Asus has just pulled the curtains off its latest laptop, marking the debut of Intel’s upcoming CPUs from the Meteor Lake lineup. The new Zenbook 14 OLED is quite the powerhouse, boasting options like the Core Ultra 7 155H or the Core Ultra 9 185H, both loaded with a hefty 16 cores each.
What’s catching attention is the incorporation of the new Intel AI Boost NPU in these System on Chips (SoCs), enabling the device to handle AI applications right on the machine itself. This move could prove to be a game-changer, especially with big players like Microsoft gearing up to introduce more AI tools for Windows and other software.
But that’s not all. These chips also integrate an upgraded Arc GPU, promising a significant performance bump compared to the older Xe graphics units. And let’s talk about the screen – the Zenbook 14 OLED rocks a 14-inch OLED panel with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels and a brightness that peaks at 400 cd/m². It’s interesting to note that OLED screens tend to dial down brightness when displaying vast white areas to minimize wear and tear.
Under the hood, the Intel Ultra SoC teams up with 16 GB of soldered LPDDR5X RAM. Asus pairs this with a speedy 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD boasting PCIe 4.0 speeds. For connectivity, users get two Thunderbolt 4 ports with DP Alternate Mode, a USB-A port (3.2 Gen1), HDMI 2.1, and a good ol’ 3.5mm audio jack.
All this tech wizardry comes neatly packed in a compact body measuring 31.24 x 22.01 x 1.49 cm and tipping the scales at 1.28 kg. The 75-watt-hour battery is claimed to power through a full workday, thanks to Intel’s promise of better energy efficiency with these new Meteor Lake chips. This might mean longer battery life than what we’re used to seeing.
Exciting news for tech enthusiasts: the Zenbook 14 OLED is slated to hit the shelves starting December 29, 2023. It’s already up for pre-order on Asus’s online store, carrying a price tag of 1,500 Euros. Worth noting, though, only the Core Ultra 7 version is available at launch, with the Core Ultra 9 expected to join the party in 2024 according to Intel’s timeline.
