Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q and 2070 Super Max-Q set to debut on the next Razer Blade 15

Initially teased at CES 2020, Razer will be refreshing its lineup of Blade 15 laptops for the new calendar year. The updates are almost all internal meaning that the chassis remains unchanged from the previous generation with one major exception.

First, let's get the external change out of the way. The small Shift key on the right side of the keyboard on last year's model is now longer and easier to press. This change comes at the cost of smaller Up and Down arrow keys, but it's a sacrifice Razer wanted to make based on feedback from typists who own Blade laptops. Thus, this physical difference should be the easiest way to identify a 2020 Blade 15 from a 2019 Blade 15 or earlier.

The more exciting changes are internal as the CPU, GPU, and display will all be updated. The 9th gen Coffee Lake-H quad-core Core i7-9750H on last year's model will now be updated to the 10th gen Comet Lake-H hexa-core Core i7-10750H on the Blade 15 Base Model or the octa-core Core i7-10875H on the Blade 15 Advanced Model. These CPUs will compete directly with the Ryzen 7 4800H and Ryzen 9 4900H or 4900HS.

Meanwhile, the RTX 2070 Max-Q and RTX 2080 Max-Q will be updated to the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q and RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, respectively, for up to 20 percent faster performance according to Razer. All 2020 SKUs will share the same 230 W AC adapter for backwards compatibility with 2019 SKUs. This also implies that the overall power envelope of these new processors will be very similar to the last generation SKUs despite the higher core count and "Super" GPU variants.

As for the display, Razer will be dropping 60 Hz on all 2020 Blade 15 SKUs to make 144 Hz the new baseline standard. Users will now also be able to configure Base Model SKUs with up to the RTX 2070 Max-Q and even a 4K UHD OLED DCI-P3 panel that was previously reserved for Advanced Model SKUs only. The latest 300 Hz FHD panel that's already available on certain Asus and Acer laptops will only be available on the Advanced Model.

Lastly, the Advanced Model will support recharging via USB Type-C meaning you can recharge the laptop with any 20 V (or 65 W) USB Type-C charger much like on most newer Ultrabooks. It won't recharge the laptop as fast as the regular 230 W adapter and the battery will still drain when gaming, but it's a useful feature nonetheless especially when traveling. It's too bad that the Base Model won't be getting USB Type-C charging as we see it more as a quality-of-life update rather than something that only enthusiasts can appreciate.

Launch prices will range from $1600 to $2300 for the Base Model and $2600 to $3300 for the Advanced Model.