Laptops

Framework announced the single-key module last year, but now says it can no longer turn it into a “sellable product.” The company says the module’s costs were too high and even the “expert DIYers and electronics tinkerers” in its developer program struggled with assembling it.

The XPS 13 now costs $699 for a base configuration with just 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That price used to get you a configuration with 512GB of storage, but Dell’s now charging $799 for that one. It matches the pricing for Apple’s MacBook Neo, which also got a price hike earlier this year.

Lenovo’s Project Swan has a screen that literally unrolls. The prototype could use better speakers and some weight balancing, but I love watching it in motion!

Remember Frore and its fan-replacing AirJet cooling tech? Sure looks like Lenovo is taking it seriously!

Sometimes, one purchase more than makes up for the annual cost of a Costco membership. HP’s OmniBook 3 is a good example of that. It has a Snapdragon X processor, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, 256GB of storage, and a 1200p OLED screen, and through September 6th it costs just $449.99 ($200 off) at Costco. Seems like a capable Arm-based machine for the price that’s great for entertainment, too.

HP is adding to the impending deluge of RTX Spark computers due in October with the OmniBook X 14, OmniBook Ultra 16, and the small form factor OmniDesk. My colleague Dom saw the Ultra among other Nvidia-powered laptops at IFA, but we still don’t know any prices.

Only one of them switched on, and apparently it wasn’t even meant to, so I’ve got no deep performance insights about the first laptops powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip. But Dell, Lenovo, MSI, Asus, HP, and Microsoft are all on board with hardware already — hopefully we’ll get the details on them all before too long.

I am largely uninterested in Android tablets these days — and yet! This just-announced Lenovo Yoga Tab Plus Gen 2 surprised me in person. Magnetically snaps right onto this “OneStep” keyboard frame, surprisingly excellent typing with 1.5mm key travel, firm non-slip leatherette base. Doesn’t open one-handed, though, and I’d like it better with a carry handle.

The Oukitel RG14-P includes an integrated solar panel that supports 10W charging, which can recharge the battery to 50 percent within approximately six hours “under optimal sunlight conditions.” There’s no price, but it’s expected to launch in November with a 14th gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB expandable storage, and optionally, a built-in camping light.

Acer, which has owned the historic PC brand since 2008, has resurrected it in a line of cheap, cheerful, and exceedingly colorful hardware, ranging from a 14-inch laptop to a portable food steamer. It all goes on sale in Q4 this year, though for now it’s only hitting the market in Europe.

Samsung announced a new Galaxy Book6 laptop at IFA. It’s a 14-inch notebook with Intel Wildcat Lake processors, starting with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. And it’ll start at $799.

Acer is announcing the Vero 16: a 16-inch laptop with tool-free internal access. The battery and SSD are user-replaceable, and the hinge and ports are also removable. Acer also says the processor can be upgraded for “at least two generations.”

It’s been a few months since Google revealed its Chromebook successor / sibling, and all’s been quiet since — at least officially, with leaks of laptops from Lenovo and Asus. We’ll know more soon: Google invited outlets including The Verge to a media event in September where we’ll get to “test out the laptops and new features.”

Qualcomm has now shared that its Snapdragon C laptop platform is built on a 6nm process, with an 8-core CPU and support for up to 16GB of LPDDR5X memory. The budget laptops are obviously not powerhouses, especially with Qualcomm positioning them against Intel N250 devices instead of Intel’s Core lineup or the MacBook Neo’s A18 Pro chip.

The now-former chief scientist of Google DeepMind has shared a pic of the HP laptop he turned in on the way out the door. While he notes that he also had a MacBook to use at home, his “second (& primary)” machine looks to be a five- or six-year old HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook.

I woke up to an email from Framework this morning letting me know my data was included in a “limited” data breach at one of Framework’s partners reported on August 6th. Framework says hackers accessed “customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses” but not order or payment info.

The unique Asus Zenbook Duo has two 14-inch touchscreen OLED displays, and can be used either in traditional laptop mode or dual-screen mode. Best Buy has the 2025 edition with a Intel Core 9 Ultra CPU and 32GB of LPDDR5X memory discounted by $600 until 12:01 AM CT on August 7th, 2026, bringing the price down to $1,999.99. Read our review of the 2026 edition.

9to5Google obtained images of the unannounced device — I included one below, but check 9to5’s story to see them all. Lenovo Googlebook devices also leaked recently.

Apple is struggling to keep the laptop in stock, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, with new orders on some configurations experiencing “essentially unprecedented” delays of roughly a month. This joins the shortages for the Mac Mini and Studio, all of which are seemingly connected to the ongoing memory crisis.

The school year is coming up quickly, and Best Buy is helping to ease the financial burden of getting a laptop. HP’s OmniBook X Flip is $649.99 (usually $1,299.99), and has a 14-inch OLED panel with a 1920 x 1200 resolution, which is great for YouTube or homework, a Ryzen AI 5 430 CPU, 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, and 512GB of storage.

Tech reviews are tricky beasts at the best of times. But things get a lot trickier when products like the Framework Laptop 13 Pro jump by $800 before they ever launch. When everything is expensive — and continually rising higher — what counts as good value?