Laptop

Just beneath the flagship segment, Dell places the Latitude 7000 series. This high-end lineup gains a new member this year: The Dell Latitude 7520 is the first 15.6 inch version of this class. Also, the pre-existing models are updated. The new Dell Latitude 7420 and Latitude 7320 are available as both laptop and convertible versions.

Dell has spruced-up its premium Latitude 9000 series lineup with a design refresh and internal upgrades. The Latitude 9420 comes in both 2-in-1 and traditional laptop form factors. Both variants sport 16:10 displays and are powered by Intel 11th gen Tiger Lake processors with vPro configurations. The new Latitude 9420 also offers an automatic SafeShutter for the webcam and AI-powered Dell Optimizer software.

With a release date that still has to be disclosed, the Dell Optimizer software solution promises to deliver a wide range of improvements and optimizations. Dell describes this piece of code as a built-in AI solution that "learns and adapts to the way you work" and is the first of its kind.

The Precision 3560 is new for 2021, and with Intel's Tiger Lake-U platform. The 15-inch mobile workstation features a new design from last year's model with a larger trackpad and a new keyboard. However, the dedicated mouse buttons have gone, and the pointing stick appears to have been omitted too.

We could be seeing considerably more laptops with OLED displays this year as Samsung is preparing to introduce 10 new models with sizes ranging from 13.3 to 16 inches. There will be updated 4K screens, as well as new budget-friendly 15.6-inch 1080p versions with improved color gamuts superior to those found on LGs TV panels.

The upcoming TACHYS VORTEX 15 gaming laptop offers the best price/performance ratio we have seen thus far from an AMD laptop. For only $1,100, you can get a powerful Ryzen 7 5800H APU coupled with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and an RTX 3060 Max-P GPU, plus 1 TB of NVMe SSD storage. Expect to see similar builds and prices from more trusted brands at CES 2021.

The budget Lenovo laptop is now even more affordable than before to make it a respectable deal for shallow pockets especially if you're willing to upgrade the RAM on your own.

NVIDIA may distill-down RTX features to the x050 series with the GA107-based RTX 3050 GPU. A Lenovo PSREF page for the Legion R5 desktop PC confirms RTX 3050, RTX 3050 Ti, and RTX 3060 12 GB offerings are on the anvil in addition to several Turing and also an AMD Radeon RX 5500 option.

Geekbench listings of the upcoming Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo GX551QS and HP Omen 15 laptops featuring RTX 3080 Mobile and RTX 3070 Mobile GPUs, respectively confirm some of the specs of these mobile Ampere parts that we've already known so far. The RTX 3080 Mobile is a complete GA104 GPU with 6,144 CUDA cores. The RTX 3070 Mobile is also a GA104 part but with 5,120 CUDA cores.

With CES 2021 coming up, retailers are likely trying to clear stock ahead of all the inevitable announcements. Now would be the time to find a lot of deals on both last generation and current generation laptops.

The Steam hardware and software survey for December 2020 has thrown up a surprising result in regard to processor usage. According to the currently published data table, Intel has snatched over 2% of the Windows share back from AMD. However, that’s nothing compared to the huge change in the color chart that shows AMD losing over 7% share in one month.

It has been rumored that Nvidia is working on even more Ampere-based graphics cards to join the growing GeForce RTX 30 series. Although the names for the two new parts are not currently known, it has been suggested that they could be the GeForce RTX 3070 Super and GeForce RTX 3080 Super cards.

If you plan on buying a new 11th gen Intel Tiger Lake laptop, then you might want to keep in mind that the cheaper Core i5-1135G7 can actually match or outperform a handful of Core i7-1165G7 laptops in raw CPU performance.

The VivoBook scores points with a Tiger Lake processor, 16 GB of RAM (dual-channel mode), a GeForce MX350 graphics core, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. This is complemented by good battery life. The display is not convincing, though.

An Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 mobile GPU has been put through its paces on Geekbench as part of an HP Omen 15 gaming laptop. The RTX 3070 delivered high OpenCL scores that place it up to 49% faster than a GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q and even at a similar processing level as the desktop variant of the RTX 2080.

An Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QS laptop has been spotted online revealing a potent combination of components. It seems the ROG Zephyrus G15 will be a Ryzen 5000 gaming laptop thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS inside it, and it may also feature the 16 GB variant of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 mobile GPU.

The Inspiron 5505 with Ryzen 5 4500U is currently retailing for $489 USD compared to $587 USD for the Inspiron 5502 with the Core i5-1135G7 even after applying the coupon code on both models. The AMD model performs similarly to the Core i5 model and comes with the same amount of RAM and storage despite the wide price difference.

The new Pavilion 15z is down from $640 USD to just $480 USD while retaining high processor performance thanks to the 3rd gen AMD Ryzen 7 series.

Asus is apparently refreshing its ROG Strix laptops for 2021 and the potential configurations will have gamers salivating. It’s believed up to an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX will be available as CPU/APU while an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 3070, or RTX 3080 can also be selected. There’s even going to be decent screens to be had with the Asus ROG Strix laptops.

A Dutch company called SKIKK has started offering gaming laptops with mobile variants of the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, RTX 3070, and RTX 3080. The entry-level device costs €1,699 (US$2,087) and features an RTX 3060 GPU with an Intel Core i7-10875H CPU. Delivery for the SKIKK GeForce 30 Series laptops is expected to start in Q1 2021.

Another Cezanne Zen 3 chip has been spotted on Geekbench in the form of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900H. The sample managed to hit speeds of 4.64 GHz and recorded strong single-core and multi-core scores that place it up to over 23% ahead of the Ryzen 9 4900H. The Ryzen 9 5900H is a mobile APU with eight cores.

An interesting 16-core Alder Lake processor from Intel has been spotted on Geekbench revealing some of its secrets, including the fact that it can utilize 24 threads and has a surprisingly low base clock. However, the Alder Lake-S part is clearly an engineering sample, as its maximum clock was recorded at a desktop-melting 17.6 GHz.

Version 2.36.0 fixes the issue, but it wasn't released until weeks after we had our hands on the first Tiger Lake retail laptops. Be sure to update to the latest version or else the number of EUs and potentially fillrate speeds may not be reported correctly.

We ran several synthetic GPU benchmarks in our Asus VivoBook Flip 14 TP470 review unit and found that Intel's new Xe Max dGPU offers perceivable gains over the similar Xe Graphics G7 with 96 EUs and the GeForce GTX 1050 while being significantly faster than a GeForce MX350. Xe Max also seems to offer large gains compared to the Radeon RX Vega 8 in Renoir APUs. However, Intel looks to be playing catch-up with the pre-sample MX450 numbers in our database.

Microsoft could be planning on offering a much-needed minor but vital spec bump with the base variant of the upcoming Surface Pro 8. The entry level device in the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 series comes with i3 processor and 4 GB RAM. However, it’s believed the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 will come with an 8 GB RAM option for the basic model.

The Intel version of the IdeaPad Slim 7 may not be as fast as the AMD version, but it makes up for this with Thunderbolt 3 support should users want to connect GPU docking stations. Users on the lookout for an upper mid-range Ultrabook will find a lot to like about this Lenovo.

Details and key specifications for Huawei’s upcoming ARM-based laptop have been leaked on social media. It appears the notebook, which currently has the name Qingyun L410, is powered by the 8-core 5G-capable HiSilicon Kirin 990 chipset. It’s not known if the Huawei laptop will be launched outside of China.

The smart-looking Samsung Galaxy Book Flex2 5G has appeared in a couple of official videos from the South Korean OEM, including an unboxing video. The Galaxy Book Flex2 5G is the new name for the Galaxy Book Flex 5G, which was actually launched in September. The convertible features an Intel Core i5-1130G7, i5-1135G7, or i7-1165G7 chip.

The Lenovo Legion 7 is an extremely powerful gaming laptop with a 240-Hz display, an Intel Core i9-10980HK, and a GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q.

Several Mi Notebook Pro listings have popped-up on Geekbench sporting both Tiger Lake-H and AMD Cezanne processors. Alongside the Intel Core i7-11370H and Core i5-11300H variants, which are 35 W Tiger Lake-H CPUs, a few listings of the Mi Notebook Pro powered by AMD Cezanne Ryzen 5 5600H APUs are also seen. These leaked results indicate that single-core performance seems to be a prime focus for both Intel and AMD.

The hardware of the Schenker XMG Core 17 brings all modern computer games smoothly onto the matte 17.3-inch screen (Full HD, IPS, 144 Hz). The laptop also scores points with moderate temperatures, low noise development in everyday use, and space for two SSDs.

The 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad 5 with AMD Ryzen 7 4700U is currently available at a price of US$599 at Walmart. Not only does the Lenovo IdeaPad 15 thin and light laptop sport a terrific 8-core Renoir Ryzen 4000 chip, but it also comes with a 256 GB SSD. Lenovo is offering the IdeaPad Flex 14 AMD 2-in-1 variant at a similar price.

Gigabyte is planning on releasing a Ryzen 5000 laptop in the form of the upcoming Gigabyte A7 that features an AMD Ryzen 5800H and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060. On top of that, the Taiwanese manufacturer will also be offering Comet Lake-H G5 and G7 laptops with the 15.6-inch model sporting a 240 Hz-capable display.
Update: Gigabyte has released an official statement.

Apple could eventually release a MacBook Pro laptop with a touch input surface replacing the regular keyboard deck and including a wireless charger for use with iPhones and iPads that support the charging technology. The futuristic next-gen MacBook Pro that was unearthed in a recently published patent also featured touch sensors for the palms.

Dozens of gaming laptops are expected to arrive at CES 2021 in January, including a new Acer Nitro 5. A retailer has confirmed that Acer has paired its gaming laptop with a Ryzen 7 5800H and a GeForce RTX 3080 too.

The latest free update for this year's Microsoft Flight Simulator brings a whole new level of realism and authenticity to the game by adding full support for virtual reality headsets. The list of supported devices includes those made by Oculus, Valve, and HTC, as well as the HP Reverb G2 and most other Windows Mixed Reality headsets.

Once again, Honor squeezes everything out from an AMD processor. However, the MagicBook 14 is also an excellent laptop apart from the processor performance.