Laptops

MediaTek shared in a blog post that it will have chips in Google’s upcoming Googlebooks, joining Intel and Qualcomm. Interestingly, it mentions bringing Dimensity smartphone chips, not the Kompanio chips it already had in Chromebooks (and were quite good).

Intel chips won’t be the only CPUs powering Google’s new Android-based laptops. Qualcomm also confirmed on Wednesday that it’s working on Googlebooks, but, like Intel, hasn’t given any details about the specific chips the laptops will feature:

When it announced the new Googlebook laptops yesterday, a few commenters noticed the name seemed familiar, but only one realized just how familiar.

Lenovo is announcing a new ThinkPad X13 Gen 7, launching this month with Intel Panther Lake and AMD Gorgon Point chips. The X13 starts at $1,499 and weighs as little as 2.03 pounds / 0.93kg. Lenovo also boasts the X13 scores a 9/10 repairability rating from iFixit.

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Book 6 Edge, but so far only for France. There’s no price for the slim laptop yet, which will launch in early May with 512GB or 1TB storage, a Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, and a 16-inch 120Hz OLED screen.

Buying it on its own from Framework, the GPU costs $1,199.00 — a $500 jump from the 8GB variant, which costs $699.00. As part of a full laptop order, the gap between them is $500, too.

Super cool to see how Apple’s videos come together. Here’s the actual introduction video from March, if you want to compare.

The dual-screen Zenbook Duo I reviewed in January was said to cost $2,399.99 with an Intel Core Ultra X9 388H. Now preorders are open, but a base model costs $2,499.99 and the 388H configuration I tested will be $2,699.99. Ouch.

We’re here at Framework’s Next Gen event in San Francisco, and you can follow along with the livestream. It’s been teasing a lot of Linux: what do you think we’re about to see?

Last week I told you how much better the MacBook Neo is compared to similarly priced Windows laptops. Now, let me show you.

iFixit called the MacBook Neo the “most repairable MacBook in 14 years,” and if you’re endeavoring to repair one yourself, you can now get replacement parts from Apple, as spotted by 9to5Mac. These include the Neo’s battery, bottom case, audio board, and even its display which is $307.12 if you don’t return the broken part.

YouTube’s ETA Prime found that a strip of copper, some Noctua thermal paste, and an Arctic Thermal Pad do a surprisingly effective job at dissipating heat from the Neo’s CPU and reducing thermal throttling, as spotted by Tom’s Hardware. The liquid-cooler they add is even more effective, but feels like overkill for most Neo users.

There are new laptops across HP’s EliteBook, ProBook, and ZBook lines in varying sizes and chip configurations. Some highlights include the EliteBook 6 G2q (the lone Snapdragon X2 model of the bunch) and the EliteBook 8 Flip G2i 2-in-1 , which has a garage for an optional stylus.

I said PC makers are ill-prepared to compete with the MacBook Neo, and I’m putting it to the test. I’ve started calling in $600-700ish Windows laptops from Lenovo, Asus, Acer and more to pit against the Neo.