MSI Summit B15 is basically a Modern 15 but with Thunderbolt 4 support

MSI launched a handful of new prosumer laptops earlier this year as part of its latest Summit series including the Summit E13 Flip, Summit E14, Summit E15, Summit B14, and Summit B15 models. Though the names may be new, some of these models will look very familiar at first glance. Closer inspection reveals that certain models are merely slight updates to older models from the MSI Modern series with little to no changes to the exterior design.

The best example is our recently reviewed 2021 Summit B15 which was more like a soft relaunch of 2020 Modern 15. The Summit B15 model drops the GeForce MX options of the Modern 15 while replacing the older 10th gen Intel CPUs with 11th gen Tiger Lake options. Its color scheme is slightly darker and it even gets a new shiny MSI logo on the outer lid. Everything else, however, remains essentially identical between the two laptops from the looks, ports, dimensions, keyboard, and even display.

Most of the upgrades are instead internal. The Summit B15 benefits from PCIe 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, faster MicroSD reader, faster CPU performance, quieter fans, and higher performance-per-watt than the older Modern 15. The upgrades are fairly substantial for power users that can make the pricier Summit B15 more worthwhile over the older but visually identical Modern 15.