Laptop

A Geekbench entry has surfaced for a new Qualcomm SoC and a closer examination reveals that this is indeed the Snapdragon 8180 SoC that was rumored to be in development exclusively for Windows 10 on ARM notebooks. The Snapdragon 8180 was originally referred to as the Snapdragon 1000 and it offers a higher 15W TDP envelope to power typical mainstream computing tasks. The initial benchmark scores, however, are not very convincing.

At IFA 2018, Acer is taking wraps off its new Aspire notebook models. The budget-gamer focused Aspire is getting an upgrade to Intel 'Kaby Lake-G' CPUs with onboard Radeon RX Vega M GL graphics while the Aspire 5 is being upgraded to Intel's latest 'Whiskey Lake-U' 15 ULV chips with optional NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics.

Privacy and security are a major focus for business laptops. An in-built privacy filter like HP's SureView displays for its EliteBooks is very important for customers who work with sensitive information. To counter HP, Lenovo has introduced its very own in-built privacy filter for its popular ThinkPad T480s.

The XPS 13 convertible is returning next month with refreshed Intel 8th gen Y-series CPUs. Dell will be sticking with the same design, but they have suggested that the series has been successful enough that a full refresh will almost surely happen sometime down the road.

The XPS 13 9370 will no longer be limited to just Core i5 and Core i7 processors. Dell will be throwing in the new Core i3-8130U to bump the entry-level price down by $100 to just $900 USD. For more demanding power users, however, the Core i7 SKU with Iris Pro Graphics remains elusive.

The 13-inch Inspiron 13 7386, 15-inch Inspiron 15 7586, and Inspiron 17 7786 convertible notebooks will all carry similar CPU Core i5-8265U and i7-8565U options when they launch in early October. Their announcements supplement the reveal of Intel Whiskey Lake at this year's IFA.

The systems will carry new ULV Whiskey Lake and Kaby Lake options including the Core i3-8145U, i5-8265U, i7-8565U, and i3-8130U. The Windows version will have discrete GeForce MX130 options while the Chromebook version will integrate a passive stylus.

The aging 15-inch Vostro 15 5000 series gets a much-needed injection of stronger hardware, more versatile ports, and a more modern narrow bezel chassis design. Most notably, both the 14-inch and 15-inch models will drop the GeForce 940MX and Radeon 530 GPUs in favor of the GeForce MX130. Expect a launch price of $580 USD before the end of the year.

YouTube allows vloggers who use the platform to monetize their videos with AdSense. However, many of these ads can be skipped after a few seconds. Now, however, YouTube now contains options to include skip button-less ads for all creators.

Not long ago, the first specifications of a new Lenovo ThinkPad laptop called 'ThinkPad X1 Extreme' were leaked. In another leak today, the first pictures of this mysterious new model have been leaked. They show a machines that almost looks identical to the recently announced ThinkPad P1. With its more consumer-friendly specifications, the X1 Extreme seems predestined to compete with the popular Dell XPS 15 9570.

The Xiaomi Mi Notebook is the Chinese juggernaut's latest foray into the laptop market. Featuring a Kaby Lake-R CPU and a low-end Nvidia GeForce MX110, the laptop is a decent midrange device. Unfortunately, Xiaomi's aggressive pricing won't translate to western markets, where import costs push the device out of "value buy" territory.

Following the successful release of the Matebook D powered by the AMD Ryzen 2500U CPU, Huawei now releases two version with Intel's Kaby Lake-R CPUs and Nvidia's MX150 GPUs. The chassis and display are unchanged, but users can choose among the Intel Core i5-8250U and the i7-8550U CPUs coupled with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and 256 GB / 512 GB, respectively.

Huawei and ZTE provide hardware for mobile data networks, including modems, in addition to mobile devices. Therefore, it may be a blow to both companies to find they cannot tender for supplier contracts as Australia prepares for 5G connectivity. Both companies have a good track record of mobile network product sales in the country.

The PS42 is notable for carrying the faster '1D10' GeForce MX150 GPU instead of the slower '1D12' variant found on many sub 15-inch Ultrabooks. MSI has priced its 14-inch system to compete with popular 13-inch Ultrabooks like the XPS 13, Spectre 13, or Yoga 920.

Will the GTX name live on for gaming laptops after Pascal? Eurocom will soon be updating its high-end Sky series of laptops to support both Coffee Lake Intel CPUs and mobile Turing.

Announced roughly one week ago, the new Lenovo ThinkPad P1 is already orderable on Lenovo's US website. The new 15.6 inch mobile workstation is supposed to compete with the Dell XPS 15 and its workstation cousin, the Dell Precision 5530.

Somebody was apparently too hasty: The data-sheet of the Lenovo's upcoming convertible flagship for consumers is already online on Lenovo's own site – despite the fact that the Lenovo Yoga C930 has not been announced yet.

WhatsApp has distinguished itself among messaging apps through its ability to eat your storage. However, a new agreement between the Facebook subsidiary and Google mean that WhatsAapp backups will no longer clog up space on the Drives of its users.

The next Snapdragon flagship processor may be expected to be called the SD 855. However, the most recent leaks on this subject suggest that it will not follow the motifs typically associated with this series - in fact, not even the naming convention will remain the same.

Better late than never. Dell has updated its mainline 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch Alienware laptops from four-zone RGB lighting to per-key RGB lighting. The design and internal specifications are otherwise identical. Both systems will begin shipping this week.

All eyes will continue to be on Nvidia as the inevitable announcement looms. AMD launches its 32-core Threadripper 2990WX CPU to both excellent and mixed results and Asus unveils its thinnest second generation Zephyrus GX laptop just in time for Gamescom 2018. New workstation from MSI and Lenovo add even more power to increasingly thin chassis designs.

Since the Windows on ARM initiative did not impress too much with this year's Snapdragon-powered laptops, ARM is willing to take matters into its own hands and release CPUs specifically designed for ultrabooks and compact laptops. Based on the Deimos 7 nm architecture an Hercules 7-5 nm architecture, ARM's upcoming laptop chips are set to rival Intel's and AMD's ULV offers.

Want to see a laptop with 12 cores and over 20 TB of internal storage? Eurocom can make it possible if enough users show interest. The reseller is collecting data to see how it can best approach building its next generation of gaming laptops and mobile workstations.

The new "thinnest gaming laptop in the world" is just 15.75 mm thick at its thickest point to be even thinner than last year's ROG GX501. The GX531 introduces narrow bezels and 144 Hz displays to the Zephyrus family with plenty of changes both internal and external. Expect a worldwide launch as early as September.

There have been no notebooks with both narrow bezels and 144 Hz panels until now. Asus has teamed up with AU Optronics to develop a 17.3-inch 144 Hz/3 ms panel made specifically for gaming and the narrow-bezel GL704 will be the first to use it.

Lenovo has introduced the AMD Ryzen variant of the Lenovo Yoga 530 convertible notebook in without much fanfare and initial reviews seem to show promising performance. The Lenovo Yoga 530 is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon RX Vega 8 graphics and benchmarks have shown the laptop beating the Intel Core i7-8550U by a fair margin. The dual-channel DDR4-2400 memory in the Yoga 530 also helps it gain leads over the Ryzen 7 2700U-powered IdeaPad 720S.

Macs are more or less impervious to hacking, right? Not any more, according to two cybersecurity researchers during a briefing at the Black Hat USA Conference 2018. However, the attacks involved are difficult to achieve and need to be launched at very specific times during the computer's set-up.

MSI has announced a new mobile workstation for creatives. The WS65 is a professional makeover for the GS65 Stealth Thin and comes with processor options up to the Intel Core i9-8950HK and GPU options up to the NVIDIA Quadro P4200. The MSI WS65 will be on display during SIGGRAPH 2018 and is expected to be available from September.

Acer is announcing discount offers for its Nitro 5, Chromebook 15, and Chromebook R11 for the Back to School season. The limited period offer gives up to US$50 discount on select models of the Nitro 5 and first-gen Chromebook 15, and Chromebook R 11. Acer is also offering US$100 discount on the second gen Chromebook 15.

Expect the same ThinkPad carbon fiber and magnesium alloy finish but in a newer design inspired by the ThinkPad X1 Carbon series. Intel 8th gen Xeon and Quadro GPUs complete the package, but the high starting price of just under $2000 USD may turn off some workstation users.

Apart from introducing their thinnest mobile workstation ThinkPad yet, Lenovo updated their most powerful ThinkPad laptop today as well. The new ThinkPad P72 ditches the DVD drive and opts for a thinner chassis, while also offering far more powerful GPU options than any other ThinkPad, up to the Nvidia Quadro P5200.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is finally coming, next generation GeForce 11xx/20xx details continue to leak, and AMD is slowly but surely making a comeback on desktop. Catch up on some key topics in the industry you may have missed over the past week here.

Visually, the UX580 is nothing more than a UX550 with a secondary trackpad display. Users not interested in the dual-screen capabilities of the UX580 can now get the UX550 with an Intel 8th gen Core i7 processor for $1800 USD.

Those who had any hopes of being able to acquire the Dell XPS 15 9570 updated with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 11 graphics before the end of the year should change their shopping plans because Frank Azor has just confirmed that this machine will not receive any hardware refresh in Q4.

Per-key RGB lighting, 1800p QHD+ IGZO touchscreen, Thunderbolt 3, and 16 GB of RAM for just $900 USD. The new Razer deal is one of the better promotions from the manufacturer. Unfortunately, there is one caveat that hardcore gamers should be wary of.

HP seems to have accidentally revealed all the specs for Intel's Whiskey Lake-U family of mobile CPUs, as the information was taken down soon after. Nevertheless, it is now known that there will be three models - the Core i3-8145U, Core i5-8265U and Core i7-8565U, HP also revealing core count, frequencies and cache memory configurations.

Although not yet available in market, the 14-inch Asus E406MA will be one of the few Asus laptops to carry Gemini Lake options. The Pentium N5000 can provide a multi-core performance boost of about 65 percent over the Pentium N3710 found on the older Asus E406SA.