Alienware 15 (2026) review: Two Minute Review

Alienware's going "entry-level" with this one. Or, at least sort of. The whole list of configurations of the new Alienware 15 (2026) is a little confusing. Officially it starts at £879 in the UK, but for that you get an RTX 3050 GPU instead of the 5050 that we have in this review unit. That's a five year old graphics card there hidden away in a 2026 laptop. So first thing's first, keep a bloody good eye on the spec you get. The last thing you want is to think you're snatching up a bargain, only to be caught out by a sub-par silicon mix-up crushing your frame-rates in the process.

The good news, though, is that on the whole the specs of the Alienware 15 (2026) we were sent (Ryzen 7 260, RTX 5050, 16GB DDR5, and 512GB SSD), is actually remarkably good value for money. Particularly in the US. You can pick one up for about $1,160 or so. It's a lot more expensive in the UK (£1,333) but Stateside, it's a healthy config that delivers some impressive performance as it just peeks over that $1,000 parapet.

Ultra graphical presets aren't off the table here, at 1920x1200, but medium-high on those AAA titles is really going to be the place that leverages that 165 Hz 1920x1200 panel most efficiently. It's not the best of screens, though, as Alienware's got this thing labelled as "IPS", and I'm just not sure about that, because to be frank, the color reminds me more of a TN panel from 2011, than a modern-day IPS, "IPS-like" maybe. Perhaps we've been spoiled with OLED displays of late. Perhaps.

It's not the only place that's been stripped back either; connectivity still touts Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 (yes, in 2026), the build quality is a little plasticky, and the bevelled edges and rounded corners everywhere feel a bit dated, even if it keeps in-line with the brand's style. Oh and then there's my personal pet peeve, the dreaded single-channel memory setup. So you (yes you) can spend more money and increase the capacity at a later date (I mean you could do that with a dual-channel setup as well, but what do I know?).

Fortunately, a lot of the usual laptop woes that crop up with single-channel memory are easily overlooked by that hefty RTX 5050 delivering the frame-rate goodness, but it's still worth bearing in mind, if you are fixated on using this thing for productivity over gaming.

Oh and the SSD is just sad. Sure it's a PCIe 4.0 drive, and the sequential speeds are good, but the random 4K writes are savagely low, and it's a 512GB model, leaving you with about 480GB to play with once Windows 11 is installed. Ouch.

Still, for the price, and those negatives aside, it's remarkably robust and a genuine bargain, particularly around deal time.

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Price & Availability

• Available for $1,159.99 / £1,333 (around AU$2,500)
• UK buyers pay a hefty premium compared to the US
• Base config still ships with RTX 3050 or 4050 era silicon

On the cost front, the Alienware 15 (2026), also known by its model number DA15265, is a curious thing. And its appeal is almost entirely dependent on where exactly your PC gaming escapades are based.

If you're in the US, it's a strikingly good deal. At $1,160 at time of writing, you get top-tier performance, delivering high frame-rates in modern titles, for a smidge over the $1K mark. If you're in the UK, though, this specific config will set you back £1,333.81. That's the equivalent of about $1,800. And yes, I know sales tax is a thing as well, but it's not $640 that's for sure. What a markup.

The more confusing element, however, is the broad range of SKUs available. It's not uncommon to see a single product and design offer many different configurations, especially graphics cards for gaming laptops, but the fact that the Alienware 15 (2026) is available with cards all the way down to an RTX 3050 does muddy the waters somewhat. Particularly if you're snapping up a quick deal around Black Friday, and don't take time to check the specs.

• Value score: 3.5 / 5

Alienware 15 (2026) review: specs

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Design

• Slimmer than you'd expect from Alienware
• Dated design leaves a lot to be desired
• Spongey keyboard and abrasive trackpad

Surprisingly for a 15-incher, the Alienware 15 (2026) is... well, not quite as bulky as you'd expect for an Alienware unit at the budget end of the spectrum.

It's not light at 2.2kg (4.85lbs), at least not in this configuration, but it's a far cry from what you'd usually expect for an affordable gaming laptop. Sadly, Alienware's still hanging onto that smooth-faced design somewhat here, and there's a lot of curvature. The panels, the chassis, the hinge, the edges, they all slowly curve downwards, into an almost egg-shaped design. Even the screen has a bevelled curved edge smoothly radiating outwards, which does feel a touch dated compared to some of the competition out there.

Perhaps unsurprisingly for a laptop at this price, the materials aren't the best either; there's a lot of plastic here, and it's the single biggest indicator that, yeah, this might be on the cheaper end of the budget spectrum.

The keyboard too, is remarkably spongy. If you told me it was a membrane board, I'd believe you, and the trackpad has this weird cheap semi-abrasive finish to it that gives me the ick a little bit (thanks Gen Z). But you know, no gamer worth their salt is going to be using that over one of the best gaming mice anyway.

Port selection is fairly minimal too, and there's no Thunderbolt either (given it's an AMD platform), although you do get HDMI 2.1, and Gigabit Ethernet to cover the essentials.

• Design score: 3.5 / 5

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Design

• RTX 5050 and 1200p screen are a radical pairing
• Single-channel RAM is frustrating
• Rapid sequential SSD performance, but it struggles on large transfers

Alienware's paired Nvidia's RTX 5050 laptop chip with that (I'm still calling it an) "IPS-like" 1920x1200 display capable of driving 165 Hz refresh rates, with AMD FreeSync to back it all up (at least in this configuration), and the good news is that performance absolutely slaps at that resolution.

Cyberpunk 2077 on the medium preset averaged 90fps at 1080p with the lows sliding in at just 72, and not a drop of upscaling insight. Switch to DLSS on quality with frame generation, and that figure skyrockets to 157 fps on average. Total War: Warhammer 3, also managed an impressive 134 fps as well, and Final Fantasy XIV's Dawntrail benchmark clocked an impressive 102 fps on the High (laptop) preset. Ultra at native resolution isn't off the cards here, and it shows.

As for the CPU, that's one of AMD's Zen 4 Hawk Point Ryzen 7 260s, complete with eight cores and 16 threads, and it cuts just as neatly a line in professional activities as its RTX 5050 counterpart does in game. Cinebench 2024 managed 826 points in the multi-core test, and it savaged 3D Mark's CPU Profile benchmark with a juicy 7,558.

There are a few caveats worth mentioning. Namely, the SSD is a bit... underwhelming. For one, it's just a 512GB model, and although its sequential performance is solid (it's a PCIe 4.0 unit provided by Samsung), the figures that count for game load times, random 4K read and writes, were well under par.

And then there's the memory. I've banged on enough about how frustrating it is dealing with the memory crisis, and manufacturers continually turning to single channel setups for their off the shelf PCs and laptops, and it's unfortunately true here. If you do want to expand and chuck another 16GB stick in later, yeah you can, but there really ought to have been a default option for that from the get go. It's like we're going backwards in performance, not forwards.

• Performance score: 4/5

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Battery life

• Rapid charging
• 70 Whr battery can't compete against hungry silicon

Let's not beat around the bush here; this is a gaming notebook. It's not a Snapdragon-based Acer model with ridiculously impressive multi day battery life, nor is it one of Intel's hyper-efficient Panther Lake units like we saw in Dell's latest XPS, no sir.

You can throw all the Nvidia Optimus screen switching tricks you can at this thing, but at the end of it all, it's still going to chew through battery life faster than I get through cable ties. And chew through it it did.

The Alienware 15 managed just 89 minutes in PC Mark's gaming battery benchmark, before tapping out at 2%. The video test faired much better however, scoring 4 hours and 9 minutes, although again a far cry from the 14 hours Asus's Vivobook S 15 Copilot managed.

Should I buy the Alienware 15 (2026)?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Alienware 15 (2026) review: Also Consider

How I tested the Alienware 15 (2026)

• Tested at home, in the office and on the move
• Benchmarked and used across a wide variety of gaming and productivity tasks
• 11 years of expertise testing laptops, and three weeks with the Alienware 15

I put the Alienware 15 (2026) through its paces, testing it against my usual suite of gaming laptop benchmarks, covering everything from CPU performance, to gaming and everything else in between. I compared it against my database of similarly priced laptops, and used it as my daily driver for three weeks of thorough testing.

Every result was captured under identical, controlled conditions, on a clean Windows 11 install, with the latest updates and drivers. No programs or bloatware were removed, and no power profiles altered during testing, to better represent what an end-user might expect.

• First reviewed: August 2026

There are two non-negotiables when looking for the perfect laptop to run your business: versatility and reliability. Thankfully, HP’s new HP EliteBook X G2i covers both bases with ease, offering a portable laptop that’s packed with power.

Light and efficient enough to work from anywhere, while also maintaining excellent performance across demanding AI tasks and workloads, it’s an ideal business companion for enterprise teams and executives alike.

The HP EliteBook X G2i at a glance:

• Powered by Intel Core Ultra 7
• 14-inch display
• Configurable with up to 64GB of RAM and 2TB SSD storage
• Weighs as little as 2.20lbs

Cutting-edge tech

It’s not that long ago that a thin, light laptop would compromise on power and battery life, but that’s simply not the case anymore. Nowhere is that more apparent than with the HP EliteBook X G2i, a Copilot+ PC, which is powered by Intel Core Ultra processor models paired with an Intel AI Boost NPU (Neural Processing Unit).

The latter is capable of 50 trillion operations per second, clearing the bar (and then some) to be awarded the Copilot+ PC moniker. That means it helps accelerate supported AI workflows.

While there are the obvious use cases, like rewording an email to be more concise or professional in tone, Copilot being baked into Windows 11, and having access to the NPU means swift performance.

That means asking for insights on your budget spreadsheet, generating a fresh image for a PowerPoint presentation, or even looking better in a meeting with real-time blurring of your background are all smoother than on a non-Copilot+ PC. HP also offers its own AI-based noise reduction tech, dynamic voice leveling, and Studio Mode to ensure you always sound your best on calls.

With up to 64GB of RAM included, too, multitasking is smooth, so you can run multiple projects at once. If you’re juggling emails, Slack, Teams, multiple browser tabs, and more, you’ll be thankful for the additional headroom.

And, with the option to use a touchscreen or a comfortable keyboard and trackpad combo, it’s easier to work on projects your way.

For the leader on the move

This kind of power would once have come from a beefy desktop rig, but advancements in design mean that the HP EliteBook X G2i is a light machine at just 2.2lbs, making it lighter than many of its rivals.

And, unlike many of its contemporaries, it offers an optional 5G connection for fast data speeds even when you’re away from the office. Need to send an important file but nowhere near a Wi-Fi point? Having issues with airport or hotel connectivity? Being able to work from anywhere is a truly liberating experience.

Of course, the HP EliteBook X G2i wouldn’t be the best ultra-portable enterprise laptop if it didn’t have the battery life to back it up. Thankfully, it delivers in this regard, too, because the Intel Core Ultra processor and AI Boost NPU work closely in tandem to minimize battery drain and keep tasks humming along.

The result is a laptop that will run for your workday and then some, all while being able to slip neatly into a backpack.

It’s also built with workers in mind. The 14-inch display is not only sharp, but also works to protect data from prying eyes with HP’s Sure View 6 technology, while HP Wolf Security offers multi-layered protection, including firmware protection designed to withstand future quantum-computing threats — a growing threat in today’s world.

Whether it’s digging deep into huge workbooks, putting together a last-minute presentation while away from Wi-Fi, or just catching up on emails after a long day, the HP EliteBook X G2i is built for business.

• Microsoft is eating humble pie over its unrealistic RAM recommendations
• It has deleted articles that pushed 32GB as an ideal or 'no-worries' loadout
• Apple is also feeling the heat in the RAM crisis, with rumors that it's struggling to secure an alternative source of memory supply from China

There are some fresh twists with the RAM crisis hitting some big tech companies, as Microsoft has backtracked on its previous memory recommendations, and even Apple is apparently finding it difficult to cope with the scarcity of memory.

Let's discuss Microsoft first, and as Windows Latest pointed out, the company has been busy backpedalling on previous memory recommendations now that the RAM crisis – which just keeps getting worse – has made those suggestions look foolish.

Microsoft previously had support documents in its Windows Learning Center which have now been removed, and Windows Latest highlights two of them. One was about optimizing your gaming PC, and it advised that "32GB is ideal for serious players who run the most demanding titles" (albeit the article also said 16GB was "plenty" for most games).

Another piece said that 32GB of RAM was the "no-worries zone", and that article was also quietly deleted as there was some backlash against this, given that it was published when the price of system memory had become ridiculous. (And buying a 32GB kit was very much a worry for your wallet).

The links to those articles now redirect to the home page of the Learning Center, and Microsoft is evidently trying to forget about pushing 32GB of RAM as an 'ideal' or 'worry-free' target for memory on your PC.

More broadly, since Copilot+ PCs were launched and the AI features for these devices made them require 16GB, Microsoft has obviously been keen to have that as a baseline memory configuration. Except now, a change of stance is necessary, as with the RAM crisis reaching alarming new heights, Microsoft has been forced to enact huge price hikes with its Surface devices.

And of course, the latest twist with that Surface hardware is that Microsoft has brought back 8GB models with last year's Surface Pro and Surface Laptop. Which makes it kind of difficult to push 16GB as a minimum, let alone make suggestions that 32GB is where it's really at for properly smooth performance.

The abandonment of these Learning Center articles is hardly surprising, then, and Microsoft is also addressing how speedily Windows 11 runs with 8GB of memory (not quickly enough currently). One of its promises with fixing the OS was better performance with a leaner RAM loadout, and Microsoft just made it clear that the company is now actively working to make Windows 11 run better with 8GB before the end of the year.

This has become a vital goal, really, when you consider that Apple has pulled off a commendable showing of performance with its MacBook Neo that packs 8GB of RAM. That was effectively a gauntlet thrown down for Microsoft – something of a declaration that macOS is coming to try to take Windows 11's market share – and one that the Windows maker had to respond to (which became clear enough when Microsoft went on the attack against the Neo).

Apple turnover: China play rumored to end in a fumble

Speaking of Apple, Microsoft isn't the only tech giant being buffeted by the rising costs caused by the RAM storm. While it has had a big success with the Neo, the challenge for Tim Cook's firm – soon to be John Ternus's, of course – is to maintain that momentum, and by all accounts, that's proving a tricky task.

Recent Mac price hikes have caused a good deal of pain – taking some of the wind out of the good ship Neo's sails – and Apple is trying to secure its RAM supply lines for the future, with rumors abounding that it's turning to Chinese chip makers to find extra production capacity.

The latest speculation, however, is that according to a report from Digital Daily (a Korean tech site, via Wccftech), Apple has floundered in negotiations with Chinese memory giant CXMT.

Apparently CXMT has strong enough domestic demand that it doesn't have to offer more attractive pricing to Apple. Essentially, CXMT is holding the line and has "insisted on prices that were higher or similar to those offered by Samsung or SK Hynix" (bear in mind there may be nuances lost with the translation of the article).

You get the message, though: Apple is failing to obtain better deals on mobile DRAM, which includes LPDDR5X, for its iPhones (and that RAM is also used in its MacBooks, of course). And CXMT was supposed to be an escape route from the difficulties of getting enough RAM inventory from Samsung and SK Hynix (and also Micron, a key supplier for Apple), but it seems like a dead-end for now.

At least if this report is correct, but analyst Tim Culpan has also written a short post which backs up the notion that Apple is in trouble here. Culpan writes: "Apple and its suppliers are scrambling to get enough memory chips for its upcoming release of new iPhone models."

'Scrambling' is a word that evokes quite a sense of panic, and indeed with the iPhone 18 models – and the foldable offering – not much more than a month away from launch now (in theory), I'd bet there are some heated words flying here and there. Culpan notes: "Assemblers are working with Apple to rush shipments of DRAM used in mobile devices."

That report is specifically about smartphones, mind, but this same situation applies to mobile RAM that's also used in MacBooks.

The overall theme is more RAM misery all round, which is hardly a surprise given all the negative news we've been hearing on the grapevine of late. GPU pricing has been the latest round of doom and gloom over the past week or two, and I don't think the pessimistic news is going to stop flowing for the foreseeable.

It's not bad news for everyone, though. A source in the semiconductor industry told Digital Daily that: "With the general-purpose DRAM floor remaining unbroken and Samsung and SK Hynix monopolizing the lead in high-value AI memory such as HBM4, the operating profit margins and global market control of the domestic semiconductor sector are expected to rise even more steeply in the second half of the year."

So, it's a familiar story: profits will be on the up and up for memory makers, while consumers will be suffering the pain of the hikes. Apple's purported rush for RAM supplies as the clock runs down on the iPhone launch window is a particularly worrying sounding story, one that doesn't bode well in terms of avoiding more Mac (and iPhone) price rises in the future. Neither can we rule out more Surface price rises, or other laptops for that matter.

TechRadar's Computing team tests dozens of laptops each year, and Dell models consistently impress. I know, because when I came to round up our top-scoring options for this article, I struggled to find any duds. I was spoiled for choice. Below, you'll find a showcase of the Dell laptops that we've reviewed over the past year or so, and which managed to earn four stars or higher when put through our demanding review process.

Most are high-end laptops that rival the best the likes of Apple have to offer, but you'll also find some brilliant affordable options, and some versatile 2-in-1s that would make a top choice for students. I've also included a standout gaming option, as well as a stellar laptop for professionals.

To find out more about each one, click the View details button — this will provide a rundown of our main pros and cons for each model, plus a link to our full review. Alternatively, if you want to see how these laptops compare to one another, check out our best Dell laptop ranking, or for our favorites from a range of brands, head to our comprehensive best laptop guide. Have I missed any models you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments section.

4.5-star Dell laptops

4-star Dell laptops

There's no question about it - Dell is behind some of our favorite business laptops, and right now the Dell 16 is down to $760 (was $980). And whether you're prepping for back-to-school or looking for an office upgrade, this everyday productivity machine is worth a look.

The laptop is powered by Intel's Core 5 120U processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory and a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. The 16:10 touchscreen delivers a 1920 x 1200 resolution with ComfortView technology to help reduce eye strain during long sessions.

Wi-Fi 6, USB-C with Power Delivery and DisplayPort, HDMI, and a full-size keyboard with numeric keypad make it well equipped for productivity, and it comes with Windows 11 Home pre-installed.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Dell 16 if...

You want an affordable productivity laptop with a large touchscreen laptop for documents, spreadsheets, web browsing, and multitasking. The Intel Core 5 processor, 16GB of DDR5 memory, and fast SSD promise smooth everyday performance. We think it's particularly well suited to students, home workers, and office users who spend hours in front of their laptop each day.

❌ Skip the Dell 16 if...

You need dedicated graphics for demanding creative software or modern games, or portability is your highest priority. At 4.37 pounds, it's designed as a desktop replacement rather than an ultraportable, and the integrated Intel graphics are more for productivity purposes rather than graphics-intensive workloads.

Why we recommend it

The Dell 16 focuses on the features most people use every day rather than chasing headline-grabbing specs. The large touchscreen, comfortable 16:10 display, DDR5 memory, fast SSD storage, and practical connectivity make for a dependable laptop for work, study, and home use.

Dell is very well known for producing reliable business and consumer laptops, and its products often feature in our roundups of the best business laptops. In our experience, you can't really go wrong with other models from the company either.

Price context & historical value

Saving $220 brings the Dell 16 comfortably below its usual retail price and makes it competitive with many smaller 15-inch (and below) laptops offering similar hardware. Considering the larger 16-inch touchscreen, DDR5 memory, and Intel Core 5 processor, the current price represents good value for buyers, and you'll pay a lot more for it elsewhere.

For more savings, every week we track all the best business laptop deals.

The Catch: What to know before you buy

Dell's 16 Laptop is designed for everyday productivity rather than demanding creative or graphical workloads.

The integrated Intel graphics comfortably handle office applications, streaming, web browsing, and light photo editing, but they aren't intended for modern games or professional 3D rendering.

The 41Wh battery is also relatively small for a 16-inch laptop, so frequent travelers may want something with greater endurance away from a charger.

• Shop all laptop deals at Dell

With back-to-school season in the air, you might be looking to stock up on a new Mac for college. But doing so can be a confusing affair, with many different models and configurations to choose from, and you can waste a lot of time trying to work out what’s best for your needs.

To skip all the bother, just give our guide a read. We’ve put together everything you need to know, from which Mac is best for you to how to get those all-important student discounts. You’ll be kitted out and ready to go before you know it.

How to choose the right specs for your Mac

When you buy a Mac, there are a few specifications you need to choose, including the chip, memory and storage. You’ll also need to pick a color and, with some Macs, extra options like the display coating and power adapter.

The first three factors — chip, memory and storage — are the most important, and the ones where there’s the most to learn.

We’ll start with the chip, which determines how powerful your MacBook is. More powerful and more recent chips will generally be better, and the higher the chip’s number, the more recent the generation it belongs to.

The chip usually comes in a few different tiers. There’s the baseline option, such as the M5, M4, M3 and so on, then Pro chips like the M5 Pro, M4 Pro and M3 Pro. Then there are Max chips, including the M5 Max and M4 Max. The most powerful level is the Ultra, and it’s limited to desktop Macs like the Mac Studio. The latest version there is the M3 Ultra.

Apple’s chips combine CPU, GPU and memory onto a single system on a chip (SoC). The CPU and GPU will have their own core counts, and the more cores you get, the better able the chip is to handle difficult workloads.

So, which do you need? The baseline chips will be more than enough for essay writing and basic research. On the other hand, you might want a Pro or even Max chip if you’re doing anything that involves complex apps, data processing or graphics work.

As for memory, this is built into the SoC, but you can increase or decrease it separately from the chip selection when configuring your Mac (although it’s worth noting that some memory amounts require upgrading to a more powerful chip). More memory helps speed up multitasking and is also useful for demanding workloads.

The amount of storage you choose depends on how long you want to keep the Mac, how much of a digital hoarder you are, and the type of things you’ll be storing. Run lots of large apps or work with high-resolution video files? You’ll need lots of storage.

Here, it’s best to err on the side of caution, as it’s very difficult (although not impossible) to upgrade your storage once you’ve bought your Mac. While it can be done, it’s not for the faint of heart.

One alternative is to plug in an external storage drive to give yourself extra space. This isn’t optimal, though, as it’s one more thing to carry around, and if it becomes accidentally disconnected, you could suffer data loss.

Make sure to regularly back up your Mac, either using an app like Time Machine or with a cloud service like Backblaze.

How to get Apple’s student discount

Apple has a special education store for students, teachers and more. Here, there are various savings available, depending on the product. For example, the MacBook Neo is priced at $599, down from the regular $699 price (bringing it back to the price it had when it launched, before Apple’s recent price rises).

Apple says that student discounts are available to “current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and homeschool teachers of all grade levels.” You’ll need to verify your student status, which you can do online or at an Apple Store.

Student savings can be had on more than just Macs. In total, the discounts apply to:

• Mac
• iPad and select accessories
• Apple Watch
• Displays
• AppleCare+ for Mac
• AppleCare+ for iPad
• AppleCare+ for Display

Apple says to look out for the mortarboard icon, which indicates a product bought through the education store is discounted.

You get all the same perks as if you were to buy through Apple’s regular store. You can pick components and colors, trade in an old device, personalize your device with engraved monograms and emojis, pay in full or over time, and more.

The three best Macs for back to school

Here, we’ve picked three Macs that we recommend the most for students. All three are Apple laptops, which will be perfect for carrying to lectures and around campus. Note that if you don’t have many lecture hours or are studying from home, you might want to consider the Mac mini, which starts at $699 in Apple’s education store. It’s a brilliant computer with an affordable price tag, but as it requires an external display, it’s not ideal for lectures and seminars.

MacBook Neo

The MacBook Neo is the perfect option for students on a budget. The default model comes with 256GB of storage, an Apple A18 Pro chip and 8GB of memory. It costs $599 from Apple’s education store, marking a saving of $100 over the regular price.

If your school or college work mostly involves writing essays and researching online, the MacBook Neo is exactly what you need and will be able to handle everything you do. The only question is whether you should upgrade to 512GB of storage — doing so also adds a Touch ID button to the keyboard, which is a handy way to log in and verify purchases.

MacBook Air

Stepping up, a solid mid-range option would be the 13-inch MacBook Air with M5 chip. You can choose between M5 chips featuring an eight-core GPU or a 10-core GPU, but we’d stick to the former — if you need more graphical power, the MacBook Pro will be a better option, which we’ll come to later.

Next, you can choose between 16GB, 24GB and 32GB of memory. The option you choose here depends on your workloads, but generally 16GB will be enough for most students. Again, if you need more, go for the MacBook Pro.

As for storage, the entry-level M5 chip is locked to 512GB of storage. To get more, you’ll need to upgrade to the higher-end M5 chip, which ups the price. Consider how much storage you need before making this move — if you have an existing computer, see how much you’re using with that. Bear in mind that you can’t change the internal storage after purchase, so if in doubt, opt for more.

Finally, there’s the matter of the charger. The M5 MacBook Air comes with a 40W charger that can handle loads up to 60W. If you want fast charging, which Apple says can power your laptop up to 50% in about 30 minutes, you’ll need the 70W option. This adds $20 to the cost.

MacBook Pro

For the most demanding student workloads, you’ll want to look at the MacBook Pro. Our recommendation is to start with the 14-inch model with M5 Pro chip. Skip the nano-texture display for now — it’s a nice addition, but unnecessary for students on a budget.

Do upgrade to the M5 Pro chip, however, or the M5 Max if you know you’ll be doing really heavy work that requires a lot of computing power. Unlike the MacBook Neo and MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro has built-in fans that mean it has a far superior cooling system that is much better equipped for demanding jobs. With that at your disposal, you can pick a beefy chip if you need it.

With the M5 Pro, your choices for memory are 24GB or 48GB. The former should be enough for most, but if you’re unsure, step up to the higher amount. While there are other options, including 36GB, 64GB and 128GB, these require swapping the M5 Pro for an M5 Max and paying a much higher price.

The configuration we’ve picked so far comes with 1TB of storage included, which is enough for most people. That said, anyone working with large photos and videos, high-grade apps or machine-learning models will likely need more space.

Finally, there’s the issue of the charger. The default option is 70W, which isn’t enough for fast charging (the MacBook Pro uses much more power than the MacBook Air, where 70W is enough for fast charging). Seeing as the 96W upgrade costs just $20 more and enables both fast charging (empty to 50% in about 30 minutes) and High Power Mode, we think it’s worth it.

• Lenovo's Googlebook 15 has been leaked
• A deck of press images has given us a good look at the laptop
• It seems like a pretty smart device, but there's confusion around the point of the Googlebook for some people, and worries remain about the price

The first Googlebook has been spotted with a bunch of leaked press images that show us what these laptops are going to look like — and for some, they'll serve as a reminder that Googlebooks are still coming.

In case you forgot they're inbound, because I more or less did — and I'll return to that point — but first, the actual leak itself, in which Digital Citizen shared what's purportedly a deck of press photos of the Lenovo Googlebook 15.

As ever, we must take this with some seasoning, but as you can see from the shots reproduced here, this Googlebook looks rather nifty.

The Lenovo Googlebook 15 is a premium-looking device with slim bezels and a webcam in a notch atop the screen, complete with a privacy shutter. There's a pair of substantial speakers on either side of the keyboard deck with Dolby Atmos support.

The laptop offers a very spacious trackpad, and a keyboard which has a Gemini key — the Googlebook equivalent of Microsoft's Copilot button — and a Caps Lock key which also has the launcher function. Presumably the latter will be the default, and the former will be activated in conjunction with the Alt key.

The Googlebook logo is notably on the keyboard deck, below the Left Ctrl key, suggesting Google is exercising quite some control over the implementation of these laptops.

There's a whole load of function keys (14) at the top of the keyboard, and a solid selection of ports including HDMI, two USB-C ports, a USB-A connector, a card reader slot, and a 3.5mm jack. The notebook hinge opens to nearly 160 degrees, apparently, meaning the Lenovo device can be laid almost flat on a surface.

There are no specs in this leak – just the images, but we do also get to see the desktop layout of the operating system on the Googlebook 15. This shows phone-style status icons at the top, and a traditional taskbar at the foot of the screen including a 'G' button (Start button).

Notably, Adobe Premiere Pro is present among the icons in the launcher bar in these press shots, clearly signaling that the Googlebook is about running more heavyweight apps than the Chromebook.

Android Authority, which spotted the Digital Citizen leak, further points out that there's a 2-in-1 Googlebook tablet coming from Lenovo, which looks very Surface-like with a detachable keyboard and a kickstand on the back of the tablet portion and a magnetic stylus.

According to Digital Citizen, we can expect Lenovo to unveil these Googlebook models at IFA in September officially, and presumably other vendors will have products too.

Analysis: a shrugging of shoulders

It's all been a bit odd with Googlebooks. After the big announcement of these fresh laptops at Google I/O 2026, which are a premium offering compared to Chromebooks, running both Android and ChromeOS apps and sporting a heavy focus on AI (Gemini), we've heard nothing.

I genuinely forgot about these devices for a while, and we didn't hear anything about them at Computex (aside from very fleeting mentions scattered here and there, which I missed at the time). It's been pretty much a case of tumbleweeds ever since Google's revelation of its new product back in May.

Maybe that's because there was quite a negative reception around some aspects – the AI-leaning of these products in particular – and Google has been taking stock and perhaps working out how best to deal with that.

Whatever the case, it feels like Googlebooks have been hovering in a void for quite some time, and nobody has noticed, or has simply forgotten about them. The reaction to this new leak is positive in some quarters, but there's still a lot of scratching of heads about the strangeness of the name, and worries that the Googlebook will be very pricey (as well as anti-AI sentiment, which is no surprise).

Perhaps most worrying of all for Google, though, is that some people still haven't got a clue what these devices are. One Redditor asks: "What's a Googlebook? High-powered Chromebook?".

Aside from the ignorance and the apathy or indifference of some online commenters, the price likely remains the biggest concern. Of course, that's true of all laptops and PC hardware more broadly, thanks to the RAM crisis which seems to be intensifying by the week as we trundle further into the second half of 2026. And, if a growing number of insiders are right, it's going to get worse still in 2027.

At any rate, it seems Googlebooks are being readied for an official debut next month, and the reception to the full launch of devices is going to be interesting to watch. Hopefully, seeing these laptops in action will start to change some of the skeptical opinions out there, and cure some of the shrugging of shoulders that's still very much evident.

I'm seeing lots of laptop deals at retailers and manufacturers right now, as many have launched back-to-school sales for the upcoming year. That's good news if you're searching for a new device for yourself or a loved one, with a variety of options available to suit several different budgets and needs. Using my deals hunting experience, I've picked out my six top picks in both the US and the UK.

Below, I've included everything from cheap Chromebooks to big discounts on modern and powerful laptops from the likes of Dell and Apple. I've not only considered price in these hand-picked deals, but also the views of TechRadar's expert computing team who have tested and reviewed several of the models below — and rated them highly.

For example, in the US, you can find the fantastic Dell XPS 13 for a shockingly low $599.99 when you apply for the student discount. That's very hard to beat if you want a capable and portable all-around laptop.

Meanwhile, in the UK, there is a handful of great laptop deals at Amazon, such as this modern and efficient Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 for £429.99 (was £649.99). It boasts a Snapdragon X processor and 16GB of RAM to ensure speedy everyday performance and impressive all-day battery life. That's ideal to last you a full day at school or college, and beyond.

All of my top picks are below, with prices starting as low as $199 / £159. No doubt I'll be updating this page with more offers as sales start or expand throughout the rest of the month.

US back-to-school laptop deals

• Amazon: big savings on laptops
• Apple: up to $150 gift card
• Best Buy: up to $600 off laptops
• Dell: up to $900 off
• Lenovo: up to 33% off laptops & tablets
• Walmart: laptops from $199.99

UK back-to-school laptop deals

• Amazon: from £159
• AO: save on HP, Lenovo and Acer
• Currys: up to £300 off laptops
• Dell: new XPS 13 from £699
• EE: save up to £1,000
• John Lewis: best deals on MacBooks
• Very: HP and Lenovo from £248

Back to school season is here, with students preparing to head to school and college up and down the land. If that’s you and you’ve got one of the best Macs ready to take with you, you might be thinking about kitting it out with some handy accessories. While Apple’s Macs are brilliant devices, they can often be taken to another level with the help of some choice add-ons.

Here, we’ve put together some of the best Mac accessories for heading back to school, from protective bags to keep your Mac safe to useful extras that bring new features and comfort to your Mac experience. Each one is a worthy addition to your setup.

And don’t forget, if you’re getting accessories from Apple itself, be sure to look on Apple’s education store for special student discounts. Many third-party retailers also run back-to-school sales, and these often cover more than just Apple products, so don’t forget to shop around before you pull the trigger.

Laptop backpack: Timbuk2 Authority Backpack

With all the traveling to and from lectures — not to mention flights if you’re studying far from home — student life can take its toll on your Mac. That’s why it’s important to keep it protected to ensure it lasts as long as possible.

A great option is the Timbuk2 Authority Backpack, which is our pick for the best laptop backpack money can buy. It can hold a MacBook of any size, so whether you get a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro, you know it’ll be safely stowed inside. It’s also got a dedicated iPad pocket and tons of extra storage for all the accessories you might need to carry.

There’s plenty of padding to protect against damage, and it’s also extremely comfortable to wear, even when loaded up with all your kit. And with special protection against downpours and showers, it’ll keep its contents dry and safe come rain or shine.

Portable power bank: Anker 737 Power Bank (PowerCore 24K)

Arrived at a lecture only to find your Mac is about to run out of power? Ensure that never happens again with the Anker 737 Power Bank (PowerCore 24K). This portable battery will keep your laptop juiced up and has enough charge for several other devices to boot.

With a massive 140W of output, it’s got enough power to charge up a MacBook Pro and an iPhone and still have extra left over. With three ports, you can hook up several devices at once, and the built-in display tells you the power bank’s battery health, output level from each port, and how much charge it’s got left.

It’s also safe to take on planes, which is good for students traveling home, and its cuboid shape makes it surprisingly easy to pack into tight corners. It’s capable, well designed, and could be just what you need when your battery is running low.

USB-C hub: Satechi OntheGo 7-in-1 Multiport Adapter

While the MacBook Pro comes with HDMI and an SDXC slot alongside USB-C ports, it’s one of the few Macs to offer anything more than USB-C. If you’ve got a range of incompatible accessories, you’ll want a hub to put things right.

The Satechi OntheGo 7-in-1 Multiport Adapter is a USB-C hub that can do exactly that. It plugs into a USB-C port on your Mac and offers a range of extra connectivity, including two USB-A slots, a USB-C port that can deliver up to 80W of Power Delivery juice to your devices, an SD card reader, a microSD reader, HDMI 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet.

But it’s about much more than its connectivity. This device’s clever design and extendable cable make it incredibly portable, while its included magnet allows you to quickly snap it to a surface without the risk of losing it. It’s an ingenious product that solves a problem and looks good while doing so.

Monitor: BenQ PD2706QN

As a student, chances are you’ll be spending a lot of time working on your Mac. But if that means hunching over a MacBook for hours on end, you’ll quickly feel the strain. Take it from me — I used to work exclusively on a laptop, but suffered terrible back pain until I bought myself an external monitor that vastly improved my ergonomic situation.

Our pick here is the BenQ PD2706QN. Not only will it help create a more comfortable work situation, but it boasts excellent features that are worth having in their own right.

That includes an expansive 27-inch display size with a 1440p resolution and 100Hz refresh rate, which combine to make on-screen content sharp and scrolling smooth. It offers excellent color accuracy, hitting 95% of the P3 color space, and with 90 watts of Power Delivery, it’s got enough output to keep any MacBook powered up directly from the monitor itself. We also love its Nano Matte coating option that vanquishes reflections in a pinch.

For a more affordable option, there’s the BenQ GW2486TC, which is one of our favorite MacBook Pro monitors. Its 23.8-inch frame and 1080p resolution are a little lower than the PD2706QN, but it’s a well-built display with excellent ergonomic customization that won’t break the bank. That makes it one of the best monitors on the market.

Obviously, an external display isn’t particularly practical for going to lectures, but if you spend a lot of time working in your dorm, it can be a lifesaver.

Laptop stand: Lamicall Laptop Stand

If you don’t want an external monitor but are still in search of something to boost your ergonomics, consider a laptop stand. These raise your MacBook to a more comfortable height without the expensive of an additional screen.

Our choice here is the Lamicall Laptop Stand, which is sized to fit any MacBook available. The key thing with any laptop stand is you need it to not only raise your device, but to do so safely, and that’s exactly what you get here. Lamicall’s product features a solid base to prevent it from tipping over and rubber pads that firmly keep your laptop in place.

Yet at 3.25lbs (1.47kg), it’s light enough to carry with you, and it folds down to easily fit into a backpack. It also comes fully assembled, negating the need to put it together when it arrives. Those factors all make it an ideal option for students.

Mouse and keyboard: Logitech MX Master 4 and Gamakay TK75 V2

An external mouse and keyboard are a must if you raise your Mac up to a new height, as you won’t be able to use your Mac’s built-in keyboard in its new position. But they also come in handy even if you don’t use a stand by bringing extra features and comfort to your setup.

If you’re looking for a mouse, your best choice by far is the Logitech MX Master 4, the latest entry in the incredibly popular MX Master range. Its ergonomic shape is complemented by a handy thumb scroll wheel and a gesture button that lets you move the mouse to activate native macOS gestures. Its main scroll wheel can also automatically switch between ratcheting through individual notches and spinning freely.

As for a keyboard, you can’t go wrong with the Gamakay TK75 V2, which is one of the best keyboards you can buy. Its mechanical switches are supremely comfy and surprisingly quiet, meaning you won’t disturb anyone around you, and it looks great too with its attractive design. The price is affordable and it’s compact enough to lug across campus without a worry.

Bonus: AppleCare+

With all that traveling to and from lectures, you might be concerned about bumps and bruises — or worse — heading the Mac’s way. If you’re concerned, Apple’s AppleCare+ program covers the company’s devices and can provide some peace of mind. It’s not a physical accessory, but it can be a worthwhile addon for your Mac.

AppleCare+ allows for unlimited accident repairs, including drops and liquid spills, plus 24/7 priority support from Apple. All repairs are done with genuine Apple parts so you know you’re getting quality. The price you pay for AppleCare+ depends on the Mac you get — for instance, coverage for a MacBook Pro costs $10.49 a month or $104.99 a year.

Apple also offers AppleCare+ with Theft and Loss as an optional extra. Here, you get coverage if your device is lost or stolen, and you can make up to two claims every 12 months. Note that this only covers iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches — not Macs — so it’s mainly useful if you have these devices rather than as coverage for your Mac or Mac accessories.

Finally, there’s also AppleCare One. This covers up to three products (including ones you already own) and includes theft and loss coverage for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch with up to three claims every 12 months. It costs $19.99 a month. Additional products can be added at any time for $5.99 a month each.

Boy, sure is a hot one today, huh? Okay, I get the irony: that's a take so cold you could use it to replace your freezing Wim Hof showers. But when the metaphorical mercury creeps this high, you've got to keep your cool. The same goes for your laptop, which is why you might want to grab a laptop cooling pad this summer.

Fortunately for you, I've spent this week testing every laptop cooling pad I can get my hands on to see which offers the superior AC for your computer. Not only that, but I've brought receipts — this piece has more graphics and graphs than election night coverage. So if you want objective numbers about which pad is genuinely gusty and which is all bluster, I've got the data you need.

I get that it can be tempting to overlook cooling your laptop during warm weather — I've been more worried this summer about tracking down a fan to keep myself cool than my laptops. But you overlook the best laptop cooling pads at your peril.

I still have vivid memories of the summer I redlined my laptop during a heatwave. While the video skittering should have been a hint, it was only when it stopped booting up and started bleeping SOS in Morse code that I began questioning my life choices. Turns out I'd burnt out the memory — quite literally: there were scorch marks on the inside of the case.

So at this time of year, it's worth considering whether a laptop cooling pad can help you out. And I can definitely help out there.

Laptop cooling pads: cooling

Temperature Rise Using Laptop Cooling Pad

The temperature rise during a stress test while using the laptop cooling pad on max settings

Temperature difference (°C)Temperature difference (°F)

Baseline

31.9

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

22.8

Klim Mistral

20.4

Klim Wind

19.5

Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad

18.4

TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad

17.9

Klim Ultimate

15.5

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad

15.3

Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad

12

Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad

8

010203040

Temperature difference (°C) Data

Product	Value
Baseline	31.9
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad	22.8
Klim Mistral	20.4
Klim Wind	19.5
Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad	18.4
TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad	17.9
Klim Ultimate	15.5
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad	15.3
Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad	12
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad	8

Baseline

57.4

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

41

Klim Mistral

36.7

Klim Wind

35.1

Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad

33.1

TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad

32.2

Klim Ultimate

27.9

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad

27.5

Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad

21.6

Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad

14.4

015304560

Temperature difference (°F) Data

Product	Value
Baseline	57.4
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad	41
Klim Mistral	36.7
Klim Wind	35.1
Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad	33.1
TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad	32.2
Klim Ultimate	27.9
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad	27.5
Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad	21.6
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad	14.4

Lower values indicate better cooling.

Assessing which laptop cooling pad is a breezy wonder and which is a wheezy blunder ultimately comes down to how frosty each model's cooling is. That's why I went through every pad I could get my hands on to see how much each one prevented our gaming laptop from heating up during a 3DMark stress test.

As you can see, by far the weakest cooling offered by any laptop cooling pad I tested was from the TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad. Compared to the 57.4°F / 31.9°C baseline rise of our gaming laptop alone, the C12 was only able to limit it to a 41°F / 22.8°C rise — that might be better than frantically waving a dish towel in its general direction, but only barely.

Probably the biggest disappointment of these tests was how the Klim Mistral performed. Not only did it seem to perform worse than the more affordable Klim Wind — resulting in 36.7°F / 20.4°C warming compared to the Wind's 35.1°F / 19.5°C — but it was pretty inconsistent to boot, achieving even worse results on a retest.

Skipping ahead a little, the laptop cooling pad I was most surprised by was the TECKNET. Although it's cheaper than quite a few of the pads I tested here, setting me back just $21.59 / £21.99, the 32.2°F / 17.6°C warming it presided over put it firmly in the top half of the pack. It's the little laptop cooling pad that could.

Given that the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad and Klim Ultimate both achieved an almost photo finish, it would be easy to assume there's not much daylight between them. However, like a bottle of wine, you really need to weigh up what you're spending here to calculate its true value. And as the Liangstar costs $20.99 / £23.59 versus the Klim Ultimate's $44.97 / £44.97 price tag, that definitely takes the edge here.

But, frankly, there's a reason Llano is the absolute GOAT in my eyes. As you can see, it took both first and second place on my cooling pad podium. While the Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad stopped our gaming laptop from warming up more than 21.6°F / 12°C, the Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad kept it down to just 14.4°F / 8°C of warming. This boi makes liquid nitrogen look positively toasty.

Laptop cooling pads: noise levels

Previous

1 / 2

Next

Noise Level — cooling pad alone

Noise level of the cooling pad or laptop alone taken at head height and from 3 inches away

Head heightNear

Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad

71

Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad

64.5

Klim Mistral

52.6

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad

45

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

43.5

Laptop alone

42

Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad

37.4

Klim Wind

36.2

TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad

36

Klim Ultimate

36

020406080

dB

Head height Data

Product	Value
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad	71
Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad	64.5
Klim Mistral	52.6
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad	45
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad	43.5
Laptop alone	42
Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad	37.4
Klim Wind	36.2
TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad	36
Klim Ultimate	36

Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad

85

Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad

77

Klim Mistral

62.6

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad

59

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

58

Laptop alone

60

Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad

50.2

Klim Wind

48.8

TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad

60

Klim Ultimate

46

0255075100

dB

Near Data

Product	Value
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad	85
Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad	77
Klim Mistral	62.6
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad	59
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad	58
Laptop alone	60
Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad	50.2
Klim Wind	48.8
TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad	60
Klim Ultimate	46

Noise Level — cooling pad & laptop

Combined noise level of the cooling pad and laptop taken at head height and from 3 inches away

dB Head heightdB Near

Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad

64

Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad

57.5

Klim Mistral

51.5

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

45

TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad

45

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad

45

Klim Ultimate

44.4

Klim Wind

44

Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad

44

020406080

dB Head height Data

Product	Value
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad	64
Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad	57.5
Klim Mistral	51.5
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad	45
TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad	45
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad	45
Klim Ultimate	44.4
Klim Wind	44
Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad	44

Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad

79

Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad

69

Klim Mistral

61.5

TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad

58.5

TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad

58

Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad

59

Klim Ultimate

55.2

Klim Wind

58.5

Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad

61

020406080

dB Near Data

Product	Value
Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad	79
Llano V10 Gaming Laptop Cooling Pad	69
Klim Mistral	61.5
TopMate C12 Laptop Cooling Pad	58.5
TECKNET Laptop Cooling Pad	58
Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad	59
Klim Ultimate	55.2
Klim Wind	58.5
Almiuzi F2 Plus Laptop Cooling Pad	61

You may think that your gaming laptop makes a lot of noise. But believe me: that's scarcely more than a murmur compared to some cooling pads. Given they're essentially just an LED-adorned box with a whopping great fan inside, they can get pretty shouty. That's why I grabbed the sound level meter from my utility belt and started measuring like the world's nerdiest superhero.

Perhaps predictably, the pad that blows coolest blows loudest. While I love the Llano RGB Laptop Cooling Pad's glacial chilling, I can't get away from the fact that it's pretty noisy. I'm 5 foot 11 inches tall, and from my head height, I clocked it at 71dB — according to the Center for Hearing and Communication, that's roughly as loud as a coffee grinder or freeway traffic. In my book, that's a worthy price to pay for keeping your laptop cool, but it might not be ideal if you're planning to use it in the office.

In fact, you might assume there's an inverse relationship between cooling and fan noise. And while that does hold true for the most part, there are some interesting exceptions. For example, while I found the Liangstar Laptop Cooling Pad offered the third best cooling in my tests overall, it was substantially quieter than either of the Llanos, clocking in at a much less brash 45dB.

Conversely, the Klim Mistral manages to buck the trend in the other direction, running surprisingly loud compared to some of the other competitors here. At 52dB, it kicks out a similar level of noise as a fridge — which is pretty ironic given it offered some of the worst cooling in my testing.

And there are some surprising candidates for the winner's podium when it comes to sound levels. The TECKNET offers far from the worst cooling, and yet it ties for first place as the quietest pad on test here at 36dB — again, not at all bad given its super affordable price tag.

Honestly, though, if you want whisper-quiet running without sacrificing performance, my pro tip would be to check out the Klim Ultimate. Unlike Klim's two cheaper cooling pads, it offers very credible chilling while also measuring noise levels of 36dB from head height — that's apparently quieter than a library, which isn't known for being a raucous place.

Fundamentally, noise levels probably shouldn't be the deciding factor when picking your perfect laptop cooling pad. Both cooling power and budget come higher up the pecking order in terms of my personal preferences. But that doesn't mean you should ignore it completely — depending on where and how you use your laptop, you could find strapping a jet engine to the bottom of it to be a bit of a deal breaker.

Do I even need a laptop cooling pad?

Previous

1 / 2

Next

MacBook Air M5 encode test

Performance after an hour during a standard encode test both with and without cooling

Versus Comparison Data

Attribute	Benchmark — MacBook Air M5	Klim Ultimate — MacBook Air M5
Average FPS	2.52	2.77
Estimated encode time	122	114

Benchmark — MacBook Air M5Klim Ultimate — MacBook Air M5

VS

Benchmark — MacBook Air M5Klim Ultimate — MacBook Air M5

Average FPS (fps)

2.52

2.77+10%

Estimated encode time (minutes)

+7%122

114

Re-encoding a 4K stereo .mov file at highest quality, the MacBook Air M5 showed a modest reduction in throttling in terms of average FPS and encode time when using the Klim Ultimate laptop cooling pad.

Acer Predator Helios 300 encode test

Performance after an hour during a standard encode test both with and without cooling

Versus Comparison Data

Attribute	Benchmark — Acer Predator Helios 300	Klim Ultimate — Acer Predator Helios 300
Average FPS	2.8	2.8
Estimated encode time	115	113

Benchmark — Acer Predator Helios 300Klim Ultimate — Acer Predator Helios 300

VS

Benchmark — Acer Predator Helios 300Klim Ultimate — Acer Predator Helios 300

Average FPS (fps)

2.8

2.8

Estimated encode time (minutes)

+2%115

113

Re-encoding a 4K stereo .mov file at highest quality, the Acer Predator Helios 300 showed essentially no reduction in either average FPS or estimated encode time, suggesting limited heat-related throttling took place.

So it's pretty clear which cooling pads offer ice-cold AC and which sound like a tumble dryer breaking the sound barrier. But I've left the biggest question until last — do you actually need one at all?

Aiming to prove my theorem that 'cold CPU = good', I whipped up a quick encode test designed to stress out the CPU of several laptops over a longer period. In theory, after an hour, their core temperature should have risen, their CPUs throttled, and the length of the encode spiked and the encode rate dropped. Running the same test with one of our top cooling pads, the Klim Ultimate, would then show how much it could reduce this throttling.

On my MacBook Air M5, after an hour of using its passive cooling alone, the total estimated encode time had crept up to 122 minutes, and the average encode rate was sitting at 2.52 FPS. When I reran the test with the Klim Ultimate running on max cooling, that total encode time was trimmed to 114 minutes, and the encode rate had increased to 2.77 FPS. That's not a huge difference, but it shows the Klim Ultimate was able to trim back some of that temperature-related throttling.

Running the same test on our Acer Predator Helios 300 was a much more ambiguous experience. During my first run, the encode crashed within minutes, and during the second it crashed moments after the test concluded. So it was honestly far from stable.

I was able to eventually get some results, however, and they showed... nothing. Whether I was using the Klim Ultimate or not, the test results were essentially identical, with Handbrake clocking an estimated encode time of 115 minutes uncooled and 113 with the Klim's help. Meanwhile, the encode rate remained steady, sitting at a reasonable 2.8 FPS.

What does that mean? That I've wasted several hours of my life? Not quite. There are a couple of key conclusions to take away from this. One is that a performance laptop with whacking great fans built in is already pretty good at keeping itself cool. Shocking revelation, I know.

But probably the more critical takeaway is that the mileage you get out of a laptop cooling pad is going to vary depending on how well optimized it is for handling heat, as well as the kind of tasks you're doing. Had I tried to run Cyberpunk 2077 on max graphics settings with ray-tracing switched on, the Predator Helios 300 would likely have caused it to melt into the earth's core.

There's also another caveat. While it's definitely been warm the last week or so in the TechRadar testing lab, it hasn't reached the kind of desiccating highs that have hit both the US and UK in recent months. Past a certain point, any laptop will struggle in the heat. Forget CPU throttling — in that heat, I'd be more worried about your components liquefying like a chocolate bunny on the launch pad at Cape Canaveral.

In light of that, I'd say a laptop cooling pad is still worth exploring, especially if you tend to do a lot of resource-intensive tasks like 3D work, Photoshopping or gaming.

Any thoughts or personal experiences you'd like to share? Please feel free to chime in down in the comments!

HP Omen 16 Slim: Two-minute review

In these strange times where PC memory prices seemingly double by the day, an affordable gaming laptop is a tantalising prospect. But is it actually realistic? Enter the HP Omen 16 Slim, HP's latest mainstream gaming portable.

There are two core variants of the Omen 16, a standard-sized model and this so-called "Slim". Long story short, this Slim model is a little skinnier but still isn't exactly super compact for a 16-inch laptop, thanks to not only a fairly hefty lower screen bezel, but also a chassis that sticks out beyond the base of the display. At least the slightly tanky proportions translate into a tanky chassis with a solid feeling keyboard bed.

Anyway, it's the value proposition that matters and that means getting into the specs. CPU-wise, we're talking Intel Core Ultra 7 255H, which is a pretty modern 16-core chip from Intel's Arrow Lake generation. Here it's configured with 24GB of DDR5 in dual 12GB SoDIMMs. But various configs are available, including 16GB and 24GB.

There's also 1TB Gen 4 SSD, but with any gaming laptop surely the most important single component is the GPU and it's no surprise to find an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 8GB doing the pixel pumping duties.

It's one up from the bottom of Nvidia's RTX 50 Series laptop GPUs, but it gets the full feature set, including all the latest DLSS upscaling bells and whistles. It outputs to a 165Hz 16-inch LCD display with a native resolution of 1,920 by 1,200 pixels, making it a 16:10 aspect panel rather than the usual 16:9 ratio.

The battery is a pretty generous 70Wh item, meanwhile, and networking includes WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4 and Ethernet. Slightly less impressive is the physical connectivity. Not only are you limited to just one USB-C port (plus three USB-A), it can only do a measly 10Gbps. So, the only video out is the single HDMI 2.1 port.

Of course, gaming performance is the key metric here, and the results are pretty good, albeit with one major caveat. This skinnier Omen 16 Slim makes do with 110W of Total Platform Power (TPP) and 80W maximum for the GPU, where the full-sized Omen 16 cranks that up significantly to 170W TPP. Given premium gaming laptops can supply as much as 175W and more just for the GPU, you can see how 110W for everything, including CPU, RAM and storage, can be a limiting factor.

That said, the RTX 5060 GPU is pretty efficient and well matched with the 1200p (near-enough 1080p) 165Hz display. You'll need to use DLSS upscaling to get slick frame rates in the most demanding games. But, broadly, you'll get fairly smooth results at very high detail settings. What's more, the chassis doesn't get too hot and the fan noise is moderate.

All of which means HP has done a nice job with the HP Omen 16 Slim. It's well built, mostly well specified and delivers a pretty sweet gaming experience. Whether it makes sense as a buy comes down to pricing. As configured here with 24GB of RAM, it's a little spendy. But there's an otherwise identical 16GB model that we just spotted for a whisker under $1,200. Right here in 2026, that's a very decent deal.

HP Omen 16 Slim review: Price & availability

• Available for £1,499 in the UK with 24GB of DDR5
• The closest US config rocks 16GB of DDR5 for $1,599
• Looks out for deals on sites like Newegg

In this precise configuration with 24GB of DDR5 RAM, the HP Omen 16 Slim weighs in at £1,399 in the UK. That's actually very good given current memory prices, right now. Indeed, you could argue it would make sense to knock that back to 16GB, keep everything else the same, and save some money.

Indeed, in the US, just that configuration is available, while the 24GB option is not. With 16GB, you're currently looking at $1,599, which is a fair bit less appealing. Currently, an otherwise identical version but with an RTX 5050 instead of the RTX 5060 can be had for $1,198 on Newegg, which implies you might be able to bag one with the 5060 and 16GB for around $1,400 at some point if you hang around and wait for a deal. At that price point, the HP Omen 16 Slim would start making a lot of sense.

HP Omen 16 Slim review: Specs

HP Omen 16 Slim review: Design

• Not actually that "Slim"
• Solid, well-built chassis
• Connectivity is only OK
• Cooling is well executed

The HP Omen 16 Slim is mostly plastic, just the bottom cover is metal. But it still feels very solid and durable. The Keyboard is nice and stable, with only a touch of flex when pushed hard. The keyboard, while we're on the subject, has four configurable RGB lighting zones, but at this price point, you're not going to get per-key lighting.

HP has done a nice job with the cooling, too. The twin fans draw air from the bottom cover and push it out the back and do so without making too much noise. However, despite the "Slim" branding, this is not a super compact laptop.

Coming in at 1.99cm to 2.27cm thick, where the standard Omen 16 measures between 2.39cm and 2.54cm, the 16 Slim is thinner than its sibling. But it's still not that compact.

Thanks to a rather large chine bezel and the way the rear of the chassis sticks out beyond the screen hinge, the Omen 16 Slim actually has a larger footprint than many laptops that trade on pure performance rather than portability and also tips the scales at 2.42kg. So, it's no featherweight.

In that context, the somewhat limited connectivity is a touch disappointing. You get three USB-A ports, but just one USB-C and even the latter is limited to 10Gbps, though it does at least support video out and charging the laptop itself.

HP Omen 16 Slim review: Performance

• Decent frame rates at 1200p with DLSS
• Seriously quick SSD
• Fan noise is reasonable

Intel's Core Ultra 7 255H is very much a known quantity, what with its eight Performance and eight Efficient CPU cores. It's all you need for gaming in CPU terms, so the HP Omen 16 Slim's critical gaming component compared with the competition among the best gaming laptops is that Nvidia RTX 5060 GPU and how well it's been implemented.

This thinner HP Omen 16 Slim model does suffer slightly in the wattage department, with the Total Platform Power shared across the GPU, CPU, memory and more capped at 110W. But that doesn't absolutely hobble gaming performance.

For instance, running at the 16-inch display's native 1,920 by 1,200 resolution, you can crank Cyberpunk 2077 right up, with Ultra RT settings and Quality DLSS scaling and still get 44fps average frame rate.

OK, that's not spectacular. But it is acceptable for a single-player title. Switch off the ray tracing and you'll be looking at frame rates nearer 100. Moreover, in less demanding games, let's say something a little older like Shadow of the Tomb Raider, you can hit over 130fps even without DLSS upscaling and really make the most of the 165Hz refresh rate of the 16-inch display.

Speaking of the screen, the 16:10 aspect is a little odd and adds a little GPU load versus a vanilla 1080p panel. But it's reasonably vibrant, with nice-ish colours and contrast and decent 3ms response times. It's nothing special, but probably what you'd expect at this price point.

Just note the panel reviewed here is the upgrade 400 nit option. The base display is only 300 nits, runs at 144Hz and has much less colour fidelity. Avoid that if at all possible.

The 16 Slim's thermal performance is pretty impressive, too. It doesn't get too hot under load and the fan noise is reasonable. Well, it is unless you enable "Unleashed Mode" in the Omen Gaming Hub app. That cranks up the fans, but doesn't do much for frame rates.

Elsewhere, the SSD is particularly nippy, clocking over 7GB/s for reads and nearly 6GB/s for writes. For what is pitched as a value-orientated system, that's impressive. As for other elements, the sound quality from the speakers is tolerable at this price point, but the volume could be a little higher, and the webcam quality is OK.

In terms of physical performance, the chassis feels robust, even though only the bottom cover is made of metal, and the keyboard base is nice and solid with minimal flex. As for the trackpad, it's mechanical and doesn't have niceties like a glass cover. But it's large and works well enough. It's also worth noting that the memory, storage and Wi-Fi cards are all upgradeable, which is welcome in an age where too many laptops have everything soldered on.

HP Omen 16 Slim review: Battery life

• Surprisingly good for a budget gaming laptop
• USB-C charging is supported
• Not actually all that portable

Undoubtedly one of the HP Omen 16 Slim's more impressive aspects is battery life. OK, you're not going to get more than a couple of hours of light gaming off the mains, but for watching video, this laptop has some real legs.

Our local video playback test netted over 12 and a half hours with the screen at half brightness. That's a realistic setting for use on, say, a plane, albeit you might want to wind the screen up a little in bright daylight.

Whatever, that's a very impressive result for a gaming laptop and makes this portable much more plausible as an all-round computing device to take with you on trips and outings. The caveat to that is that the fairly large proportions and relatively hefty 2.4kg kerb weight mean this isn't a laptop you're going to sling into a small shoulder bag and forget about.

Should I buy the HP Omen 16 Slim?

HP Omen 16 Slim: Scorecard

Buy the HP Omen 16 Slim if…

Don't buy it if…

HP Omen 16 Slim review: Also consider

How I tested the HP Omen 16 Slim HX

• Used as my daily rig for two weeks
• Threw my Steam library at
• Got forensic with the screen and build quality

I've been round the block when it comes to gaming laptops. My first portable ran a GeForce 2 Go, if you can remember back that far. My current lappie runs an RTX 4080, and there have been plenty more in between. ANd those are just my personal machines. I've long since lost count of how many gaming laptops I've reviewed. There are always a few knocking around.

Over the years, I've learned a lot about what makes a good gaming laptop and I applied that to the HP Omen 16 Slim over a couple of weeks. That means throwing everything in my Steam Library at it, from classic strategy titles like Total War to graphics fests including Cyberpunk 2077. All round performance, including the SSD, is also important, as is battery life for what is, ultimately, meant to be a portable machine.

I'm also very picky when it comes to screen quality and keyboard feel and have something of a forensic obsession with laptop build quality. You have to be realistic at this price point, but build quality is particularly important to gaming laptop longevity. Bendy chassis usually end up in flakey performance, eventually.

• First reviewed: July 2026
• Read more about how we test

Microsoft has been battling to truly establish itself in the device market for years now, with its Surface suite covering everything from foldable smartphones to 2-in-1s up to more traditional laptops and desktops - all the way up to the enormous Surface Hub (RIP).

But the company has seemingly always fallen short - whether it's battery life, falling short on power, or the unavoidable lock-in with the Microsoft 365 experience.

However its latest collection of Surface for Business releases, framed squarely at work and enterprise users, looked to address all of that, and having been using one for the last few weeks now, I can safely say, Microsoft may finally have cracked the formula for a great working laptop at last.

Going hands-on

Microsoft has positioned the Surface Laptop for Business squarely at enterprise customers rather than consumers, and it's a substantial refresh over the previous generation, with the biggest improvements around AI, security, manageability, battery life and repairability.

The device is light and portable, weighing in at just over 1.35kg, and its slim build (just 0.69in in width) means it slipped easily into a rucksack or carry-on bag.

It's a stylish device to look at as well - the polished black anodized aluminium build is far more striking than other identikit dull business laptops around today, with a well-designed keyboard and touchpad that offer more than enough space.

But where Microsoft is looking to take a real step forward with the Surface Laptop for Business is in hardware, where the company has equipped the device with Intel Core Ultra (Series 3) processor, up to 64 GB LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1 TB removable Gen4 SSD.

Crucially though, as with many modern devices, it also features AI-specific hardware, with an Intel AI Boost NPU delivering 50 TOPS of AI performance.

Along with offering local AI processing on the device, the NPU looks to perform a number of other tasks, from improved battery life to greater Windows performance. This is a decent level of performance, but if you're looking for tasks such as CAD, 3D rendering or AI model training, you may want something a bit more powerful, with a dedicated Nvidia GPU.

This looks to boost productivity and efficiency across the board - and I can say this was definitely true when I was working on the go.

Sadly I wasn't doing particularly AI-heavy work to really test it out, but I was able to take the device with me on a week-long overseas work trip, using it in conference keynotes, remote interviews, and site visits, and it absolutely ticked all my boxes when it came to responsiveness, usefulness and battery life.

At home however, it wasn't quite the same story.

It should also have meant the device was well-placed to be the centerpiece of my home office set-up, but unfortunately I frequently found issues when trying to connect a range of devices, from monitors to Bluetooth keyboards - this may have been a driver-led issue, but it was frustrating for quite some time.

The lack of ports may be an issue for some users - as there is just one USB-A connection, and two USB-C ports, which might be an issue for some creators. I use a docking station for my set-up, so for my usage I was largely OK - however as mentioned, even this wasn't always responsive - and it's a shame Microsoft has ditched the USB-A port on the charger block cable as well, as this has definitely saved me in the past with previous Surface devices.

Microsoft has also introduced a more advanced haptic touchpad for the Surface Laptop for Business, promising a more consistent click feel and improved gesture support, as well as customizable feedback. Although slightly smaller than my usual work device (a HP EliteBook) I found the touchpad incredibly responsive and interactive, making navigation between different apps and windows a breeze.

My device was equipped with the new integrated privacy display - a feature which gained a lot of attention when it was included in the latest Samsung Galaxy flagship smartphone earlier this year.

Toggled on via the alternate F1 button function, the privacy display instantly makes the screen difficult to read from side angles - no need for an external magnetic privacy filter any more.

This is obviously pretty useful for those workers accessing private or proprietary information, stopping snoopers or spies from catching a glimpse, but it also offers an anti-glare coating which should be a hit with everyone.

I loved it - but will you?

Will it be the ideal device for everyone? Probably not, as being a Surface device means it is closely tied-in with the Microsoft ecosystem - so if you use Microsoft 365 at work (which I don't) you'll have a much smoother set-up and overall experience.

The price will also be a sticking point for some shoppers, as my model starts from £1,599 - with the top spec hitting £2,499 - probably out of reach for most start-ups and SMBs.

But overall, I was incredibly impressed by the Surface Laptop for Business, easily the best Microsoft device I've used for work by a mile - and one I hope to get to use again sometime in the future.

• Apple is rumored to be planning to rent Macs, as well as iPhones and other devices, to consumers
• 'Apple Upgrade' will allow you to pay via a subscription (with financing handled by Klarna), and buy the device eventually if you wish
• This is seemingly Apple's way of sidestepping the RAM crisis and keeping Mac sales going, as we're also hearing about frightening memory price hikes from Framework

We're seeing the continued fallout from the RAM crisis, with Framework outlining plans to deal with massive increases in the cost of memory, while Apple is rumored to be about to unveil new way of selling you a Mac in order to cope with ever-higher sticker prices: it'll rent you the PC.

Let's start with Apple's apparent plan, which is detailed in a report from Bloomberg, in which Mark Gurman tells us that Apple is preparing to launch a device-leasing scheme for consumers in conjunction with Klarna (on the finance side).

We're told this will be announced on July 28 and it'll be called 'Apple Upgrade'. The sell (ahem) is that you can regularly upgrade your rented hardware, as well as avoiding taking a huge dent to your wallet with the sizeable outlay required to buy many Macs these days.

This won't just be for Macs, mind you, but also the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with most models of all this hardware seemingly set to be included. It sounds like it might be a US-only initiative to begin with, but it could come to other regions later.

Apple Upgrade will seemingly work as a subscription over a 36-month term (or 24 months for iPhones and Apple Watches), although there'll be an option to pay off the device early and buy it outright (or upgrade to a newer model early). When the end of the subscription is reached, you can either return the Mac and upgrade to a newer model on a new financing agreement, or just keep it (with a final payment, naturally).

As mentioned, Klarna is apparently running the finance side, and applications for Apple Upgrade will be subject to a soft credit check.

This new scheme will supposedly take the place of the iPhone Upgrade Program and Apple's standard financing. The former offers a way to buy an Apple smartphone on monthly payments direct from the company (with 0% interest), but there's no Mac equivalent.

Gurman says of the Apple Upgrade scheme: "Apple plans to advertise the program as a way to have lower payments versus current financing programs." The leaker also clarifies that Apple Upgrade won't include AppleCare (unlike the iPhone Upgrade Program, which does).

Some of Apple's cheaper devices won't be eligible for this rental scheme, too, and that includes the MacBook Neo, as well as the Apple Watch SE, entry-level iPad, and iPhone 16.

As for the move with Framework laptops, this was revealed in a blog post that Tom's Hardware noticed. The notebook maker said that with its Framework Laptop 13 Pro: "We recently received a cost update from our LPCAMM2 [laptop memory] supplier that goes far beyond anything we had predicted and anything we're able to absorb without placing our ability to operate at real financial risk.

"Rather than the low-to-mid double digit percentage increase we had forecast from Q2 to Q3 on LPCAMM2 costs, we received prices that are more than double that of the prior inventory we had brought in."

Framework is doing its best to cope (in a commendably transparent way), and is adjusting existing pre-orders as is necessary. That means dropping some 64GB orders down to 32GB, charging the original 32GB price — and the same for 32GB orders going down to 16GB, maintaining the original price for the latter.

Pricing for the 32GB module hasn't quite doubled, but it's up 82% (with Framework absorbing some of the increase), and a 64GB module is up 88%. This means the latter nugget of RAM is now an eye-watering $1,600 in the US, and £1,600 in the UK (yes, nugget seems an increasingly appropriate term these days).

Analysis: own nothing, be happy

Unfortunately, July has brought us a clear picture of the RAM crisis getting worse. We've just been hearing about DDR5 memory seeing a notable uptick in pricing (after plateauing somewhat for a few months), and the boss of a big chip maker has informed us that things are going to get much worse, with 2027 set to be the 'worst year' in the RAM industry's history no less.

Framework's story of a doubling in laptop memory cost is a truly worrying hike on top of all this, and doubtless we can all still recall Apple's price hikes that arrived at the end of June. Particularly those of you who were mulling a Mac purchase, and are regretting not pulling the trigger before the increases were ushered in.

Seemingly Apple has a solution to the RAM crisis, though, but this rental plan hasn't gone down well online. Yes, you can imagine the reaction to this on social media – one Redditor observes that it's "one step closer to owning nothing" (as in 'own nothing and be happy') – but in fairness, this is still a rumor. Although given the details, and the apparent proximity of the launch, it sounds fairly cast-iron – but we shouldn't jump to conclusions.

A lot of how any rent-with-an-option-to-buy scheme will play out is going to depend on the pricing Apple (and Klarna) attaches, and the world out there on social media fears the worst. I don't blame the doubters, frankly, and particularly those who are worried that the final instalment to buy the Mac (or other Apple device) will be punishingly high. Generally speaking, this is, of course, the way these lease agreements tend to run, and the same will likely be true of the option to exercise an upgrade before the current lease is up.

What's interesting is that last week, I spilled my thoughts on how I was worried that Mac sales were going to flag, and how Apple's in a bit of a tricky situation in terms of combating this. Between MacBook holdouts, the continued RAM crisis, and cynicism around an apparent renewed focus on AI from Apple, the Mac waters are getting seriously choppy.

I didn't expect to have a (theoretical) answer so soon, and apparently now we know how Apple plans to keep Mac sales buoyant. The devil will be in the details of the Apple Upgrade scheme, assuming it happens, but the overriding online speculation for now remains that the terms of the rental plan will be more likely slanted in a hellish direction than a heavenly one.

• We just got a fresh info dump on Apple's incoming Macs from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman
• It includes the claim that the MacBook OLED may be on track for a debut later this year, and that it's now being tested with macOS 27.1
• The laptop would have the M5 Pro and Max chips, with a follow-up potentially arriving as early as the end of 2027 with the M7 Pro and Max

Apple will likely launch a whole load of new Macs over the next couple of years, and if you were wondering about the MacBook OLED, seemingly this laptop remains on target for a possible launch later this year.

Mark Gurman spilled a whole lot of info and updates in a Bloomberg report that details Apple's upcoming Mac overhauls, and how things stand right now (as ever, sprinkle seasoning on this liberally).

The model that many people are interested in is that MacBook OLED which will be a high-end effort in 14-inch and 16-inch sizes, sporting a touchscreen for the first time (not everyone's so keen on the latter, mind). They will pack the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, not the M6.

Gurman says that this MacBook is currently being tested with macOS 27.1 by Apple, and that the device "remains on track for release between the end of this year and early next year". The leaker had previously asserted that we're looking at a late 2026 or early 2027 release (although there's a nuance here that I'll come back to shortly).

What about M6 MacBooks? We'll seemingly get a refresh of the low-end MacBook Pro 14-inch this year that packs the M6, and this will be the first launch to use the next-gen silicon. There will be new iMacs with the M6, too, all of which are supposedly arriving this fall (likely around October 2026, in other words, give or take a month).

The MacBook Air isn't being ignored, of course, and Gurman informs us that a refresh of this consumer lineup is coming in early 2027, with 13-inch and 15-inch models that "closely resemble the current version" — so don't expect much in the way of change.

Another MacBook Pro launch is, he says, planned for 2027 in the form of an entry-level 14-inch laptop with a new design that will be similar to the high-end OLED models, but this will have a major upgrade with the M7 (vanilla) chip.

Unsurprisingly, he adds that a refresh of the popular MacBook Neo is underway, which upgrades to an A19 Pro chip and offers more memory (new colors will be added, too).

Further down the line for MacBooks, there might be a more radical change coming for the MacBook Air, with an OLED take on the notebook that Gurman says could arrive in 2028, while a follow-up to the high-end MacBook OLED should debut between the end of 2027 and early 2028, with an upgrade from the M5 Pro and Max to the M7 Pro and Max.

Apple is also working on an iMac with OLED, Gurman believes, and we've heard about that before. (Much of this rumor dump is confirmation of previous speculation, it should be noted, with updates on timelines).

Gurman also tells us to expect refreshes in the realm of the Mac mini and Mac Studio. He claims the Mac mini is in testing with M5 Pro and M6 processors, while Apple looks to be going with the M5 Max and M5 Ultra for the Mac Studio. These would be trickier launches for Apple given the RAM crisis, and the need for beefier memory configurations causing additional headwinds for these particular Macs. Due to this, the launch timeframes for these purported products are, Gurman says, still up in the air.

Analysis: on track – but out of touch?

There's a lot in the pipeline, clearly, but the most interesting update here is that the high-end MacBook OLED is apparently still on target, and we could see it later this year – potentially in just a few months. Remember that not so long ago, Gurman appeared to waver on the idea of this touchscreen MacBook arriving in 2026 at all, but it seems that this is still very much in the cards (although not guaranteed, by any means).

This device is notably still missing a name, and the leaker isn't referring to it as the MacBook Ultra, as the broader rumor mill has been doing. That it packs the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips makes sense, because there will only be a vanilla version of the M6, according to what Gurman's heard on the grapevine before – Apple is apparently skipping swiftly over that generation to get to the M7 and more powerful AI capabilities therein. The follow-up to the high-end MacBook OLED will carry the Pro and Max chips from the M7 family, as noted.

In this report Gurman frames all these revamped Macs as Apple looking to "capitalize on demand for powerful laptops and desktops fueled by the artificial intelligence boom", underlining the recent emphasis the leaker has placed on how important AI is for Tim Cook's company now.

Predictably, this notion hasn't gone down well with some Mac fans, and the idea of a touchscreen on a MacBook (with that incoming OLED model) remains contentious, too, based on feedback from social media.

One Redditor puts it in particularly strong terms: "Touchscreen laptops are disgusting. I cannot fathom anyone actually using them. The ergonomics make no sense, the fingerprint factor is horrible, the OS is not built around touch the way tablets or phones are. Why are companies actively pursuing this technology in 2026?"

Another says: "Apple is entering 'the touchbar phase' again. Dark days lay ahead. I'll wait until they inevitably walk back whatever changes they make."

So, while people love the idea of an OLED, the fact that it's touch-capable is certainly dampening enthusiasm in some quarters, not forgetting that it'll add to the price tag, which is one of the other big fears about this laptop.

With the new school year approaching, it's the ideal time to check that your tech is up to the task. One area you may be looking at for an upgrade is your laptop, and fortunately, there are dozens of deals available in the back-to-school sales. So, I've taken a look and picked out 10 of the best laptop deals I'd recommend right now.

The biggest battle when it comes to bagging the best bargain is between these two options: the Dell XPS 13 or the MacBook Neo. With a student discount, both can be yours for $599.99, which is outstanding value for money for a pair of powerful and efficient laptops.

The choice, ultimately, comes down to whether you prefer a Windows or an Apple device, as I really don't think you can go wrong with either if you want a capable laptop for school, college, and general use.

Alternatively, if you have less (or more) to spend, then I've picked out several other options that are on sale and I think are worth buying in the back-to-school sales. There's everything from super-cheap Chromebooks for basic use starting at $159, to performance powerhouses that come with the extra juice you might need for more demanding or creative tasks such as coding, photo editing, or video editing.

Have a browse through all of my recommendations below, which I've chosen based on the opinions of our expert testers, my experience hunting down laptop deals for TechRadar, and exactly what you get for your cash.

Today's best back-to-school laptop sales

• Amazon: big savings on laptops
• Apple: up to $150 gift card
• Best Buy: up to $600 off laptops
• Dell: up to $900 off
• Lenovo: up to 33% off laptops & tablets
• Walmart: laptops from $199.99

10 of the best back-to-school laptop deals

Getting set up for school or college can be an expensive endeavour. That's why we're always on the lookout for solid laptops that have been reduced in price, and that's exactly the case with this Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 at Amazon for £499.99 (was £699.99).

This Windows 11 laptop features a bright 16-inch display, an Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. That's enough power and storage to keep all your schoolwork moving along smoothly. Lenovo is a trusted brand, too, which is why it gets a special mention in our best laptops guide.

So, whether you're a student looking to get ready for the new academic year or a general user wanting a reliable laptop for everyday use, this £200 saving on an impressive overall laptop is well worth a look.

Today's best back-to-school laptop deal

Full disclosure: we've not reviewed the IdeaPad Slim 5, but our time with the similar Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 gives us confidence to make this recommendation. The Slim 5 promises seamless multitasking and performance with 13th Gen Intel Core processors.

From first impressions, the 16-inch display is a generous size, and the overall form factor is compact enough to make it portable. There's also a flexible selection of ports to expand connectivity and facilitate speedy data transfers.

One of the highlights of the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 is its 60WHr battery, which delivers all-day battery life, even when you're pushing it to the limits. And even when you run out of juice, Lenovo's Rapid Charge Boost technology will get you up and running again. In fact, just 15 minutes of fast charging gives you three hours of video playback.

Despite being on the other side of Prime Day, there are still some fantastic laptop deals around. We've put together our favourites, with top picks from the highest-rated brands as well as models featured in our best laptops guide.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18: One-minute review

A hefty laptop in every sense of the word, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 bolsters its beefy design with high-end componentry, including a flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and an Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU. It’s an 18-inch gaming machine that’s capable of running the latest titles at the best quality.

If this blockbuster performance comes at a cost, it’s portability: the ROG Strix Scar 18’s size and weight make it a desktop replacement rather than a lightweight travel companion, unless you have a big bag and a strong back.

The speakers and trackpad feel like they could be better, but this is otherwise a solid all-in-one package for gamers (and creators) who value performance.

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Price & release date

• How much does it cost? $6,299 / £5,699 / AU$8,379
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia

You’re not hallucinating: the ROG Strix Scar 18 really is that eye-wateringly expensive. For that price, you are getting a state-of-the-art gaming laptop, and it’s a perfect balance in terms of CPU, GPU, and display, delivering desktop-like levels of performance in a fairly portable unit. But it’s still just so much to spend on a computer, and you start to wonder where higher prices due to tech shortages end, and sheer profiteering begins.

You could buy a lesser model (a 5070 model with 32GB RAM and a 2TB SSD is about $/£2,000 less) and add more RAM and hard drive capacity when you’ve got enough in your pension to afford them, but the GPU is fixed here, and this is arguably the most important bang-for-buck component to upgrade.

So yes, it’s extremely expensive, and extremely powerful – but whether you’re getting what you’re paying for is debatable.

• Value: 3 / 5

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Specs

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Design

• Mammoth 18-inch footprint
• Droolworthy, pixel-packed high-contrast screen
• Fun AniMe Vision display

Let’s start with the obvious: this is not a small laptop. 18 inches is basically the most humongous laptop you can buy at the moment, and it’s not exactly portable. It won’t fit into a standard backpack, and it probably won't leave your house outside of a suitcase.

At 7.27 lbs (3.3 kg), just lifting the unit is a workout in itself, and the power brick adds another 2.2 lbs (1 kg), so you’ve got a hefty unit that you won’t be pulling out in a café, unless it has very stable tables. But it’s a gaming laptop, and portability is at the very bottom of the requirements here.

As is subtlety. Instead of at least trying to design something that gives a lighter, airier impression, Asus has leaned into an angular, beefy design language. Add in the RGB LED lighting strip around the bottom edge, and the entire thing looks like it’s about to take off and become a new target for the Rebel Alliance.

That’s not the only lighting trick the ROG Strix Scar 18 keeps up its sleeve: on the rear of the screen, there’s what Asus dubs AniMe Vision, essentially a programmable Wall Street-style ticker tape readout for your laptop. It’s monochrome, and very low-res, but it’s actually really neat: you can use Asus’ software to customize what it says, so you can broadcast scrolling messages of love or hate, depending on who you’re sitting opposite.

On the other side of this screen is the main display itself, which is thankfully higher-resolution and more colorful. Much more colorful. While not full ultra-HD, its 2.5K resolution (2560 x 1600) and 240Hz refresh rate is a perfect match for an 18-inch screen. It’s also mini-LED, which makes colors utterly pop, even from oblique viewing angles.

Asus has included a keyboard replete with enormous trackpad and full-size number pad. There’s a decent amount of depth to the keys, and while there’s no mechanical clunk, they’re responsive and comfortable enough for long gaming and typing sessions.

The trackpad doesn’t quite meet Apple’s almost supernaturally interactive standards, and it’s prone to accidental touches, but most users will likely be pairing this laptop with a mouse. The speakers, too, are a little disappointing and tinny.

On the underside of the laptop is a grill of air intakes for cooling, and this whole panel can be detached without tools so you can upgrade the RAM and SSDs. Around the edge of the laptop there’s a gamut of ports: three USB 3.2, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 5, HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5 mm headphone jack, SD card slot — no, wait, not an SD card slot, just a vent that looks an awful lot like an SD card slot. Cheeky! I would have loved an SD card slot on a laptop of this size and price.

• Design: 4 / 5

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Performance

• Nvidia RTX 5090 is an absolute beast
• Phenomenal DLSS support
• Gets crazy loud in Turbo mode

Having such a huge screen works wonders here; its slightly wider aspect ratio adds a movie-like expansiveness to more cinematic games.

The test laptop we received packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with 24 GB VRAM. Memory weighs in at a substantial 64 GB DDR5 dual-channel, and I’m never going to come near filling up the 4 TB SSD.

It has the gaming panache where it counts. 007 First Light hits 62 FPS on ultra graphics settings, with Bond’s glassy eyes melting my heart at any given opportunity. Lower the quality and the frame rates hit new heights — up to 170 FPS in 007, and it still looks really good, if a little last-gen.

Likewise, the hard, ray-traced light of Pragmata looks gorgeous when it hits those solid surfaces, and I was able to turn ray tracing on and hit 60 FPS at full res, which is just right. Diana’s flowing locks alone are worth the price of admittance.

Asus includes preset modes (Silent, Performance, Turbo), which can be toggled in-game with a handy function key, making it easier to unlock higher frame rates — I watched 007: First Light jump from 100 to 150 FPS (at low settings). However, Turbo also makes the fans kick in and, despite Asus’ vapor chamber cooling the whole thing becomes a bit jet engine-like.

Raw settings are only half the story now, though. Nvidia’s 5090 includes DLSS, and this is a quick and easy shortcut to match the 240hz refresh rate of Asus’ glorious panel. In 007: First Light, I can bump the settings all the way up and hit an epic 225 FPS, bringing it back to cinematic life.

I also had a quick dabble in my interminable Adobe Premier/After Effects project, and this is a laptop that’s as suited to creators as it is to gamers. 3D tracking, which was a stumbling block for my 2023 MacBook Pro, is almost instantaneous here, and it can take on 8K video timelines without missing a beat. Its game-centric looks may not please all designers, but for streamers and YouTubers it’s good to know it’s got the graphical grunt where you need it.

• Performance: 4.5 / 5

Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Battery life

• Expect five hours-ish for general computing
• Drops substantially when gaming

For a high-performance gaming laptop, battery life is actually pretty impressive. PCMark 10’s battery life benchmark, which simulates general day-to-day computer use like you’re some idealized executive who’s on Zoom calls that decide the fate of the planet, came in at five hours and three minutes. Running a 1080p video on a continuous loop in VLC gave a five-hour and 18-minute result — exactly enough time to watch all three Venom movies, and, wait, there’s a third Venom movie?

Heavy gaming sessions inevitably drag the battery life down to the sub 90-minute duration, so you’re never going to want to be far from a wall socket.

• Battery life: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Also consider

How I tested the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18

• Used as my daily driver computer for a month
• Tested according to TechRadar’s guidelines
• Put through its paces with games including 007 First Light, Pragmata, and Forza Horizon 6

To truly put the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 through its paces, I lived with it as my main computer for several days, testing it both as an everyday workstation and a high-end gaming battlestation. I made sure to test the system in various power profiles, monitoring the thermal performance and fan volume during long gaming sessions.

All benchmarks were run using TechRadar's standardized testing parameters—V-Sync was disabled in the Nvidia control panel, the power mode was set to "Best Performance" in Windows, and the laptop was fully charged and plugged into its massive 450W brick to unlock its maximum potential.

• Read TechRadar’s reviews guarantee
• First reviewed: July 2026

Up until fairly recently, laptop design followed a similar pattern, no matter whether you were picking a new Windows laptop or a MacBook.

Machines became thinner, many premium models shed ports, keyboards lost travel, and more components were soldered or glued into place.

Some companies presented these updates couched in the language of progress, even if they made computers less useful, less comfortable to use, and harder to keep alive over multiple years.

In 2026, the mood seems to be beginning to shift. HDMI and card slots have returned to premium laptops, and many manufacturers are paying closer attention to keyboards, batteries, and repair access.

Leading the way, Framework has turned replaceable hardware into its defining idea, and even Apple is showing signs that a modern laptop does not need to be an entirely sealed unit.

None of this is glamorous, which is part of the appeal: the next meaningful improvement in computing may be a machine that works well, connects to what you own, and can survive long enough to become boring.

The laptop industry spent years mistaking subtraction for progress

Over the past 10 years, laptop design has been moving steadily towards the central tenets of thinner, lighter, and cleaner, while ports, removable batteries, and replaceable components disappeared.

The trade-offs were often presented as unavoidable – the price of owning something modern, sleek, portable.

Of course, some of these changes brought real benefits; today’s laptops are faster, quieter, and easier to carry than the bulky machines they replaced, and improvements in chip design mean they are more powerful than ever.

Problems arose though when minimalism became the goal rather than a means to an end. Removing an HDMI port saved a little space but left users carrying dongles; soldered storage reduced flexibility long after the initial purchase. The list goes on.

Several of those decisions have since been quietly reversed.

Apple returned to a more conventional keyboard after long-standing durability issues, then restored HDMI, MagSafe, and an SD card slot to the MacBook Pro.

Other manufacturers have also followed a similar path, adding ports and improving repair access without turning their laptops back into bulky desktop replacements.

Recent Surface devices have made batteries, displays, SSDs, and keyboards replaceable, while Dell and Lenovo now use modular USB-C ports in selected laptops so a damaged socket can be changed without replacing the motherboard.

These are still exceptions focusing on a few components, but they make this welcome comeback broader than a Framework-only experiment.

Framework designs laptops for their next owner – and their existing one

For anyone dispirited by the state of the modern laptop industry, Framework came to the rescue, building its laptops around many of the features the wider industry had abandoned.

Owners can replace the memory, storage, battery, keyboard, display, ports, and even the mainboard, while expansion cards make it possible to swap connections such as USB-C, HDMI, and an SD card reader.

Someone who bought a Framework Laptop 13 several years ago can install a newer mainboard or display without replacing the rest of the machine. A new generation does not automatically make the old one obsolete – owners can upgrade the part that matters and leave everything else alone.

It should also make buying second-hand less of a gamble, since a later owner can replace a tired battery or upgrade the mainboard rather than inheriting a sealed snapshot of the original specification.

Even the familiar design serves a purpose: Framework’s laptops may not look dramatically different with each release, but keeping the same basic chassis allows components made years apart to work together.

If we're being honest, that is far more useful than another cosmetic redesign.

Not everything is perfect with this strategy, of course. Framework machines can cost more than sealed rivals with similar specifications, and earlier models have not always matched the best laptops for battery life or overall polish.

Their long-term value also depends on a relatively small company continuing to support the platform. Even so, Framework has shown that repairability does not need to mean owning an awkward experiment rather than a normal laptop.

The MacBook Neo is Apple's concession, rather than a revolution

Apple’s new MacBook Neo takes a more cautious step in the same direction.

To start with, its battery is screwed into place and several ports sit on replaceable boards. Parts such as the display, speakers, and trackpad can also be removed without the level of adhesive found in many recent MacBooks.

Apple also published a repair manual from launch, a somewhat surprising move from the company, while iFixit awarded it 6 out of 10 – the best score for a MacBook in around 14 years.

The caveat – and sadly there is one – is that this makes the Neo more repairable, but not especially upgradeable.

Its memory and storage are soldered in place, so the specification chosen at checkout is the one owners will keep for the life of the machine. Given the crazy price hikes due to the AI memory boom, this can make things quite expensive.

One of its two USB-C ports is also limited to USB 2 speeds, and it lacks a backlit keyboard.

The result is that it's easier to restore or fix the original machine when something breaks, a small but meaningful achievement on an entry-level laptop, where a large repair bill can quickly make replacement look like the more economical option.

Perhaps the bigger win is that Apple has shown that a slim, polished MacBook does not need to be completely sealed shut.

Repairability is useful even when you never hold a screwdriver

Most people will never replace a laptop battery or swap out a damaged port themselves, but they still benefit from a machine designed to make those jobs possible.

Accessible parts give places like independent repair shops, school technicians, and company IT teams a better chance of fixing a fault without replacing an entire assembly.

A commonplace issue like a worn battery becomes a simple routine repair, while a damaged charging socket is a small parts replacement rather than a motherboard-scale repair.

The same principle applies to ports and keyboards. These are among the most heavily used parts of any laptop, yet manufacturers have often treated them as secondary to thinness or appearance.

A useful selection of connections saves years of adapter clutter, while a comfortable, replaceable keyboard matters far more in daily use than a slightly slimmer lid.

The right to forget about your computer

The most mature technologies tend to disappear into the background. We do not want to admire a laptop’s design "courage" every time we connect a monitor, replace a battery, or type for several hours.

Fundamentally, we want it to work without creating new problems – and work for as many years as possible.

Framework has pushed that idea further than anyone else, while the MacBook Neo shows that parts of it can survive inside a mainstream product.

Neither will reverse years of sealed design overnight. What they do is suggest a different measure of progress: not how quickly a computer looks old, but how long it remains useful enough to ignore.

Apple's MacBooks seemingly have some big changes on the horizon. One of the biggest is the rumored MacBook Ultra packing that OLED screen, and this is something to be excited about, don't get me wrong. Well, worries about the price aside, and wider issues around Mac pricing overall, but there's something I'm more concerned about now.

Namely the direction in which Apple is heading with its M-series silicon, following the latest rumor dump from prolific leaker Mark Gurman. In last weekend's Power On newsletter for Bloomberg, Gurman dropped a whole lot of fresh info about Apple's CPU roadmap and the incoming M6, M7 and M8 chips.

The leaker tells us — and bear in mind, this is all just rumors, but eye-opening speculation nonetheless — that Apple is doing something very different with the next range of M silicon. The M6 will consist of just a vanilla chip, with no more powerful variants, which isn't something Apple has ever done before — there's always been a Pro and Max version (if not an Ultra, too).

This is because Apple apparently wants to usher in the M7 series more swiftly, with the M6 debuting late this year and the M7 following in the first half of 2027, just six months (or so) later. The M7 will have a full complement of Pro, Max and Ultra chips, the former two following at the end of 2027, with the Ultra in 2028. Gurman believes this is Apple's current plan and the reason for rushing to get to the M7 is AI.

Cue multiple groans, no doubt. Gurman theorizes: "The reason for this break with tradition: AI. Apple had been planning major neural-processing upgrades for the M7 family and ultimately decided those improvements were important enough to justify accelerating the next generation rather than completing the M6 lineup."

We're further told that beyond this, Apple is "already developing M8 chips with even greater AI capabilities" to land in 2028.

Gurman concludes: "The takeaway is that AI is no longer just another feature Apple's chips need to support. It is now shaping how those products are designed and when they are shipped."

A wise path to follow?

So, what am I worried about here exactly? Obviously there's a strong suggestion that AI is taking much more of a center stage role with Mac chips, and given what's currently going on with MacBooks, I've got to wonder about the wisdom of this — and how it might affect Apple's PC sales.

Currently Mac sales are strong and considerably buoyed by the launch of the MacBook Neo in March 2026, a budget laptop that has undoubtedly flown off the shelves. However, Apple's recent price hikes have poured cold water on those sales prospects to an extent, even hitting the MacBook Neo, which went up by $100 in the US (£100 in the UK, and AU$150 in Australia).

Granted, while it's odd for a device to get a price rise like this so soon after launch, given the demand around the Neo, it's not going to be sidelined with this increase (although the upper-tier model with 512GB storage now looks shakier and out of budget territory, frankly). The harder pill to swallow is the harsher MacBook Air price hikes, and as we pointed out a few weeks back, some wallet-friendly Windows 11 laptops now look a lot more tempting after Apple's price increases.

Looking on Reddit, it's not hard to find a lot of unhappiness about the MacBook price hikes. There's considerable angst from some people who were thinking of pulling the trigger on a new Apple laptop, and then watched those price increases swoop in, and are now feeling the opposite of buyer's remorse (holdout's regret?). Some of those folks are acting with their wallets, closing them and vowing to wait for a better buying opportunity now that they've missed the boat, as it were.

That could be a long wait, though. Of late, we're hearing a lot of gloomy news about the RAM crisis getting worse later this year, and in 2027 — maybe a lot worse. The memory supply situation is what caused Apple to jack up Mac prices, of course, and it's difficult to see how the MacBook maker will continue to weather this storm if it worsens next year, given that its resources in terms of built-up inventory of RAM (or SSDs) are clearly running dry (or have run dry).

Rumors have continued to persist about Apple potentially tapping Chinese memory chip makers for its RAM needs, as an alternative to the big three mainstream suppliers (Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix). That's a worrying development in itself, and it's doubtful whether even Tim Cook can pull off navigating that kind of negotiation before he leaves his Apple CEO role (there are various possible hurdles to clear and governmental complications, put it that way).

Diving into AI headfirst

I don't think any of this bodes particularly well for next year's Mac sales given the prospect of pressure around more price hikes (although yes, other PC makers face the exact same unfavorable conditions). And then we come back to this apparent renewed focus on AI, which hasn't gone down well on Reddit and other social media.

Here's one Redditor who sums all this up neatly: "I was about to buy a new MacBook to replace my M1 Pro with an ailing battery and small storage. But then Apple jacked up the prices by almost 20%. And now they are diving into AI headfirst. It might be time for me to look at Framework laptops."

There's a strong backlash against AI right now, whether that's about sprawling data centers and them chugging huge amounts of power, or Copilot in Windows 11 and indeed Apple Intelligence. So, it's no surprise that the idea of "diving into AI headfirst" has been greeted by a lot of skepticism.

What exactly is Apple Intelligence going to serve up in terms of compelling features in the next year or two? The trouble is that this feels very much up in the air, yet Apple is supposedly building its Mac strategy around this now. It seems like a bit of a leap into the unknown to say the least, and I'm not surprised that it's making Mac fans nervous.

Okay, so this AI focus is still just a rumor, although Gurman is one of the more reliable Apple sources out there, and it appears to be a well enough fleshed-out piece of speculation. Even if it's true, Apple may yet switch away from this course, but for now, I'm struggling to find the logic of shifting to a heavier AI focus so soon.

Maybe the reasons for this will become clearer as we see how Apple Intelligence develops in the near future. However, in the meantime, I think there are reasons to be concerned about Mac sales potentially flagging next year, between disgruntled MacBook holdouts, the continued RAM crisis, and cynicism around Apple's apparent new AI-led approach.

• TCL CSOT is reportedly now mass producing the first inkjet-printed OLEDs for consumers
• MSI just revealed a new 27-inch monitor which seemingly uses this 4K panel
• Inkjet printing is a more affordable way of making OLEDs and it will usher in cheaper monitors and laptops, and eventually TVs further down the line

TCL CSOT has seemingly taken a big step towards putting inkjet-printed OLED panels in the homes of consumers, and mass production of these screens is now reportedly underway.

OLED-Info reports that the Chinese manufacturer has kicked off production with an initial 27-inch 4K panel with a refresh rate of 120Hz. It offers a brightness of up to 300 nits and 99% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut (meaning lifelike and accurate color representation).

This inkjet-printed screen is destined for monitors, but bigger panels for the likes of TVs are expected to be in the cards for the future. For starters, though, we're looking at production for monitors and also laptop OLEDs.

This is still the very early stages for TCL, and OLED-Info clarifies that we are only talking about 'low volume' production on the firm's Gen 5.5 inkjet line for now. Still, it's an important step to take, but producing the panels is one thing, and it'll take some time for these to be incorporated into monitors which are then shipped to retailers where consumers can buy them.

Note that the Gen 5.5 inkjet line has produced OLED panels before, just not displays destined for consumer products (they were screens for commercial use in the medical field).

It seems that the freshly announced MSI Pro Max OLED 271UPJW12 uses this TCL 4K panel, although that isn't explicitly stated in the press release for the new model published by TechPowerup. All the specs match up, though, and it couldn't really be any other screen anyway – and this revelation is another sign to back up OLED-Info's contention that mass production is now up and running.

MSI boasts of the monitor: "With a 164 PPI density and an optimized RGB Stripe sub-pixel layout that closely resembles the uniform RGB structure of traditional LCDs, this advanced design effectively eliminates color fringing, optimizing text and image clarity."

We don't get a price from MSI, but that's not surprising at this stage, because as noted, the release is likely still some way off yet.

Analysis: what's the big deal with inkjet-printed OLEDs anyway?

As we've covered in the past, there are some distinct advantages with using an OLED printed by an inkjet compared to traditional (Fine Metal Mask) OLED panels. They are more power-efficient, and the inkjet-printed (IJP) OLEDs will also have a longer lifespan, but most crucially, they're cheaper.

TCL has previously told us that these IJP panels are 20% cheaper than existing OLEDs (and they can be made 30% faster, too). Analyst firms believe that these printed panels could be up to 35% cheaper in the future, when production is higher volume and more refined (with less waste).

The upshot should be OLED monitors which are a good deal more affordable, not to mention laptops with OLED screens that hit cheaper price points – and as noted, TVs eventually, too. The lower power usage will also be a major benefit for notebooks in terms of extending battery life, given that the display is one of the biggest drains on the battery.

The overall affordability of OLED will also be helped by TCL's inkjet-based creations, because the dominant panel makers – LG Display and Samsung – will be forced to be more competitive with their pricing. Add to that the emergence of BOE's Generation 8.6 panels, which went into mass production last month – again offering a more economical way to produce OLEDs thanks to much larger substrates – and this poses yet more competition, meaning there'll be some distinct downward pressures on OLED pricing.

The catch is that it will take some time for this to happen, especially in the world of bigger screens for the likes of OLED TVs – but make no mistake, it is happening.