Month: January 2022

The new Acer Swift X is a thin and light laptop powered by a 12th-gen Intel Core processor and discrete graphics. Or actually, it’s two different laptops that match that description, because Acer is offering 14 and 16 inch models.

While specs are similar across both models, the larger Swift X has a higher resolution display and one other distinctive feature: it’ll be among the first laptops to ship with an Intel Arc discrete GPU, while the 14 inch model will instead ship with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics.

Acer says both versions of the laptop have 16:10 displays and slim bezels for a 92% screen-to-body ratio. The displays support up to 400 nits brightness.

Both laptops have aluminum bodies, active cooling, and a thin design, measuring just about 0.7 inches thick. To help will cooling, there are dual heat pipes, a fan, and an air inlet that draws air through the keyboard area.

Acer says the laptops were co-engineered with Intel to meet the chip maker’s latest Evo specifications for responsiveness, battery life, and collaboration features.

Other features include two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.0 port a fingerprint reader, and a full HD webcam.

Here’s a run-down of key specs for the new Acer Swift X laptops:

	Acer Swift X SFX14-51G	Acer Swift X SFX16-52G
Display	14 inch 2240 x 1400	16 inch 2560 x 1600
Processor	12th-gen Intel Core	12th-gen Intel Core
Graphics	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti	Intel Arc
RAM	Up to 16GB LPDDR5 (onboard)	Up to 16GB LPDDR5 (onboard)
Storage	Up to 1TB SSD 1 x PCIe Gen 4 1 x PCIe Gen 3	Up to 1TB SSD 1 x PCIe Gen 4 1 x PCIe Gen 3
Battery	59 Whr	59 Whr
Wireless	WiFi 6E	WiFi 6E
Dimensions	312.9 x 214 x 17.9mm 12.32″ x 8.43″ x 0.7″	356.3 x 239.7 x 17.9mm 14″ x 9.44″ x 0.7″
Weight	1.4kg 3.09 pounds	1.79kg 3.95 pounds

Acer hasn’t revealed pricing or availability details yet.

Acer Swift X (14 inch)

Acer Swift X (16 inch)

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Zotac’s latest ZBOX Magnus EN series mini PC with discrete graphics is an 8.3″ x 8″ x 2.5″ computer that houses an Intel Core i7-11800H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 laptop graphics with 16GB of GDDDR6 memory and up to 150W of power.

The new ZOTAC ZBOX Magnus EN1713080C will be available either as a barebones computer for folks that want to add their own memory, storage, and operating system or as a complete system that comes with Windows 11 pre-installed.

While it’s a little disappointing that the new system doesn’t feature one of the recently announced 12th-gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 6000 processors, the Core i7-11800H chip is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with support for speeds up to 4.6 GHz, and the RTX 3080 is NVIDIA’s most powerful laptop graphics solution… at least until next month and the computer can drive up to four displays.

The XBOX Magnus EN1713080C has two SODIMM slots for up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 memory, two PCIe x4 slots for SSDs, and a 2.5 inch bay for a hard drive or SSD.

Ports include:

• 1 x Thunderbolt 4
• 5 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A
• 1 x 2.5 Gbps Ethernet
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
• 2 x HDMI 2.1
• 2 x DisplayPort 1.4a
• 1 x 3.5mm mic input
• 1 x 3.5mm audio output
• 1  SD card reader

Customers who opt for the Windows 11 configuration will get a system with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a 1TB hard drive, and Windows Home 11 software, but all of those features are user upgradeable.

Zotac hasn’t announced pricing or availability details yet.

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Vom Celeron bis zum Core i9: Intel erweitert das Alder-Lake-Portfolio um die 35/65-Watt-Modelle und preiswerte H670/B660/H610-Platinen. (Intel Alder Lake, Prozessor)

HP is updating its Elite Dragonfly line of thin and light business laptops with a new model sporting the latest Intel processor and a new 3:2 aspect ratio display that provides more vertical screen space while still keeping the starting weight below 2.2 pounds.

The new HP Elite Dragonfly G3 will be available starting in March, 2022.

The laptop measures about 11.7″ x 8.7″ x 0.7″ and features a full-sized backlit keyboard with larger keys and a larger trackpad than the previous-gen model. The power button has also been moved to the keyboard area, making it harder to accidentally turn on the laptop while the lid is closed.

While the 2nd-gen HP Elite Dragonfly had a 720p webcam and came with a choice of 38Wh or 56.2 Wh batteries, this year’s model has a 5MP camera and 45Wh or 68 Wh battery options.

The camera also supports HP Auto Frame technology, which can keep you centered in the frame on video calls as you move, by cropping the video. And HP Presence technology can detect whether you’re in front of the computer or not and automatically lock or wake the PC accordingly.

The HP Elite Dragonfly G3 laptop supports up to 32GB of LPDDR5 memory (soldered to the motherboard) or up to 2TB of PCIe 3×4 NVMe solid state storage.

The new 13.5 inch display options include:

• 1920 x 1280 pixels, 400-nits
• 1920 x 1280 pixels, 1000 nits with HP Sure View privacy screen
• 3K2K OLED, 400-nits

The laptop features two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.1 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a 3.5mm headphone/mic audio jack. It comes standard with WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 support, and there’s optional support for NFC, 4G LTE, or 5G.

HP says pricing will be revealed closer to availability.

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CES 2022 may be the coming out party for Intel’s 12th-gen Core Mobile processor family, but we’re going to have to wait a little longer for news about the company’s other big new product launch for this year: its Intel Arc discrete graphics.

While the company isn’t ready to provide specs or availability details yet though, Intel has announced that it’s now shipping its Arc graphics solutions to “more than 50 new mobile and desktop customers,” which means we can expect to see the first systems featuring Intel’s discrete GPUs soon.

The company notes that some of those customers include Acer, Asus, Clevo, Dell, Gigabyte, Haier, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, MSI, and NEC, which covers most major PC makers that aren’t named Apple.

In terms of features, Intel is promising “industry-leading advanced features such as hardware-accelerated Ray Tracing, Xe Super Sampling (XeSS), AI-driven upscaling technology and Intel deep Link technology.”

Of course, some of those technologies are only useful if developers add support for them to their apps and games, but Intel says it’s working on that too, with games like Death Stranding Director’s Cut set to take advantage of XeSS AI upscaling and video editing software including DaVinci Resolve incorporating support for Deep Link Hyper Encode (which uses both integrated and discrete graphics together for quicker encoding).

More details should be available closer to launch.

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A few months after launching the first 12th-gen Intel Core desktop processors based on Alder Lake architecture, Intel is introducing its first Alder Lake mobile chips. And there are an awful lot of them.

Intel is launching 28 new mobile processors as part of the 12th-gen Intel Core mobile lineup. They range from 9-watt chips for thin and light laptops to 45-watt processors for high-performance gaming notebooks and mobile workstations, but they all feature Intel’s latest technologies including hybrid architecture that combines high-performance and energy-efficient CPU cores on a single chip.

Basically Intel’s new chips are taking a page out of ARM’s big.LITTLE playbook and smooshing together two different types of CPU core on the same chip. This allows a PC to rely on the more energy efficient CPU cores for power savings, but the high-performance chips kick in when they’re needed. Some tasks will also leverage all available CPU cores, so the fact that Intel’s  new chips all have more CPU cores than their predecessors could lead to significant performance gains as well as efficiency gains.

Intel’s Performance cores are basically the next-gen CPU cores that you might have expected from the Intel Core line of processors, while the Efficient cores are the latest version of the company’s Atom chips designed for low-power computing. One feature that these Atom-based chips generally lack is support for hyperthreading, which is why most of Intel’s new chips have unbalanced core/thread counts: while previous-gen Core processors used to have twice as many threads as cores, now we see things like 14-core, 20-thread chips or 5-core, 6 thread processors.

Putting Performance and Efficient cores together on a single processor is designed to offer the best of both worlds, and that approach seems to have paid off for Intel’s 12th-gen desktop processors. Soon we’ll see if the same can be said for Intel’s mobile processors.

12th-gen Intel Core H-Series processors

Designed for high-performance laptops and mini-desktop computer, Intel’s new Alder Lake-H processors support up to 6 Performance cores and 8 Efficient cores, for a total of up to 14 cores, 20 threads, and CPU frequencies of up to 5 GHz.

Intel is moving away from using TDP to describe power consumption, and instead gives more realistic, more useful numbers letting us know that these chips have a base power consumption of 45 watts, but they can use up to 115 watts when running their max turbo speeds.

Other features include integrated support for WiFi 6E and Thunderbolt 4, support for DDR4-3200, LPDDR4x-4267, DDR5-4800, and LPDDR5-5200 memory, and PCIe Gen 4.

Intel says when you compare a laptop with its new flagship Core i9-12900HK processor to one with the previous-gen Core i9-11980HK, you can expect up to 28% faster gaming performance and up to a 40% improvement in other tests.

Here’s a run-down of Intel’s Alder Lake-H processor family:

12th-gen Intel Core H-Series (45W)
Chip	Cores / Threads	P / E Cores	L3 Cache	Base / Max Turbo P-cores	Base / Max Turbo E-Cores	GPU (EU / Max Freq)	Base Power	Max Turbo Power
i9-12900HK	14 / 20	6P / 8E	24MB	2.5 GHz / 5 GHz	1.8 GHz / 3.8 GHz	96EU / 1.45 GHz	45W	115W
i9-12900H	14 / 20	6P / 8E	24MB	2.5 GHz / 5 GHz	1.8 GHz / 3.8 GHz	96EU / 1.45 GHz	45W	115W
i7-12800H	14 / 20	6P / 8E	24MB	2.4 GHz / 4.8 GHz	1.8 GHz / 3.7 GHz	96EU / 1.4 GHz	45W	115W
i7-12700H	14 / 20	6P / 8E	24MB	2.3 GHz / 4.7 GHz	1.7 GHz / 3.5 GHz	96EU / 1.4 GHz	45W	115W
i7-12650H	10 / 16	6P / 4E	24MB	2.3 GHz / 4.7 GHz	1.7 GHz / 3.5 GHz	64EU / 1.4 GHz	45W	115W
i5-12600H	12 / 16	4P / 8E	18MB	2.7 GHz / 4.5 GHz	2 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.4 GHz	45W	95W
i5-12500H	12 / 16	4P / 8E	18MB	2.5 GHz / 4.5 GHz	1.8 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.3 GHz	45W	95W
i5-12450H	8 / 12	4P / 8E	18MB	2 GHz / 4.4 GHz	1.5 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.2 GHz	45W	95WP Series

12th-Gen Intel Core P-Series processors

Intel is also adding a new P-Series to its lineup. Sitting in between the high-performance H-Series and the more energy-efficient U-Series, these chips use between 28 and 64 watts of power, making them a better fit for thin and light systems than the Alder Lake-H, while offering higher CPU and graphics clock speeds than you’d get from Alder Lake-U.

Here are specs for the inaugural P-Series processor lineup:

12th-gen Intel Core P-Series (28W)
Chip	Cores / Threads	P / E Cores	L3 Cache	Base / Max Turbo P-cores	Base / Max Turbo E-Cores	GPU (EU / Max Freq)	Base Power	Max Turbo Power
i7-1280P	14 / 20	6P / 8E	24MB	1.8 GHz / 4.8 GHz	1.3 GHz / 3.56GHz	96EU / 1.45 GHz	28W	64W
i7-1270P	14 / 16	4P / 8E	18MB	2.2 GHz / 4.78GHz	1.6 GHz / 3.5 GHz	96EU / 1.4 GHz	28W	64W
i7-1260P	14 / 16	4P / 8E	18MB	2.1 GHz / 4.7 GHz	1.5 GHz / 3.34GHz	96EU / 1.4 GHz	28W	64W
i5-1250P	12 / 16	4P / 8E	12MB	1.7 GHz / 4.4 GHz	1.2 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.4 GHz	28W	64W
i5-1240P	12 / 16	4P / 8E	12MB	1.7 GHz / 4.4 GHz	1.2 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.3 GHz	28W	64W
i3-1220P	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.5 GHz / 4.4 GHz	1.1 GHz / 3.3 GHz	64EU / 1.1 GHz	28W	64W

12th-gen Intel Core U-Series (15 watt) processors

This is Intel’s mainstream line of chips for thin and light laptops. With power consumption in the 15 to 55 watt range, these new processors also support up to 1.25 GHz Intel Iris Xe graphics with 96 execution units which should enable some lightweight gaming or graphic design without a discrete GPU.

12th-gen Intel Core U-Series (15W)
Chip	Cores / Threads	P / E Cores	L3 Cache	Base / Max Turbo P-cores	Base / Max Turbo E-Cores	GPU (EU / Max Freq)	Base Power	Max Turbo Power
i7-1265U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.8 GHz / 4.8 GHz	1.3 GHz / 3.6 GHz	96EU / 1.25 GHz	15W	55W
i7-1255U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.7 GHz / 4.7 GHz	1.2 GHz / 3.5 GHz	96EU / 1.25 GHz	15W	55W
i5-1245U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.6 GHz / 4.4 GHz	1.2 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.2 GHz	15W	55W
i5-1235U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1 .3 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.9 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 1.2 GHz	15W	55W
i3-1215U	6 / 8	2P / 4E	10MB	1.2 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.9 GHz / 3.3 GHz	64EU / 1.2 GHz	15W	55W
Pentium 8505	5 / 6	2P / 8E	8MB	1.2 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.9 GHz / 3.3 GHz	48EU / 1.1 GHz	15W	55W
Celeron 7305	5 / 6	2P / 8E	8MB	1.1 GHz	0.9 GHz	48EU / 1.1 GHz	15W	55W

12th-gen Intel Core U-Series (9W) processors

For a few years Intel offered low-power Core series processors with TDPs in the 4-5 watt range and while chips like the Intel Core m3-8100Y offered better performance than you would have gotten from a similarly low-power Atom processor, they were still rather underwhelming when compared with their 15-watt siblings.

That changed last year when Intel’s 11th-gen U-Series processor lineup included 7-15W chips like the Core i5-1130G7 and 15-28W chips like the Core i5-1135G7. When I got a chance to review a laptop with one of the lower-power chips, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it punched well above its weight class, with little noticeable difference in performance from a system with the higher-power chip.

Anyway, it looks like Intel is continuing down that road this year. Instead of updating its Core M-Series processor lineup, the company is introducing new 9-29W Core U-Series chips with up to 10 CPU cores and 12 threads. Like the 15-55Wchips, these chips combine 2 Performance cores with up to 8 Efficient cores. The key differences are lower base CPU frequencies and lower GPU frequencies.

Here’s the run-down:

12th-gen Intel Core U-Series (9W)
Chip	Cores / Threads	P / E Cores	L3 Cache	Base / Max Turbo P-cores	Base / Max Turbo E-Cores	GPU (EU / Max Freq)	Base Power	Max Turbo Power
i7-1260U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.1 GHz / 4.7 GHz	0.8 GHz / 3.5 GHz	96EU / 0.95 GHz	9W	29W
i7-1250U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.1 GHz / 4.7 GHz	0.8 GHz / 3.5 GHz	96EU / 0.95 GHz	9W	29W
i5-1240U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1.1 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.8 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 0.9 GHz	9W	29W
i5-1230U	10 / 12	2P / 8E	12MB	1 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.7 GHz / 3.3 GHz	80EU / 0.85 GHz	9W	29W
i3-1210U	6 / 8	2P / 4E	10MB	1 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.7 GHz / 3.3 GHz	64EU / 0.85 GHz	9W	29W
Pentium 8500	5 / 6	2P / 8E	8MB	1 GHz / 4.4 GHz	0.7 GHz / 3.3 GHz	48EU / 0.8 GHz	9W	29W
Celeron 7300	5 / 6	2P / 8E	8MB	1 GHz	0.7 GHz	48EU / 0.8 GHz	9W	29W

 

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The Intel Evo Platform is basically Intel’s way of verifying that laptops offer a certain set of “key experiences.” When the platform first launched in 2020 that meant long battery life, quick resume from sleep, and fast charging, among other things.

Now Intel is introducing the 3rd-gen Intel Evo Platform. Along with those earlier experiences, Intel says that in order to get the new Evo badge, a laptop now needs to include features to help with video conferencing, in keeping with the world we now live in. The company is also adding support for laptops with larger screens, higher-power processors, and outlining specs for devices with foldable displays.

Unsurprisingly, Intel is tying the new spec to the launch of its 12th-gen Intel Core processors, so in order to be considered a 3rd-gen Intel Evo device a laptop needs to have an Intel Alder Lake processor with support for WiFi 6E (even though the company acknowledges that many users won’t be using laptops with WiFi 6E routers, as that technology isn’t widely available yet).

The company also says that Evo-certified notebooks will support Dynamic Background Noise Suppression when using video conferencing and collaboration applications.

For the first time, Intel will grant Evo certification to laptops with 35 watt and 45 watt Intel Core H-Series processors and to models with 15 to 16 inch displays. Some models may also have Intel Arc discrete graphics. Laptops with Intel Core U and P-Series chips and smaller displays will also, of course, earn the Evo badge.

And the chip maker is also expanding the Evo platform to include a laptop/tablet hybrids with large foldable displays that can be used in laptop, tabletop, journal (or book) modes, or other orientations. Intel expects to see more of these come to market in 2022.

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The HP Z2 Mini G9 is a small desktop computer that measures 8.3″ x 8.6″ x 2.7″, making it easy to store behind a display or under a desk. But inside the computer’s compact chassis lies the beating heart of an entry-level workstation-class computer.

HP says the little computer supports up to a 12th-gen Intel Core K-series processor, up to NVIDIA RTX A2000 graphics with 12GB of DDR5 memory, up to 64GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, and support for up to two PCIe 4 NVMe SSDs.

Much of that hardware is user upgradeable. The computer uses a standard low-profile PCIe 4 x8 graphics card, allowing you to swap out the GPU. There are two M.2 2280 slots for storage. The RAM is user replaceable. And there’s an M.2 2230 PCIe 3 slot for an optional WiFi & Bluetooth card.

The computer also features a slide-out design, allowing you to access the interior for upgrades without using any tools.

Between the side and rear of the device, you’ll find this set of standard ports:

• 2 x USB Type-C (10Gbps)
• 4 x USB Type-A (10 Gbps)
• 1 x DisplayPort 1.4
• 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
• 1 x 3.5mm mic/headphone combo jack

There’s also support for an optional USB-A (5 Gbps) or RS-232 Serial port on the right side, or one of the following ports on the left:

• Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gbps)
• HDMI 2.0b
• DisplayPort 1.4
• VGA
• USB Type-C (10Gbps)
• USB Type-A (5 Gbps)
• Gigabit Ethernet
• RS-232 Serial

HP says the Z2 Mini G9 will be available in March, 2022. Pricing will be revealed closer to release.

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The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is a thin and light laptop with a 13.5 inch FHD+ or higher resolution touchscreen display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, support for a pressure-sensitive digital pen, and a 360-degree hinge that lets you use the computer in laptop or tablet modes.

With an Intel processor, an Intel Evo-certified design, and support for up to 32GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, it’s clearly a premium device. It just happens to ship with Google’s Chrome OS software rather than Windows.

The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook measures about 11.6″ x 8.7″ x 0.7″ and weighs about 2.8 pounds. It’s available with a choice of 1920 x 1280 or 2256 x 1504 pixel displays and has optional support for HP’s Sure View privacy screen technology which allows you to limit the viewing angles to keep folks sitting next to you from seeing what’s on your screen.

The laptop has a backlit keyboard and a Gorilla Glass-covered trackpad with support for haptic feedback.

Ports include two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, HDMI port, headset jack, and a microSD card reader plus an optional SIM card slot for models with support for 4G LTE and/or 5G.

Under the hood the laptop has LPDDR4x memory soldered to the mainboard and HP will offer 128GB, 256GB and 512GB SSD options. The laptop has four speakers with Bang & Olufson sound, a fingerprint reader, webcam, and a 51 Wh battery that HP says can be charged to 90% in 90 minutes.

The optional digital pen supports the USI pen protocol and attaches magnetically to the side of the notebook for safe keeping when it’s not in use. It also charges wirelessly. while magnetically docked.

HP says the Elite Dragonfly Chromebook will be available starting in April, with pricing announced closed to availability. Folks who’d prefer Windows can opt for the HP Elite Dragonfly G3, which is coming in March. That model is even lighter, at 2.2 pounds, but it’s a clamshell-style notebook rather than a convertible.

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