Articles by Andrew E. Freedman

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When I picture the most powerful of the best gaming laptops, I think of behemoths with thick chassis and loud cooling systems. But the Razer Blade 16 (starts at $2,999.99, $4,499.99 as tested) paints a vision of a different world, where the most powerful laptop GPU, the RTX 5090, can fit in a chassis that’s just 0.69 inches at its thickest point.Razer delivers a lot for the premium price (as it should) including a gorgeous display, solid battery life, and lots of ports. But the 28 W AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor makes for some tradeoffs, especially on CPU-bound games, and Nvidia still needs to do some work on its RTX 50-series “Blackwell drivers” to make this system perform as well as it should.Design of the Razer Blade 16The Razer Blade 16 is surprisingly thin. While there has been a general trend of gaming laptops getting slimmer and sleeker, the highest-end rigs have generally stayed thick to allow for generous cooling. But the Blade, despite its RTX 5090 GPU, is just 0.59 inches at its thinnest point (0.69 inches at its thickest).Image […]

HP’s latest 16-inch gaming laptop is designed to be thin and portable. The aptly-named Omen 16 Slim, set to release this spring, packs up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H “Arrow Lake” CPU and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Laptop GPU in a chassis that’s 16% slimmer than the standard Omen 16.The height at the front of the laptop is just 19.99 mm (where HP gets that 16% number), though at its thickest point, the Omen 16 Slim is 22.7 mm tall. The laptop weighs about 5.35 pounds.In a brief-hands on with the system, it felt slim, but wasn’t necessarily featherweight. Most of the ports are on the back, a move that has been popular among slimmer gaming laptops to maintain a sleek aesthetic from the side profile. I didn’t get to stick it in a bag, but having jammed plenty of gaming laptops into my backpack for testing, I suspect this one would fit just fine.(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)The Slim will start at a Core Ultra 5 225H and go up to a Core Ultra 7 255H before the bump to Ultra 9. At the moment, the RTX 5070 is the only discrete GPU on the laptop’s spec sheet, though an “up to” suggests that others may be announced down the line. HP claims that using its “Unleashed Mode,” you can get up to 105W of power. You can get the laptop with 16, 24, or 32GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and either 512 GB or 1TB of PCIe Gen 4 SSD storage.The laptop has a 16-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio, and will have resolution choices of 1920 x 1200 or 2560 x 1600. The 2560 x 1600 option will go up to 250 Hz, while the 1200p version will come in 144 Hz or 165 Hz versions.Image […]

HP is refreshing its premium consumer laptop lineup, the OmniBook X, with a swath of new convertibles and a large clamshell design. The updates, shown at HP’s Amplify partner conference, include new lattice-free keyboards and feature chips from both Intel and AMD.The new machines are 14-inch and 16-inch convertible 2-in-1s and a 17.3-inch standard laptop.The 14-incher, the HP OmniBook X Flip 14 2-in-1, starts with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V and goes up to a Core Ultra 7 258V, or on the AMD side, a Ryzen AI 5 340 up to a Ryzen AI 7 350. Those Ryzen chips all have 50 TOPS NPUs, while the Intel chips range from 40 to 47 TOPS. All of them hit the minimum NPU requirement to be Copilot+ PCs.The Intel models will have 16 or 32GB LPDDR5x-8533 RAM options, while the AMD models also feature a 24GB version and run at a slower LPDDR5x-7500. Intel’s storage goes higher, too, at 2TB, while the AMD version tops out at 1TB.Either way, you get a 14-inch, OLED touch display with resolutions up to 2880 x 1800, as well as either Wi-Fi 6E or 7 support.(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)The 16-inch 2-in-1 laptop has the same chip options as the 14-incher, but with a larger OLED screen. In addition, though, there’s one extra configuration — the only one not labeled as an AI PC — with an AMD Ryzen 5 220, which doesn’t feature an NPU. That one has other basic specifications including just 8GB of RAM and a 1920 x 1200 display. It’s likely to be an affordable option in this high-end chassis, but HP hasn’t announced any pricing for any of these systems.If you’re looking for more of a workstation, the HP OmniBook X 17.3 pairs either an Intel Core Ultra 7 256V or 258V with either integrated Arc graphics or an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU. This system has either 16 or 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of storage. HP is listing a standard, 1920 x 1080 display.(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)Across the board with these new models, HP has adopted a lattice-free keyboard, without any space between the keys; It’s a design similar to what Dell was using on its XPS line – perhaps the Dell Premium line now? This allows for larger keys and, an HP rep suggested, softer typing. The standard chiclet keys will remain on the OmniBook 7 lineup and below. It seems that the blue highlights on the function keys on last year’s OmniBooks have gone, which is a shame because that slight pop of color was fun.Image […]

Why you can trust Tom’s Hardware

Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

The MacBook Air is one of those laptops that has become something of a default recommendation. Looking to spend around $1,000, and want something fast, quiet, and efficient, with great build quality? It’s an easy call. That’s why it tops the list of our best ultrabooks.With the M4 model, Apple is in full-on refining mode. Sure, M4 is faster, but now we’re getting features like an improved webcam, faster ports, and even a subtle new blue color. It’s not a huge change, but they’re all welcome.That’s especially the case when Apple dropped the price by $100, jettisoning previous-generation models holding the $999 starting price. With all of that in mind, the MacBook Air feels like a better deal than it has in years.Design of the MacBook Air (M4)Does the MacBook Air look largely the same as it has the last three years? Is the sky blue?Apple hasn’t changed the MacBook Air’s looks, with one exception: there’s a new color, “sky blue.” It’s a very subtle sheen that I quite like. It’s similar to what we saw on the Microsoft Surface Pro, but far less dramatic, bordering on standard silver in some lights. I think it’ll make a good alternative for those bored by silver but who don’t want something as dark as the “midnight” color. Starlight and silver are also still on offer, but space gray is no longer available.Image […]

Apple’s MacBook Air is one of the most popular laptops around, and soon it will be faster and, surprisingly in 2025, start at a lower price. Today, the company announced that the next iteration of our pick for best ultrabook will get bumped up to an M4 chip and feature a new color option, “sky” blue.Outside of that new color, the M4 MacBook Air looks the same. It still comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes, and there are still a pair of Thunderbolt ports on the left side, along with MagSafe for changing, while the right side is home to the headphone jack. (What I wouldn’t do for Apple to move one of those two ports to the other side).There are other upgrades. The M4 chip has a 10-core CPU and goes up to a 10-core GPU. Memory goes up to 32GB of RAM, rather than the 24GB max on the M3 Air. Like the M3 laptops, M4 starts at 16GB of memory.Ahead of the launch, Apple showed demos of a MacBook Air running 32GB. Some of them were heavy on machine learning and Apple Intelligence. These included using Pixelmator to take a profile picture using the Center Stage webcam, and creating a mask to remove the background and replace it with a different one. In another, Apple Intelligence was used in the Markdown notes app Bear to organize information into a table quickly. Perhaps the most impressive was Blender, which made a 4K render with 12 million pixels in 18 seconds, about five times faster than with an M1.M4 will let the MacBook Air power two external monitors with the display open, which is a bump up from M3, which could only do that with the lid closed. Apple is also boosting the webcam to a 12-megapixel Center Stage webcam that we also saw on the M4 MacBook Pro, including support for Desk View.(Image credit: Apple)The sky blue is a pretty color, and I think it’ll be a hit. It’s similar to a toned-down version of the sapphire color on Microsoft’s Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. It adds a bit of a pop to the MacBook Air, which is in mostly muted tones like silver, starlight, and midnight, all of which will remain for sale. Space gray, however, has been shown the door.Apple’s new pricing is a nice touch. In the M3 generation, Apple kept the M2 MacBook Air around to hit the $999 price point, while M3 started at $1,099 in a 13-inch chassis. The 15-inch version started at $1,299 and had no M2 option. But now, Apple is doing away with keeping the previous generation around, and will simply start the 13-inch M4 at $999, while the 15-inch laptop will begin at $1,199, dropping each price $100. It’s rare to see anything getting cheaper these days, so I’m very happy to see Apple pack its latest in at the $999 price. The M2 version may stick around as a budget pick in some markets, but don’t expect to see it here in the US.The new MacBook Air is available for pre-order today and will launch on March 12.Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. […]

While most people at Mobile World Congress who talk about Lenovo will probably be discussing its various concept devices. Lenovo is also showing off a series of new laptops that we know for a fact it will actually go on sale.Among them, Lenovo is adding to its Aura Edition collection with the Yoga Pro 9i, while also updating numerous ThinkPads.The Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition — furthering Lenovo’s partnership on flagship products with Intel inside — is effectively a workstation class product mixing Core Ultra processors up to an Ultra 9 285H with Nvidia graphics up to a GeForce RTX 5070. That’s alongside 64GB of LPDDR5X dual-channel RAM and up to 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. Unsurprisingly, that power is being pushed as a way to run on-device AI.The 16-inch display will go up to a 3200 x 2000, 120 Hz tandem OLED panel panel with up to 1600 nits peak brightness that Lenovo is calling PureSight Pro. There’s also a 5MP webcam, Wi-Fi 7, and a mix of USB Type-C (Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4 at 40 GBps) and USB-A ports.Lenovo describes the laptop as using “on-device AI,” including Lenovo Creator Zone and Lenovo X Power, the latter which tunes performance with machine learning.The Yoga Pro 9i will share the Smart Modes, Smart Share (for moving images between your laptop, Android phones, and iPhones), and premium troubleshooting support from Lenovo technicians offered with other Aura Edition-branded machines.The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 will launch in Q2 with a planned starting price of $1,799. A smaller version, the 7i Aura Edition, won’t be sold in North America.New ThinkPads(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)Lenovo is using Mobile World Congress to make a change to its long-running T-series of ThinkPads. The T14s 2-in-1 is the first convertible in the lineup. This one will use Intel Core Ultra 7 processors (both U and H 200-series chips). Configurations will go up to 64GB LPDDR5x soldered RAM and up to a 1TB PCIe Gen 5×4 SSD. The 14-inch touchscreen has a 1920 x 1200 resolution. Lenovo specifically refers to the 58 WHr battery as customer-replaceable. Like the Yoga, the T14s 2-in-1 will have a 5MP camera.There’s also a new ThinkPad X13, the Gen 6, that weighs just 2.05 pounds. This system will have more choices for chips, going up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 H or U 200-series processor with vPro or AMD Ryzen AI Pro 300 Series chips. Other specs include up to 64GB of RAM, up to 2TB of PCIe SSD storage, and a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1200 display, as well as support for Wi-Fi 7 and 5G Sub6.The ThihnkPad X13 Gen 6 will launch in June 2025, and Lenovo plans to price it starting at $1,139.00. The T14s 2-in-1 will also come in June at $1,719.00, alongside a clamshell T14s Gen 6 for $1,674.00.Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. […]

Lenovo is known for its steadfast business laptops and premium ultraportables, but in the last few years, it’s increasingly been using tradeshows to show off proof-of-concept ideas that are far-out, fascinating, or just plain weird. Ahead of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company is revealing a slew of concepts, including a solar-powered Yoga laptop and a ThinkBook Flip with an outward-folding 18.1-inch screen.The company also has a ton of concepts regarding AI (Surprise!), a 3D laptop concept, and ideas for the “Magic Bay” on the ThinkBook 16p.Yoga Solar PC ConceptThe Yoga Solar PC Concept is a delightfully simple idea: stick a solar panel in the lid of a laptop to charge your PC. Specifically, it converts over 24% of energy, which Lenovo says is among “the best in the industry.”(Image credit: Lenovo)Lenovo says this conversion comes from “Back Contact Cell” tech that “moves mounting brackets and gridlines to the back of the solar cells, maximizing the active absorption.” Here’s Lenovo explaining how the whole thing works:”The breakthrough advanced Dynamic Solar Tracking system constantly measures the solar panel’s current and voltage, working with the Solar-First Energy system to automatically adjust the charger’s settings to prioritize sending the harvested energy to the system, helping to ensure maximum energy-savings and system stability no matter the intensity of the light. Even in low-light conditions, the panel is still able to generate power, sustaining battery charge when the PC is idling.”All of this, Lenovo claims, means that in direct sunlight, you can get enough energy in 20 minutes to run an hour of local 1080p video playback, assuming you have uninterrupted exposure to the sun. Since there are three USB Type-C ports on the concept, you can still charge with a cable. (This is good if you work in an office sometimes, or perhaps in perpetually cloudy weather.)The laptop weighs 2.29 pounds and is 0.6 inches thick, so you’re not seeing some huge increase in size due to the panel. The concept notebook is powered by an Intel Core Ultra processor (though Lenovo isn’t saying which), up to 32GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 50.2 WHr battery. There’s a 14-inch OLED screen, as well.Like most concepts, no price or release date is anywhere to be found.Image […]

Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, has come to another platform: the Mac. In the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, Microsoft has released a dedicated app in the Mac App Store. (In fact, it’s the top app featured by Apple on the App Store as of this writing)The new app requires a Mac with an M1 processor or later and at least macOS 14 Sonoma. While it’s open in the background, you can use a default shortcut (Option + Space) to quickly message it. That’s just a key away from Command + Space, which launches the familiar Spotlight search.The full app also features the Think Deeper feature (powered by OpenAI’s o1 model) as well as voice conversations. You can also get news tories from Copilot daily and access your conversations from other devices. If you’ve used Copilot on any other platform, including Windows, it’s all pretty familiar here.The wait is over – we can finally hang out on macOS! Download Copilot for Mac and try me out today.February 27, 2025Technically, it’s not the first time Copilot has been on the Mac. It was already built into the Edge browser and in certain Office 365 apps. But now it’s standalone.The move came after Mac owners received the ability to type to Siri with Apple Intelligence, alongside ChatGPT extensions for Siri. OpenAI also has its own Mac app, as AI companies look to expand their user base to multiple platforms. Siri has yet to receive some Apple Intelligence upgrades, so there’s room on the Mac for other AI agents to steal the show, at least for now.Microsoft had not been abandoning Apple platforms, though. Copilot had already been available for the iPhone and the Mac. Today, Apple is also adding Split Screen capability to the iPad app, and both iOS and iPad users can now upload text files and PDFs to Copilot to query the assistant about the documents or summarize them. (Microsoft says this is coming to the Mac soon).While the Mac might not be the most obvious choice for a Microsoft-owned AI (after all, it definitely doesn’t qualify to be a Copilot+ PC with those current rules!), Microsoft has been pretty good about keeping its software available everywhere, not just Windows. So some diehards who love macOS but also love Office and other Microsoft offerings may finally have just what they want.Update February 27 at 3:32 p.m. EST: Microsoft let Tom’s Hardware know that Copilot on Mac is also available in Canada, which had not been previously stated. This was added to the story. Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. […]

When Framework debuted its Desktop earlier this week, most attendees of its San Francisco event didn’t get to tear the machine all the way down to the studs. There’s an exception, however: iFixit posted a full teardown of the 4.5L Mini-ITX machine, removing the cooler and showing off the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, also known as Strix Halo.Teardown tech Shahram Mokhtari removed the four Phillips screws to free the large cooler (co-engineered by Framework, Cooler Master, and Noctua) to reveal the die shot everyone was waiting for. (You can see it around 8:38 in the embedded video).

Modular, Open, Repairable – The Framework Desktop Teardown! – YouTube

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Strix Halo hasn’t changed; we’ve seen the die shots before. But here, we do see that the massive, seemingly custom cooling solution is a unit that covers both the processor and the RAM, which is soldered to the motherboard. Framework CEO Nirav Patel wrote in a blog that Framework “spent months working with AMD to explore ways around this but ultimately determined that it wasn’t technically feasible to land modular memory at high throughput with the 256-bit memory bus.”To cool the chip and RAM, Framework isn’t using a standard desktop CPU cooler. It attaches to a 120 mm fan; you can pick from options from Cooler Master or Noctua, or pick your own. This is an engineering board, so it’s possible changes will come to the final product, but it seems unlikely that there will be an option for someone to put Strix Halo under water cooling (but if you figure it out, get in touch).Mokhtari was able to remove the board after opening the case and removing the front and side panels. He removed the fan from the cooler first and unplugged the board. He did, however, have to unscrew more of the case than expected, possibly due to this unit being an engineering sample. The Flex ATX PSU stayed in the case the whole time.The Framework desktop is available for pre-order now and is set to release in Q3 of this year. The base model, with a Ryzen AI Max 385 and 32GB of RAM, starts at $1,099, while the top-end machine with a Ryzen AI Max+ 395 with 128GB of RAM begins at $1,999. Framework is only doing “DIY” editions here, so you’ll have to get your own storage drive and bring your own operating system (the company is calling it “the easiest PC you’ll ever build”). The mainboard on its own will be available from $799.Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. […]