CES 2023 is in full swing, and most each main laptop computer firm is in Las Vegas displaying off the brand new {hardware} it hopes to carry to market this yr.
At this time (January 4) Asus took the wraps off a slew of recent and up to date laptop computer designs and one of the vital {powerful}, the refreshed Zenbook Professional 16X OLED, has an intriguing bespoke CPU inside that the corporate claims will ship “ultra-powerful” efficiency.
We have heard that earlier than, however what I’ve by no means heard of is a laptop computer vendor working with Intel to revamp the way in which the CPU suits into the motherboard. However that is what Asus claims to have finished with the brand new Zenbook Professional 16X OLED, which packs a contemporary Intel CPU that is been redesigned to be smaller, which Asus claims permits for higher cooling.
Zenbook Professional 16X OLED: Worth and launch date
Asus hasn’t but revealed a lot about once we ought to anticipate the Zenbook Professional 16X OLED (2023) or how a lot we must always anticipate to pay. All we all know to date is that the corporate plans to launch the laptop computer within the 2nd quarter of 2023.
Zenbook Professional 16X OLED: Design
On the skin, the 2023 mannequin of the Asus Zenbook Professional 16X OLED appears loads like final yr’s mannequin, which weighed simply over 5 kilos and measures roughly 13.98 x 9.88 x 0.67 inches. The 2023 refresh sports activities a 16-inch 16:10 show with skinny bezels, and a novel keyboard configuration that units it aside from the group.
As an alternative of a standard flat keyboard with a touchpad beneath, the Zenbook Professional 16X OLED has a shorter keyboard that takes up solely the highest half of the laptop computer’s deck. The keyboard is mounted on a plate that may elevate up due to what Asus calls its “Lively Aerodynamic System Extremely (AAS Extremely) mechanism”, which mainly tilts the keyboard up at an angle. Asus claims this helps with cooling, and it additionally gives a probably extra ergonomic typing expertise. Plus, it has some cool RGB underlighting onboard.
Under the keyboard you may discover a dial on the lefthand facet, which you need to use to regulate the PC and work together with apps (like these in Adobe’s catalog) in a comparatively distinctive manner. To the correct of the dial is a haptic touchpad, centered within the decrease half of the deck, which additionally doubles as a quantity pad if you happen to allow the ASUS NumberPad performance.Â
Zenbook Professional 16X OLED: Show
The Zenbook Professional 16X OLED, because the identify suggests, sports activities a 16-inch 3.2K OLED touchscreen with a refresh charge of 120Hz. That is a fairly luxurious show for a laptop computer, although in fact we’ll must get one in for testing earlier than we will say for positive how vibrant and vivid it appears.
Nonetheless, in my expertise testing laptops and displays right here at Tom’s Information I’ve discovered that OLED shows almost at all times look higher than extra frequent IPS screens, with brighter brights, deeper blacks and sharper contrasts.
We do not but have a agency depend of what number of ports the brand new Zenbook Professional 16X OLED gives, however we do know it would provide assist for Thunderbolt 4.
Zenbook Professional 16X OLED: Efficiency
Essentially the most probably thrilling new factor in regards to the 2023 refresh of the Zenbook Professional 16X OLED is that its internals have been redesigned, in partnership with Intel, to shrink the CPU and create extra room on the motherboard for cooling and energy parts for the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 collection GPU inside.Â
Asus claims the distinctive Intel CPU onboard (seemingly a modified thirteenth Gen Raptor Lake laptop computer chip) is designed with Asus’ new Supernova SoM (System-on-Module) design. The tip outcome shrinks the motherboard by roughly 38%, and that house is used to bolster efficiency in a manner that is hopefully noticeable to homeowners. Asus additionally says its switched to a liquid metallic compound for cooling the laptop computer’s key internals, and it claims this swap has allowed the laptop computer to run cooler at max load and obtain higher efficiency.
Couple these enhancements with the truth that you possibly can configure the Zenbook Professional 16X OLED with as much as 32GB of LPDDR5X DRAM, and Asus’ declare that that is “probably the most {powerful} Zenbook but” begins to make sense.
Zenbook Professional 16X OLED: Outlook
Whereas there’s nonetheless loads we do not know in regards to the new Zenbook Professional 16X OLED, together with how a lot it would price and when it would launch, the main points Asus revealed at CES 2023 have me feeling cautiously enthusiastic about this odd-looking laptop computer.
Whereas I am unsure I am an enormous fan of the raised keyboard design and dial, I do know I’ve not been an enormous fan of Asus’ touchpads (and their togglable NumberPad overlays) previously. However after all of the claims Asus has made in regards to the energy of the Zenbook Professional 16X OLED (2023), I can not assist however be intrigued.Â
Whereas pitched extra as a laptop computer for creators than sport followers, the potential energy of the Zenbook Professional 16X OLED when kitted out with a high-end Intel CPU, a beefy Nvidia GPU and 32GB of RAM makes it seem to be an incredible gaming laptop computer in disguise. Issue within the luminous 3.2K OLED touchscreen and also you begin to see why that is value getting enthusiastic about.
We’ll have extra on the laptop computer as we hear it, together with (hopefully) an opportunity to go hands-on with one at CES 2023, so keep tuned!
