(Credit: Credit: Joseph Maldonado/PCMag)
In the next few weeks, I expect the PC industry to showcase new designs and processors, along with various small improvements, even if the RAM crunch puts a damper on things. Here are some trends I expect to see in the business laptop space.
1. Faster, More Efficient Processors and Better Graphics
Every year, chip makers promise faster, more power-efficient chips, but the year-to-year advances in general CPU performance have still slowed. Still, adding Qualcomm's Snapdragon line to the first AI PCs proved that battery life could be dramatically extended, and I was impressed by the improvements I saw in machines with AMD's Ryzen 300 "Strix Point" series and Intel's Core Ultra 200 “Lunar Lake” series last year. All-day battery life is now realistic, with many vendors touting "multi-day" battery life.
The biggest change this year is that we will shortly see laptops with Intel's Core Ultra 3 "Panther Lake" series, the first product manufactured on its new 18A process. The company claims 15% better performance per watt and 30% better chip density compared with the Intel 3 process used in some earlier chips, as well as new efficiency cores and a 50 TOPS (trillion operations per second) neural processing unit (NPU).
But the big difference is the availability of much higher-end GPU capability, with four or 12 of the company's Xe graphics cores, with the highest-end chips getting the X9 nomenclature. Intel touts this as being competitive with discrete graphics and thus good enough for a lot of gaming. The first chips announced are consumer chips, but I expect the business-oriented chips—those with vPro—to come shortly.
Not too long ago, PCMag tested the highest-end chip in this family, the Core Ultra X9 388H. In these tests, the high-end Pather Lake showed decent but not exceptional CPU performance compared with the previous generation and AMD's top-end, but notably better graphics performance, and even approached that of entry-level discrete graphics on some gaming tests. I'll be curious to see how well it handles graphics-intensive business applications.
AMD's new chips are in its Ryzen AI 400 family ("Gorgon Point"), which takes the basic outlines of last year's AI 300 family ("Strix Point") and adds faster clock speeds and a faster (60 TOPS) NPU. The company recently announced Pro versions of these chips with a 50 TOPS NPU, available in both desktop and mobile variants.
Qualcomm's biggest recent announcement is the Snapdragon X2 Plus family, which should allow for laptops at a broader price range. But for business users, my guess is that most of what we'll see here is the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme platforms, due out later this year. The top end here features 18 CPU cores and an 80 TOPS NPU. There are some early benchmarks out on this, but with the products not expected until later this year, it's too early to draw many conclusions, other than that it should be faster than the previous generation and offer better graphics.
Qualcomm's big push is "multi-day" battery life and better performance when laptops are running on battery than its competition. The company says it has addressed compatibility questions with many games, but many enterprise applications aren't certified for it yet.
Almost all of the PC vendors will have models based on chips from each of the three big processor makers, and there are rumors of Nvidia-based laptops coming. I noted that some models—like HP's EliteBook X G2—are slated to get all three major processor families, and I'll be curious to see how they perform head-to-head.
2. Every PC Is an AI PC
Of course, AI remains the big story in technology, but you don't hear the phrase "AI PC" much anymore. That's because it's becoming increasingly redundant, as all the major processors this year will have powerful NPUs. We're not quite there yet, but we are well on the path to where every PC will be an AI PC.
This is important because many vendors—from chip companies to Microsoft to PC makers—are talking about "hybrid AI," where some functions run locally, and others run in the cloud, where they have access to more data. That makes sense, and I expect we'll see more such tools embedded in enterprise applications this year.
Everyone pretty much agrees that some functions should run faster locally, which PC makers also say could be more private.
Meanwhile, several vendors have their own AI software they intend to ship with their machines. One of the big CES announcements from Lenovo was its plan to introduce a new assistant called Qira that will replace the AI Now function on its current PCs and also run on its Motorola mobile phones and tablets, but will also work with other AI tools such as Microsoft Copilot. The idea is to provide continuity across devices—phones, PCs, and tablets. But given the diversity of the ecosystem, I wonder how many people will really be able to take advantage of that. Also, given the speed at which the big AI companies are changing their products and how easy it is to get these, I continue to be skeptical of vendor-specific AI.
3. Top Laptops Are Getting Thinner and Lighter
Most 14-inch laptops now weigh between 2.5 and 3.5 pounds and are relatively thin, but there's still a push to make some models even smaller, aiming to come in at 1kg (2.2 pounds) or less. This has been the major selling point of products like the LG Gram for several years now, and we're seeing it in more areas.
On the enterprise side, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 and the HP EliteBook X G2i will be available in configurations that start under 1kg, though both offer options that can push the machines slightly over that weight. (More on both of these later.)
I also saw some newer entrants in this category. The Acer Swift Edge 14 AI, which keeps the weight down but feels stronger than previous generations, has a new stainless steel-magnesium alloy lid.
The Asus ExpertBook Ultra stands out for its new "Nano Ceramic" coating on the magnesium-aluminum alloy frame, designed to provide additional hardness and to resist fingerprints. It offers a 2,880-by-1,800 Tandem OLED display. Other machines that come in at this weight include Lenovo's Yoga Pro Slim 7i Ultra.
But keep in mind that the very thinnest and lightest notebooks come with some trade-offs. For instance, all of the enterprise vendors offer slightly lower-end SKUs that are less expensive than their flagship models. And I've found that slightly thicker offerings, such as Dell's Pro Plus line, compared with its Pro Premium or the ThinkPad T14 series versus the X1 Carbon, can actually perform a little better with the same processors, probably because the extra space allows for better cooling.
4. Enterprise Machines Are Getting Easier to Repair
One great trend I'm hearing from enterprise laptop vendors is a stronger push to make the machines easier to repair and maintain.
The one that stands out the most is Lenovo's venerable ThinkPad X1 Carbon. For its Gen 14 Aura Edition, it sports a new design, with what the company calls a "space frame," including a two-sided motherboard. This allows for more parts to be easily replaced by an IT department, including the keyboard, battery, and even the ports. Lenovo says this design should also be more performant, as it accommodates an additional 5 watts of TDP power.
(Credit: Michael J. Miller)HP's EliteBook X G2 has also been designed to be more serviceable, with top-mount screws. And it offers a deeper dish on the keyboard for more travel and a larger touchpad than the previous generation. Uniquely, this machine will be available with the latest AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.
5. OLED Displays Becoming More Commonplace
One thing I'm glad to see is that more and more vendors are offering OLED displays on laptops, though usually as higher-cost options. Last year, I was particularly impressed by the Tandem OLED version of the Dell 14 Pro Premium, and this year, I note that more vendors will be offering Tandem OLED displays. (Every OLED display I've seen looks quite good, but the Tandem OLEDs are brighter, with more variability in the lighting.)
Speaking of Dell, its big news at CES was the return of the XPS branding, with the new XPS 14 now available with a 2,880-by-1,800 OLED panel. The XPS brand, aimed at the high-end consumer and small-business market, was a longtime mainstay of Dell, and it's good to see it return.
With the new XPS, Dell is emphasizing performance and battery life as opposed to thinness and weight. I'll be interested to see Dell's enterprise offerings—now sold under the Dell Pro branding—in the year ahead. (I expect it to announce these soon.)
Of course, we're also seeing OLED displays in lots of other machines, including the ThinkPad and EliteBook lines and the Asus ExpertBook.
Samsung will be introducing an enterprise edition of its Galaxy Book6, with 14- and 16-inch displays and its own AMOLED technology, which also looks very good. It too is pushing better cooling to boost performance and battery life.
Maybe the best display I've seen is Dell's new UltraSharp 52, with a 6,144-by-2,560 resolution, a slight curve, and a Thunderbolt Dock. It's not cheap, but it looks amazing.
6. Buy Carefully: Prices Are Rising
One thing I've heard from everyone is that PC prices are rising for the year ahead and are likely to keep rising, driven by the massive increase in the prices of memory and storage. Many people expect memory prices to rise further later in the year, so there's an advantage to buying early. I'm also hearing that this benefits people buying lots of machines at once.
Another thing to consider is how much memory and storage you need. On the DRAM front, I wouldn't recommend buying a Windows system with less than 16GB this year, and 32GB is becoming more commonplace. This really matters if you're running any AI applications locally or if you have lots of browser tabs open. But for many enterprise users, we don't want people storing files locally, so you might be able to cut down on the SSD size; most enterprise users don't really need 1TB of storage.
Of course, there are still lower-cost models from all the vendors that don't offer the thinness or the flash of the flagship machines, and, as I've said, in some cases, they offer just as good, or even slightly better, performance.
And it was good to see Apple recently come out with a lower-cost model, the MacBook Neo. I wouldn't recommend that for enterprise use; it seems limited to 8GB of memory and, as always, many enterprise management tools don't work on Mac. But I am intrigued by the rumors of a touch-screen-based MacBook Pro.
Rollable Screens and Other Unusual Designs
Finally, every year we see some unusual designs, usually in prototypes or low-volume machines. For instance, I've tested a few machines with foldable displays, but they never became mainstream. (On the other hand, foldable phones seem to have developed a niche.)
Lenovo always seems to have the most interesting concept machines, and this year the company is pushing the idea of rollable displays. The ThinkPad XD’s display extends from a typical 13-inch screen to a much taller 16-inch display. When it's not used at full height (in other words, when the machine looks like a normal laptop), the screen rolls onto the back of the unit, where it can be used as an extra display.
Similarly, Lenovo has also shown its Legion Pro Rollable, a gaming machine in which the screen expands horizontally from 16 inches to 21.5 or 23.8 inches.
Of these unusual designs, I'm perhaps most impressed by the ThinkBook Plus Gen 7, which is the first mass-market laptop to have a display that twists to either side of the keyboard. The unusual feature here is called "auto twist," where the screen can rotate to follow a person's voice or face. The big application would be to set it up for someone who is presenting both in person and online, as the screen can follow the speaker as he or she moves back and forth. Lenovo first announced this as a concept three years ago, but now thinks it's ready for the real market. I doubt this will ever become mainstream, but it might fill a need for frequent presenters.
Meanwhile, HP's most unusual design is the EliteBoard, which puts the computer in the keyboard, so you can easily carry it and attach it to whatever monitor you'd like. It comes with a Bluetooth mouse and connects to displays via USB-C. This idea goes back to the earliest days of the PC revolution, but hasn't been popular lately. We'll see if this changes things in an enterprise context. I'm skeptical, but I could be wrong.
All told, 2026 isn't likely to be a revolutionary year for PCs, but it should offer some nice advancements in everything from processors to their displays to their readiness for AI. Still, with prices on the rise, it will become more important for IT to understand which trade-offs make sense for their organizations and, thus, which PC models make sense for them.