Mac, Surface, XPS gaming laptops and even something brand new into the
mix Windows arm laptops that don't suck yeah this is going to be a big year for
laptops this is Luke with Digital Trends and lately there's been a lot of talk about why
PCS are going to make a big comeback this year after the big swing down in PC sales in 2023
of course a lot of that talk has been driven by AI and all that kind of nonsense but today
I want to talk about the actual exciting new laptops that are supposedly coming this year
from what I already saw at CES and according to the latest reporting we have a pretty good idea
of what's coming so let's talk about it I'm going to start with a laptop I've already seen in person
and am excited to try out more but is definitely controversial and of course I'm talking about the
new Dell XPS 14 now based on the comments in my video which runs through the entire revamp of the
XPS lineup that you should definitely check out not a lot of people are feeling this new design
and that's totally fair everyone's upset about the seamless haptic trackpad and the capacitive
touch buttons that get rid of the function row of keys and for the most part I can agree with these
complaints but I'd be lying if I said the look of this laptop isn't striking and I'm very curious
about its performance when you configure it with an RTX 4050 feels like a pretty decent MacBook
Pro 14 competitor to me though maybe not the best one I'll get back to that later and please note
that when I say I'm excited about the XPS 14 I'm saying that model specifically because I still
think the XPS 16 feels like kind of a non-starter as a larger content creation device but when it
comes to the 14-in model I can be more forgivable about some of those design changes especially
since we're getting a faster 120 HZ screen and a considerably smaller chassis compared to the
XPS 15 but before I get into too much hot water for actually being excited about this thing let's
move on to the world of MacBooks so obviously a lot of what I'm about to say comes from reporting
coming from people like Mark Gurman but it seems pretty clear at this point that we're going to
get updates to the MacBook Air this spring at some kind of launch event alongside some new iPads in
lie of releasing the M3 update last fall for the MacBook Air it looks like apple will be lining
up an M3 update to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air at the same time alongside those new iPad Pros
which is the first time they've done something like that it's also expected that the M1 MacBook
Air will be finally cut out from the lineup officially leaving apple with a simpler lineup
unless Apple does something crazy like continued to sell the M2 MacBook Air we'll have to see but
this will likely be the only MacBook launch of the year which is kind of crazy to think about
as of now reporting is pointing to the lch of the M4 chip being saved for 2025 which will be built
on the 2 n tsmc chips which is likely when the MacBook Pros will eventually get updated so it's
really just these MacBook airs this year now these M3 MacBook airs won't have much else in terms of
an update the design isn't going to change after all the 15-in model came out just last summer but
really graphics will be the biggest update to these devices and I just don't know that
that's going to make a big change for the average person although if you are coming from an aging M1
MacBook Air that's a few years old it might make for a decent upgrade the next one I want to talk
about is the 14-in MacBook Pro competitor that I think everyone is sleeping on and that is the
Asus Rog Zephrus G14 this is another laptop that we got to see in person at CES just a few weeks
ago which I can't believe that was a few weeks ago but this is my most anticipated gaming laptop of
the year and it's the one Windows laptop that I think is the most competitive with something like
a 14-in M3 Max MacBook Pro it's gotten a complete redesign this year with a clear eye towards making
this more of a crossover hybrid laptop than it already was and by that I mean it's a laptop that
looks a lot like a mainstream consumer laptop that just so happens to be a powerful gaming laptop too
like if you go check out their website it's being sold for creativity and productivity just as much
as for gaming and I for one totally buy it it still has the flashes of the ROG gaming style
whether that's the new slash bar of light on the lid or even just the font on the key caps but now
you're also getting a thinner chassis that's very close to as thin and it's actually lighter than the
14-in MacBook Pro also has a widened enlarged touchpad that looks fantastic larger key caps
and a brighter white color option it's not just style changes though this year it also comes with
options for up to a 500 nit OLED 120 HZ display and an RTX 470 with a 90 W tgp all those design
changes are also coming to the larger 16-in model the G16 and that one comes with up to a 240 HZ
display and an RTX 4090 obviously all this needs to be tested and reviewed but this is definitely
one of the laptops I'm most excited to review when it comes out later this year next up is a
pair of devices that have been a long time coming and I'm talking about the Surface Pro 10 and the
Surface Laptop 6 now the Surface Pro 9 came out way back in October of 2022 so it's been a while
since we've heard anything about Microsoft's Flagship 2in1 and to be fair they did lose the
head of surface and Windows last fall Panos pan but the recent reporting from Windows Central is
pointing to two releases coming actually for both these lines the Surface Pro and the Surface Laptop
this year so first there is reportedly going to be a more conventional commercial launch in the
spring which will be named the Surface Pro 9 plus and Surface Laptop 5 plus if Microsoft follows the
previous naming scheme that they've done in the past but the real exciting stuff is supposedly
coming in late spring or early summer and that is the actual Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop
6 and even though we're not expecting radical new designs here we do know that they'll be lined up
with both the launch of a new AI focused Windows update maybe called Windows 12 or maybe not as
well as the Launchpad for the new arm-based Qualcomm chips and guys this is where things
get really interesting these new Snapdragon X Elite chips may end up being a huge deal and
the Rumor now is that they will be the exclusive chip options for both the Surface Pro 10 and the
Surface Laptop 6 aiming to match the performance and battery life of modern MacBooks in fact
Qualcomm has stated that its chips are 21% faster than the M3 and I know those claims are still just
that claims but it's enough to get me excited CU when you stop and think about it this could end up
being Microsoft's big arm transition moment just like apple had back in 2020 and if it's backed
up by support on the app ecosystem side of things it could be huge we already know that pretty much
every major laptop manufacturer is on board to including Dell Lenovo HP Asus and Samsung but
it's feeling like these two new Surface devices could be the ones to kick things off and that's
really exciting lastly I want to end up with one more laptop that I again saw at CES that
really got me excited and we actually gave this a best of CES award and that's the Lenovo Thinkbook
plus hybrid this was a 2-in-1 with a very unique premise on one level it's a Lenovo Windows
laptop like any other but then you yank up on the screen and you can pull off the 14in screen to be
used as a tablet not unlike the old Surface Book devices from back in the day the difference here
though is that this tablet has a full version of Android running on it and the benefit of of course
is that Android is a much more intuitive touch only operating system than Windows 11 currently
is and it has a large ecosystem of Android apps again at least compared to Windows beyond that
this little device has a few secret tricks up its sleeve such as being able to share files between
the two systems run Android in a window while running Windows and even run the entire laptop
as an Android laptop now there's a lot I want to test out with this very unique product but of all
the more experimental designs to be announced this year so far this one feels like the most
functionally practical to me one that I could actually see myself loving to use so I'm really
excited when this one comes out supposedly in the second quarter of this year that's my list of my
most anticipated laptops of the year so far but now it's time for you to chime in which are you
most excited for leave me a comment down below and if you enjoyed this video go ahead and leave
me a like too while you're at it subscribe to the channel for more thanks for watching