into the hands of customers who don't need high-end compute, all at reasonable prices

• Check out the XPS 13 at Dell for $699.99

At the heart of the XPS 13 is one of Intel's new Wildcat Lake chips, which have been sparsely available in the U.S. market. This range is built on the same 18A process as Intel's Panther Lake SoCs, and it leverages the same microarchitectures. Wildcat Lake is severely stripped back compared to Panther Lake, however.

The entry-level XPS 13 at $699 comes with Intel's Core 5 320, for instance, which is a six-core chip with two Cougar Cove P-cores and a cluster of four Darkmont LPE cores. It has a base power draw of just 15W, and a maximum turbo power of 35W, along with onboard Intel Graphics sporting two Xe3 cores. With those specs, you shouldn't expect to do more than basic web and productivity tasks.

However, Wildcat Lake comes with the upside of modern connectivity, including speedy LPDDR5X at up to 7,467 MT/s, Wi-Fi 7, and USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2. The XPS 13 specifically has some premium flourishes, as well. It's an all-aluminum machine that weighs just 2.2 pounds and measures 0.5 inches think, and it's equipped with a 13.4-inch 2.5K touch display, even on the $699 design.

You can see the full specs for the entry-level configuration above. As it stands now, there's only one other configuration available with 16 GB of memory for $899. Keep in mind that Wildcat Lake is a single-channel product; even with 16 GB of memory, you'll still need to settle for single-channel performance. But given this machine's target audience, that's probably fine.

Dell says it will eventually release the XPS 13 with Panther Lake chips, which uses proper dual-channel memory. We'll eventually see a configuration with the Core Ultra 7 355, which starts at 16 GB of memory and scales up to 32 GB, as well as sports Thunderbolt 4. Additionally, Dell says it will offer the XPS 13 with 256 GB and 1 TB storage options, but 512 GB is the only configuration available now.

If you need an affordable basic Windows laptop in a chassis that doesn't feel like a penalty box, the XPS 13 is a strong choice. Get it while it's hot.

Microsoft has quietly updated its consumer-oriented Surface lineup with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 chips. The Surface line, often announced with its own event, has been detailed in a blog post by corporate vice president for Surface Brett Ostrum. All three systems are on sale from Microsoft's website today. The 13-inch Surface Pro starts at $1,499, while the Surface Laptop line starts at $1,599 for the 13.8-inch machine and $1,699 for the 15-incher.

The new systems aren't particularly different on the outside, coming in platinum, black, and dune colors that Microsoft has used before. The 13.8-inch Laptop option will have one brand new color: a standout jade green.

All of the systems will have options between 10-core Snapdragon X2 Plus or 12-core Snapdragon X2 Elite processors, and range from 16GB to 64GB of RAM (some of the Surface for Business models Microsoft announced with Intel's Panther Lake processors start with just 8GB of memory).

The Surface Pro starts with 256GB of storage and goes up to 1TB, while the Surface Laptop 13.8 goes up to 2TB. The 15-inch Laptop starts at 512GB and goes up to 2TB.

While all of the devices use Microsoft's PixelSense Flow displays with variable refresh up to 120 Hz, but only the Surface Pro includes both LCD and OLED options. The touchpad on the Surface Laptop has new haptic feedback technologies, working with Windows for small pieces of feedback throughout Windows. On the Surface Pro, you can get similar feedback with the Slim Pen.

The Surface Laptops have 1080p cameras that Microsoft boasts are best in class with No. 1 rankings from DXOMARK. That judges color, texture, noise, and artifacts, but doesn't seem to consider resolution. Some premium PCs have 4K or higher webcams now.

Microsoft is promising up to 20 hours of battery life on the 13.8-inch Surface Laptop when measured with local video playback. That drops to 16 hours when tested with web usage. We'll have to see how that holds up in our labs.

All three devices maintain Microsoft's Surface Connect port, and come with 39W chargers in North America. Microsoft notes that these aren't available in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, so buyers in those locales will need to bring their own.

Business-focused models using Intel chips will launch on July 14.

Update, June 16, 10:26 a.m.: Microsoft shared a change to their spec sheet. The 13.8-inch Surface Laptop Pro will start with 512GB in the United States.

If you want a no-compromise laptop gaming experience, then opting for the world's most powerful mobile graphics processor is a must. Pair the mobile RTX 5090 with a 240Hz OLED screen, and you have today's deal at B&H Photo, where the 16-inch Acer Predator Helios AI is now $2,999 after a $500 discount. You couldn't currently even buy a desktop RTX 5090 for the price of this whole laptop.

● Grab this deal at B&H Photo

This model of the Acer Predator Helios AI features a 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with 24GB of fast GDDR7 VRAM, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSDs. The chassis is a mix of metal and plastic, with an abyssal black finish. There are multiple RGB zones located on the laptop, so you can illuminate the darkness with a rainbow light show should you wish it.

The RTX 5090 from Nvidia is the absolute king of gaming for both desktop and laptop gaming, but don't get them confused, as the laptop version of the RTX 5090 is a completely different beast: same name, but not quite as powerful. That doesn't change how good it is, however, as the mobile RTX 5090 is definitely the most powerful graphics chip you'll find inside any modern gaming laptop.

We haven't had the opportunity to review this model of the Acer Predator Helios AI, so we can't fully compare the laptop to any competition or see its performance benchmarks. These are familiar components, though, so we do have a rough idea of the capabilities.

The RTX 5090 will be able to run all the latest game titles smoothly at maximum settings on the gorgeous 16-inch 2,560 x 1,600 OLED screen, plus you can also make use of Nvidia DLSS 4 support to boost framerates and gain a smoother experience on more taxing titles, should you need it.

Coupled with that 24GB RAM and 2TB SSD and you've got a portable rig with serious performance that'll chew through modern games with ease. Grab this Acer Predator Helios AI laptop for just $2,999 while you can, because this is a deal that will sell out, fast.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Today marks 15 years since the first Chromebooks hit the market. Google partnered with Acer and Samsung to get a range of devices ready for the big launch day in 2011. While the platform has gone on to enjoy enviable success in the education market, it continues to be sidelined in mainstream and premium markets, despite the best efforts of Google and partners.

Google’s vision in 2011 was to “make computing simpler and more accessible for everyone.” It arrived with this goal at the tail end of the netbook era, where there was a proliferation of cheap Windows thin and light designs that were infamous for becoming tragically slow in a short time. Some might describe the first Chromebooks as cloud-first evolutions of netbooks – and they indeed made much better use of limited hardware with fast boot times, browser-based workflows, and everything done in the cloud, easing the demands on the (typically) anemic hardware.

Mainstream and premium laptop users, perhaps stung by netbook experiences, have never warmed to Chromebooks, though. Google and partners have invested in high-end product development across several generations, to no avail. Chromebooks seem to be firmly entrenched in K-12 education computing, and can’t escape from that niche.

We’d probably conclude that Google Chromebooks missed their chance in the early 20-teens by holding back some of the best initiatives we are seeing on the platform now. For example, it took until 2016 for the Google Play Store to arrive on Chromebooks, in 2018 Linux app support was added, it took until 2019 for Steam gaming support (beta, recently killed though) to arrive, and until 2021 for ChromeOS Flex to be released to install on out-of-support old PCs and Macs, and only in 2023 did Google decide to ensure new Chromebooks got a decent (10 years) length of OS support. Google could have gone all-in with its best features earlier on, instead of wasting time and resources on the ridiculously expensive Pixelbook (2017), for example.

Nevertheless, as noted above, Chromebooks are now an undeniable success in the education segment. In K-12, the platform still looks unassailable due to a number of factors. Probably the most important features in its favor in this segment are the platform’s lower costs, centralized management, and ruggedized options available.

Chromebooks have also earned a reputation for reliability and security. Research suggests the platform requires fewer tech support calls than rival computing platforms. Last but not least, the recent change to a 10-year device updates support guarantee should cement the Chromebook platform’s good reputation.

The MacBook Neo has been an astronomical hit for Apple, with both critics and consumers responding positively to the company's entry-level laptop. It changed the precedent for what a budget laptop could be, scaring Windows-reliant vendors, but one legacy chipmaker doesn't seem bothered. AMD has just released new marketing material that directly pits a Ryzen 200 series-equipped machine with the Neo, mocking the latter for not supporting 75% of top PC games.

"While 15 of the top 20 PC games do not run on Macbook Neo natively, AMD systems give you access to massive game libraries," said the company. Only 5 of those 20 titles will work on the Neo. Technically, you can use emulation software to still access more games, but AMD specifically covers that ground, too, and mentions "no workarounds required." It then points out how multiple storefronts enjoy universal compatibility with AMD devices.

For the comparison, AMD used HP's OmniBook X Flip powered by the Ryzen 5 220. That's not a new chip; it's a refresh of the company's Hawk Point lineup (8540U), and this SKU in particular features 2 full-fat Zen 4 cores and 4x Zen4c efficiency cores, for a total of 12 threads. It's paired with a Radeon 740M iGPU that's not exactly the most powerful by modern standards. It's the same integrated graphics found in the regular Ryzen Z1 APU, so it's about 2x less performant than the Z1 Extreme.

If you actually look at the reviews of this iGPU, it's a mixed bag. It can run older titles like GTA V at over 100 FPS at low settings, but it struggles with pretty much modern games. Hellblade 2 runs at 8 frames per second, while Alan Wake 2 hits about 11 frames on average. So yes, AMD runs 20 out of the 20 top games on PC, but a good chunk of them will not be smooth enough to be called playable on this specific chip. It's the x86 architecture and the Windows OS that are the real difference makers.

Everyone knows Apple Silicon is more than powerful enough, and the company's Metal API has modern features capable of real-time rendering. But there's simply not enough demand from the community and not a big push from Apple to pitch gaming as one of the platform's selling points. You can still emulate x86 code into Arm using Parallels, Crossover, or even Game Hub, but that's not native compatibility. Therefore, AMD is correct.

The company doesn't stop there; it also highlights how the OmniBook X Flip specifically has a 512GB SSD compared to the MacBook Neo's 256GB of storage. This laptop also features a touchscreen in a 2-in-1 form factor, versus the Neo, which has just a basic screen. Lastly, the port selection is more varied with AMD as well; there are 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A, and 1x HDMI ports on the HP machine, while you only get 2x USB-C on the Neo. And, of course, the Neo doesn't come with a Windows 11 license.

All that being said, the MacBook Neo is still an excellent laptop for the price. If gaming is imperative to you, Intel's Wildcat Lake laptops are also starting to penetrate this segment with similar pricing and impressive value propositions. If you're chasing that Arm efficiency, then Qualcomm's Snapdragon C-series chips also come with Windows, allowing you to at least bypass the OS difference. It's a great time to be in the market for budget laptops, but the simultaneous component crisis is still taming the full potential of this class.

The summer is upon us, the World Cup is in full swing, and with it, the opportunity to leave the house. This well-priced gaming laptop deal lets you take your computer with you. Whether that's to stream the soccer or to play some games, the choice is yours. At just $1,199.99, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 with RTX 5060 sees a $300 saving in today's Walmart deal. The original list price is $1,499.99, which is still pretty good for a 16-inch gaming laptop, but the $300 saving makes it a superb value. So if you're looking at purchasing a gaming laptop on a limited budget, then definitely take a peek at this offer.

• Grab this deal at Walmart

The IPS display on the Gigabyte A16 has a screen resolution of 1080p but uses a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, giving you a little more screen space. The FHD display will still look sharp on a 16-inch panel, plus a speedy 165Hz refresh rate will keep the gaming motion nice and smooth. Powering the laptop is an 8-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 260 processor, an Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, 16 GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1 TB SSD.

The laptop also packs plenty of connectivity options with both Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth. For video connections to a monitor or television, there's an HDMI 2.1 port and a USB Type-C port that supports DisplayPort 1.4. The Gigabyte A16 is a well-rounded budget gaming laptop offering from a trusted brand, perfect as a portable gaming PC or for taking away to college for the new year.

At just $1,199.99, the Gigabyte Gaming A16 is worth taking a look at. You can boost your game library with the $300 you save on this gaming laptop.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Even when you game on a portable device, some people want the biggest screen they can find. The Razer Blade 18 looks at some of the best gaming laptops — largely 16-inchers — and calls them tiny.

This system, at $5,399.99 as tested (and starting at $3,999.99) has a huge price tag, but that comes with strong build quality, top-end specs, and a dual-mode display that lets you switch between higher resolution and higher frame rates depending on what you're doing.

The Blade 18 and its aluminum chassis do have some drawbacks. The machine runs quite warm, with loud fans, and at this price, I wish Razer had taken advantage of the PCIe Gen 5 slot with an appropriate drive.

Design of the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

Razer's industrial design hasn't seen a change in a while, so the Blade 18 appears identical to the way it did last year. It's a CNC aluminum block with a Spartan, rectangular design. There is a bit of flex right behind the green, three-headed snake logo at the center of the lid, which I wish didn't exist in a design this premium.

Otherwise, though, the Blade feels rock solid. It's also tremendous, at 15.74 x 10.84 x 1.1 inches and 7.06 pounds before the 400W power brick. It just fits in my backpack, which definitely isn't designed for a system this large. The all-black affair is interrupted only by the 18-inch screen and the per-key RGB on the keyboard.

There are a ton of ports on this system. The left is lined with a proprietary power port, Ethernet, a pair of USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. On the right, you'll find the Thunderbolt 5 port, HDMI 2.1, another USB-A port, the SD card slot, and a Kensington lock slot.

The two different Thunderbolt ports aren't labeled. I wish Razer had made it clear which is which without looking it up or plugging a device in.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

Between the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090, the Blade 18 can tackle just about anything you throw at it.

In Resident Evil Requiem, with the resolution set to 3840 x 2400 and settings topped out, including path tracing and hair strands, the game typically ran between 30 and 37 frames per second, though it dropped to 28 FPS during a scene in which Leon was chased by a giant spider. Upscaling was forced on, so I opted for quality, but left frame gen off. By dropping to 2560 x 1440, I had a more consistent 49-57 FPS, including during a boss fight with that spider.

Soon after, I realized that the 3840 x 2400 display mode had forced me into a 60 Hz refresh rate while gaming. Switching to 1920 x 1200 mode, the same boss fight at a lower resolution ran around 90 FPS.

On our benchmarks, we found that the Blade 18 didn't deliver a meaningful performance bump over last year's model, which utilized a Core Ultra 9 275HX with the RTX 5090 (our review model from last year also had 64GB of RAM). The Blade 18 beat out the MSI Raider 16 HX and Alienware 16 Area-51 at 1920 x 1200 in our tests, though in some cases the leads were small. In most cases, the Blade 18 at 3840 x 2400 ran very similarly to last year's system at the higher resolution. The Alienware and Raider top out at 2560 x 1600, a much more common resolution on gaming laptops these days.

On our stress test, which consists of running Metro Exodus 15 times in a loop, the Blade 18 averaged 146.03 FPS. The system actually did best after three runs, when it warmed up, and never dipped back down. During this test, the CPU's performance cores averaged 5.14 GHz while the E-cores averaged 2 GHz. The GPU ran at an average of 1,986.32 MHZ.

Productivity Performance on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

We tested the Blade 18 with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, 32GB of RAM, and a 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. Unsurprisingly, it's a strong competitor.

On Geekbench 6, the Blade 18's single-core score of 3,170 and multi-core score of 20,166 are admirable, but not terribly different from last year. In fact, the multi-core score was down a few points. Both the Alienware 16 Area-51 and MSI Raider 16 Max HX, each with the same CPU as this Blade 18, were slightly faster on both the single and multi-core tests.

The new Blade copied 25GB of files at a rate of 1,670.53 MBps, beating the MSI Raider 16 Max HX, but falling far behind the Alienware's PCIe Gen 5 SSD, which Razer supports but didn't include, even in a laptop over $5,000.

The Blade 18 transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 2 minutes and 1 second, effectively the same as last year. That's faster than the Alienware, but the Raider did the job in 1:51.

Display on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The big (sorry) selling point on the Blade 18 is its massive, 18-inch display. The dual-mode display can switch between 3840 x 2400 at 240 Hz for productivity work or 1920 x 1200 at 440 Hz for gaming, though this does require a reboot in some instances. While trying to game at 4K, I was limited to just 60 Hz even when plugged in.

The Dual-mode is a unique advantage, though some people might prefer OLED for gaming at this price. That being said, I haven't seen 18-inch OLED panels, so Razer may have opted for dual-mode as advantageous over Mini LED. There aren't too many gaming laptops that offer 4K resolution these days.

In Resident Evil Requiem, I found myself wishing for the black levels on OLED screens in dark environments. Still, when Leon shot a gas can that exploded into an orange fireball during the game's infamous spider boss fight, it was quite vivid.

The biggest change Razer is promising outside of performance over last year's model is a brighter screen. At 538 nits, it was brighter than last year's model (467.6 nits) and both the Alienware and MSI Raider.

The color volume coverage didn't change, however, at 80.8% DCI-P3 and 114.1% sRGB. The Raider was slightly higher, while the Alienware led the pack with its OLED screen.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Razer Blade 18

Razer outfitted the Blade 18 with a full keyboard, including a number pad. Razer claims 1.5 mm key travel and 63 grams of actuation, along with a 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-Key rollover for gaming.

Using MonkeyType, I hit 115 words per minute with 97% accuracy, which is fairly standard for me. The keys are comfortable enough, though I've seen competitors like MSI and Alienware use mechanical switches in their most expensive halo products. That would be a nice addition here.

The layout is fine, but in its quest for a totally symmetrical layout, Razer used half-size up and down arrow keys and full-size left and right keys. I prefer an "inverted T", no matter which size is used, but this comes down to preference.

The touchpad is massive. At this price, I'd really like to see haptics, but Razer has opted for a standard mechanical touchpad. You can use it relatively high up, but clicks get stuck above the halfway point, leaving some of that space just for moving the cursor. There's plenty of room for gestures, though.

Razer put the touchpad in the center of the palm rest. That looks great aesthetically, but it means that when you're not using the number pad, you're likely to hit it with your hand while typing. Most gamers will use a separate gaming mouse, but if you're the type of AI developer Razer is aiming this machine at, and you're working on the go, you might accidentally move the mouse while using the keyboard. (You can disable the touchpad with a press of the decimal key on the number pad.)

Audio on the Razer Blade 18

The Razer Blade 18 has a six-speaker sound system, with four firing upward and two down-firing speakers. They support THX Spatial Audio (THX is owned by Razer), and can be customized in Razer Synapse.

These speakers are very loud. They could fill my apartment at just above 50% volume. "Raise Him Up," the immensely catchy satirical gospel tune off the soundtrack to Season 5 of The Boys, filled my home with actor Daveed Digg's voice, along with horns, a choir, and drums. I've heard better audio, particularly when it comes to pure clarity and bass, but this is pretty solid, especially if you like your music and games loud. Playing with the well-labeled ranges in Synapse THX did help me draw out the vocals and low-end from the busy track.

In Resident Evil Requiem, the speakers showed off. When Leon stepped on a skull in Racoon City, the crunch was sharp. In a boss battle with a giant spider, the shrieks were terrifying, and the gunshots were booming. Someone from my office politely came over and asked me to turn it down. I couldn't blame them.

Upgradeability on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

Twelve Torx 4 screws hold the Blade 18's bottom to the chassis. Once I removed them, the base popped off with just my hands, and no worrying plastic clips. That's about as easy as it gets unless you have a dedicated door to components.

There are two SSD slots. On our review unit, the PCIe 4 slot was already filled, but you can add a second SSD to a slot that supports PCIe 5. The Wi-Fi card is removable, as is the slotted RAM, which is under shielding.

The battery is replaceable as well, though there is a fan integrated in the middle of the battery, so you'll need to be sure to disconnect the fan connector from the motherboard before removing the screws. This is a fascinating battery, and it might be harder to get than more standard shapes.

Battery Life on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

When it comes to 18-inch gaming laptops, portable really is a turn of phrase. You'll largely want this thing plugged in for performance, if for no other reason than that it's huge.

That being said, it can run off the battery for a decent amount of time. On our test, which browses the web, streams videos, and runs light OpenGL tasks with the screen set to 150 nits of brightness, the Blade lasted for 5 hours and 31 minutes. That's slightly longer than last year, and a big improvement over the Alienware (3:33). But the MSI Raider lasted the longest of the bunch at 8:34 — a full workday.

Heat on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The Blade's vapor chamber and tri-fan cooling have their work cut out for them. The system still gets hot under use.

After 15 runs of the Metro Exodus benchmark, the keyboard was hot to the touch at 109 degrees Fahrenheit. The touchpad was cooler at 100 F (though that's still toasty for a touchpad), while the bottom of the system was 116 F at the hottest point.

The CPU measured 88.90 degrees Celsius during the test, while the GPU averaged 69.62 C.

Webcam on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The Blade 18 comes equipped with a 5-megapixel webcam. Its biggest strength may be in color accuracy. In our well-lit office, it caught the exact shade of red-orange in my shirt, and some tired bags under my eyes after a long weekend. It did, however, have some graininess.

The camera system includes infrared for Windows Hello login duties, as well as a physical privacy shutter.

Software and Warranty on the Razer Blade 18 (2026)

The only software on the Razer Blade 18 is the company's Synapse app. It does a ton, including managing macros, letting you set custom profiles for games, adjusting lighting and audio, and setting performance modes. There's a lot here. Unfortunately, there are a few ads for Razer's hardware, but they're not too intrusive.

Razer sells the Blade 18 with a 1-year warranty on the laptop and a 2-year warranty on the battery.

The company has two RazerCare plans, Essential ($729.99) and Elite ($999.99), which extend your warranty to 3 years and add 24-hour claim support and coverage for mechanical failures and surge protection. Only the Elite plan covers accidental damage.

Razer Blade 18 (2026) Configurations

The Razer Blade 18 is supremely expensive. We tested it with an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage, which adds up to $5,399.99.

The cheapest version is $3,999.99, with the same processor, an RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB of memory, and 1TB of storage. A maxed-out version is $6,999.99 and is identical to what we reviewed, except with 128GB of RAM, which is pointed more at AI developers.

As of this writing, last year's models with a Core Ultra 9 275HX are still available, and they're all $500 less than this year's version. Given the CPU upgrades aren't huge, that's a discount worth considerling.

Bottom Line

If you want one of the biggest gaming rigs with top-end components, a bright, dual-mode screen, and tons of ports, the Blade 18 will absolutely fit the bill. But that bill will be expensive, with the system starting at $4,000 and getting more expensive from there (our review unit goes for $5,399).

For those who want an 18-inch gaming rig with few compromises, this is the one to get if you can afford it. Last year's model is $500 cheaper with a Core Ultra 9 275HX, but you'll also lose the brighter screen. I'm not sure how many people dropping $4,000-$6,000 care about that extra $500, but it's worth noting.

You won't want to miss this huge saving on this formidable HP gaming laptop right now. HP has itself slashed the price of one of its top-spec HP Omen Max 16 laptops down to just $1,999.99, or slightly more if you opt for an OLED display, fitted with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti and a top-spec Intel CPU, and securing you a saving of $800 in the process.

● Check out this HP laptop deal

Your focus, first of all, should be on the GPU installed in this rig. The mobile version of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti isn't quite an equivalent to the desktop version, coming with a pared-down set of 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB GDDR7 VRAM. That aside, this is still a 115W GPU with plenty of power for high-resolution gaming, especially compared to running games on a laptop's integrated GPU.

You won't find it difficult to comfortably hit high frame rates on this HP laptop's native 1600p resolution. This current-gen Nvidia Blackwell GPU's DLSS 4 support will give you extra breathing room, too, if you find you need a bit more performance muscle in the most intensive games, with multi-frame generation giving you an AI-generated boost. As our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review explains, this laptop is an extremely competitive option for gamers who want a high-quality, high-spec build. The build quality will match the base model on offer here, but the GPU (and display) will vary, depending on the specs you choose.

That's because this laptop is heavily customizable, although the GPU is one of the few components on this laptop (at least, this spec of laptop) that you can't switch up. The other elements, however, are fair game, including the CPU you're getting as standard. The Intel Core Ultra 7 270HX is a 20-core processor, split between eight performance cores (which are the best options for gaming) and 12 efficient cores (which are typically best for multi-threaded work).

This HP Omen Max 16 build comes with 16GB of DDR5 RAM at this price point, although upgrades to 32GB, 48GB, and even 64GB are available, albeit with much higher price tags. Likewise, the base model here comes with a 16-inch IPS display with a refresh rate up to 240Hz. If you want to spend $60, you can upgrade to an OLED with a refresh rate of 165Hz, or $120 will get you an OLED with a 240Hz refresh rate.

The small compromise you'll be making to hit the under $2,000 price tag is storage: only a 512GB SSD with Gen 4 speeds is included for the base spec. 1TB and 2TB models are available as upgrades; however, if you have a bit of extra budget going spare. Other areas of the laptop's build quality are worth praising, however, with a full-size keyboard with per-key RGB lighting, along with a chassis that includes liquid metal cooling and a vapor chamber that should improve heat dissipation overall. There are also plenty of ports for you to hook up your peripherals, with two USB-A and USB-C ports apiece, along with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and Ethernet connections, along with Bluetooth 5.4 and WiFi 7 support.

The $1,999.99 sale price for the base model of this HP Omen Max 16 laptop is a great price for the quality and specs you're getting here. If the budget allows, upgrading to the OLED will be a worthwhile improvement, which you can select when you head to the checkout. Expect to see this laptop, with its $800 discount, sell out quickly.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

For a brief time from 2024 through 2025, it really seemed that 16GB of RAM was the new standard on mid-range and premium laptops. Microsoft made 16GB of memory a standard to be labeled a Copilot+ PC, and Apple made 16GB the minimum on all of its systems.

Then came the MacBook Neo. It was made of aluminum, looked and felt premium, and used a version of the A18 Pro system on a chip from the iPhone 16 Pro, which features 8GB of RAM.

While there was some blowback from the enthusiast community, most reviewers found that for the most basic workloads, 8GB is workable on macOS (though you'll likely run into swap and memory pressure if you overload it). For everyone else, 16GB is the standard on the MacBook Air and Pro.

But at Computex, we saw that the Windows PC industry is also moving to 8GB. The $699 Dell XPS 13, one of the standout products of the show, will start at 8GB of memory along with an Intel Core Series 3 ("Wildcat Lake") processor. Acer, too, has a $699 Wildcat Lake-based system, the Swift Air 14, which will have an Intel Core 5 chip, 512GB of storage, and, yes, 8GB of RAM.

Ahead of the show, Chuwi announced its UniBook, with a weaker Core Series 3 304 CPU, 256GB of storage, and, you guessed it, 8GB of RAM. That's set to be the cheapest one so far, with Chuwi promising a launch "around $449."

And in May, when Microsoft announced its latest Surface for Business devices, it included a new Surface Laptop for Business 13-inch with 8GB of RAM starting at a whopping $1,299.99, so 8GB isn't just relegated to the budget space.

That's not to say everyone is doing it, at least yet. Some Wildcat Lake laptops are sticking to 16GB. For instance, the $899.99 Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i has 16GB of RAM, though it's clearly more expensive than what Apple, Dell, Acer, and Chuwi are offering. (As of this writing, Lenovo's website suggested it's 25% off an "estimated value" of $1,199.99.)

One interesting thing to note: the Windows laptops with 8GB of RAM still have Copilot keys. This doesn't make them Copilot+ laptops, which requires Windows 11, the Copilot key, and 16GB of RAM, but hey, cloud AI is still AI, I guess.

Intel's Wildcat Lake website has a long list of partners with new laptops, and I'm sure more of them will have 8GB. And we know more is coming. The Acer Aspire Go 15, the first laptop with Qualcomm's upcoming budget-focused Snapdragon C, has "up to" 8GB of memory, according to Acer's press release, suggesting the possibility of even less memory. The minimum specs to run Windows 11 include 4GB of memory, after all.

Unlike some of my colleagues, I still believe 8GB of memory is workable for the right people (To be clear, it's not the route I would go). That's people who mostly use a web browser and light apps, don't use many tabs, and mostly do one or two things at a time. They do exist, and they should have options other than paying $1,500 for 16GB of RAM. We've seen that macOS can largely handle a premium-feeling experience with 8GB (and will hopefully move to 12GB with its next chip upgrade), so now it will be the Windows world's turn to prove the same.

But I also hoped the days where 8GB of memory could potentially bottleneck you were over. It is both unfortunate and ironic that it was the rush towards preparing devices for AI that pushed us away from a longstanding 8GB minimum, but it is because the price of memory to keep AI research going has pushed component prices so high that laptop makers have no choice but to go back so that people can afford entry and mid-tier systems.

If you thought we were past the days of 8GB systems, you're wrong. You don't have to get one (depending on what you do, perhaps you shouldn't), but for something affordable, at least there's an option at all. Maybe in a few years, the RAM crisis will have subsided, and we'll laugh about this on 16GB entry-level machines. But not anytime soon.

As PC gaming costs continue to rise thanks to the AI crunch, pre-built PCs and gaming laptops continue to be a rare source of solace for gamers who want to upgrade in 2026. Right now at Walmart, you can get an MSI Vector gaming laptop with RTX 5070 Ti GPU for just $1,499.

● Grab this deal at Walmart

Not only is that a $500 discount off the $1,999 list price, but it's also just $200 shy of the price we saw on this laptop during Black Friday last year. Considering RAM has increased in price by 400% since then, and given SSDs aren't much cheaper, that is a relatively excellent deal on a decent gaming laptop.

The highlight of this laptop is the RTX 5070 Ti, which is a potent mobile GPU that should provide very solid gaming performance at the 2,560 x 1,600 resolution this laptop supports. With 5,888 CUDA cores and 12GB of VRAM, that should be ample memory for most titles at this resolution, although it stops short of the 16GB of VRAM available in higher-end models.

The aforementioned display is a 240Hz 16-inch IPS panel, so while it isn't OLED, that'll save you plenty of battery life for when you're gaming without nearby power.

The processor in this laptop is AMD's Ryzen 9 8940HX. This mobile Zen 4 CPU has 16 cores and 32 threads, with base clocks of 2.4 GHz and up to 5.3 GHz boost clock. It also features 80MB total cache.

Other specs include 16GB of DDR5 RAM. 32GB would be ideal, but in this economy, that's a good deal at this price, as is the 1TB SSD. Otherwise, this laptop comes with a stealthy grey gaming aesthetic, and the laptop has a 24-zone RGB keyboard. You'll also get Wi-Fi 7 for great internet, as well as Bluetooth 5.4 for connecting accessories. If you want to save even more money, Walmart is also selling this 15.6-inch Cyborg with RTX 5070 for just $1,378, featuring the same RAM and SSD, Intel Core 7-240H, and Wi-Fi 6E.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Update: After publication, Microsoft provided us with the following statement: “Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra is not targeting a 110w sustained TDP. Final power will be disclosed closer to availability.” [Emphasis ours]. The original article continues below.

The consumer tech industry is still absorbing the aftershocks of Nvidia's seismic RTX Spark announcements this week at Computex 2026, and there are still many questions around the platform regarding performance, power, and battery life.

One of those questions is the thermal design power (TDP) of the RTX Spark Superchip that's powering the high-end laptops revealed this week. That power budget is everything in a thermally constrained chassis that has to dynamically share power between the CPU and GPU.

A higher power budget in such a system generally translates into higher performance (albeit not necessarily linearly). And if you know the power budget of one platform, you can better reason about its performance compared to other chips with a similar TDP.

Tom's Hardware's Paul Alcorn and I attended a series of lightning-round hands-on sessions with Nvidia's core laptop partners this week, and among other standard questions, we asked representatives from those companies what the power and thermal budgets of their systems were. Unsurprisingly, those partners generally declined to answer.

But Microsoft's reps freely shared that the Surface Laptop Ultra, at least, is designed around a TDP of 110 W for the RTX Spark Superchip.

That figure makes sense, given our experience with the compact DGX Spark mini-PC. That system has an SoC TDP of 140 W, so it's no huge surprise that even the relatively large and well-ventilated Surface Laptop Ultra is designed to dissipate around 80% of that power at peak load.

As a laptop, the Surface also has other components it needs to power, including a screen and any peripherals connected to its USB ports, so extra headroom is required for that purpose. (Other OEMs did disclose that they were including 140W chargers with their devices, so consider that an interesting data point to this end.)

In any event, the enterprising reader might be tempted to extrapolate from our past DGX Spark performance testing and conclude that 20% lower power equals 20% lower performance. But we'd caution against that reasoning.

Chip power and delivered performance generally have a nonlinear relationship past a certain point, and we have no idea what the behavior of the voltage-and-frequency-scaling curve is for the RTX Spark Superchip in the range we're discussing.

We also don't know the full power and thermal management behavior of the RTX Spark Superchip. Modern laptop SoCs (and all chips, really) opportunistically take full advantage of all available thermal and power headroom at the start of a task, so they'll boost up close to the limits of their TDPs while the system is cool before dialing back clock speeds and power to achieve a steady state that avoids overwhelming the system's heatsink and fans. It's not clear how quickly and to what extent the RTX Spark has to clock down to operate within those limits for long-running tasks.

And in a mobile device that has to share power between the CPU and GPU, performance is also going to be highly dependent on the character of the workload. A game, for example, is going to heavily stress the GPU but might not fully occupy the CPU at the same time, while a highly parallel CPU-dependent task like code compilation might fully load the CPU cores without involving the GPU much at all. If you have a (rare) workload that loads down both of those functional units at once, overall performance is likely to fall further than with one that only demands one type of processing resource or the other.

It's also worth remembering that every laptop is different, and power envelopes are carefully tuned for each chassis to best balance design constraints between SoC temperatures, skin temperatures, and noise, among other factors.

All that said, from what we've seen, Microsoft's 110W target seems likely to be typical of the 15"-16" laptops that other OEMs plan to introduce. Logically, it's also likely that we might see lower power budgets for thinner or smaller systems.

But the short version of all this is that there's a lot we still don't know about the RTX Spark platform, and we're still a long way from the launch of the laptops with this chip inside. We expect to learn more about this platform, its design targets, and its behavior in the coming months as we lead up to Nvidia's projected fall launch. Stay tuned.

If you want to jump into PC gaming but don't have a massive amount of money in the budget or a lot of room for a full desktop setup, then this compact gaming PC from HP is a great choice. Packing the latest generation of PC hardware in a small form factor, the HP Omen Transcend 14 is just $1099.99 direct from the HP store, in their 72-hour flash sale. The original list price says $2599.99, but that seems a little excessive, and I'd take that with a pinch of salt. But the fact that this gaming laptop is only just over a thousand dollars and still contains some potent hardware and a gorgeous OLED screen makes it a standout deal.

• Grab this deal at HP

The Omen Transcend 14 features a 14-inch, 2880 x 1800 pixel display. Not only that, but the display is an OLED panel with up to a 120Hz refresh rate and a bright, colorful display. The system is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H 16-core processor and an Nvidia RTX 5060 laptop graphics card, all stuffed into a svelte 3.6-pound white anodized aluminum chassis.

The HP Omen Transcend 14 still incorporates a full-size keyboard, even given its small size. The keyboard features pudding-style keycaps with a 4-zone RGB backlit keyboard and 26-key rollover anti-ghosting key technology. It also features Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless connectivity. Plenty of USB ports adorn the sides of the laptop, with 1 USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port with 40Gbps speeds, power delivery, and DisplayPort integration.

A competent gaming laptop with a decent graphics card and an acceptable 16GB of precious memory, the lower limit for a gaming machine. The storage at 1TB is large enough for a few AAA games to be installed, and an RTX 5060 with 8GB of VRAM isn't going to set any framerate records, but used in conjunction with DLSS 4, it will let you achieve a very smooth gaming experience. For just $1,099.99, the HP Omen Transcend 14 is a superb pick.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Not a great time for buying some of our favorite PC components with all the high prices and shortages, but if you're still on the lookout for an all-in-one gaming and work solution, then you might want to consider a gaming laptop over a larger desktop PC. A powerful laptop that you can use for both work and a bit of play, Gigabyte's Aero X16 is now just $1389.99 at Best Buy, down $610 from the $1999.99 list price. This is one of the best prices for an RTX 5070 laptop, even more so, considering the large amount of RAM and 1TB SSD.

• Grab this deal at Best Buy

Inside the Gigabyte Aero X16 in this deal are the following components: an Nvidia RTX 5070 graphics card with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (8-core, 16-thread) processor, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD for storage. This is a larger laptop that sports a 16-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. That's a sharp image on display that size, plus you also have an up to 165Hz refresh rate for incredibly smooth motion while gaming.

In our review of the Gigabyte Aero X16, we found the laptop to be a well-rounded offering from Gigabyte, with plenty of gaming prowess thanks to the dedicated RTX 5070 graphics card, solid hardware choices, and a competitive price. This laptop is suitable for gaming and daily productivity tasks. During testing, the Aero X16 had an excellent battery life that lasted longer than the average workday, and came top compared to other similar spec laptops that we've had the chance to test.

The Gigabyte Aero X16 is a slimline 16-inch laptop with a slate-gray chassis, large screen, and RGB backlit keyboard for playing in darker environments, or just showing off the gamified aesthetic. There are plenty of USB ports and video ports for easily connecting up extra monitors to either its HDMI 2.1 port, or via the USB Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4.

With 32GB of precious memory, a 1TB SSD, and an RTX 5070, the $1,389.99 asking price for the Gigabyte Aero X16 is a good price. Comparing it to various other laptops on sale with similar specifications, it's one of the best prices on the market currently.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

How do you compete with Apple’s shockingly affordable and premium-feeling MacBook Neo, while maintaining a competitively slim and fanless design? Well, if you’re Intel, you work with Frore Systems to add one of its solid-state Airjet modules to your new Wildcat Lake reference design. Wrapped in a vapor chamber, it delivers a reported 15 watts of sustained cooling, while allowing the laptop to remain just 11.3mm thick and silent, just like the Neo.

We’ve been closely covering Fore’s solid-state cooling tech for years, which uses piezoelectric membranes that vibrate ultrasonically (well beyond the limits of human hearing), to move air without fans, and inside a chip that is just 2.65mm thick in this iteration. We’re still trying to track down the Wildcat Lake laptop in person here at Computex 2026. But Frore provided us with plenty of details and materials at their suite at the convention center.

Below, you can see an illustration of the AirJet, surrounded by the vapor chamber as it’s implemented in the Intel laptop reference design.

Frore says this cooling setup will allow for sustained workloads of 15W, and PL2 bursts of up to 30W. At the moment, the company has measured 28 dBA from the laptop’s cooling, and the company thinks an even lower 24 dBA is possible with further refinements. For some general perspective, the lowest noise floor we’ve generally been able to achieve in our own fan testing is 33.2 dBA, and keep in mind sound is measured on a logarithmic scale. If you can hear the Airjet in this setup, you probably have excellent hearing, and you might also need to be in an anechoic chamber.

Frore says its AirJet delivers 1750 pascals of backpressure, which allows for the use of dustproof, water-resistant filters, which should help extend the life of portable devices like the Wildcat Lake reference design. And because the Airjet’s power needs scale with system workloads, and can power down completely when doing tasks like streaming video, the company says you can expect up to 16 hours or more of battery life.

Of course, Intel’s Wildcat Lake reference design is just that – a reference system designed to help laptop partners (and the public) see what is possible with its silicon (and Frore’s Airjet). There’s no word yet about the AirJet making its way into retail Wildcat Lake laptops like Dell’s XPS 13. But the company is hopeful that Intel’s demo unit will impress its partners enough to opt for AirJet in future lower-cost premium laptop designs.

And if companies can deliver solid-state cooling like this in a laptop that’s also slim, premium, and affordable, I’m all for it. Fans are an ancient technology, with moving parts and bearings that can fail, get gunked up, and definitely get noisy when they’re working hard and small enough to fit into devices this thin. We’ll be keeping an eye out to see if AirJet and laptop makers pair up to bring solid-state cooling into the mainstream computing space in the coming months and years.

Here at Computex 2026 in Taipei, Asus held an early press event to showcase its updated Zenbook, Expertbook, and Strix Scar laptops, along with the new TUF T700 gaming desktop. The additions to the Zenbook and Vivo series, the Zenbook 14 (3 different models), and Vivobook Series (S14/S16 and S14/16 Flip) promise to, according to Asus, ‘elevate the everyday computing experience’ with an all-metal construction, updated branding (the shell will only say Asus now), and new colorways including Arctic Blue and Komodo Coral for a more personalized look. Meanwhile, the company’s compact TUF Gaming T700 desktop bumps up its specs and moves to a proprietary motherboard.

The Zenbook 14 laptops use Intel, AMD, or a Snapdragon processor, with up to 24GB of RAM (16GB for Snapdragon-based models) and up to 512GB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage (Snapdragon model, the others do not list 512GB as a maximum). The Intel-based SKU (UX3480AA) sports up to a 3K (2880x1800) 14-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, while the AMD and Snapdragon SKUs (UX3480GA and UX3480QA, respectively) use an FHD (1920x1200) screen with a 60Hz refresh rate. They all include Wi-Fi 6E and offer typical connectivity, including audio combo jacks, HDMI, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, and Type-C – the latter supports PD and DP support for charging and display output. Each has at least one 40 Gbps Type-C port, with the Snapdragon-based Zenbook shipping with two. The Vivobook S14/S16 Flip, with its Snapdragon X (orX Plus) and flexible 360-degree design (laptop/tablet/tent), also receives new colorway options.

In addition to the Zenbooks, we also saw the new Expertbook B5 Flip G2, a 360-degree convertible designed for hybrid workflows for business professionals, students, and educators who are looking for flexibility, performance, and security. It even hides the stylus in its thin (0.58-inches) and light (2.9 lbs) chassis. Specs-wise, it’s powered by the Intel Core 7 350 processor, an 18 TOPS NPU, and Intel graphics. You can pack it with up to 32 GB of LPDDRX5 RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage, and it has plenty of connectivity, including TB4 USB-C ports, HDMI, and two USB 3.2 gen 1 Type-A ports, all in a Gentle Grey finish.

The Expertbooks, P5 (14-inch) and PM5 G2 (16-inch) are enterprise-grade devices and feature Asus ExpertGuardian and a NIST PSP 800--1930 compliant BIOS and other various safeguards, including a fingerprint sensor, physical webcam shield, and more. Performance-wise, both Expertbooks' NPUs exceed 40 TOPS.

Asus also showed off its ROG Strix G16/G18 and Strix Scar gaming laptops for 2026, with minor hardware updates. The Scar 18 now supports up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX processor with 200W sustained power (from the 275HX), along with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with max power up to 175 TGP – a gaming beast, no doubt. Both the G16 and G18 get a bump in GPU performance, with the G16 offering an RTX 5080 laptop GPU and the G18 an RTX 5070 laptop GPU. The illuminated numeric keypad, which looks cool in person, I must admit, also made its way to the G16 and G18 (from the familiar ROG Zephyrus and Zenbook lines). I'm not sure how useful that will be on a laptop designed more for gaming, but it's a nice aesthetic touch. Pricing wasn’t listed, but you should see these, along with the updated Zenbook/Vivobooks, available early in the second half of 2026.

The TUF T700 Gaming PC is an updated version of the T500, with a different (and better-looking) chassis and access to more powerful CPUs. The new boards sport up to an Intel Core U9-275HX or an AMD Ryzen 7-8700F APU. The inside of the chassis includes a 240mm TUF-branded AIO, a PCIe 4.0 storage interface, up to 64GB of SO-DIMM DDR5-5200 MT/s RAM (we’d like to see faster spec-RAM), an efficient 80 Plus Platinum power supply, and up to an Nvidia RTX 5070 Prime graphics, an increase over the last generation T series that maxed out with an RTX 5060 Ti (16GB). Asus will also use a proprietary motherboard in these systems, with a proprietary form factor that resembles MicroATX, with an extra ‘tab’ protruding along the right edge to support additional USB ports.

The incremental, sometimes mostly aesthetic-only, updates on laptops aren’t exactly exciting, but when you’re in the middle of a CPU lifecycle from both camps and video card upgrades have also stalled (thanks, AI), there isn’t a whole lot laptop makers can do. That said, we’re told Asus’ booth at the convention center has something special they couldn’t share at this pre-briefing, so keep an eye out for additional coverage of Asus at Computex 2026 in the coming days to see what it and dozens of other companies will have to offer as the year progresses.

Nvidia unveiled the RTX Spark superchip on May 31st ahead of its GTC Taipei event, and right before Computex 2026. The device packs a 20-core Arm-based Grace CPU and a Blackwell RTX GPU on a single package and points it at the one corner of computing where the company has never had a foothold: the Windows PC.

The chip carries up to 128GB of unified memory, a claimed 1 petaflop of AI compute, and 6,144 CUDA cores, and it ships this fall in laptops and compact desktops from ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Microsoft Surface, and MSI, with Acer and GIGABYTE to follow. Microsoft is named as a co-developer, not just an OS supplier, having built new Windows security primitives to run on-device AI agents alongside Nvidia's OpenShell runtime. Branded as RTX Spark, it’s the chip the industry has spent three years calling N1X.

"For forty years, you launched apps. Click. Type. With RTX Spark and Microsoft Windows, you ask, and the PC does the work," said CEO Jensen Huang. Running 120-billion-parameter LLMs with up to 1 million tokens of context, RTX Spark can render 90GB 3D scenes and play AAA games at 1440p above 100 frames per second, all on a chip whose CPU was half engineered by smartphone SoC vendor MediaTek.

‘A new era of PC’

RTX Spark hasn’t come out of nowhere; it’s the consumer-oriented sibling of the GB10 Grace Blackwell superchip already shipping inside the Linux-based DGX Spark mini-PC, which carries a price tag currently approaching $5,000 due to memory shortage-related pricing pressure. The GB10 pairs a MediaTek-produced Arm CPU complex with a Blackwell GPU on a TSMC 3nm-class node, joined by Nvidia's coherent NVLink-C2C interconnect and fed by a shared 128GB pool of LPDDR5X. RTX Spark takes that architecture and repurposes it for Windows.

We first began to hear about the RTX Spark under its N1X codename back in 2023, when it was reported that Nvidia was developing Arm CPUs capable of running Windows. The chip appeared repeatedly through 2024 and 2025 via the rumor mill, with various delays attributed to factors including Microsoft’s slow next-gen work on Arm and soft notebook demand, pushing a planned second-half-2025 debut into this year.

For eight years, Microsoft's Windows on Arm program ran exclusively on Qualcomm silicon under a partnership that locked out every other chipmaker. Microsoft chose Qualcomm in 2016, and until the deal lapsed, no rival could ship an Arm chip in a Windows PC. Arm CEO Rene Haas confirmed in an interview in January 2024 that Qualcomm's exclusivity with Microsoft would lapse that year, the first on-record acknowledgment from a principal after years of the deal being treated as an open secret. Reuters had reported in 2024 that MediaTek, Nvidia, and AMD were all building Arm Windows chips to enter once the window opened.

Microsoft's role in RTX Spark goes deeper than the Copilot+ certification program it handed Qualcomm, however. The two companies built the agent security stack together at the operating-system level: identity, containment, and policy primitives in Windows, paired with OpenShell's ability to route queries to local models based on a user's privacy rules and to mask personal information in queries sent to the cloud.

Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, said the launch will deliver "unmetered intelligence to every home and every desk with Windows,” an outwardly materially closer integration than the Snapdragon X program ever received.

Windows on Arm

Qualcomm spent its eight years of exclusivity demonstrating that Windows on Arm could work, but failing to make it sell. Snapdragon X laptops moved roughly 720,000 units in the third quarter of 2024, their first full quarter on sale, which Canalys data put at about 0.8% of PC shipments that quarter. ABI Research projected Arm wouldn’t clear 13% of the PC market in 2025. Qualcomm's own counter-figures were heavily conditioned: CEO Cristiano Amon's "more than 10%" share claim, made on the company's Q1 2025 earnings call, covered only U.S. retail Windows laptops priced above $800 in a single quarter.

A big factor behind this lacklustre performance was software issues. Microsoft’s Prism runs x86 apps on Arm, but in our own analysis of Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, we found that professional tools like AutoCAD were unsupported, and games crashed or rendered incorrectly under emulation. The original Snapdragon X pitch leaned heavily on battery life as a huge differentiator, but then Intel's Lunar Lake matched that efficiency, giving buyers long battery life on x86 chips that run every Windows app natively, with no emulation and none of the slowdowns or crashes that came with it. Ultimately, Arm's share of Windows never reached the 50% within five years that Arm and Qualcomm had floated back in 2024.

Two familiar problems

Unlike Qualcomm, Nvidia isn’t selling battery life. RTX Spark's USP is the GPU, CUDA, and the 128GB unified memory pool, hardware aimed at local AI, agents, creators, and gamers rather than all-day portability. Adobe is rearchitecting Photoshop and Premiere for the platform with a claimed two-times uplift in AI and editing workflows, and over 100 Windows software vendors, plus game developers including KRAFTON, NetEase, Remedy Entertainment, Riot Games, and Microsoft Xbox are listed as backing the platform.

Two problems dogged Windows on Arm for nearly a decade that won’t simply disappear with a faster chip, though. First: x86 emulation. Any application without a native Arm build still runs via Prism, and that has meant performance penalties and outright failures across the Snapdragon era.

Nvidia's full CUDA and RTX stack is native, which helps AI and graphics workloads, but says nothing about the long tail of legacy Windows software and peripheral drivers. The second problem is Microsoft itself: its slow progress on the next-gen Windows on Arm platform was cited as a primary cause of the N1X delays, and developers won’t be getting the full picture of the Windows agent features until Microsoft's Build keynote on June 2nd and 3rd, days after the chip was announced.

As for pricing, we’ve got nothing on that yet. The only reference point is the DGX Spark's $3,999 desktop baseline, a figure that’s now approaching $5,000 but also heavily inflated by enterprise networking hardware that consumer-grade devices will omit. That said, LPDDR5X memory costs and TSMC 3nm manufacturing both point toward premium pricing rather than the sub-$700 bracket Qualcomm targeted to broaden Arm's reach.

With the RTX Spark, Nvidia is opening a door that Qualcomm could only pry at, carrying the one asset it never had, and inheriting compatibility and OS dependencies that no amount of compute can resolve on its own.

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon C Platform on May 28th, ahead of Computex 2026 in Taipei, an entry-level Arm processor built to anchor Windows 11 laptops priced from $300. The chip abandons the Oryon CPU cores that define the Snapdragon X family in favor of an older Kryo design pulled from Qualcomm's smartphone parts, runs in machines carrying as little as 8GB of memory, and skips Microsoft's Copilot+ certification. We went hands-on with Snapdragon C at Computex 2026 today.

Meanwhile, analysts from TrendForce, Gartner, and IDC are all warning that a surge in memory prices is making the sub-$500 laptop market financially unviable, which could lead to its disappearance in its entirety.

Kryo cores, not Oryon

The "C" stands for Compute, and the new platform sits beneath every Snapdragon X and X2 part Qualcomm sells. Where those chips use the Nuvia-derived Oryon cores Qualcomm acquired in 2021, Snapdragon C reuses Kryo cores from its phone lineup, the architecture Qualcomm built laptop silicon on before the Oryon transition. Mandar Deshpande, senior director of product management at Qualcomm, told reporters at a pre-launch briefing that the platform "is not built to scale up to the Copilot+ requirements," meaning it clears neither Microsoft's 40 TOPS neural-engine floor nor the 16GB memory minimum tied to the Copilot+ PC program.

Qualcomm has disclosed little else; core counts, clock speeds, neural-engine throughput, the manufacturing node, and the supported memory type were all absent from the announcement, with the company saying it would detail them during its Computex keynote this week. Reported leaks point to a 6nm-class part with eight cores, though none of that is confirmed.

The first machine is Acer's Aspire Go 15. Acer's specification sheet lists a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 display, up to 8GB of memory, up to 512GB of storage, a 53Wh battery, and Windows 11 with a Copilot key but no Copilot+ branding. Acer hasn’t given the laptop a price or a release date, and HP and Lenovo, both named as launch partners, have yet to unveil their own machines.

Memory prices dictate retail prices

Snapdragon C enters a market where memory has arguably become the deciding factor in what a laptop ultimately retails for. TrendForce projects that conventional DRAM contract prices rose 90% to 95% in the first quarter of 2026 and will climb a further 58% to 63% in the second, with mobile DRAM — the LPDDR type Snapdragon C depends on — rising as much as 93% to 98% quarter over quarter.

Meanwhile, Gartner expects combined DRAM and SSD pricing to increase 130% by the end of 2026, lifting average PC prices 17% and pushing memory from 16% to 23% of a typical laptop's bill of materials. Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner, said in a February forecast that the increases have removed vendors' ability to absorb the cost, and that "the sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028." IDC reached a similar conclusion, cutting its 2026 global PC shipment forecast to a decline of 11.3% and warning that bargain-priced PCs are, for now, behind us.

The squeeze is already visible further up the Windows line-up. HP told investors that memory now makes up roughly 35% of its PC bill of materials, up from the mid-to-high teens a quarter earlier, and Lenovo told TechRadar there was "no way around" the price increases it would pass to buyers. Microsoft's cheapest Surface Laptop now starts at $1,149, a position that no longer competes for budget buyers at all, and a significant jump from its original $899 launch price.

A new entry-level tier?

Qualcomm isn’t the first manufacturer to repurpose a binned phone processor; Apple’s $599 MacBook Neo, announced in March, runs the A18 Pro from the iPhone 16 Pro alongside 8GB of unified memory and 256GB of storage in a fanless 13-inch body. That’s the same maneuver Qualcomm is attempting by using Kryo silicon in the Snapdragon C.

Apple claims that the Neo runs up to 50% faster than a comparable Intel Core Ultra 5 laptop and three times faster in on-device AI, but that’s all based on its own internal benchmarks against an unnamed machine. Asus co-CEO S.Y. Hsu, on the company's first-quarter earnings call, called Apple's pricing "a shock to the entire industry."

On the Windows side, Intel launched Wildcat Lake as its Core Series 3 family in April, built on the 18A node with a roughly 17 TOPS neural engine and more than 70 laptop designs in the pipeline. Its Project Firefly reference platform targets sub-$600 x86 machines, and Chinese vendor CHUWI has already shown a Wildcat Lake laptop, the “UniBook,” at $449.

AMD's budget option remains the aging Ryzen 7020 "Mendocino" series, a 6nm part pairing Zen 2 cores with RDNA 2 graphics and no neural engine, with no direct successor yet below $500.

At this level, Qualcomm’s most immediate competition may well be its own back catalog. The Snapdragon X-powered Asus Vivobook 14, with 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, has sold for $379.99 at Best Buy, undercutting the price Snapdragon C is chasing while offering twice the memory and faster Oryon cores.

$300 and up figure is guidance

The $300 figure is guidance Qualcomm shares with manufacturers, not a price it sets, and Acer's refusal to confirm a number for the Aspire Go 15 is arguably an immediate tell that it’s not going to retail anywhere near that price.

With LPDDR5 contract pricing reported above $10 per gigabyte, the memory alone in an 8GB configuration now costs roughly what a whole budget laptop's components once did, and OEMs are passing those costs through. A first wave landing between $349 and $449 in the U.S. is a more realistic price point.

Dropping Copilot+ is, of course, a concession that has made this price possible; buyers lose Recall, Cocreator, and the richer Windows Studio Effects modes, and because Copilot+ has yet to drive measurable Windows upgrade demand, Qualcomm and its partners appear willing to trade the badge for a lower bill of materials.

Whether the platform holds its line depends on the specifications Qualcomm has so far withheld, potentially coming imminently at Computex, and on whether HP and Lenovo ship Snapdragon C machines this year or wait for memory prices to ease.

We've learned a few new details of the Snapdragon C platform at Computex 2026 by opening up a few Windows utilities on a demo unit. Qualcomm's new Snapdragon C Platform is designed to bring more compute performance to a lower price point, but the company has been tight-lipped about the finer details of the chip behind the new $300 and up platform. We managed to see the Snapdragon C chip in the flesh for the first time in the 15" Acer Aspire Go 15 (AG15-Q31P), which was dutifully locked in a glass case to keep the prying eyes of the press at bay. However, we managed to tinker with a unit that was briefly allowed outside of the case by a Qualcomm rep, thus getting access to the Windows Task Manager and System Information utilities.

Qualcomm hasn't shared the specific model of the CPU yet, but we are told that it uses a customized version of the mobile-focused Kryo chips. The Task Manager shows one new tidbit: the CPU comes with an eight-core CPU that was running at 1.67 GHz, but this was at idle - the chip has a listed 3.01 GHz base speed. The Task Manager names this as the Snapdragon 8c Gen 3, a chip that does not exist, but certainly aligns with the basic naming nomenclature of the 8cx Gen 3.

A Qualcomm representative was quite perplexed by this, saying that this is not the official name of the chip and that it is probably a placeholder identity string used by Acer's engineers for the Engineering Sample system (EDIT: Qualcomm has now confirmed this is not the correct name for the processor).

We can also see that the chip sports 512 KB of L1 cache, 1.5 MB of L2, and 2.0 MB of L3, all of which are significantly less than seen with the 8cx variant. It is unclear if those values are also merely placeholders.

Likewise, the integrated GPU is listed as the Adreno 8c Gen 3, featuring 1 MB of dedicated GPU memory and 3.9 GB of shared memory. We can also see that it supports DirectX 12. The System Information utility notes that the system runs Windows 11 Pro and, as expected, is an ARM64-based PC.

The laptop has a 16.5" FHD display with a 16:9 aspect ratio, up to 8 GB of system memory, a 53 Wh battery, and up to 512GB of storage, with the latter two being slim but expected given the price point and current SSD and memory shortages. Additionally, it comes with a FHD webcam.

We also spot two USB-C ports on the side of the unit, but the speeds of these ports are unknown. There's also an HDMI port, a USB-A port, and a headphone jack. It also has support for Wi-Fi 6.

The grey clamshell design is attractive, with a sparkly paint that our Managing Editor Matt Safford likened to the sparkly paint jobs found on a 1980's BMX. The plastic case is rigid, so it doesn't feel like a flimsy low-end system when I snapped the screen open and closed.

As we noted in our original coverage of the Acer Aspire Go 15, the keyboard sports a Copilot+ key even though representatives have confirmed this device does not meet that standard due to its 8 GB of memory (16 GB is required). The Go 15 has a full-sized keyboard replete with a slim numpad, which I consider a big plus.

Neither Acer nor Qualcomm have shared performance projections yet for the new system, but we see that it has active cooling with a single fan nestled under the exhaust vents on the bottom of the machine, with some of the copper in the cooling subsystem also peeking through. We also see three exhaust ports on the base of the machine facing toward the screen.

Acer hasn't shared pricing yet, but we certainly expect this system to land in the "and up" part of the expected Snapdragon C Platform's "$300 and up" target market.

Microsoft has just announced the Surface Laptop Ultra, powered by Nvidia’s latest RTX Spark Superchip for laptops and desktop PCs, at Computex 2026. Claimed to be the most powerful Surface laptop device yet, the new Surface Laptop Ultra is essentially Microsoft’s answer to the current-gen MacBook Pro. The company has positioned the notebook primarily for AI development but also for creators and developers who seek powerful performance in a portable package.

Made in collaboration with Nvidia, the Surface Laptop Ultra will be one of the first devices featuring the RTX Spark Superchip. Nvidia’s new Windows on Arm platform is claimed to be more powerful and capable than any other on the market featuring 20 Arm CPU cores, a Blackwell GPU with 6144 CUDA cores, 128GB of unified LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 300 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The CPU and GPU are interconnected using NVLink C2C, while the large pool of unified memory can be dynamically allocated between the CPU and GPU. Offering up to 1 petaflop of AI compute, the RTX Spark is capable of running up to 120B parameter models locally.

As for the device itself, the new Surface Laptop Ultra will feature a 15-inch mini-LED PixelSense Ultra display with a resolution of 2880 x 1920, offering 262 pixels per inch. Microsoft claims that it can reach up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness, which should be excellent for creators on the go. It also features a large haptic touchpad along with a good selection of ports, including HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, SD card reader, and a headphone jack. Weighing under just 4.5 pounds, it will be available in Platinum (silver) and Nightfall (black) color options. Microsoft claims all-day battery life on the laptop and an optimized internal layout with dual-fans to maintain proper thermals for sustained performance.

The new Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra is expected to arrive later this year, with final pricing and availability to be announced closer to launch. With the ongoing RAM-apocalypse, it seems like a smart move by Microsoft to adopt Nvidia’s new Arm platform with unified memory. Beyond reducing the need for large pools of dedicated system and graphics memory, the architecture should also help improve efficiency and enable larger AI models to run locally without relying heavily on cloud resources. If Nvidia's performance claims hold up in real-world workloads, the Surface Laptop Ultra could emerge as one of the most compelling Windows alternatives to Apple's MacBook Pro for AI developers, content creators, and power users alike.

Nvidia is transforming Windows into an agentic AI platform at Computex 2026. During his keynote, CEO Jensen Huang revealed the RTX Spark: a Windows on Arm platform for laptops powered by the company's RTX Spark Superchip. The company boldly claims that this platform is “the most efficient ever built,” and it’s throwing its full weight into building a first-class Windows on Arm experience for what it envisions as the next frontier of personal computing.

Nvidia says AI agents are already shaping a new mode of interaction with PCs. Instead of relying on the same mouse and keyboard inputs that have defined personal computing for 40 years, the company sees AI agents as a new interface that will let users command their systems and find information with natural language.

And once those agents have their marching orders, they’ll need to set goals, call tools, evaluate the quality of their work, and refine it, potentially using local and cloud AI models to achieve those ends. Agents might also continue working on long-running tasks even when the user is away from their system or overnight. That all requires powerful, efficient hardware and lots of local memory.

To power all this AI reasoning in the new era of computing it envisions, Nvidia is unleashing the RTX Spark Superchip, a Windows on Arm platform more powerful and capable any other on the market, and a roadmap for the Spark family outlining the next three generations of technology.

At full strength, this chip offers up to 20 Arm CPU cores, a Blackwell GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores, 128GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and up to 300 GB/s of memory bandwidth. That powerful CPU and GPU, connected over NVLink C2C, and the large memory pool give AI agents and 120-billion-parameter models plenty of power and space for long-running tasks with context lengths stretching to a million tokens, according to Nvidia.

RTX Spark will power high-end laptops from partners including Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus, and MSI -- and notably, a new Surface Ultra laptop from Microsoft. Nvidia says it’s worked with those partners to create “the most extraordinary laptops [they’ve] ever built,” with tandem OLED G-Sync displays, “all-day” battery life, premium aluminum chassis with large glass touchpads.

Nvidia says that the incredible efficiency of the RTX Spark platform “transforms what a high-performance laptop looks like,” so buyers in the promised agentic AI age will no longer need to choose between high performance or thin chassis with long battery life. RTX Spark PCs will also deliver similar performance whether plugged in or unplugged, as we’ve come to expect from other Windows on Arm and Apple Silicon-powered systems.

RTX Spark will also bring this agentic Windows on Arm experience to compact, powerful desktops in the vein of the DGX Spark. In total, Nvidia expects over 30 laptops and “10 or so” desktops to lead the charge when the platform launches.

In addition to its agentic AI chops, Nvidia positions the RTX Spark Superchip as a creative and gaming powerhouse. The company promises the platform is good for “100 FPS 1440p gaming,” potentially enabled by DLSS 4.5 upscaling and Multi Frame Generation. And its large memory pool means creators can work with massive 3D projects and ultra-high resolution video files like 12K 4:2:2 content without running out of resources.

To further the RTX Spark platform’s creative chops, Nvidia says it’s working with Adobe to rebuild the core of Photoshop, transforming it into a 100% GPU-accelerated application for RTX Spark. Those updates will enable new generative workflows, high-dynamic-range editing, and more natural brushing for artists.

And Premiere is also getting a core overhaul that’s claimed to enable faster and more sophisticated AI workflows, editing, color, and effects. Adobe will also expose Model Context Protocol controls for AI agents to harness its products.

In partnership with Microsoft, Nvidia is also helping to transform Windows into an agentic platform with its OpenShell framework and a “new set of security primitives” that form a set of guardrails, ensuring that local agents and models only have access to the tools and data the user grants them access to. Nvidia says Microsoft will reveal more details of this agentic AI transformation at its upcoming Build conference.

RTX Spark systems will begin arriving in the fall of 2026, and we can't wait to dig into them to see whether Nvidia's backing will truly transform the Windows on Arm experience for the agentic AI era - or just make for a really great PC platform. Stay tuned.

Dell has finally brought back the XPS 13, its famed system that introduced the InfinityEdge display and was once widely considered the best Windows laptop on the market. This time, though, the device is facing a very different market, and Dell is using it to target Apple's MacBook Neo and the newfound battle for the entry-level PC market.

The XPS 13 will start at $699, with a $599 deal for students 16 years and older, "for the back to school season." That's competitive for the specs, but $100 more than Apple's pricing on the Neo (and Apple's student pricing is year-round).

For that, you get Dell's thinnest and lightest XPS laptop to date, starting at 2.2 pounds and 0.5 inches thin, lighter than the Neo (2.7 pounds). The system has a CNC aluminum shell. Unlike the Neo, Dell is offering a backlit keyboard, albeit with a shallow 0.8 mm of travel (Dell is moving back to chiclet keys on this machine, which I appreciate). The company is also using a standard mechanical trackpad, like Apple has opted for. There will be just two color options, "sky" and "storm," with the latter coming sometime after launch.

But Dell is offering far more performance options here. The base models will use Intel's new "Wildcat Lake" processors, specifically the Core 5 320, but it will also offer the Panther Lake-based Core Ultra 7 355 sometime after launch.

While the XPS 13 will start with 8GB of RAM like the Neo, Dell will offer options up to 32GB. The Wildcat Lake options will be single-channel and go up to 16GB, while the Core Ultra configurations will have 16 and 32GB options in a dual-channel configuration. Meanwhile, storage will range from 256GB up to 1TB. As of this writing, we don't have pricing for the additional configuration options, but they'll likely push pricing far higher than Apple.

The XPS 13 boasts a 13.4-inch, 2560 x 1600 touchscreen display, making it larger than the Neo's 13 inches with the addition of touch, which Apple isn't currently offering. Dell's screen also offers a variable refresh rate panel between 30 Hz and 120 Hz.

The new XPS 13 is limited on port selection. While a pair of USB-C 3.2 Gen-2 ports will be fine for most people, a headphone jack would be a nice addition. Dell boosted these ports to Thunderbolt 4 on the Core Ultra versions.

The initial $699 starting configuration will include a Core 5 320, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD storage, the 2560 x 1600 touch screen. Dell tells us future configurations, in some regions, will have a 256GB SSD, which suggests the price could eventually go a little lower.

Dell is inviting the MacBook Neo comparisons. In a blog post, the company calls it out by name, calling it a "capable machine." But the company also says its XPS is a superior device: "Where Dell differs is what we think premium means at this price point and what we were willing to build to deliver it," the post reads.

The company points out that the XPS 13 is lighter than the Neo, has faster USB ports, a touch screen, and more configuration options that make it more powerful (albeit likely at a much higher price). We'll have to see if that will make students and young professionals choose Windows, or if Apple's ecosystem still proves a draw.

It's great to see Dell get into the mid-range segment with a premium device, rather than relying on its Inspirons. We're looking forward to testing one when it releases in June.

The Yoga Slim 7x (starts at $1,049; $1,579 as tested) is Lenovo’s latest take on a premium ARM ultraportable, aiming to deliver standout performance and battery life with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite under the hood. Paired with a comfy keyboard, an OLED touch panel, and a sharp webcam, and this is a slick overall package provided you’re not reliant on x86 apps. Also prepare to pack a few adapters, as USB-C is the only port in town.

Design of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo’s dark blue aluminum chassis feels premium and impressively rigid. The Slimi 7x didn’t creak or bend when I picked it up by a corner or the lid. (It’s not wise to pick up a laptop like that, but it happens.) Aesthetically, it offers an upscale, modern look though it doesn’t stand apart from the crowd outside its uncommon color.

At 12.28 x 8.7 x 0.55 inches (WDH) and 2.58 pounds, the Slim 7x has a slightly larger footprint but ducks under the weight of the 13-inch MacBook Air (11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches, 2.7 pounds). Dell’s XPS 14 is heavier but slightly trimmer (12.19 x 8.26 x 0.58 inches, 3 pounds). Lenovo’s own Yoga Slim 7i (13.54 x 9.27 x 0.55 inches, 2.15 pounds) is slightly larger but noticeably lighter.

Port selection is limited to just three USB4 ports. There’s not even a headphone jack, so be prepared to take adapters. The power button and the webcam privacy shutter e-switch are on the right edge.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Specifications

Productivity Performance on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

We tested the Yoga Slim 7x with its top CPU, the Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100. It features 18 cores, 6 of which are high-performance, and boosts up to 4.7 GHz on two cores. The system also features 32GB of onboard memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.

Our comparison systems match the performance focus of this system. Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air ($1,299) uses a 10-core M5, followed by two 14-inch laptops: Dell’s XPS 14 ($2,199) leverages a Core Ultra X7 358H while Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition ($1,629) uses a Core Ultra 7 355. Asus’ 16-inch Zenbook A16 ($1,699) fills the last spot using an even higher grade of CPU than our Slim 7x – the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100, which boasts 18 cores like the X2E-88-100 but offers a wider 192-bit (as opposed to 128-bit) memory bus for 228GB/s versus 152GB/s of bandwidth.

On Geekbench 6, the Slim 7x’s single-core score (3,822 points) was practically tied ith Asus (3,807), leaving only the MacBook Air with a higher score (4,168). The Intel-based systems were left well behind. The Slim 7x also produced impressive multi-core results, though its 20,563 points weren’t in the same league as the Asus (22,733), which uses the X2 Elite Extreme.

The Slim 7x made an excellent showing in our 25GB file transfer test, averaging 1,934.78 MBps to tie the MacBook Air (1,924.84 MBps) and land ahead of the Asus (1,744.38 MBps). The XPS 14 trailed the group (1,419.76 MBps).

On Handbrake, the Slim 7x completed the 4K to 1080p video transcoding in 2 minutes and 11 seconds, just three seconds slower than the Asus and easily outgunning the others – Apple finished in 4:41 while the Slim 7i trailed at 5:56.

To stress test the CPU in laptops, we run 10 loops of Cinebench 2026. The system started with a score of 5,926 but dropped to 5,168 on the second run, where it stayed within a few points for the remaining runs. During the test, the P2 cores ran at an average of 3.34 GHz while the P1 cores ran at 3.94 GHz.

Graphics on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

We run 3DMark Steel Nomad to gauge raw graphics horsepower. The Slim 7x’s Adreno X2-90 GPU scored 1,115 points, just behind the Asus (1,262) featuring the same silicon and bested Apple’s M5 integrated solution (1,005). The XPS 14, however, easily took the top spot with 1,446 points thanks to the potent Arc B390 graphics solution built into its Core Ultra X7 358H. The Slim 7i stood way in the back with just 513 points.

Display on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Our Yoga Slim 7x comes with a 1920 x 1200 OLED touch panel. It offers a pleasant picture overall, but isn’t a standout due to its modest brightness – an all-white screen barely makes me want to squint in a dim room. Watching Star Wars: Andor, the stormtroopers’ armor and blaster bolts didn’t pop with the intensity I expected. Colors, however, look rich, and space scenes show off OLED’s trademark inky blacks. The 60Hz refresh rate is par for the course. On the plus side, touch input feels smooth and responsive against the solid glass surface.

Lenovo offers a 2880 x 1800 OLED panel on higher-end configurations, which offers nearly twice the HDR brightness (1,100 versus 600 nits) and a 120 Hz variable refresh rate. (This panel was featured in the Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition we reviewed.)

The OLED panel on the Slim 7x offers complete coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut, matching its stablemate, the Slim 7i. Its 321-nit peak brightness, however, isn’t impressive next to the Slim 7i’s 476 nits. Not even the IPS-equipped MacBook Air matches the latter.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo nailed the Slim 7x’s keyboard. The 1.5 mm key travel provides enough movement for your fingers to clearly tell when the key has reached the top or bottom of a stroke. The keys feel springy and snap back with a satisfying sound. Keycaps are slightly scooped with an 0.3 mm dish to help orient your fingers to the center of the key. I felt immediately comfortable on this keyboard, hitting 123 words per minute with 99% accuracy in MonkeyType on the first try. White backlighting, toggled with Fn + spacebar, provides excellent visibility.

Lenovo’s touchpad is also first-rate. Its matte surface is large relative to the 14-inch display. Physical clicks – this is a mechanical pad, not haptic – feel precise, require just the right amount of effort, and aren’t too loud.

Audio on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

The Slim 7x produces decent audio, with enough volume and fullness that you won’t regret forgetting your headphones. Clarity is a bit muffled by default, but enabling the Detailed equalizer in the Dolby Access app goes a long way towards addressing that, sharpening the soundstage.

Listening to William Black’s “Bleed 4 U”, I heard good separation between vocals and instruments, though the bass drop wasn’t that satisfying due to the lack of low-end response. This followed into Star Wars: Andor where explosions and footsteps didn’t quite have the impact for an immersive experience. Overall, though, two people in a quiet room can be easily entertained by this setup.

Upgradeability of the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Four Torx T6 screws secure the Slim 7x’s bottom cover, with the front screws (below the palm rest) shorter than the rear ones. I used a plastic trim tool to pop the clips around the perimeter, starting in the speaker cutouts. The panel still felt stuck after I did this – it turned out a foam pad in the center had some adhesive on it. A gentle lift with my fingertips finally broke it free.

As Snapdragon laptops use nearly all soldered or integrated components, upgradeability is limited – here, just the M.2 2230 SSD and the battery can be changed out.

Battery Life on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Our battery rundown test sets the screen brightness at 150 nits while the system runs web browsing, streaming video, and light OpenGL tests while connected to Wi-Fi. The Slim 7x was in a class of its own, lasting 19 hours and 25 minutes. The next longest-lasting units were the Slim 7i (16:38) and the MacBook Air (15:28). The Asus lasted just 10:26 despite also using the same capacity battery as the Slim 7x.

Not shown in the charts, we tested a second version of the XPS 14 without the OLED screen and with a standard Core Ultra 7 355, which ran for an even more impressive 20:41.

Heat on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

We measure laptop surface temperatures while running our 10-loop Cinebench 2026 stress test. Peak surface temperatures on the Slim 7x were 70 degrees Fahrenheit on the touchpad, 87 F between the G and H keys, and 100 F on the underside. The laptop felt only lukewarm to the touch. I could hear the fans running, but they weren’t loud enough to

We’re unable to report chip temperatures since the HWInfo tool we use to collect data doesn’t yet support precise enough monitoring on Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon silicon.

Webcam on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo’s 9MP webcam offers excellent video quality. The 1440p video resolution shows fine details – holding my wrist next to my face a couple feet away, I could read the rather small typeface on my Apple Watch and see the links on my necklace. Noise reduction is also superb, with no noticeable grain even in the shadows below my head. The camera furthermore works well in challenging lighting situations – it managed to expose my face properly despite a bright lamp behind me, which was also exposed properly and didn’t look like a blur.

The camera includes an infrared sensor for facial logins with Windows Hello. There’s no physical privacy shutter, but a switch on the laptop’s right edge disconnects it from the laptop, an arguably more secure solution.

Software and Warranty on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x

Lenovo’s software stack starts with the familiar Vantage app. In addition to software updates, diagnostics, and support access, it features a security advisor which verifies you have antivirus, a firewall, and are connected to a safe wireless network. Available system settings include a battery lifespan protector that caps the charge at 80% and power mode, with adaptive (the default), battery saver, or maximum performance toggles. The app also includes upsells for Lenovo’s Smart Lock and Smart Performance subscription services.

Some unwanted software is present, including a McAfee trial.

Lenovo includes a standard one-year warranty.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Configurations

We tested the Slim 7x with a 1920 x 1200 OLED touch display, Snapdragon X2 Elite X2E-88-100 processor, 32GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. Its retail price was $1,579 from Best Buy, discounted from an $1,849 MSRP.

Models start at $1,049 from Lenovo.com with a Snapdragon X2 Plus X2P-42-100, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, with a step-up $1,449 configuration offering an X2 Elite X2E-80-100 and 32GB of RAM. The range-topping $1,619 model upgrades to the X2 Elite X2E-88-100 and the 2880 x 1800 OLED display, which features a higher brightness rating and 120 Hz variable refresh rate.

The Slim 7x is priced on the lower side of Snapdragon X2 Elite laptops. Best Buy had Asus’ Zenbook A16 for $1,699 with 48GB of RAM. I also saw a 14-inch HP OmniBook Ultra featuring a 3K OLED screen for $2,049.

Bottom Line

Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7x is a compelling case for an ARM laptop. Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite, it pushes performance and battery life to new heights among 14-inch ultraportables. Aside from its USB-C-only approach, it offers standout usability thanks to its comfortable input devices, lightweight design, and crisp webcam. While its OLED touch screen is perfectly usable, the visually discerning will find its optional 2880 x 1800 panel worthwhile.

Competition is tight – Apple’s MacBook Air remains a benchmark while Dell’s XPS 14, and Lenovo’s own Slim 7i offer strong Windows alternatives. But if you’re not tied to x86 software, the Slim 7x’s mix of performance, battery life, and pricing is hard to beat.

Ahead of Computex next week, Nvidia's social media accounts have begun promising "a new era of PC," along with the latitude and longitude of the Taipei Music Center, where CEO Jensen Huang will present his keynote for the event as part of GTC Taipei 2026.

While we don't have any idea exactly what's coming, it's intriguing to see who else is joining in on the game. The Windows X/Twitter account has shared the exact same message as Nvidia's, suggesting that we could see the long-rumored N1X laptop platform make its debut at Computex - and that it could be running Windows on Arm.

For background, N1X has long been rumored to be the mobile variant of the GB10 Superchip at the heart of the DGX Spark mini-PC, which boasts an RTX 5070-class GPU paired with 128GB of LPDDR5X memory and a powerful Mediatek-designed 20-core Arm CPU complex.

But the DGX Spark is an Ubuntu Linux-powered AI developer sandbox, not a jack-of-all-trades PC that can seamlessly run Windows apps, as the current crop of Windows on Arm platforms can. If Microsoft is putting its weight behind N1X, that could broaden the appeal of the platform for a more general computing audience by bringing the entire Windows app ecosystem to the platform.

Supporting N1X would also bring a powerful, advanced unified-memory-architecture AI computing platform into the Windows camp. None of Microsoft's other Windows on Arm partners have produced anything nearly as ambitious or powerful an AI foundation as the GB10 Superchip, so N1X laptops could be a major boost for the company's AI ambitions on Windows. Having that class of raw compute at its disposal could certainly inspire Microsoft to create new types of first-party local AI experiences that simply haven't been possible from the current crop of Copilot+ PCs and their relatively limited AI grunt.

But given what we know about GB10 already, the appeal of this type of system could be narrow at first. Because they share the same pool of LPDDR5X memory, the GB10 GPU enjoys just 273 GB/s of raw bandwidth, far less than that offered by more traditional laptops with dedicated GPUs that have their own pools of GDDR memory.

In our own experience, we've found that you can certainly game on GB10, but it's not the platform's strongest suit. So unless there's a major change in the platform's architecture or resources waiting in the wings, N1X PCs will likely need to deliver a new type of experience with their AI potential that's missing from current systems and platform architectures.

And N1X PCs will almost certainly be expensive amid the current silicon crunch. GB10 boxes are all selling for around $5000 by our reckoning, and that's partially because they include an exotic NIC that almost certainly won't make its way into any potential laptops powered by this platform. But massive pools of RAM and large SSDs don't come cheap right now, either, so we're still likely to be looking at pricey partner systems.

A broader product stack than the 128GB GB10 with smaller memory options and lower CPU and GPU resource counts could help make these systems relatively more affordable while still keeping them plenty powerful for local AI.

In short, there's still plenty we don't know about how an N1X-powered AI PC will look, but the fact that Nvidia and Microsoft could be teaming up to make it a Windows on Arm platform is a big deal in itself. We'll be on the ground at Computex 2026 very soon, and we'll report back with details on this potential development as we learn more.

Acer is bringing two new gaming laptops, along with a handful of interesting companion pieces, to Computex 2026.

Headlining the laptops is the Predator Helios 18 AI, packing up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and RTX 5090 mobile GPU. The smaller Acer Nitro 16 tops out lower at a mobile RTX 5070 Ti, but comes with a CPU from AMD: either the Ryzen 9 9955HX, or the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with AMD’s coveted 3D V-Cache. Joining the two flagship devices, which are looking to earn a spot among the best gaming laptops, are a streaming-only handheld called the Nitro Blaze Link, a travel backpack with integrated USB-C laptop charging, and a TKL keyboard boasting an 8,000 Hz polling rate.

The Predator Helios 18 AI is naturally Acer’s flagship device this year, packing top-level specs from Nvidia and Intel. Outside of the main compute, the laptop supports up to 256GB of DDR5 memory (no word on speeds yet), as well as 6 TB of storage, including three PCIe 5.0 NVMe slots. The platform provides Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, including support for Intel Killer DoubleShot Pro, allowing you to leverage the included RJ-45 plug and your normal Wi-Fi connection simultaneously.

Acer unsurprisingly built out the connectivity of the laptop. In addition to an RJ45 plug (presumably Gigabit, but Acer hasn’t confirmed speed yet), the Predator Helios 18 AI comes with dual Thunderbolt 5 ports (Type-C), two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, HDMI 2.1, a full-sized SD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The laptop is large, coming in at 15.8 inches wide and 12.1 inches tall, with a thickness of 0.68 inches at the thinnest point and 1.2 inches at the thickest. It’s heavy, as well, clocking in at 7.7 pounds, partially due to the 99 Wh battery.

Rounding out the laptop is an 18-inch 4K mini-LED display with a resolution of 3840 x 2400 (16:10). Acer claims the panel can reach 1,000 nits, and it allows you to switch between 4K and 1080p resolutions, either at 120 Hz for 4K or 240 Hz for 1080p. The display supports Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus to leverage the integrated GPU when you’re away from the charger. Powering audio is an array of six speakers under Acer’s Predator Vox branding, along with support for DTS:X Ultra.

On the key deck, Acer is offering a mechanical keyboard with its Predator MagKey 4.0 switches, allowing you to swap key caps on some switches. You can also deck out the lighting with per-key RGB. Acer hasn’t announced pricing or availability for the laptop yet, but given the current state of DRAM and NAND prices, the Helios 18 AI will likely start at several thousand dollars.

The Acer Nitro 16 is smaller in both size and specs, but it still packs in some powerful hardware. Taking the CPU slot is either the Ryzen 9 9955HX or 9955HX3D, the latter of which we’ve only seen in a handful of devices. The Nitro 16 doesn’t support an RTX 5090, but Acer is still offering the laptop with up to an RTX 5070 Ti mobile GPU with 12GB of GDDR7 VRAM.

Compared to the Helios 18 AI, everything is more sensible. You can pack up to 32GB of DDR5-5600 memory, and up to 2 TB of storage across two PCIe 4.0 slots. Connectivity is still decent with a USB 4 Type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a single USB 2.0 port, HDMI 2.1, a microSD card slot, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and an RJ-45 connector. Wireless connectivity is still provided through an Intel chipset, sporting Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.

For the display, you get a 16-inch 2560 x 1600 (16:10) panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate, with claimed response times of 3 ms, alongside Nvidia G-Sync and Advanced Optimus. Acer includes two speakers with DTS:X Ultra, alongside a Full HD webcam. Like the Predator Helios 18 AI, we don’t have pricing or availability details for the Nitro 16 yet, but Acer describes it as “a value-driven powerhouse,” so hopefully it won’t be too expensive.

Acer Nitro Blaze Link, Aethon 750 TKL, and Robust Plus

Alongside the two laptops, Acer revealed a handful of new companion devices. Chief among them is the Nitro Blaze Link, which is a streaming-only handheld that’s designed to work on your home network. The handheld uses the streaming clients Sunshine or Moonlight on top of a Debian-based OS to stream games from your main rig. The handheld isn’t capable of running games locally (at least not officially). Acer hasn’t shared what chip is powering the handheld, but with just 1 GB of LPDDR4-2133 and 8 GB of eMMC flash storage, you shouldn’t expect much.

Without any real compute under the hood, the Nitro Blaze Link is light at only 464 grams, or just a smidge over 1 pound. It charges with just 15W over USB-C and includes a single-cell 18 Wh battery, alongside a Wi-Fi 6 antenna. The screen is a 7-inch 1920 x 1200 display with five-point multi-touch, and you get a pair of built-in 2W speakers. Again, Acer hasn’t shared pricing or availability for the Nitro Blaze Link.

Outside of mobile devices, Acer has the Aethon 750 TKL and Robust Plus backpack. The Aethon 750 TKL is described as a “tournament-grade keyboard,” matching the specs we’ve seen from devices from brands like Razer and Logitech, among the best gaming keyboards. The TKL keyboard features three modes of connectivity, including wired, 2.4 GHz, and Bluetooth, and it comes with a speedy 8,000 Hz polling rate.

Finally, there’s the Predator Robust Plus backpack, which is, well, a backpack that can fit up to an 18-inch laptop. It looks robust enough, pun intended, but the unique offering is an integrated passthrough cable for charging your devices from an external power bank. There are plenty of backpacks with a cable passthrough, but if you want to deck out your travel setup with all Acer gear, you can.

Computex 2026 is just getting underway, and Tom’s Hardware is on the ground in Taipei to check out all of the latest announcements. Hopefully, we’ll be able to see Acer’s latest devices in the flesh, alongside reveals from several other brands.

Best Buy is back with yet another absolute banger gaming laptop discount, this time on an OLED Asus model that's nearly $600 off. Right now, you can score this Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 16" 2.5K OLED 240Hz gaming laptop for just $1,574.99, giving you $575 off.

● Grab this deal at Best Buy

The heart of this gaming laptop is Nvidia's GeForce RTX 5070 GPU, replete with 8GB of VRAM for solid gaming performance. That's paired with the flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 285H Arrow Lake, a blistering CPU for both work and play. Also included are 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a delightful OLED 240 Hz display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600.

There are quite a few headline specs on this build, starting with the aforementioned RTX 5070. Nvidia's mid-range mobile GPU comes with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM, with support for DLSS 4 and the more recent 4.5 update.

The CPU is Intel's Core Ultra 9 285H, with 16 cores (6P, 8E, and 2 LP) and 16 threads, along with a CPU base clock frequency of 2.5 GHz that can boost to 5.4 gigahertz. This blend of power and efficiency should give you good gaming performance while also preserving battery life on the go.

The display is also an eye-catching 2560 x 1600 OLED with a 240Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness.

The 1TB SSD is plenty for storing games, with the 16GB of RAM enough for multitasking. While 32GB would have been ideal, you'll struggle to find a better laptop at this price thanks to this generous discount.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon C Platform today in the runup to Computex 2026. The Snapdragon C (Compute) Platform will power budget laptops designed to compete in the the $300 range, and features a processor based on a custom variant of its Kryo chip architecture that was originally designed for mobile phones. The platform is designed to slot in under the company's higher-performance Snapdragon X chips and runs Windows on Arm, but it notably features an NPU for local AI workloads in this low price tier, whereas most Windows-based Copilot+ laptops with an NPU fall into a higher price tier. However, while the platform supports local AI processing, Qualcomm did confirm that Snapdragon C will not support Copilot+.

Given its low price point, it isn't surprising that the Snapdragon C Platform addresses light workloads for families, small businesses, and students. Utilizing a customized Kyro architecture tailors the chip for long battery life and cool operation, which hints at the option for fanless designs.

While the company hasn't shared any meaningful details about the chip or laptop specifications, we do have a few details from Acer's announcement of its Aspire Go 15 based on the new platform. The Aspire Go 15 will feature 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, though it is unclear if that will represent the high watermark for the new platform. Qualcomm did say that we should expect limited RAM capacity due to increasing memory pricing, a side-effect of the ongoing shortages.

Naturally, at around $300, these chips will compete with Chromebooks powered by Intel's N-Series and Mediatek's Kompanio series. AMD also competes in this pricing tier with its Medocino processors.

“As costs rise and customer expectations evolve, Snapdragon C brings together value oriented computing, all-day battery life, AI capabilities and responsive performance in cool-quiet devices for expanded platform choice,” said Kedar Kondap, Qualcomm's SVP and GM of Compute and Gaming. “We’re delivering modern computing experiences that help our ecosystem reach new audiences and expanding access to reliable, efficient technology for students, families, customer-facing small businesses, and beyond.”

Acer, HP, and Lenovo will launch new laptops based on the chips, but haven't shared firm specifications or launch dates. Qualcomm says it will reveal more details during its Computex 2026 keynote.

Clearly, the affordability and quality of design that Apple’s MacBook Neo delivers struck a nerve with Windows device makers. First, we heard about Intel’s competing low-cost Core Series 3 (Wildcat Lake) platform, and now Qualcomm is jumping in on the low-cost game as well, with the Snapdragon C Platform, announcing first in Acer’s Acer Aspire Go 15.

As of this writing, we know next to nothing about the specs of the Snapdragon C (it’s even unclear whether or not there will be more than one chip). Qualcomm has revealed that the Snapdragon C devices will be priced at $300 and up. But according to Acer’s press release, its Acer Aspire Go 15 will sport a Snapdragon C processor, and sell for a non-specific “entry-tier price point” at an even less-specific “later date.”

But we do have a few photos of the new laptops, and Acer is clearly taking jabs at Apple with the proclamation that its laptop sports “dual full-function USB Type-C ports and an HDMI port.” You’ll also get twice the storage of the baseline Apple Neo, at 512GB, but you’ll have to live with 8GB of RAM, just like, well, probably all entry-level laptops at this point – at least until someone tries to get away with 4GB again.

The Aspire Go 15 will run Windows 11 Home, have a 1920 x 1080 (16:9) display, a 1080p webcam, and a 53 Wh battery. Interestingly, the laptop will still sport a Copilot key, despite just 8GB of RAM. And at least in Acer’s announcement, there’s no mention of TOPSs. Something might have changed since 2024, but Qualcomm has seperately confirmed that Snapdragon C will not support Copilot+.

The Swift Spin 14 AI is a convertible, not a modern washing machine setting

The other Qualcomm-based laptop that Acer is announcing at Computex combines two of its sub-brands, the Swift and the Spin, resulting in the Swift Spin 14 AI. Rather than the most-marketed setting on a 2026-model Maytag washer, the Swift Spin 14 AI is a convertible laptop powered by either a Snapdragon X2 Elite, or an X2 Plus processor, both with 80 TOPS of local AI capabilities. So this model will be decidedly pricier than the Aspire Go 15.

With up to 12 CPU cores, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage, its 65 Wh battery is said to deliver up to 23 hours of video playback, or 16.5 hours of web browsing. The cobalt blue aluminum shell certainly stands out, and the included 100W PD adapter should make for very fast charging.

The 16:10 IPS display delivers 1920 x 1200 resolution at a rating of 300 nits, and the laptop makes room for an internally stored stylus, while weighing in at 2.95 pounds. Price had yet to be determined at the time of writing, but Acer says the Swift Spin 14 AI will be available in starting in July Europe, Middle East, and Africa, in August in North America, and a less-specific Q3 in Australia.

There’s no better feeling than upgrading your gaming experience. Now, imagine transforming your setup with the latest toys while enjoying unbeatable savings. If you're a mobile gamer, the XPS 16 and Alienware 16 Area-51 are up to 26% and 20% more affordable, saving you $900 and $1,000, respectively. If you're not fond of dragging your gaming system around, you can save up to $950 on Dell's Alienware Aurora gaming desktop.

• Check out the XPS 16 deal on Dell
• Check out the Alienware 16 Area-51 deal on Dell
• Check out the Alienware Aurora deal on Dell

The Dell XPS 16 is a formidable, premium laptop with attributes that will appease even the most demanding consumer. The device features a Core Ultra 9 285H, a 16-core chip with a 5.4 GHz clock speed, and a GeForce RTX 5060 to deliver delightful gaming performance. The 16.3-inch 2K (1920x1200) display with a refresh rate between 30 Hz and 120 Hz and a maximum brightness of 500 nits delivers beautiful visuals and buttery-smooth gaming.

The laptop's other features aren't anything to sneeze at, either. Along with a performant processor and graphics card combo, the XPS 16 also wields 32GB of LPDDR5X-7567 memory and a 1TB M.2 SSD. There's also a six-cell 99.6 Whr battery that guarantees up to 27 hours of battery life while streaming.

Dell's Alienware portfolio has some of the fastest gaming laptops. The Alienware 16 Area-51 fits the bill if you need a no-nonsense gaming laptop. The device's impressive feature set starts with a high-performance Core Ultra 9 285K, a processor with 24 cores and a boost clock speed that eclipses 5.7 GHz. On the graphics side, the GeForce RTX 5080 is more than enough firepower to drive that 16-inch WQXGA (2560x1600) display at 240 Hz.

The gaming laptop really doesn't compromise on any aspect. There's 32GB (2x16GB) of DDR5-6400 memory and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, both of which are upgradeable. Other noteworthy features include a six-cell 96 Whr battery, keyboard with per-key AlienFX RGB lighting, and speedy Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 connectivity.

Alienware's Aurora desktop is a fan favorite among pre-built gaming systems. The variant on sale comprises a Core Ultra 9 285K processor with a top-tier GeForce RTX 5080 graphics card. If that weren't enough, the gaming PC also wields 64GB (2x32GB) of DDR5-5200 memory and a 2TB M.2 SSD.

Keeping the Core Ultra 9 285K's temperatures under control is a 240mm liquid cooler with AlienFX lighting. Meanwhile, a 1000W 80 Plus Platinum-certified power supply ensures the system has all the power it needs and provides headroom for future upgrades.

There are countless Dell products currently on sale, so there's something for every enthusiast. However, if you're looking for the top gaming deals, the XPS 16, Alienware 16 Area-51, and Alienware Aurora are the first ones to come to mind. Don't miss your chance to improve your gaming and drop by Dell's online store to take advantage of the limited-time deals.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

If you're in the market for a monster gaming laptop that wil serve you just as well on the go as it will at home, then Best Buy's $1,000 discount on this eye-catching Lenovo Legion Pro 5i might be the deal for you. Right now, you can score this 16-inch laptop, replete with one of Intel's top Arrow Lake mobile processors, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and Nvidia's RTX 5070 for just $1,749 at Best Buy. That's down from its usual price of $2,749 and even brings you within spitting distance of the savings we saw on this same model last year, pre AI-price crunch.

● Grab this deal at Best Buy

The CPU that powers this laptop is the excellent Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX. This 24-core beast has eight performance cores and 16 efficiency cores, with max boost clocks of up to 5.4GHz. Overall, given the current state of the PC market, this is an excellent gaming laptop at a very enticing price, just $150 more than when we saw it in October last year. While those prices are a thing of the past (and unlikely to return soon), this is one of the best gaming laptop deals we've seen in some time.

While we haven't reviewed this specific model of Lenovo Legion laptop, we have reviewed its big brother, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10, which features many of the same specs and a few key differences. One of the most impressive aspects of this laptop is the OLED display. You're getting the same 16-inch OLED panel with 2560 x 1600 resolution, which performs very well in testing versus rivals, as you can see from our benchmarks below.

Crucially, the model on sale is "only" 165Hz refresh rate, rather than the 7i's 240Hz. The screen is rated for 500 nits of brightness.

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX features in not one but two of our best gaming laptop picks, including the best choice overall, the Razer Blade 18, so you know you're getting a great CPU that can handle productivity and games alike. The RTX 5070 comes with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM and should make light work of most games at this resolution.

As mentioned, you also get 1TB of SSD storage and 32GB of DDR5 5600 RAM. Connectivity-wise, there's one HDMI 2.1 port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, three USB-A 3.2 ports, and a single USB-C 3.2 port (four total). There's also a headphone jack and a microphone, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi 7, as well as an Ethernet port. Finally, there's a 5MP webcam.

This would make a fantastic gaming companion or a college laptop for a student who can also support a bit of downtime on the sides. As noted, this is a really excellent discount on a great all-around gaming laptop.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5i can be bought from Best Buy online or collected in store, but you'll want to move fast to secure one at this excellent price.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

HP is embracing Memorial Day this year with some excellent deals across its range of gaming laptops and desktop PCs. There's a massive saving to be had on a powerful HP gaming laptop with the very impressive RTX 5080 laptop GPU inside. HP has slashed the price of this HP Omen Max 16 (Model: 16-ah0097nr) laptop, fitted with an RTX 5080, down to just $2,699.99 right now, netting you a massive $1,100 saving off the original list price.

● Check out this HP laptop deal

The main selling point of this HP laptop is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU that sits inside. This powerful mobile version of the RTX 5080 packs a punch and comes with 16GB of speedy GDDR7 VRAM and 7,680 CUDA cores. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor is also a great gaming and productivity CPU, and along with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD, the Omen 16 is more than up to the task of blasting through your favorite game titles.

Our HP Omen Max 16 laptop review highlighted the excellent performance of the Omen Max 16, especially the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU in productivity workloads. Whether we were surfing the web, copying a large group of files, or transcoding a video, the results were speedy.

This is a gaming laptop with several niche features. There's a full-size keyboard with per-key RGB lighting, along with NKRO anti-ghosting tech, liquid metal cooling, a vapor chamber for improved cooling, and built-in wireless connectivity for select HyperX peripherals (no need for the dongles). You're also getting plenty of ports here, with two USB-A and two USB-C ports, along with HDMI 2.1, DisplayPort 2.1, and Ethernet connections.

The $2,699.99 sale price for this HP Omen Max 16 gaming laptop is a big chunk of change, but given how expensive the market has transitioned to with the rising costs of memory and storage, this deal isn't too bad. A hefty $1,100 saving isn't to be sniffed at, so if you're looking for a gaming laptop upgrade or a portable desktop replacement, then you might want to consider this deal. If you want to see more deals, you can save up to 72% on gaming PCs, laptops, and monitors in HP's Memorial Day sale.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

No two Chromebooks are made the same. While some target cost-conscious buyers, others aim to deliver the most premium experience that a Chromebook can offer. Lenovo’s Chromebook Plus is the perfect example of the latter. At its regular price of $999, the Chromebook Plus represents a significant investment. However, with a generous 30% discount to bring the price down to just $699, it suddenly becomes a very attractive option. Best Buy is also selling more Chromebooks at amazing prices.

• Check out the Lenovo Chromebook Plus deal on Best Buy

Starting from the inside out, the Chromebook Plus leverages Mediatek’s Kompanio Ultra 910, the flagship processor for Chromebooks. The high-end Arm-based chip features an octa-core hybrid architecture with clock speeds up to 3.6 GHz. It has more than enough firepower for your everyday activities.

ChromeOS is popular because of its lightweight nature and minimal hardware requirements, but having decent hardware can improve your experience. Lenovo paired the Kompanio Ultra 910 processor with 16GB of LPDDR5X-8533 memory and 256GB of UFS 4.0 storage. The latter may not sound like a lot if you were using Windows. Still, it's actually a lot of headroom for installing programs and storing data on ChromeOS, since the operating system requires 16GB of storage.

The Chromebook Plus offers a 14-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) OLED display. It also has a 60 Hz refresh rate, a maximum brightness of 400 nits, and HDR 500 True Black for beautiful visuals, whether you're streaming your favorite movies or doing some light photo editing. The Chromebook Plus also features a 5-megapixel webcam and a dual-microphone array, an ideal combination for video conferencing or online classes.

Best Buy usually sells the Chromebook Plus for $999, and even on Lenovo’s official site, the device retails for $849.99 with occasional discounts and promotions. However, with 30% savings that slash the price tag to $699, this Chromebook Plus deal is simply too good to pass up if you've already decided to pick up a Chromebook as your next purchase.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Great news for Apple MacBook lovers, as Best Buy has two fantastic Apple MacBook deals going on at the same time during its Memorial Day sales event. You can save a huge $300 off the 13-inch MacBook Air with M4 chip and 24GB of RAM, paying only $1099. Or, you can opt for the very latest 15-inch Apple MacBook Air with the impressive M5 processor for just $1149, saving $150 off the $1299 price. Both laptops are available in Midnight, Silver, Sky Blue, and Starlight colors with no change in price. So you can choose your favorite without having to compromise.

● Grab this MacBook Air 15 (M5) deal at Best Buy
● Grab this MacBook Air 13 (M4) deal at Best Buy

Apple's latest M5 chip, incorporated in this 15-inch MacBook Air, uses a 10-core CPU and a 10-core GPU with incremental gains in speed and performance over the previous M4-generation of MacBook products. This slimline laptop also packs in Apple’s N1 wireless chip for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6 connectivity, along with a 15-inch Liquid Retina display, a 12MP center stage camera, and Touch ID.

This MacBook Air M4 on sale is the 13-inch model, a very similar construction to the newer M5 variant, with minor differences in CPU and GPU cores and performance. You also get a substantial increase in memory with the 24GB of onboard unified RAM.

Despite being supplanted by the newer M5 chip, the M4 is no slouch, and Apple silicon continues to offer some of the best bang for your buck in processing when it comes to battery life, efficiency, and performance. In our benchmark testing, we found the M4 to be very competitive with similarly positioned laptops.

This laptop will chew through pretty much any day-to-day task, and thanks to impressive battery life from the M5 and M4 chips, you can use the laptop for longer when on the go.

In a time when tech and computer prices have astronomically risen. It's nice to see some actual price cuts for a change.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.

Microsoft has just unveiled its latest generation of Surface devices for businesses. The new Panther Lake-powered lineup includes two refreshed machines along with a new entry-level Surface Laptop that somehow costs more than the MacBook Air but features only 8GB of RAM amid the AI gold rush. Let's see what these machines have to offer.

Surface Laptop 13-inch

First, there's the new Surface Laptop 13-inch (1st Edition). This seems to be the same device Microsoft launched last year on the Snapdragon X Elite platform, now incorporating Intel's Panther Lake chips instead. It's a new chassis for the Surface for Business lineup, and it starts at $1,499 with 16GB of RAM and a Core Ultra 5 325 CPU.

There's also an 8GB model planned for later this year that'll cost $1,299 instead. For reference, Microsoft determines that at least 16GB of RAM is required for a PC to be Copilot+ compatible, so the 8GB model of the 13-inch Surface Laptop is not ready for local AI tasks according to the company's own guidelines.

RAMpocalypse or not, it's worth remembering just how limiting 8GB of RAM is in 2026 — even flagship phones get more than that now. Apple's otherwise excellent $600 MacBook Neo was criticized for only featuring 8GB of memory despite its entry-level ambitions, so you can imagine just how risible that spec is for a system at more than double the price.

Anyhow, you get 2x USB-C and 1x USB-A ports, both running at USB 3.2 speeds, and a 3.5mm headphone jack on this laptop. The same Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless connectivity, a 1080p webcam, and up to 22 hours of local video playback. The 13-inch screen is still branded as "PixelSense" but it's only 1080p 60 Hz and has no HDR support. But the laptop is still made out of aluminum, which is to be expected for a device that costs this much.

When do you buy an upgrade for your PC setup?

Surface Laptop 8

The higher-end Surface Laptop 8 comes in two different variants: 13.8-inch and 15-inch. The base 13.8-inch model starts at $1,949, featuring a Core Ultra 5 335 with 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 256GB of PCIe 4.0 storage that's user-replaceable. The 15-inch model starts at $2,149 instead and upgrades the display resolution to 3270x2180, which comes out to 262 PPI versus the 201 PPI you'll get on the 13.8-inch machine.

You can spec out either variant with up to a Core Ultra X7 368H with Arc B390 graphics, a 1TB SSD and 64GB of RAM. The absolute maxed-out model will cost $4,499. For context, you can get the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro with a M5 Max (upgraded to 40-core GPU), 64GB memory, and 2TB of significantly faster PCIe 5.0 storage for $4,599.

The Surface Laptop 8 offers up to 23 hours of "local video playback" on the 13.8-inch model and up to 21 hours on the 15-incher. Apart from the size, both variants have identical displays specs — 120 Hz, 3:2 aspect ratio "PixelSense" IPS touchscreens with a maximum brightness of 600 nits across SDR and HDR content. The 13.8-inch model also gets a software-driven "integrated privacy screen" that can obfuscate content on your screen at an angle, similar to what Samsung has done with its Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Lastly, as mentioned before, the Surface Laptop 8 shares the same design as its predecessor, the Surface Laptop 7, but there's one upgrade under the hood that Microsoft is calling "advanced haptics." The trackpad will now intelligently simulate clicks with tactile feedback, such as steps in a volume slider or snapping windows to corners. Beyond Windows 11, third-party apps can also take advantage of this feature.

Surface Pro 12

Last up is the Surface Pro 12, and it comes in the same 13-inch configuration as the previous Surface Pro 11. It's a 2-in-1 tablet that comes with a detachable keyboard that works with Surface Connect magnets, so you can use your old accessories with it. It also starts at $1,949 and features the same Core Ultra 5 335 CPU and 16GB of memory, along with the removable 256GB SSD.

The specs page says you can upgrade it to a Core Ultra 7 366H, but we didn't see that option in Microsoft's device configurator, nor could we find the 1TB storage or 64GB RAM models. There's an option for an OLED display listed, too, but once again, it's not actually available when you go to buy the device. Instead, the Surface Pro 12 gets a 13-inch version of the same "PixelSense" display you see on the Surface Laptop.

For connectivity, there are 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports and that's it, but there's also Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 support. The Surface Pro has two cameras — a 10-megapixel 4K shooter on the back and a 1440p webcam up front. The battery life is rated at up to 17 hours.

Microsoft is targeting the business and enterprise segment with these new Surface products, so they cost a bit more than their consumer counterparts. These business devices come with extra security features, more thorough remote management, and generally better stability since professionals are supposed to rely on them for critical work. The consumer devices stripped of these extras should be a bit cheaper.

MSI’s Raider 16 Max HX (starting at $2,999) is one of the fastest gaming laptops, featuring an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus CPU and up to an Nvidia RTX 5090. Besides performance, this laptop delivers a vibrant OLED display and lasts much longer on battery than expected.

While it’s missing a mechanical keyboard and could use a faster storage drive, it remains a viable pick if you’ve got the cash – our RTX 5090 review model is priced at a lofty $4,099.

Design of the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

The Raider’s thick chassis, flashy LED lighting, and lid graphics make no attempt to hide its gaming pedigree. The light bar along the front edge of the chassis and the shield logo on the lid back are customizable for effects and colors in the SteelSeries GG app. The laptop pulls off an aggressive look without overdoing it. Ignoring its size, there’s not a lot to attract the eye with the lighting disabled.

Measuring 14.29 by 10.62 by 1.14 inches (WDH), the Raider occupies a similar footprint compared to the Alienware 16 Area-51 (14.37 by 11.41 by 1.12 inches) and Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 (13.94 x 10.55 x 0.90 inches). However, the MSI is easily the lightest of the group, at 5.73 pounds versus Alienware’s 7.49 and Asus’ 6.28 pounds.

The Raider's construction might have something to do with that – while the chassis feels solid enough, it definitely feels plasticky. The lid is aluminum, but it feels thin and flexes more than I expected. At least the lid’s hinges are smooth and sturdy.

MSI’s port selection is practical, with ports on three sides. On the left are two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports and an SD card reader; on the right, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 and an audio jack; and on the back, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, and another USB-A port. The 400 W power brick attaches to a USB-like proprietary connector on the back. The laptop also features a cable lock slot on the left edge. Inside, the Raider utilizes a Killer BE1750 networking card supporting the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 standards.

MSI Raider 16 Max HX Specifications

Gaming and Graphics on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

We tested the Raider 16 Max HX in flagship form, featuring a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, RTX 5090 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM.

Playing F1 24 at 2560 x 1600 with Ultra High settings and DLSS disabled, I saw the game average in the mid to low 90s when monitoring frames per second. The Raider didn’t skip a beat.

The high-end gaming laptops in our comparison lineup include the Alienware 16 Area-51 (Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, RTX 5080 175 W, $4,309), Asus’ ROG Strix Scar 16 (Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5080 175 W, $3,299), and Razer’s last-gen Blade 18 (Core Ultra 9 275HX, RTX 5090 175 W, $5,199). All share the same class of CPU, with our MSI and the Alienware sporting the Arrow Lake Refresh chips, and all use an Nvidia RTX graphics card with a maximum graphics power rating of 175 W.

Our comparisons focus on FPS at 1920 x 1080, but we also included results at each laptop’s native resolution, which was 2560 x 1600 for all except the Razer’s 3840 x 2400.

On Shadow of the Tomb Raider at the Highest detail preset, the Raider’s 197 FPS at 1080p was second only to the Razer (213 FPS) and edged ahead of the Alienware (191 FPS). The Raider produced the best numbers at native resolution, with 134 FPS next to the Alienware’s 116 FPS and the Asus’ 112 FPS. These differences are slight but show that the RTX 5090, which is also present in the Razer, offers a touch more performance than the RTX 5080 found in the Alienware and Asus.

Running Cyberpunk 2077 at the Ray Tracing Ultra preset, the RTX 5090 laptops continued distinguishing themselves, with the Raider again topping the charts. Its 70 FPS was just behind the Razer (74 FPS) but well ahead of the Alienware (63 FPS) and Asus (61 FPS). It maintained that lead at native resolution, producing 42 FPS against Alienware’s 39 FPS and Asus’ 35 FPS.

Moving to Far Cry 6 at the game’s Ultra preset, these laptops produced mostly indistinguishable performance, though the Raider slightly edged ahead of the Alienware and Asus at 1080p.

The Raider continued its strong performance in Red Dead Redemption 2 at Medium settings, where its 130 FPS at 1080p outpaced the Alienware’s 123 FPS but was just shy of Razer’s 132 FPS. Meanwhile, it dominated native resolution, with 90 FPS against the 77 FPS each produced by Alienware and Asus.

Testing Borderlands 3 at the “Badass” preset, the Raider tied with Razer with 189 FPS for the highest 1080p number, clearly surpassing the Alienware (164 FPS) and Asus (156 FPS). This gap is wider than we saw in some of the other games.

MSI’s Raider delivers excellent gaming performance, landing neck-and-neck with the larger Blade 18. Its RTX 5090 delivers marginal but measurable performance advantages over Alienware’s RTX 5080 system, which runs at the same maximum graphics power. That said, the differences might not be noticeable to most gamers; MSI also offers this laptop with RTX 5080 for about $600 less. The RTX 5090’s other differentiator is its larger 24GB frame buffer versus the RTX 5080’s 16GB, though the latter is already more than enough for today’s games.

We stress test gaming laptops running 15 loops of the Metro Exodus stress test at RTX settings. During the test, the Raider averaged 142.3 FPS across all runs with almost no variance, starting the first loop at 143.5 FPS and finishing the final loop at 142.8 FPS. The Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus averaged 4.51 GHz on its P-cores and 2.59 GHz on its E-cores while the RTX 5090’s average boost clock was 1.99 GHz.

Productivity Performance on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

We evaluated the Raider with a Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s notable MSI includes a PCIe 4.0 drive, not a PCIe 5.0 drive as we’d expect in a high-end gaming laptop. (One of its two M.2 slots supports PCIe 5.0 drives, MSI simply doesn’t equip it with a PCIe 5.0 drive.)

In Geekbench 6, these laptops are essentially neck-and-neck, though the refreshed Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus chips in the Raider and Alienware perform marginally better than the Core Ultra 9 275HX in the others. The real-world differences between these chips will likely go unnoticed.

In our 25GB file transfer test, MSI’s Raider performed well below par, with 1,357.93 MBps against the next-fastest Asus, with 1,841.41 MBps, and nowhere near the Alienware’s 2,738.9 MBps.

The Raider bounced back in Handbrake, completing the test in the shortest time at 1 minute and 51 seconds. The Alienware was the next quickest at an even two minutes, with the Razer (2:07) and Asus (2:24) trailing.

Display on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

The Raider’s 2560 x 1600 OLED display is one of its best features, offering a world-class picture for multimedia and everything else. Watching Blade Runner 2049, I noticed subtle creases on K’s trench coat, mesmerizing colors on Joi’s holograph, and the intricate detail in Wallace’s eyes. I also admired the searing brightness of my lightsaber and the feel of total blackness in caves and unlit rooms in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. The 240 Hz refresh rate translates to smooth scrolling and no frame tearing. For immersion in any kind of media, this screen is sure to please.

These laptops use different screen technologies – OLED for the MSI and Alienware and mini-LED for the Asus and Razer. OLED demonstrates better color coverage, with the Raider’s 86.1% higher than Asus’ 81.2% and Razer’s 80% but not quite matching the Alienware’s 93.7%. However, the Raider’s 456-nit peak brightness was much sunnier than the Alienware’s 369 nits and practically tied the Asus and Razer.

In our HDR testing, not shown in the charts, the Raider’s 40% average was 991 nits and 100% average was 600 nits.

Keyboard and Touchpad on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI’s keyboard prioritizes gaming and makes some curious layout choices in the process. There’s no left Fn key, which has been moved next to the arrow keys. Oddly, another slash key is there, too. The MSI Center app allows toggling the Windows key and/or swapping it with the Fn key, but those use to left-handed Fn and Windows key shortcuts will need to adjust.

The arrow keys are full-size but the three-column number pad isn’t, which has a strange layout and tiny keys – it probably should have been left out in favor of dedicated macro or media control keys. Macros can still be configured in the SteelSeries GG app, but nothing beats dedicated keys.

Typing feel is quite satisfying, though, with a crisp keypress, just enough travel, and a rigid deck. I managed 119 words per minute with 99% accuracy in my usual MonkeyType run. A mechanical keyboard might further improve the typing experience; alas, MSI doesn’t offert one on this model, though Alienware does on its Aurora..

Keyboard backlighting is also more than bright enough and customizable in per-key RGB fashion, with patterns and layered effects using SteelSeries GG. In another gaming flourish, the WASD and arrow keys are transparent and appear extra bright.

MSI’s touchpad is also superb. Though it’s top-hinged rather than haptic, it clicks predictably and has plenty of surface area relative to the 16-inch display.

Audio on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI’s built-in speakers satisfy casual listening. User-facing in the screen hinge, they project well even if the laptop isn’t on a solid surface. Bass doesn’t thump but is present, adding a sense of immersion in games and movies. The included Nahimic audio app provides equalizers that make the speakers sound much fuller than they would otherwise be, though beyond enabling the basic preset for Movies, Music, or Gaming, I didn’t hear a benefit to tweaking the other settings, such as bass and treble boost.

In Blade Runner 2049, I could hear the subtle strain in Lieutenant Joshi’s voice as she was being interrogated and the delicate patter of rainfall on the city streets. The Movie equalizer proved useful here, though I disabled the volume leveling feature as it made quiet scenes too loud. I also appreciated the audio in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, from the crunch of my footsteps over rocks to the piercing ignition of my lightsaber.

Upgradeability of the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI simplified the Raider’s upgradeability by housing all common components under a dedicated upgrade panel, secured with two Philips-head screws.

Behind the panel are the two SODIMM slots and two M.2 2280 PCIe slots, making these upgrades simple.

Removing the entire bottom panel is necessary to access the 92 Whr battery and the M.2 2230 wireless card. After removing the Philips-head screws around the edges, all of which are the same length, I found there was one more in the center under the upgrade panel that was hard to spot. Finding a gap between the chassis halves where I could fit my trim removal tool proved challenging, but I was able to make one along the LED lightbar on the front edge. The panel popped free after I freed the clips along the edges.

Battery Life on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

Our battery test consists of web browsing, running OpenGL tests, and streaming videos with the screen at 150 nits while connected to Wi-Fi. The Raider distinguished itself with a commanding time of 8 hours and 34 minutes, over two hours more than the Asus (6:30) and totally outclassing the Alienware’s 3:33.

Heat on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

We measure gaming laptop surface temperatures while running the 15 loops of our Metro Exodus stress test. During the test, the Raider peaked at 87 degrees Fahrenheit between the keyboard G and H keys, 74 F on the touchpad, and 109 F on the underside towards the exhaust vents. Internally, the Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus ran at 75 degrees Celsius across all cores while the RTX 5090 averaged 72 C.

Fan noise is well-controlled on the Raider – while gaming, the laptop’s built-in speakers are able to overpower the fan noise, and the fans are hardly noticeable for everyday tasks.

Webcam on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

MSI’s webcam produces satisfactory video quality. Though its 1080p resolution is the minimum accepted these days, it accurately exposed my face despite the window behind me and didn’t show any grain, even in the shadows of my black t-shirt. The webcam also includes an infrared (IR) sensor for facial logins with Windows Hello and a sliding privacy shutter.

Software and Warranty on the MSI Raider 16 Max HX

Minimal software is included on the Raider. MSI Center provides hardware monitoring, support access, and settings: the Windows key can be toggled and/or swapped with the Fn key, and there’s a toggle for USB power share. The app also provides power profiles for Extreme Performance, Balanced, or Eco (Silent), and features a MUX switch for disabling the onboard graphics.

Tinkering with the keyboard and external lighting is done through the familiar SteelSeries GG app, which sees the Raider as a device. Preset lighting patterns and color themes are included, and the app provides in-depth settings for creating your own, including layered effects.

MSI backs the Raider with a one-year warranty.

MSI Raider 16 Max HX Configurations

MSI offers three Raider 16 Max HX configurations through Micro Center, all of which feature a 240 Hz OLED display, Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The only difference between them is the GPU, with the base RTX 5070 Ti model (B2WJ-002US) commanding $2,999, the RTX 5080 $3,499 (B2WI-003US), and our tested RTX 5090 model $4,099 (B2WH-004US). Our model was discounted to $3,499 at review time.

MSI’s pricing is competitive among RTX 5090 laptops. The ROG Strix Scar 16 was $4,499 directly from Asus, though it included a 2TB SSD. Meanwhile, Alienware’s 16 Area-51 listed at $4,699, though a flash sale temporarily brought it down to $3,699.

Bottom Line

MSI’s Raider 16 Max HX delivers an elite gaming experience in a laptop: its Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus and RTX 5090 push high frame rates with ease, the OLED panel looks superb, and the system stays impressively cool and quiet under load. Customizable lighting and practical connectivity round out its appeal.

At this price, though, a PCIe 5.0 SSD and more premium chassis materials would feel more appropriate. Compared with Alienware’s 16-inch Area-51, the Raider lacks a mechanical keyboard and isn’t quite as showy, but it counters with far better battery life and a noticeably brighter display. All in all, the Raider is a compelling option for anyone with the money to spend on it.

Apple’s MacBook Neo has redefined how we view budget laptops and has easily earned a spot on our list of best laptops. But Windows fans may finally see some competition with their go-to OS. Intel held a Core Series 3 processor (codenamed Wildcat Lake) launch event in China today, and alongside the launch came the announcement of Project Firefly (via ITHome). Project Firefly is an initiative to challenge the MacBook Neo by leveraging China’s efficient smartphone supply chain, allowing manufacturers to mass-produce Wildcat Lake-powered devices at the lowest possible cost.

When it comes to laptops, every vendor does its own thing with design and componentry. Project Firefly aims to revolutionize the process by streamlining laptop design and manufacturing, taking inspiration from the smartphone industry. In the world of smartphones, companies utilize standardized components and modular designs. Project Firefly wants to apply this model to laptops by introducing a universal standard and potentially smaller interfaces that manufacturers can use across different brands and models.

Factories can churn out millions of units with remarkable speed and cost-effectiveness. The new model should significantly drive down research, development, and production costs.

Project Firefly specifically targets the budget segment of the laptop market. Its impact will be noticeable in laptops equipped with Intel’s new Core Series 3 chips, not to be confused with the more premium Core Ultra Series 3 (codenamed Panther Lake) lineup. Announced last month, Wildcat Lake, which is based on Intel’s 18A process node, features between five and six Cougar Cove P-cores, notably without Hyper-Threading support.

Gao Song, Intel’s Vice President and General Manager of Software Engineering and Client Products, took the stage at the Wildcat Lake launch event in China to showcase a Project Firefly reference design laptop. The device immediately turned heads with its vibrant orange exterior, displaying the Intel Color branding on the top cover. The reference model flaunts a lightweight and thin profile (0.43 inches or 11mm) with a minimalist “Clean-D” design, as Intel calls it.

Intel’s partners, including major players like Asus, HP, and Honor, have already begun rolling out their Wildcat Lake-powered laptops in the Chinese market, with pre-tax prices ranging from $571 to $662. Chinese manufacturer Chuwi has also introduced the UniBook, which comes in at an especially aggressive MSRP of $449. However, it’s important to note that while these laptops benefit from the new Wildcat Lake platform, they are not products of Project Firefly. The very first laptop to arrive under Project Firefly will be Lenovo’s upcoming Lecoo Air 14.

Besides taking on Apple’s MacBook Neo, Project Firefly will also challenge Arm-powered laptops and Chromebooks, which are also aimed at budget-conscious consumers. If Intel succeeds in delivering high-quality, affordable laptops through Project Firefly, it. would offer buyers the option to stay within their x86 comfort zone.

Apple’s M5 Max SoC flagship is one of the fastest pieces of silicon around and can compete with flagship consumer desktop chips from AMD and Intel in at least some workloads. Logically, this also makes it a great gaming CPU if paired with high-end GPU hardware. Software engineer Scott J. Goldman put this idea to the test and found a way to run Nvidia’s flagship RTX 5090 graphics card on an M5 Max-powered MacBook Pro using virtualization and an eGPU dock. His results revealed that gaming on an RTX 5090 via a MacBook can deliver a great experience in modern AAA games, as long as frame generation is enabled.

The setup process was anything but easy. ARM-based MacBooks don’t officially support eGPU gaming with Nvidia GPUs, requiring Goldman to make a plethora of tweaks to enable it, most notably through virtualization with a Linux OS. MacOS does not support Nvidia GPUs (there is no native driver support), and Linux does not natively support Thunderbolt on Apple silicon. Virtualization gets around this problem by leveraging the strengths of macOS and Linux.

A few other quirks the software engineer had to address included setting up PCI BAR and enabling DMA (Direct Memory Access). One strange problem Goldman had to fix was a scheduling issue in QEMU where the default settings caused benchmark scores to fluctuate sporadically, due to a configuration issue in which the virtualization app did not set any priority level for the virtual CPU threads.

Beyond setting up a Linux virtual machine, implementing the FEX translation layer was also necessary to convert x86 instructions into ARM-based instructions that the M4 Max chip can understand. This was necessary as virtually no PC games support ARM.

With this software setup, the software engineer tested his M5 Max MacBook against a couple of other systems paired with an RTX 5090, featuring an older M4 Air, a 2020 Intel-powered Macbook Pro that is critically running Linux natively with no emulation or translation layers, and an i5-12600K gaming PC representing a traditional desktop experience. He also added benchmarks of the M4 and M5 Max devices running off their integrated GPUs.

His performance benchmarks reveal that the eGPU setup on the M5 Max and M4 MacBooks can deliver a smooth gaming experience as long as frame generation is used. Cyberpunk ran at well over 100 FPS on both Mac devices at the RT Ultra preset with frame generation enabled, despite the overhead of FEX translation, a virtualized Linux environment, and the RTX 5090 running off a Thunderbolt eGPU.

However, performance falls apart without frame generation. In Cyberpunk, at the same settings at 1080p, performance drops down to just above 60 FPS on the M5 Max MacBook and below 50 FPS on the M4-powered MacBook Air. Performance on the M4 system is so bad that the Core i7-1068NG7 in the 2020 MacBook Pro with the RTX 5090 achieves almost identical frame rates. By contrast, the Core i5-12600K system achieved over 150 FPS without frame generation. In other games that the software engineer was able to get running without crashing (Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Crysis Remastered), performance was below 60 FPS.

The main bottleneck is the FEX translation layer, which is hampering performance on Apple silicon-powered MacBooks. Goldman states that FEX incurs a roughly 50% performance penalty on the CPU compared to native ARM processing. This is clearly visible from his Geekbench 6 scores, where enabling FEX while using the Linux VM cut single and multi-core Geekbench scores in half. The software engineer also tested several other games and benchmarks, including GravityMark, where the performance drop-off between the eGPU setup and the native desktop experience (the 12600K setup) was only 20%.

Goldman’s results show that gaming on an RTX 5090 with an M5 Max chip is indeed possible, but the best method to game with this hardware combination requires frame generation to overcome the performance losses from the eGPU dock, as well as CPU processing for virtualization and translation. The performance potential is there, and in a perfect world, the RTX 5090’s performance would only be hampered by the eGPU connection. However, right now, the setup process alone makes this configuration far from ideal for gaming. We can only hope that one day Apple will cater to Mac gamers and provide better tools to make eGPU docks work seamlessly on M-series silicon.

If gaming on a small laptop has always put you off leaving the desktop PC for your gaming, then the gateway laptop for tempting you to switch probably looks like today's deal. The Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI is reduced to just $1799 at Walmart and features a huge 18-inch IPS display with a fast 240Hz refresh and 3ms overdrive response time. This model also includes an Intel CPU and RTX 5070 Ti laptop graphics card, so there's plenty of oomph for playing the latest and greatest games. Best of all, the laptop is $400.99 cheaper than it should be.

● Grab this deal at Walmart
● Add 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage with this deal at Amazon

This model of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI features an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti laptop GPU with 12GB of fast GDDR7 VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. The chassis is a mix of metal and plastic, with an abyssal black finish. There are multiple RGB zones all over the laptop, so you can dial it up to 11 if you want to go for the full gamified lightshow.

Also on sale is the slightly beefier version of the same Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 Ai laptop, available from Amazon for $2399.99. This more potent variant sports double the RAM at 32GB and double the storage at 2TB, but does cost significantly more. The original list price of the 32GB Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 Ai was $2699.99.

We haven't had the opportunity to review this model of the Acer Predator Helios Neo 18 AI, so we can't fully compare the laptop to any competition or see its performance benchmarks. These are familiar components, though, so we do have a rough idea of the capabilities. The RTX 5070 Ti will be able to run games smoothly on the 18-inch 2560x1600 WQXGA+ screen, and can also make use of Nvidia's DLSS software to increase framerates for a smoother experience on more taxing titles.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, Gaming Chair, Best Wi-Fi Routers, Best Motherboard, or CPU Deals pages.