Several new laptops chipsets have been introduced lately in response to Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC AI initiative. They sport faster neural processing units (NPUs) to speed up on-device AI processing and make it more efficient, but they’re not precisely the same. AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 chipsets are aimed at overall performance, while Intel’s Lunar Lake is aimed at efficiency.
The Asus ProArt PX13 is one of the first with AMD’s chipset, and it’s a highly portable 13-inch laptop. The Asus Zenbook S 14 is aimed at great battery life in a thin-and-light design using Lunar Lake. Both are some of the best laptops you can buy today, but which laptop is the better choice?
Some of Asus’ recent laptops have been introduced with a limited number of configurations. The Zenbook S 14 is one such example, which right now has just one available model. It’s $1,500 for an Intel Core Ultra 258V chipset, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch 2.8K OLED display.
The ProArt PX13 has two configurations. The base model is $1,700 for an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chipset, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, and a 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED display. Its $2,000 configuration comes with a much faster RTX 4060 GPU.
That makes the ProArt PX13 a more expensive laptop, but one that promises faster performance particularly with discrete GPU options.
Both of these laptops share the typical Asus design cues, and yet they’re different. The Zenbook S 14 uses what Asus calls “ceraluminum,” or aluminum that’s been treated to create a ceramic-like feel and lightness. And there’s a texture on the lid, which sports a geometric pattern, that feels and looks great. Interestingly, the Zenbook is considerably thinner and lighter than the ProArt PX13 thanks to those materials. For its part, the ProArt PX13 is a bit more conventional, with a simple black chassis and lines and venting that are more aggressive. It’s like Asus wanted to give a hint at the power inside, and in that sense, mission accomplished. They look and feel different, but each fits its design goals.
Both are very well-built laptops, with solid chassis and lids. The hinges are smooth and allow opening the lid with one hand. They’re premium laptops, and they feel like it.
Given that they’re contemporary Asus premium laptops, they share similar keyboards. In fact, they might be identical, with spacious layouts, large keycaps, and light, snappy switches. The Zenbook S 14’s touchpad is a lot larger, maybe too large resulting in too-small palm rests, but otherwise, it’s similar to the ProArt PX13′ mechanical touchpad. And both laptops have touch-enabled displays.
Connectivity is similar, with both laptops having a similar number of high-speed and legacy ports. Both also have up-to-date wireless connectivity. The one difference is the ProArt PX13’s microSD card reader, which is a nod to its creator market.
Both laptops also have 1080p webcams and infrared cameras for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition. Thanks to fast NPUs, they both support Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC requirements — although support for the AI features will come to the ProArt PX13 in a future update.
AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 chipsets are aimed primarily at very fast CPU performance coupled with a fast NPU that meets Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC initiative. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 isn’t aimed at efficiency, but rather throws 12 cores and 24 threads at churning through multi-core tasks. That’s compared to Intel’s Lunar Lake, or Core Ultra Series 2, chipsets that are specifically intended to produce longer battery life. Lunar Lake has a faster NPU, but its CPU performance isn’t as impressive especially in the Core Ultra 7 258V with just eight cores and eight threads.
That’s exactly what we see in our benchmarks. The ProArt PX13 is a lot faster in multi-core tasks while bring roughly as fast in single-core operations. Except for the simple workflows, the ProArt PX13 will be noticeably faster. The Asus also has a discrete GeForce RTX 4050 GPU that’s a lot faster than the Zenbook’s integrated Intel Arc 140V graphics. It will also be faster for gaming and creative applications. Note that you can also configure the laptop with a much faster RTX 4060 GPU to boost these applications further.
Both laptops have 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED displays, but the ProArt PX13’s 13.3-inch panel will be significantly sharper than the Zenbook S 14’s 14.0-inch display. At the same time, the Zenbook benefits from a faster 120Hz refresh rate that will make for a smoother Windows 11 experience.
However, both have similar colors and brightness, and the same near-perfect blacks. Our Zenbook review unit had unusually poor color accuracy, but that’s likely an issue with that specific machine given OLED’s usual excellent results.
The ProArt PX13 is considerably smaller in width and depth than the Zenbook S 14, but it’s thicker and heavier. So the Zenbook manages to make a somewhat more portable machine even with a larger display.
As mentioned above, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 chipset isn’t aimed at efficiency, and that shows in our battery tests. The Zenbook with the Lunar Lake chipset is a lot more efficient — around twice as efficient, in fact. You’ll get much better battery life with the Zenbook.
The Zenbook S 14 leverages Intel’s Lunar Lake chipset for some impressive battery life, offering a Windows laptop with a build quality and battery life to challenge Apple’s MacBook Air M3. But its performance isn’t very impressive, falling behind most recent chipsets.
The ProArt PX13 uses AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 chipset for very fast CPU performance and then discrete Nvidia GPUs for fast gaming and creative work. It’s also well-built, but it doesn’t have nearly the battery life. So, that’s your choice: more power or a longer-lasting laptop?
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.