With all the biggest names in the PC industry set to exhibit at CES 2019, laptop users are in for some major surprises.
The Consumer Electronics Show is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in the tech world. With all the biggest names in the PC industry set to exhibit at CES 2019, laptop users are in for some major surprises.
Here’s a slight glance of what’s in store for laptop users this year:
AMD is looking to steal the show
In the last couple of years, Ryzen has become synonymous with PC users worldwide. AMD’s Ryzen processors built on AMD’s Zen architecture have gained considerable notoriety among desktop users for both their competitive pricing and powerful performance. However, Intel still holds significant ground over the Red Team on the laptop front. But that’s likely about to change with the widely expected announcement of AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series CPUs, Ryzen 3000 series APUs, and the new Vega 2 graphics cards. With the announcement of AMD finally getting into Chromebooks, it will be interesting to see what top laptop manufacturers like Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo have in store for laptop users.
MacBook Air under threat
Apple’s latest MacBook Air received much praise for its improved Retina display and powerful Intel processor. The new MacBook Air might be one of the fastest laptops in the market today, but the company’s over-the-top pricing has earned it considerable criticism. The Dell XPS 13 and Huawei MateBook X Pro have offered stiff competition to the previous MacBooks. Intel’s lower-powered Y-series processors are likely to be introduced on more entry-level laptops as seen with the HP Spectre, PixelBoo and MacBook Air.
Mobile graphics performance gets a major boost
Nvidia unveiled its GeForce RTX series of graphics cards for desktop PCs last summer. Just as we seen the GTX 1000 series make its way to laptops, Nvidia is all set to bring its RTX cards to over 40 laptops in 2019. While the current line of RTX cards was designed for high-end gaming PCs, Nvidia promises a new range of RTX cards designed for affordable gaming PCs. Nvidia will bring its RTX cards to more than 40 laptops with confirmations already coming in from brands like Asus and Razer. Intel and AMD will also reveal portable graphics cards for their gaming laptops at CES 2019.
Experimental form factors should come as no surprise
CES 2017 saw the debut of the Acer Predator 21X; a gaming laptop with a curved display and Razer’s Project Valerie; the world’s first triple display laptop. Several companies have followed suit with mechanical keyboards on their gaming laptops. CES never disappoints on experimental concept products and gaming laptops with a healthy dose of weirdness in form factor should come as no surprise.
Qualcomm issues a challenge
A new breed of laptops built on the promise of better longevity, reliability, and mobility powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors debut in 2018. Qualcomm has promised up to 21 hours of battery life on laptops powered by the Snapdragon 850 processor. Considering some of the best Intel-powered laptops see only about 12-15 hours of battery life, it will be interesting to see how Intel and AMD respond to the challenge.
