The latest MSI Modern 14 laptop with the latest Intel Tiger Lake-U CPU is on sale at the moment for $200 USD off the original launch price. The MSI Modern series is home to the manufacturer's mid-range Ultrabooks in contrast to the higher-end Prestige series.
The deal is notable for its respectable specifications and sleek, muted chassis design relative to the new price. The Core i5-1135G7 processor comes with Iris Xe graphics for performance that rivals the GeForce MX150 or MX250 at significantly higher performance-per-watt. Users also get a 1080p IPS display and spacious 512 GB NVMe SSD.
Drawbacks include the lack of Thunderbolt support and measly 8 GB of system RAM. We've yet to personally review the 2021 Modern 14 and so we can't say for sure if the RAM is user-expandable, but all signs at the moment point to proper SODIMM slots for expansion. Display colors are also not very deep at just 45 percent of NTSC to be unsuitable for most professional graphic editors.
- 14-inch 1080p IPS display, 45% NTSC
- Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU w/ Iris Xe
- 8 GB DDR4-2666 RAM
- 512 GB NVMe SSD
- 1x USB-C, 2x USB-A, SD reader, HDMI, 3.5 mm combo audio
- 52 Wh battery
- 12.68 x 8.74 x 0.63 inches
- 2.62 lbs