HP refreshes Pavilion Aero 13 ultrabook with AMD Ryzen 8040HS processors

Last year, the Pavilion Aero 13 models received a modest spec upgrade that did not include any new AMD processors with Zen 4 cores, unfortunately. In 2024, however, HP is skipping past the popular Phoenix processors and is going straight for the Hawk Point Ryzen 8040HS APUs to power the latest Aero 13 models.

With the upgrade to the new Hawk Point APUs that include options such as the Ryzen 5 8640U, Ryzen 7 8840U and Ryzen 7 8840HS, HP is also bumping the RAM specs to LPDDR5x-6400. Moreover, it looks like the base specs have been upgraded from 8 GB RAM / 256 GB SSD storage to 16 GB RAM / 512 GB SSD in order to provide a smoother AI-powered experience.

On the display side, HP does not provide any upgraded 13.3-inch options over the existing 1920 x 1200 and 2560 x 1600 IPS panels with 400 nit maximum brightness and 100% sRGB color space. The chassis is slightly larger than the 2023 one, measuring 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.7 ( 29.7 x 21 x 1.7 cm) and weighing ~2.2 lbs (just under 1 kg). To keep the weight as low as possible, HP offers only a 43 Wh battery.

Port selection comes with some improvements, as well. There are now two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 instead of one, and one of the two USB-A 3.2 connectors is Gen 2, plus the HDMI 2.1 video out and audio jack. For some reason, HP does not want to include USB4 prots on these models. Only wireless connectivity is offered via Wi-Fi 6 + BT 5.3 or Wi-FI 6E + BT 5.3 cards, given the slim profile.

Another upgrade is presented with the webcam that got a resolution bump from 720p to 5 MP and now features an IR sensor for security purposes. This latest addition led to the elimination of the fingerprint sensor.

HP’s online store and Amazon will start selling the 2024 model this May for $800 and up.

 Buy the 2023 HP Pavilion Plus 14 laptop on Amazon