CES remains a big show in the world of computing. We still live in an era when all the biggest names in PCs show up to the event trying to outdo each other, which always makes it exciting as onlookers.
From the looks of it so far, CES 2024 looks to be a big one. A slew of new PC hardware, laptops, gaming laptops, monitors, and much more are bound to be announced. Here’s what to expect from the show and what we know so far.
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Nvidia plans to have a big presence at the show this year. Its virtual presentation starts at 8 a.m. PT on Monday morning, the media day before CES officially kicks off. What the company will be talking about this year is no secret. The RTX 40 Super desktop GPUs have been fully leaked now for months, followed by official teasers from the company. At this point, the new cards feel like the closest thing we have to a guarantee.
So yes, the RTX 4080 Super, 4070 Ti Super, and 4070 Super are rumored to all get launched, along with a lot of talk around AI, of course. Notably, there don’t appear to be any mobile GPUs being announced this year, so don’t expect the RTX 50 series to get kicked off just yet.
AMD’s keynote is happening just before Nvidia at 7 a.m. PT in a presentation titled “Together we advance AI.” AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su will be hosting, along with the general manager of computing and graphics, Jack Huynh. You can expect the general topic of AI to be a focus, though leaks around the impressive performance of new Ryzen 8000 APUs look promising, too.
Either way, don’t expect an entire line of new GPUs to combat Nvidia’s announcements, though there are rumors that AMD will bring a more budget-friendly desktop GPU, the Radeon RX 7600 XT. The rumored card would use the Navi 32 GPU and fill the gap between the RX 7700 XT and RX 7600.
Lastly, Intel’s presentation will be at 3 p.m. PT on Monday afternoon. Having already announced its Meteor Lake processors in December, this year’s CES keynote may be focused on the broader topics of AI. CES Pat Gelsinger will be hosting, where “Intel technologies, supported by innovative and open software, enable AI capabilities for consumers and businesses to create a better, responsible, more sustainable, and more inclusive future for all.”
Rumors also point to a 14th-gen Raptor Lake Refresh to sit alongside Meteor Lake, having been mentioned in leaks recently. How Intel will position these chips will be fascinating, especially due to how much effort it put behind the Core Ultra rebrand.
The timing with laptop refreshes this year has been a bit awkward. They are usually aligned with announcements from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, but with Nvidia out of the question, most of the attention is around Intel’s Meteor Lake “Core Ultra” rollout. The major announcements around the launch have already been made in December, along with a host of new laptops to support, such as the Acer Swift Go. But we can expect another slate of laptops from the usual suspects to get announced.
Dell already announced its shake-up to the XPS line this week, introducing the new XPS 13, 14, and 16, as well as some new UltraSharp monitors. If you believe the leaks, there’s much more on the Alienware front, too. Expect laptop manufacturers like HP, Lenovo, Asus, Razer, and many more to have new devices to share. Because there are no mobile GPU announcements expected, however, gaming laptops will largely be based on last year’s GPUs, such as the RTX 40-series.
Regardless, you can pretty much guarantee that nearly every single new laptop will be marketed as an AI PC, even if that concept feels increasingly like a misnomer.
Gaming monitors have become quite a buzzy topic at CES over the last few years, especially as the race to adopt more advanced panel technology has sped up. Companies like Samsung Display and LG are usually in attendance with new panels, partnered with all the manufacturers, whether that’s Samsung Electronics, Asus, or Dell. Some of the biggest announcements have already been made, such as LG’s dual-refresh rate 480Hz OLED monitor.
It’s safe to assume that OLED will be the name of the game, but seeing how these companies can push the technology even further is always of interest. Look at Acer’s 27-inch 3D monitor, which was announced last fall and provides a glasses-free 3D experience. Hopefully, we’ll see more monitor technology like this that takes the technology in new directions and further improves things we’re used to, like resolution, refresh rate, and backlighting.
With Apple’s Vision Pro waiting in the wings with a rumored launch in February, don’t be surprised if we see some of the competition ramping up, too. Mixed-reality headsets and corresponding VR technology are always a fun part of CES, especially the more experimental releases. Now that Apple has used the term expect the topic of spatial computing to be the talk of the town.
Beyond that, you can expect your usual assortment of new mice, keyboards, desktop PCs, PC components, and other accessories to flood the Las Vegas Convention Center halls, hoping to stand out enough to make a splash. Which will? For that, we’ll have to wait and see.
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.