Ultrabook

Google has released the latest version of Chrome OS, and it includes support for Linux applications for the first time. Also baked in is Google’s Material Design 2.0 theme, which brings Chrome OS a little more in line with the look and feel of Android.

Windows on ARM has yet to take off, but the rumored Qualcomm Snapdragon 1000 could change the performance equation considerably. New details have surfaced about the chip, and it could be just what WoA devices need to put them on a more even footing with native x86 ultrabooks.

Microsoft is holding a special Surface event on October 2 and the first leaks have started emerged. The most notable is that the Surface Laptop will get a sequel, but will also come in a slick new black color

AMD has listed a couple new CPUs, the Ryzen 5 2600H and Ryzen 7 2800H. Both chips are definite upgrades over the Ryzen 5 2500U and Ryzen 7 2700U, respectively, but their 45 W nominal TDP suggests that they will be used in gaming laptops upon release. This is curious, as the onboard Vega GPUs are far outpaced by even entry-level gaming laptops.

Readers have been demanding a review of the Core i7 SKU of the latest XPS 15 9570. Expect our full take on the system and how it compares to the Core i5 SKU next week! Meanwhile, our page on the Core i9 SKU should be coming in the month ahead.

Razer is set to unveil its next-generation gaming smartphone, the Razer 2 on October 10. The device looks quite similar to the original Razer Phone, but is expected to feature upgraded internals including a Snapdragon 845 processor.

Google's next-generation Pixelbook 2 has leaked out ahead of launch by the company itself as part of a Facebook advertisement. Also present in the ad is what looks to be the notch-less smaller Google Pixel 3 leaving little to be revealed during Google's official October 9 launch event.

Acer talked about the upcoming Swift 7 notebook during its IFA 2018 keynote and while there was only a dummy product on display, the company notes that the notebook will slim down even further and feature ultra-narrow bezels yielding a 92% screen-to-body ratio and a passively cooled Intel 'Amber Lake-Y' Core i7 processor.

The intricate and unique watchband hinge of previous Yoga 900 models will be dropped in favor of more powerful Dolby Atmos speakers starting with the Yoga C930. Much of the core hardware and processor features remain identical to the outgoing Yoga 920.

The quad-core Whiskey Lake i5-8265U and i7-8565U CPUs are both coming just in time for the Holiday season. The slim Lenovo Yoga S730 will be one of the first to carry the processors when it launches this November for $1000 USD.

Intel is announcing new 'Whiskey Lake-U' and 'Amber Lake-Y'-series processors as successors to last year's 8th gen 'Kaby Lake-R' U-series and 7th gen 'Kaby Lake-Y' CPUs. These new CPUs will continue to be a part of the 8th generation family and feature improvements to connectivity and battery life. The 15W 'Whiskey Lake-U' series starts with the Core i3-8145U and goes all the way till the Core i7-8565U while the 5W 'Amber Lake-Y' series starts with the Core m3-8100Y and tops out with the Core i7-8500Y. All processors feature support for Hyperthreading and the Whiskey Lake PCHs sport integrated USB 3.1 and Gigabit Wi-Fi controllers (partly). Update: Process and PCH updates

Alongside the ZenBook Flip convertibles, Asus has also announced new ZenBook ultrabooks in 13, 14, and 15-inch form factors. All ZenBook models come with a high screen-to-body ratio of 95% and the smaller variants use the trackpad area as a virtual NumberPad. Internally, all the new ZenBooks include the new Intel 'Whiskey Lake-U' CPUs with the ZenBook 15 offering graphics options up to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Earlier this year code commits showed up in ChromeOS that showed Google was adding support for 'AltOS.' New commits now show that the alternative operating system is likely to be Windows 10, but feasibility for the average Chromebook is questionable.

Our coupon codes will trim a bit off these popular models when ordered from the online retailer Computer Upgrade King. Our list will only expand as more systems are launched and reviewed. CUKUSA is a partner for a number of notebooks units we publish.

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.

A couple of B2B sites have started listing Lenovo laptops that feature the upcoming Intel 'Whiskey Lake-U' CPUs. The notebooks include the Lenovo s730 and IdeaPad 730S powered by the Intel Core i5-8265U and the Lenovo Yoga 730 powered by the Intel Core i7-8565U. Not much information is available about these notebooks right now but we can expect them to be officially announced during IFA 2018.

The new entry-level SKU is $300 to $400 cheaper than the current UX331UN SKU by axing the dedicated GPU and halving both the LPDDR3 RAM (16 GB to 8 GB) and internal M.2 storage (512 GB to 256 GB).

Its still not clear when Lenovo will announce the upcoming ThinkPad P1 – but an official release might be in sight, as two new official renders of the ThinkPad P1, a thinner 15-inch workstation laptop, have appeared on the internet.

An article on a Taiwanese news site states that Apple is in fact releasing a new MacBook Air in 2018. These rumors suggest that the Cupertino company now intends to fast-track its release. However, is it all good news for fans of this device line?

Google seems to take on Windows and macOS head on with its latest Chromebook ad. The ad shows how Chromebook users don't have to deal with any of the errors and update nags that plague traditional PC users. While Chromebooks are indeed easy to use and stable, most of the issues shown in the ad are largely passe.

The Intel Core i7-8550U-powered Dell XPS 13 9370 ultrabook is now available with Ubuntu Linux 18.04 onboard. The first XPS 13 Developer Edition arrived more than five years ago and back then it had Ubuntu 12.04 installed. The new XPS 13 Developer Edition is only available in the US for now, but Europe and Canada will follow soon.

The latest Bluetooth vulnerability may affect many more devices than last year's BlueBorne, because it can affect smartphones as well as laptops that integrate Apple, Google, Intel, Broadcom or Qualcomm hardware. Due to insufficient encryption validation during the pairing process. Microsoft claims that Windows 10 is not affected, but all the other companies are releasing fixes as soon as possible.

Lenovo is apparently preparing a big announcement for its ThinkPad laptop line, a completely new model to compete with Dells XPS 15. The new ThinkPad X1 Extreme was leaked by known leaker Roland Quandt and it might be released at IFA 2018.

A Reddit user has managed to find out the reason for the high throttling seen in the 2018 Apple MacBook Pros with the Intel Core i9 CPU and it turns out that it is due to power throttling of the VRM than thermal throttling of the CPU. The user has managed to manually alter the turbo power limit for the VRM and thus, was able to achieve steady turbo boost without throttling.