• DT Research unveils the LT365PA, a 15.6-inch rugged laptop offering Nvidia RTX A2000 or RTX 5000 Ada graphics
• It targets crime scene, crash reconstruction, and command post work, and reaches resellers worldwide in Q1 2027 but has no published price yet
• Much of the design carries over from 2023's LT355, and PNY lists an end-of-life window for RTX A2000 modules in that same quarter

Police crash investigators could soon be processing 3D scans and drone footage at the roadside instead of back at the station, if DT Research gets its way.

The California company has unveiled the LT365PA, a 15.6-inch rugged laptop with optional discrete Nvidia graphics, aimed at crime scene investigators, crash reconstruction teams, and military command posts.

The pitch for potential customers is simple enough: the ability to crunch video, drone imagery, 3D scans, and sensor feeds where the data is collected, rather than waiting on a network connection or a distant data center.

A workstation GPU in a rugged shell

The official DT Research's product page says the LT365PA runs on an Intel Core Ultra 5 225H or Core Ultra 7 255H with 16GB to 32GB of LPDDR5 memory, up to 2TB of storage, and Windows 11 IoT Enterprise.

The 15.6-inch touchscreen is rated at 1,200 nits, with a 4K panel and two MIL-STD-3009 Class B night-vision displays (one for naked-eye use, one for night-vision goggles) available as options. The chassis is IP65 rated and MIL-STD-810H certified, and a CAC reader, RFID and NFC readers, GPS, 4G LTE, and a NIST-compliant BIOS round out the extras public-sector buyers often tend to prefer.

DT Research offers an Nvidia RTX A2000 or what it calls an "RTX 5000A," which appears to be the Ada Lovelace-based RTX 5000 Ada Generation. The gap between the two is large: PNY's embedded MXM line card lists the A2000 module with 2,560 CUDA cores and 8GB of memory, while the RTX 5000 Ada has 9,728 CUDA cores and 16GB at a 115W power rating, giving it more than four times the peak FP32 throughput.

That GPU does most of the AI processing in DT Research's pitch; the NPU inside Intel's Arrow Lake-H chips is rated at just 13 TOPS, as we noted when Intel announced the family, so the heavy video analytics and 3D work DT Research describes will fall to the Nvidia silicon.

Same premise, a different model number and upgrades under the hood

Agencies with long memories may recognize the LT365PA. DT Research's LT355, launched in 2023, was also a 15.6-inch rugged laptop with a 1,200-nit screen and embedded Nvidia RTX A1000 or A2000 graphics, and it too was pitched to law enforcement and the military. At the time, Tsai said DT Research had listened to customers and "developed the next version of our rugged laptop to include an NVIDIA graphics card."

Compare the two spec sheets side by side, and a lot carries over: display brightness, the night-vision options, the operating temperature range, the enclosure materials, and the ratings of the hot-swappable battery packs are identical, and the GPU version still ships with a 230W power adapter.

What has changed is the newer Intel platform, the RTX 5000 Ada option, a 1.1lb (0.5kg) weight saving, and 4K and IR camera options. There is a step back, too, at least on paper: the LT355's two memory slots supported up to 64GB, while the LT365PA tops out at 32GB of LPDDR5.

"Today's field teams need the same high-performance AI computing capabilities at the edge," DT Research president Daw Tsai said in the company's announcement, which says the LT365PA will reach authorized partners and resellers worldwide in the first quarter of 2027. Pricing has not been disclosed.

A crash investigation pitch is arguably the most persuasive part of DT Research's launch. According to the Federal Highway Administration, "every minute of incident delay multiplies traffic queues by a factor of four," and the likelihood of a secondary crash climbs 2.8% for each minute the original incident remains a hazard. Anything that lets investigators confirm their scans and photos are complete before a road reopens has real value.

Despite leaning on such a specific example, the laptop itself doesn't capture anything. Laser scanners and drones do that, and DT Research names no software partners or processing-time figures to show how much faster the LT365PA makes the job.

There are practical trade-offs as well. At 8.6lb (3.9kg), the LT365PA is heavier than our top-rated rugged laptop, the Panasonic Toughbook 40, at 7.4lb, and its IP65 rating is a notch below the IP66 rating of the Toughbook 40 and Getac's B360X lineup. DT Research cites MIL-STD-810H for shock and vibration but publishes no drop height or a fuller list of test methods, whereas Durabook itemizes a long list of 810H tests behind the Z14I-DX3, from altitude to explosive atmosphere.

DT Research also publishes no battery life figure. The two standard packs work out to roughly 123Wh combined, and the GPU model ships with a 230W adapter, nearly double the 120W unit supplied with the standard version, which suggests those hot-swappable batteries will earn their keep under sustained GPU load.

Whether US police forces actually get this upgrade is a separate question. As MIT Technology Review's James O'Donnell has written, "police departments in the US have extraordinary independence," with more than 18,000 of them each deciding what technology to buy, so there is no single customer to win here.

The AI angle deserves a bit of pushback: DT Research pitches on-device video analytics without saying which applications it has validated or tested against, and that is where police technology matters most. The same MIT Technology Review reporting covered an AI tool that tracks people by clothing and body attributes in a way that sidesteps local facial recognition bans. The LT365PA is only hardware, but what agencies run on it will determine how welcome it is.

For crash and forensic teams still working on 2023-era gear, an LT365PA with the RTX 5000 Ada would be a genuine step up. The RTX A2000 version is a far more modest refresh, however, and with shipments not starting until 2027 and procurement cycles to follow, most investigators will not be unpacking one for a while yet.

I reviewed the MacBook Neo way back in March, and even then I knew there was very little chance that I'd be giving our Laptop of the Year award to any other device at the TechRadar Product of the Year 2026 Awards.

It's not necessarily the best choice for everyone — many far more powerful laptops have been released this year, and if you want to play PC games on your laptop don't even think of buying the Neo — but what Apple did with the MacBook Neo is pretty incredible, and it set the tone for a lot of other laptops that have come out this year.

Apple has always been seen as a premium brand, offering expensive devices that (usually, but not always) justify their price tags with superior build quality, and the kind of lifespans that owners of Windows laptops, who feel they have to upgrade every five years, can only dream of.

With the MacBook Neo, however, Apple has produced a (relatively) cheap laptop that manages to keep a lot of what we love about Apple's more expensive MacBooks, while making it affordable for more people.

The timing couldn't have been better, as a global cost-of-living crisis has meant that more people are struggling to afford day-to-day essentials, let alone 'luxury' purchases like laptops. At a time when a lot tech is also increasing in price because of the RAM crisis, it was very welcome to see a company like Apple release a relatively inexpensive new device.

Before the Neo's announcement, rumors had been swirling that Apple was planning on announcing a cheaper MacBook, but I don't think any of us were expecting the earthquake of its $599 / £599 / AU$1,049 starting price.

I say 'earthquake' because not only was it a lot cheaper than expected, it changed the landscape of the laptop market, shaking Apple's competitors, and leaving them scrambling to come up with a response.

And respond they did, with the likes of Dell and Acer releasing laptops at a similar price point that were explicitly pitched as competitors to the MacBook Neo when I discussed them with the makers.

A victim of its own success?

The fact that the MacBook Neo has had such an influence on the laptop market is one of the key reasons why I've picked it as TechRadar's Laptop of the Year. The likes of the Dell XPS 13 (2026) and Acer Swift Air 14 have made affordable Windows 11 laptops worth buying again, and the higher price of the new Googlebook laptops have a more difficult time justifying their price tags when the MacBook Neo, and the laptops it inspired, offer such good value.

In fact, you could almost argue that the MacBook Neo proved a bit too successful in inspiring its competitors, especially given that, a few months after launch, Apple increased the price of the MacBook Neo by $100 / £100. Not only did this make the MacBook Neo less groundbreaking value (and less of an 'instant recommendation' when people asked me which laptop they should buy), but its competitors seem to have mostly held steady with their initial pricing.

All of a sudden, Apple appeared to have inspired its competitors to make rival products that were cheaper than the MacBook Neo. Whoops.

Despite that price bump, the MacBook Neo remains an excellent laptop that continues to offer plenty of value. If you're looking for a dependable, well-built laptop for day-to-day tasks that doesn't cost a fortune, it's still one of the best laptops you can buy — and it remains the cheapest way to get into the Mac ecosystem.

The MacBook Neo proved that, at a time when hardware prices appear to be rising inexorably, it's still possible to make an impressive, affordable device, without making too many sacrifices — and that's exactly what we need in 2026.

Now that I've seen and touched the touchscreen MacBook Pro, I'm starting to understand that, despite the invention of a Frankenstein-ed new display term ('PROLED'?), this display might be something special. It looks extraordinary, and when compared visually with, say, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition, which also has a Tandem OLED, it doesn't even seem to be of the same species.

There are good reasons for this, which span from the fabrication process to the core specs of what is clearly Apple's most advanced laptop display yet.

Starting with manufacturing, Apple says it employed an unnamed manufacturing partner to build these panels in what's known as a Gen-8 OLED Fab. Seeing as there are just four of these cutting-edge facilities in the world, and that one of them is operated by Samsung Display, which has reportedly partnered with Apple on display tech previously, I'd guess it's Samsung.

One of the most notable features of these manufacturing facilities is their massive size. Whoever the partner is, we know that the touchscreen MacBook Pro's panels are being manufactured in a chamber around the size of the Colosseum in Rome. These huge facilities improve yield, efficiency, and costs.

Though less than a millimeter thick, the laptop PROLED XDR panel is comprised of 50 layers. Even what appear to be individual panels have many layers, sometimes just a nanometer thick. The two stacks of OLED have, for instance, 30 layers, though the organic self-emissive material is layered onto the panels and dried, making the layers range from one nanometer to hundreds of nanometers thick. FWIW, I held some of these individual panels, and they are incredibly thin and light.

Behind the OLED is the TFT (thin-film transistor) glass substrate that powers and drives the imagery on the surface.

What's not mentioned here is the digitizing layer (basically the same touch technology you find on the iPhone and iPad) that drives touch; that's because it's integrated with the whole in a process that, if it isn't already, probably should be patented.

Despite working with a third party, the production is another Apple trademark bespoke process, and one not necessarily replicated in other Tandem OLED or even basic OLED display manufacturing processes.

The specs bear that out. Where the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition touch display has a pleasing 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, Apple's touchscreen MacBook Pro boasts 10,000,000:1. In person, and even under bright lighting conditions, the blacks and definition I saw on the touchscreen MacBook Pro PROLED XDR are stunning.

The MacBook Pro display also looks better because Apple equipped it with up to 2,000 nits for HDR and SDR content, and both an anti-reflective screen and the option of the nano-etched one, as well. Essentially, I could see myself reflected in the Lenovo, and could not detect my reflection in the MacBook Pro.

Also, for those concerned about fingerprints collecting on the touchscreen MacBook Pro, Apple has applied an oleophobic coating to the standard and etched displays. In my hands-on time with several of the new laptops, I didn't notice any significant fingerprints.

Compared to the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i's 1,600 nits, the touchscreen MacBook Pro looks better equipped for working in direct sunlight. Based on what I saw, the MacBook Pro also maintains much better off-axis color quality.

Looking beyond direct visual comparisons with pro-grade Windows laptops, Apple is positioning the touchscreen MacBook Pro display as both a color reference screen and one that has grayscale precision reportedly sufficient for medical diagnostics. This is basically a reference monitor on a laptop frame.

So, sure, the story is that we finally have a touchscreen MacBook, but it may be the visual quality that ultimately wins over creative, business, medical, and film professionals. It's probably the best display Apple has ever produced, not just for a laptop, but possibly for any Mac system.

Of course, a screen panel alone does not make a laptop, and there are questions around whether everyone wants or needs touch, if the redesigned hinge is stable enough to keep the laptop from wobbling with every touch — and if touch capability is worth the almost $1,000 premium.

Well, it’s finally happened: Apple has got with the times and finally made a laptop with a touchscreen. However, while the new MacBook Pros with PROLED screens look like fantastic devices, I think Apple has made a mistake by putting its first laptop touchscreen on the more expensive MacBook Pro, rather than the more mainstream MacBook Air… or even the MacBook Neo.

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with a touchscreen starts at $2,899 / £2,899 / AU$4,599, and the 16-inch model starts at $3,399 / £3,399 / AU$5,499. That’s a big ask for most people, especially these days.

Of course, MacBook Pros, as the name suggests, are aimed at professionals, and thanks to their high-end components, they should really be seen as investments that allow you to speed up your workflow.

Interestingly the new touchscreen MacBook Pros come with Apple’s M5 Pro and M5 Max chips. If you want Apple’s latest M6 chip, you’ll need to go for the non-touchscreen 14-inch MacBook Pro that was announced a few days earlier. Perhaps confusingly, the M6 is less powerful than the M5 Pro and M5 Max, and so far there are no hints that Apple is preparing to release M6 Pro and M6 Max chips.

My point is that by putting its first-ever laptop touchscreen on its most powerful — and expensive — MacBooks, Apple is severely limiting the potential audience for the technology. Had it instead put a touchscreen on the more affordable MacBook Air, it could have had a real hit on its hands.

Who’s it for?

As someone who has used plenty of Windows laptops and Chromebooks with touchscreens in the past, I know how useful they can be for certain tasks, and I often miss them when using a MacBook.

Being able to scroll down a website with a finger, turn a page in an ebook, or quickly tap a menu item feels natural and intuitive, and I’m sure it will on the new MacBooks. My daughter, who grew up with touchscreens on everything, would also instinctively poke an often sticky, grubby (kids, you’ve got to love them!) finger at a MacBook screen and be surprised when nothing happened.

These are all pretty simple tasks and gestures. What I've never used touchscreens on laptops for, however, is for complex tasks and tools, such as recording and editing music in Ableton Live, or editing videos in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Instead, for things that needed precision or complexity, nothing beat the good old combo of keyboard and touchpad (or even better, keyboard and a mouse), as well as other external peripherals such as MIDI controllers and drawing tablets. Which leads me to wonder why Apple picked the MacBook Pro, a device that’s supposedly designed for exactly those type of tasks, to showcase its first laptop touchscreen.

If you’re dropping $3,000+ on a touchscreen laptop to mostly just to use the touchscreen for browsing websites, then you’re either super-rich or you should get help with your budgeting.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro and no touchscreen starts at $2,999 / £2,999 / AU$4,799. As the MacBook Pro with the PROLED XDR touchscreen with the same specs costs $400 / £400 / AU$700 more, that’s quite a premium for the touchscreen.

Yes, I know the PROLED XDR screen offers better image quality as well thanks to its tandem OLED tech (check out our explainer on why this is a big deal), but if you don’t need that additional image quality, which includes better contrast, higher brightness levels, and support for the Adobe RGB color gamut, and are just interested in the touchscreen, then essentially yeah, you’re paying $400 extra for it.

If you’re a professional, especially one in the creative industry, you’ll need to think long and hard if that investment is worth it. Meanwhile, the likes of the MacBook Air and MacBook Neo aren’t really used for complex creative tasks, and instead used for casual day-to-day use, where touchscreens are much more useful.

Granted, adding an extra $400 / £400 / AU$700 to the price of a MacBook Neo or MacBook Air wouldn’t be great, especially as they’ve just had a price bump earlier this year, but Apple wouldn’t need to include the OLED tech and advanced image-quality options included in the MacBook Pro. A touchscreen MacBook Neo for $899, say, could be a real hit, especially if Apple was to also keep the non-touchscreen model for people who still want the ultimate affordable way to get into the Mac ecosystem.

This isn’t just an Apple problem, of course. The new laptops powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark SoC, which are aimed at the same creative professionals and heavy local AI users as the MacBook Pro (with similarly high price tags), come with touchscreens. I’ve spent a decent amount of time with each one at various events, and I found that the touchscreen was the least-used part of the laptop — in fact, I often forgot those laptops had one. Because there aren’t cheaper, non-touch, models, though I didn’t resent its inclusion.

As I said, I do get the appeal of touchscreen laptops, but I find the technology is best used in 2-in-1 devices where the keyboard can be flipped behind the screen (or removed entirely) so that it can be used as a tablet-like device.

In an ideal world, then, Apple would have put its touchscreen on an entirely new 2-in-1 MacBook, but I can’t see that happening any time soon. Apple sort of has a device like that — the powerful iPad Pro, which can be paired with a Magic Keyboard that turns it into a touchscreen laptop. The problem there, however, is that despite coming with Apple’s powerful M-series chips, the same you’ll find in MacBooks, the iPad Pro is limited to the iPadOS operating system and mobile apps.

Put macOS on that bad boy, however, and allow us to run full desktop applications on it, and hey presto: Apple has a touchscreen MacBook that utilizes the tech in a way that’s actually useful. Until then, I’ll stick with my standard MacBook Pro, and just try to remember not to prod it with my sausage fingers too often.

For Apple fans, the touchscreen MacBook Pro PROLED XDR tandem OLED display may be the gift that keeps on giving. Obviously, new integrated digitizing technology made the touchscreen possible, but the ultra-thinness of the display tech can also be credited with enabling the return of a beloved MacBook feature.

The touchscreen MacBook Pro is the first MacBook in almost a decade to feature an illuminated Apple logo on the back. I've seen it in person, and it somehow looks like polished metal when closed, and then a glowing bright white when open.

Apple bringing back the illuminated logo back is directly attributable to the PROLED XDR display. Each pixel in an OLED panel is emissive, which means there's no need for a backlight. Even after Apple made the laptop lid thinner, it still had some room left there — and it turns out there was enough room left to give the Apple logo its own backlight.

As improbable as it seems, there's now a dedicated light for the logo, but not for the rest of the screen. And it still doesn't take up extra space (nor eat up measurable energy).

Do it for the fans

Why did Apple do this? Well, Apple's not telling us, but it's clearly a nod to the fans.

CEO John Ternus tried to tell us the glowing logo was returning in his tiny X tease that showed light shining on the logo, which was on a flat surface. I simply thought it was another way of highlighting the Apple brand, and the big news to come. Granted, I was never that hooked on the old light-up logo.

In fact, my strongest memory around the Apple logo on the back of MacBooks is a conversation I had with Ternus when he was still Apple's hardware lead, during which he explained how Apple milled an ultra-thin and shiny stainless steel Apple logo for the MacBook 12 (the rest of the chassis was brushed aluminum). That was a big deal back then, even if it didn't light up

When Ternus revealed that the glowing logo was returning to the new MacBook Pro during the launch presentation ("the logo is back"), the crowd basically lost their collective minds. It's a big deal.

The illuminated logo also serves another purpose, instantly telegraphing that you're using a special MacBook Pro — the first with a touchscreen.

What Apple is not sharing, though — and it merits further investigation — is how it managed to make the glowing logo look like polished metal when the laptop is closed. It's an engineering secret that I suspect Apple execs and engineers will take to their graves, even after the inevitable teardown.

Apple has unveiled its first OLED MacBook Pro laptops, and that means we've got a new bit of display branding: PROLED XDR. You can have the laptop in 14-inch or 16-inch variants, pre-orders are open now for shipping on or after the 6th of November — and we've gone hands-on with them. Literally, because they're also the first touchscreen Macs.

The name 'PROLED XDR' is a new piece of jargon that Apple's debuting with this machine. So what actually is it?

The short answer is that it's a 'Tandem OLED' panel, which means that it uses multiple layers of organic light-emitting diodes — in this case, two layers. Two OLED layers are better than one because the result is considerably brighter than a single-layer OLED: you literally have two OLEDs firing per pixel. It also boosts longevity, because each of the two layers doesn't have to work as hard, so they have a longer lifespan and are more likely to avoid burn-in.

Apple has stayed away from OLED for its MacBook Pro displays in the past, and clearly that's changed. According to Apple that's because PROLED XDR "finally" overcomes the traditional limitations of OLED: low and variable brightness, off-axis color shift and the risk of burn-in from displaying the same interface elements, such as toolbars and palettes, whenever the screen is on.

The confusing thing, however, is that this isn't Apple's first use of Tandem OLED. It used the technology in its shift to OLED in the iPad Pro, but those aren't branded as PROLED XDR. Those are called 'Ultra Retina XDR' displays.

So let's look at the performance differences listed by Apple that put the 'pro' in PROLED.

What's so special about PROLED XDR displays

The Tandem OLED inside the new MacBook Pros is very bright, delivering up to 2,000 nits of peak HDR brightness (ie, in a small area of the screen for a short time) and up to 1,000 nits of sustained fullscreen brightness (ie, across the entire screen at once, without having to dim quickly).

The iPad Pro (2025)'s display is also capable of 1,000 nits of fullscreen brightness, but has a rated peak brightness of 1,600 nits — so the MacBook Pro is 25% brighter. That will bring a nice extra boost to clarity in bright HDR scenes, but won't make a huge difference really — the fullscreen brightness is the most important factor, and that's the same on both.

Because it's OLED, it gives you the blackest of black tones — there's no backlight to leak light into areas it shouldn't go — and a very high contrast ratio, in this case 10,000,000:1. That again is an interesting difference from the iPad Pro, which has a claimed contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1.

Why a 5x difference if the brightness is only 25% different? Apple hasn't explicitly said, but it must come down the lowest level of brightness that can be measured on the screen. Doing the math on the iPad's 1,600-nit display with a 2,000,000:1 ratio gives us a lowest brightness of 0.0008 nits. On the PROLED XDR's display, a 2,000-nit panel with a 10,000,000 contrast ratio gives us a lowest brightness of 0.0002 nits.

We can assume this is down to the new panel design, aimed at "minimizing internal reflections common in traditional OLED designs" — so less light is reflected within the panel itself, which could be the difference between those two different black levels.

But if you're looking at 0.0008 nits and 0.0002 nits and thinking the difference must be indistinguishable, then… yes, correct. They will both appear totally black to the human eye when they're supposed to. But it produces a big difference in contrast ratio, because multiplication is overdramatic.

There are other indications that the MacBook Pro's PROLED XDR display might beat the iPad Pro's in other areas. Apple says it can achieve over 80% of the BT.2020 color gamut, which suggest it's likely to hit close to 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut — the iPad Pro was measured by our lab at around 82% of DCI-P3, so that would be a clear jump here.

The screen is powered by a display engine that's been built into the M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, which Apple says "continuously compensates each pixel for content, usage, temperature, and ambient conditions".

Refresh rates are variable from 10Hz to 120Hz (with discrete options for film-makers: 47.95Hz, 48Hz, 50Hz, and 59.94Hz), and as we've seen with other Apple products there's a nano-texture glass option for people who'll be working in overly bright environments.

The big selling point here is reference monitor accuracy that you can take wherever you go, making these MacBook Pros ideal for video pros and mobile creatives of all kinds.

So do you need it? If you're making the next Wildwood — go see this movie, it's incredible — or working with high-res, high-quality video then these are by far the best Mac mobile laptops that Apple has ever made. But I suspect most of them will end up with people who aren't video pros, but who really like really good displays. I'd love to see Cyberpunk 2077 on one of these.

If you're technically minded Apple has put together a full technical paper on the new displays, and you can read it right here.

Confirming one of Apple's worst-kept secrets, Apple finally unveiled its first-ever touchscreen MacBook Pro in 14-inch and 16-inch models on Wednesday, October 28, in Los Angeles. The news comes just days after Apple unveiled M6-class MacBook Pros. Notably, the new PROLED touchscreen laptops are running M5 Pro and M5 Max Apple silicon.

Apple CEO John Ternus didn't waste much time on stage, quickly announcing the laptops and running through key innovations like the tandem OLED (PROLED) screens and relatively lightweight (3lbs for the 14-inch model and 4lbs for the 16-inch one) before leaving the stage and directing the assembled group of media, analysts, creators, and Apple execs to an adjacent space where I got my first experience ever with a touchscreen MacBook.

You've been waiting for this

If you read no further, know this: it felt totally natural to tap, swipe, gesture with three fingers, pinch, zoom, and more on a MacBook Pro display. It feels like I've been waiting my whole life to do this on a MacBook (or at least as long as I've been using MacBooks).

As a former Windows user, and more specifically a longtime Surface Pro fan, I'm actually quite used to touching a screen, though maybe not one quite as beautiful as this.

For those unfamiliar with tandem OLED technology, which Apple first introduced a few years ago with the iPad Pro, it sandwiches two ultra-thin, light-emitting OLEDs together. This increases the brightness while maintaining incredibly inky blacks (they're gorgeous). It also allows for a far thinner display panel because you don't need a backlight.

Though there now is a "backlight of a sort. This touchscreen MacBook Pro lineup marks the return of the glowing Apple logo on the back of the display. It lights up when you open the laptop and turns off when you close it (people at the Hollywood, California, event were cheering for that).

I played mostly with the larger, 16-inch model, which still features the expansive, backlit Magic Keyboard and a huge ForceTouch Trackpad, which honestly is gonna get a little bit less use now that a touchscreen is just inches away.

A pair of large speaker grills sits on either side of the keyboard, though I couldn't hear them over the din of the demo room. As with previous MacBook Pros, there's still an SD Card slot, three Thunderbolt 5 ports, one USB-4 port, HDMI, and the headphone jack.

In my hands, the 4 lb, 16-inch model felt a tad lighter than previous 16-inch MacBook Pros, though the 14-inch (which might be my preference) felt lightweight at 3lbs.

Touch it, touch it, please say you want to

Let's talk, though, about using the touchscreen.

I tried a 3D design app where I used a couple of fingers to spin a model of a guy in battle armor and then a single finger to paint gold on some of the armor.

I opened Maps and used two fingers to spin the map, then pinch-and-zoom.

I used three fingers to swipe through desktops.

I could use two fingers to grab a window, flip it to one side of the screen, and watch it instantly dock itself as a half-screen app (yes, I've done something very similar on a Surface Pro).

I played touchscreen piano with all my fingers.

At no moment did I hesitate and wonder how I did this or that thing. It's obvious. It never felt uncomfortable, and my arm never got tired. Put another way, a touchscreen is a perfect fit for the MacBook Pro family,

Now, you cannot take the screen and flip it all the way to the back of the laptop (something many touchscreen Windows laptops can do). That might be a shame because I could also use my finger to paint and, though I haven't done it yet, draw.

Speaking of which, there is no indication that the touchscreen MacBook Pro supports the Apple Pencil. Honestly, if it can't fold back at least flat, there's no point in this support anyway.

There is, by the way, a Dynamic Island that's basically copied from the iPhone, but I didn't see it do very much.

As I used the touchscreen MacBook Pro, I was not only reminded of my time with the Microsoft Surface Pro but of my initial weeks and even months with the MacBook after I switched platforms. Yes, I found myself touching the inert MacBook screen and had to retrain myself to stop doing it.

Point is, touch was something I reflexively used on the Surface Pro, and I am now certain I will happily use it on the touchscreen MacBook Pro. You probably will, too.

You will pay for the privilege of touch. The 14-inch MacBook Pro with touch starts at $2,899 / £2,899 / AU$4,599, and the 16-inch model starts at $3,399 / £3,399 / $5,499. Pre-orders are live today, and the laptops ship on November 6.

Acer Swift Spin 14 AI review: Two Minute Review

I really like the Acer Swift Air 14 and not just because of the price. It’s very portable, attractive in that clean minimalist way popularised by a certain Cupertino company, and comes with a battery life that’s as good as any other I’ve come across.

Acer has been impressing me with its recent Swift laptops, and this one is no exception. Of course, the price tag makes it a no-brainer for anyone wanting a solid, portable laptop at an almost budget price tag. It’s not sub-$500 / £500, but it’s close. I certainly think it’s one of the best laptops for the price.

It does, however, have some of the shortcomings that even the best Ultrabooks have. It’s not the most powerful laptop out there, by any stretch of the imagination – this is for people who just want to go online and do some office work or stream, not game or edit video. And the audio suffers from the laptop's smaller design.

Those things actually don’t bother me. That’s not what this laptop is supposed to be used for. But, Acer makes the same weird design choice that even Apple makes on more budget models, where there are two USB-C ports, both of which can be used for power, but, for whatever reason, they’re on the same side of the computer.

Still, quibbles aside, the amount of computer you get for the price in the Acer Swift Air 14 is pretty impressive.

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Price & Availability

• How much does it cost? $699.99 / £749.99 (about AU$1,010)
• When is it available? Available now
• Where can you get it? Available in the US and UK

If you’re looking for the Windows version of the Apple MacBook Neo, the Acer Swift Air 14 offers just as much value. The base configuration might start at a higher $699.99 / £749.99 (about AU$1,010) price tag, but if you want to match the Swift Air 14’s 512GB of storage, then two laptops end up at the same price. Unfortunately, that currently excludes Australia as it hasn’t yet been released there.

Granted, you’re not getting the most powerful laptop out there. If you’re looking for something similar but better, the Acer Swift Spin 14 AI is that computer. Sure, it’s $1,499.99 / £1,399 (about AU$2,150), but its Qualcomm CPU has double the cores and triple the NPUs than the base version of the Acer Swift Air 14’s Intel Core 5 320 CPU. You can upgrade the Acer Swift Air 14 to a configuration with the Intel Core 7 350 CPU and 12GB of RAM, but it’s still not going to do the same heavy lifting. Plus, the Acer Swift Spin 14 AI has a 360-degree hinge, touchscreen, and stylus.

It might be better to consider the Acer Swift Air 14 as Acer’s budget entry in its Swift line. It’s an excellent value while still functioning as a competent Ultrabook.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Acer Swift Air 14 review: specs

The Acer Swift Air 14 comes in two variants. The base configuration comes with the Intel Core 5 320 CPU with 8GB of RAM, and a model with an Intel Core 7 350 and 12GB of RAM. The difference in processors aren’t that different, except that the Intel Core 7 350 can be boosted to a higher turbo frequency, 4.8GHz vs 4.6, and has 21 TOPS NPU compared to the Intel Core 5 320’s 20 TOPS NPU.

Beyond those internal configuration differences, the Acer Swift Air 14 is available in four different colors – Sage Green, Frost Blue, Blossom Pink, and Lilac Purple with only the Sage Green and Blossom Pink available in the UK. EMEA countries, including the UK, also sport more minimalist etchings on the lid.

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Design

• Very attractive, portable design
• Keyboard and touchpad are good but not amazing
• Both USB-Cs are on the left

The Acer Swift Air 14 is a gorgeous laptop. I’ve only seen the Sage Green color in person – the color of the test unit for this review – but the colors, lid etchings, and aluminum chassis all present a very aesthetically pleasing package. I imagine that the other three colors look just as good in that way that I think makes this an attractive alternative to the Macbook Neo.

Also in its favor is its utter portability. It weighs just over two and a half pounds. That’s about the same as an ankle weight. And it’s just over a half inch thick at its thinnest point. I don’t think you can really get any more portable without going down in screen size to a 13-inch laptop.

Speaking of which, its 14-inch screen is a good-looking, if not amazing, non-touch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 1920x1200p resolution. It does get up to 300 nits of brightness – I typically have the brightness up only halfway when I’m using it.

I appreciate the 180-degree hinge, but that’s mostly because I feel like I don’t have to be as gentle with the Acer Swift Air 14 when opening it. I could see its use, though, if you want to share your screen with someone sitting across from you. If you do that, the viewing angle is more than enough for both people to see at 170 degrees.

Moving on, the keyboard is pleasant to use if nothing spectacular. I used the Acer Swift Air 14 to write this review and didn’t feel fatigue from typing. At the same time, it’s a linear keyboard with a somewhat short travel.

The trackpad is fairly responsive and accurate, though I found it to be a little too sensitive at times when my thumb was a little too close to it and had trouble getting the cursor to cooperate.

The port selection is about as minimal as one would expect on a laptop like this. Along with a USB-A port and headphone jack are two USB-C ports. Unfortunately, they’re both on the left side, a design choice that I always dislike since I find myself regularly having to plug the computer in on the right side, sometimes from a distance too.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Performance

• Decent for day-to-day work
• Slows down if using multiple RAM-intensive tabs
• Sound quality is just okay

One of the downsides of a laptop built for a sub-$1,000 price tag is that either the design or performance (or both) suffer. The design on the Acer Swift Air 14 is pretty good... so it goes that the performance is what is throttled.

Now, Acer built this laptop to hit a price point, but the company also built it to an expectation. This is supposed to be an extremely portable laptop with long battery life for not much money.

With that in mind, Acer used the affordable Intel Core 5 320 six-core CPU with a speed of 1.5GHz and 20 TOPs (21 for the Core 7 350) and put only 8GB of RAM in the computer. At least the 512GB SSD storage is sufficient.

If you’re looking for a laptop to work on while in a cafe responding to emails in between social media side quests, then what the Acer Swift Air 14 does is more than enough. Even using the AI features like Acer PurifiedView and PurifiedVoice during video calls, both of which work well, or messing with CoPilot+ doesn’t tax this laptop.

But it’s not too hard to push the Acer Swift Air 14. When I’ve tabs open that require a lot of RAM and try to switch windows, I’ve experienced some freezing. And anything but the least demanding games are a jittery mess. I wouldn’t use this laptop for 4K video editing, either. A powerhouse this is not. Then again, it’s not meant to be.

As far as the sound quality goes, the Acer Swift Air 14 suffers from what ails just about all thin and light laptops. There’s just no room for any speakers capable of producing a full sound and it shows. There’s not much bass and the sound is on the thinner side. That said, it’s not harsh, so listening to music in the background while working is still pleasant.

• Performance score: 4 / 5

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Battery life

• Almost 17 hours of battery life
• Charges relatively quickly

The new benchmark for a good laptop battery life these days is anything over ten to twelve hours. So, the fact that the Acer Swift Air 14 can hit almost seventeen hours in our benchmark is remarkable. Note that this benchmark requires the laptop to run for that entire amount unplugged.

I’ve been using this laptop regularly for a little over a week and I don’t think I’ve seen it go below 50%. I have charged it a few times, mostly out of habit, but I have yet to be compelled to find an outlet. Plus, it does a good job of holding its charge when the lid is closed.

Acer advertises that the Swift Air 14 has fast charging, which might be true on certain settings, but I found it to charge at a still-good 1% a minute rate when set to a balanced performance mode.

• Battery Life score: 5 / 5

Should I buy the Acer Swift Air 14?

Buy it if…

Don't buy it if…

Acer Swift Air 14 review: Also Consider

If our Acer Swift Air 14 review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

How I tested the Acer Swift Air 14

• Tested for a week and a half
• Used it for work, gaming, and streaming
• Messed with its AI capabilities

I used the Acer Swift Air 14 for a week and a half. I used it for work, including typing up this review (along with the requisite online research). I used it to stream video. I even did some light gaming and attempted some semi-serious gaming. I played around with the AI as well.

After spending time with the Acer Swift Air 14, it’s clear that this is meant for those that want a portable and attractive laptop that’s nice to use on a limited budget.

I’ve spent the last few years reviewing tech gear for gaming and otherwise, where I’ve gotten a feel for what to look for and how to put a piece of kit through its paces to see whether it’s worth the recommendation.

• First reviewed: October 2026

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark: two-minute review

The Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is one of the new generation of laptops powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark chip. This all-in-one system-on-a-chip is packing 20 ARM CPU cores, 6144 CUDA GPU backed up by 64GB of RAM and promises to offer fantastic AI, creative and gaming performance in a lightweight, portable form factor. So how does this new SoC version of the Asus ProArt P16 laptop fare?

When powering up the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark for the first time, perhaps the first thing I noticed is its huge, vibrant 16-inch OLED screen. With a peak brightness of 1,100 nits and a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, it looked gorgeous whether I was loading up my digital artworks or watching movies. And its 120Hz VRR makes it perfect for playing games on.

That’s not the only part of the ProArt P16’s design that feels premium. Its overall build quality feels suitably luxe, with the smooth metal of its upper casing feeling wonderfully tactile. Inside, its keyboard is well designed and feels pleasant to type on, while its haptic trackpad is precise and gives snappy feedback, even if I did find it too easy to trigger the right click at first. I will say its lid has a little bit too much wobble for my liking though: if I’m honest, I’d expect a laptop at this price to have a slightly more stable hinge.

But let’s not just focus on the superficial here: the ProArt P16 RTX Spark has a lot going on under the surface. That’s predominantly thanks to that Nvidia SoC, which enables it to tackle a wider range of tasks than even many of the best laptops.

Perhaps the most attention grabbing feature is its AI capabilities. Designed for hybrid workflows, the RTX Spark makes it easy to use a combination of local and cloud models to run your AI agents. Testing it out with the Qwen 3 8B open-source local model, I certainly found it had pretty snappy performance for basic workflows, with a basic data analysis only taking about 12 minutes.

More involved tasks took much more refining and prompting over multiple sessions though — attempting to automate 3DMark benchmarks took many 75 minute runs before the completion time reduced significantly. Still, being able to run these workflows on such a lightweight, portable machine was pretty impressive

Another area the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark delivers potent performance is during creative tasks. Running multiple PugetBench benchmarks for automating Photoshop and Premier Pro workflows, the ProArt P16 was only a little behind Apple’s M5 chip when running image-based tasks and beat it when it came to video tasks. And this was borne out by my own testing: even my largest 4K 300dpi Photoshop file crammed full of clipping masks didn’t make it wince, with filters and generative fills executing smoothly. Even downscaling the whole image to 2K only took around five seconds, which isn’t bad for a nigh-on 2GB file.

Few SoCs to date have been designed with gaming performance in mind. But given Nvidia’s heritage in this space, it’s hardly surprising that the ProArt P16 RTX Spark is capable of some serious gaming power. While it’s not quite able to deliver at the same level as RTX 5080 and 5090 GPUs, I enjoyed a very smooth 60fps on Cyberpunk 2077 on Raytracing Medium settings, while Gears of War: E-day ran at more solid than bedrock at over 110fps. So this laptop can achieve some stunning results, even if the performance you’ll get isn’t 100% the top of the range.

Given it can handle all of these tasks on the go, you’d hope it has a pretty capacious battery to back up that powerful chip. And it’s relatively good news on this front. While it only managed 11 hours of continuous video playback during my testing, during productivity based work it lasted well over 14 hours. That’s nowhere near as long-lasting as the Methuselah-like MacBook Pro M5 Pro, which clocked over 21 hours in our testing, but it’s certainly enough to get you through a standard day’s work.

Honestly, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is pretty adept at everything it tries to do: it’s a talented all-rounder. The only caveat really is its price: like many of the RTX Spark laptops, it isn’t cheap. Starting from $4,399.99 / £3,899.99 / AU$7,999, it costs just as much as a high-end gaming laptop or a pro-level creative workhorse — so, honestly, if you care more about getting the best performance you can in a specific niche, you may be better off investing in one of those instead.

However, if you need a single bow that can handle every single one of your strings, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is a good shout. It’ll handle running your own AI agents, whipping up creative work and even gaming for your downtime, all in a single, portable package.

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark review: price & availability

Having launched on October 9, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is available now. Unlike its smaller sibling, it ships with the higher-end Nvidia RTX Spark N1X with 6144-core GPU and 20-core CPU.

As a result, it’s a pricey meatball: its list price starts from $4,399.99 / £3,899.99 / AU$7,999 for the spec with 64GB RAM, 3K screen and 1TB SSD. That increases to $6,999.99 / £5,999.99 / AU$10,999 if you want the version with 128GB RAM, a 4K screen and a 2TB SSD.

Even with its impressive specs, there’s no getting away from the fact that this is a premium-priced laptop. Both in terms of price and spec, the ProArt P16 RTX Spark is pretty similar to the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070, which will set you back $3,799.99 / £3,649 (around AU$5,410).

Alternatively, this kind of spend could net you the MacBook Pro M5 Pro 16-inch with 64GB for $2,999 / £3,999 / AU$6,299, which should give you a lot of performance and creative power but I wouldn’t expect to get quite as much gaming power for your buck.

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark review: Specs

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark review: design

• Gorgeous 3K OLED display
• Slim, sleek design
• Slightly flimsy hinge

Like all of the initial lineup RTX Spark laptops I’ve seen, the new Asus ProArt P16 is a sleek-looking unit. While its 16-inch span is pretty expansive, it’s still light in terms of weight, clocking in at 1.77 kg compared to my 16-inch MacBook Pro M4’s 2.14kg. It’s also got a pretty sleek silhouette — unlike some of the RTX Spark laptop models I’ve seen, it’s not concealing a much chonkier base with the help of gradually sloping bevels. And its nano black and neo white colorways feel suitably premium, although I marginally prefer the black version I tested here.

It’s not all about style though: the ProArt P16 RTX Spark has plenty of substance too. Manufactured from smooth metal, its external and internal surfaces feel wonderfully tactile, although I’d say the inner ones feel a tiny bit less sturdy than the solid bodywork of the outside. On top of this, there’s a tiny bit of wobble to its screen when you touch it — I’d expect a slightly firmer hinge on a premium laptop like this.

Speaking of that screen, I found Asus’s 3K touchscreen Lumina Pro OLED to be pretty impressive on the whole. Not only can my unit hit a peak brightness of 1,100 nits and a max 120Hz VRR but comparing it to my MacBook Pro M4’s Liquid Retina XDR display while watching Pixar’s Elemental was — sorry for this — pretty illuminating. While the latter can go slightly brighter at 1,600 nits peak, I didn’t find the difference all that pronounced. And the colors of the P16 RTX Spark’s OLED panel were noticeably more vibrant, with the reds, blues and greens of the fire, water and earth elements really popping.

To say laptop keyboards can be hit or miss might be the understatement of the century but, fortunately, the ProArt P16 RTX Spark’s keyboard falls more in the former category than the latter. Although the keys don’t have a huge amount of travel, I still found the typing experience to be pretty fluid. I rarely ever struggled to find my chosen key when touch typing — although I did occasionally knock both parts of the dual enter key, accidentally sticking random #s at the end of sentences. Still, it felt nice to use, whether I was prompting an AI agent or rapidly splatting demons in Doom: The Dark Ages.

For the most part, the P16 RTX Spark’s trackpad is also well designed. It’s very accurate, gives you a huge area for controlling your cursor and the haptic feedback is spot on, feeling exactly like a mechanical click. Really the only issue I found with it is the right click triggers far too far to the left, meaning I’d sometimes accidentally right click on certain elements. Still though, it’s a decent trackpad for the most part.

As you’d expect from a laptop this premium, the P16 RTX Spark comes with access to a wide range of connectivity options as well. On top of offering Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity, it rocks a pretty decent selection of ports for such a slim laptop. These include three USB-C and one standard USB port, an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an SD Express card reader. So even for most creative workflows, you should find you’re able to plug in plenty of devices to get things done.

• Design score: 4 / 5

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark review: performance

• Strong all-round performance
• Local AI workflows impressive but require some patience
• Specialist laptops can give better gaming or creative performance

I’ll be honest: by far the most exciting part about getting my hands on the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is that eponymous chip. Similar to Apple’s M-series silicon, Nvidia’s RTX Spark is the company’s first attempt at a full system-on-a-chip architecture. And given Nvidia’s involvement in both the AI and gaming spaces, it’s safe to say I was looking forward to putting the Nvidia Spark RTX through its paces.

Combining CPU, GPU and RAM all in one compact package, the version of the RTX Spark included with the Asus ProArt P16 I tested here rocks 20 ARM CPU cores backed up by 64GB of RAM. Meanwhile, on the graphics side, it wields 6144 CUDA GPU cores with 30GB integrated memory. In terms of raw hardware, it's less cooked and more meaty than steak tartare.

While this is the equivalent of using a steam hammer to obliterate a nut, general productivity tasks ran perfectly smoothly on the ProArt P16 RTX Spark. Whether I was browsing the web, tinkering with spreadsheets or leafing through huge PDFs, I never experienced any awkward hanging or slowdowns. Even on the odd occasion when I had to look something up online while the laptop worked on an AI task, there wasn’t any unpleasant gear-crunching, showing the ProArt P16 is plenty fast enough for general use.

But you’re unlikely to be buying an RTX Spark laptop just for doing a bit of Googling or filing your taxes. Instead, the most obvious use case for the RTX Spark chip in the ProArt P16 is its hybrid agentic AI functionality. Put simply, rather than being forced to choose between using cloud models that potentially jeopardize the security of your data and less powerful local models, this blended approach means you can pick and choose which parts of your workflow you’re going to outsource to the cloud and which you’ll keep under strict local control.

With its integrated fifth-generation Tensor cores, the RTX Spark should be perfectly placed to support this. To see how fast it could run some of these models locally, I used the MLPerf Client benchmarking tool to mimic data analyst and SWE agentic workflows using the Qwen 3 8B local model. And the results felt pretty rapid, with the pipelines completing after an average duration of 63.7 and 50.8 seconds and processing up to 14,005 and 10,238 tokens respectively.

But I wanted to see for myself what it could do. So I fired up Hermes, the open-source AI agent tool, and set it up to run the local open-source model Qwen3.8 27B to see what having my own personal AI version of Alfred could help me achieve.

Some of the basic tasks I threw its way, the RTX Spark practically scoffed at. When I asked Hermes to organize a spreadsheet full of web analytics for me and pull out actionable highlights, it whipped the file up into a pivot table and gave me six bullet points within about 12 minutes. Asking it to convert this info into a presentation with slides and prompts took a little longer at 23 minutes, but it helped highlight the best information to pitch — even if the slides themselves needed a considerable glow up before I’d ever call them up in a Zoom call.

In theory though, these hybrid agentic AI tools can go much further than this. Not only can you convert your prompts into skills or schedule them to run as daily tasks but you can even set them to target your apps and control your screen directly.

Some of my experiments paid off here: after one abortive run, I eventually managed to get Hermes to access my emails and create a daily digest in 70 minutes. But trying to automate some of my 3DMark benchmarking process ended up being a real rabbit hole — even with judicious prompts throughout the process and prompting Hermes to find ways to boost the skill’s efficiency, it took around eight runs to significantly improve its workflow. So it’s important to recognize that while some agentic pipelines may save you time in the long run, without utilizing some cloud models, training them may take a decent investment.

Agentic AI isn’t the only use you can put all of that processing power to though. While I’m not a massive fan of generative AI, I can definitely see how fast the RTX Spark is at whipping up new images and videos. Automating some imagery and video pipelines using ComfyUI, the laptop completed tests of Flux2.Dev - NVFP4 and Flux2.Klein 4B Base - NVFP4 models in just 46.5 and 16.2 seconds, while the LTX 2.5 - Distilled - NVFP4 video model took 88 seconds. Those are pretty swift run times for local generative models.

And if, like me, you prefer creating your own stuff from scratch, my testing showed the ProArt P16 RTX Spark can help here too. Using PugetBench to automate a range of creative workflows, I found Asus’s laptop was capable of some lightning fast processing.

Our standard Photoshop workflow completed in 10.83 minutes and achieved a score of 11,801 — that’s not far short of Apple’s M5 chip at 13,755. And the RTX Spark offered even speedier performance for video work, securing a score in our Premier Pro benchmark of 76,234 in 8.12 minutes, giving the M5 chip a bit of a drubbing at 69,887. Unfortunately, it can’t keep up with the similarly priced Apple MacBook Pro M5 Pro though, which managed to best it for both still imagery and video with scores of 15,204 and 105,580 respectively.

Naturally, I’m not just going to take these numbers on trust though, so I dug out one of my most demanding Photoshop files — a 4K, 300dpi PSD with dozens of clipping masks and adjustment layers — and checked how the ProArt P16 RTX Spark handled it.

Manipulating layers and applying filters caused scarcely any slowdown, in spite of the fact I’d tripled the number of layers in the file. Even downscaling the image to 2K — no small task given the total file size was now in excess of 2GB — only took around five seconds, which is pleasingly swift. And thanks to the optimization work that Adobe has been doing behind the scenes to allow its apps to take advantage of the RTX Spark’s AI capabilities, even generative fills and neural filters didn’t take long to generate.

When it comes to gaming performance, I’d say the ProArt P16 RTX Spark hovers somewhere between mid-range laptops with RTX 5060 and RTX 5070 GPUs. For example, when playing Cyberpunk 2077 on Raytracing Ultra settings at 1080p, I found the Asus hovered around 30.16fps — but, by contrast, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI with an RTX 5060 only reached a marginally smoother 34.47fps. Other games told a similar story. For example, Doom: The Dark Ages on Ultra settings sat at a pretty decent 48fps on the ProArt P16. In comparison, with its slightly beefier RTX 5070, the Samsung Galaxy Book 6 Ultra whipped the game like meringue into a much smoother 63.98fps.

But that’s running things on max settings. In practice, when actually playing games on more moderate settings, they ran plenty smoothly enough, especially those that are already well optimized for the RTX Spark. As I explored Dogtown in Cyberpunk 2077 at Raytracing Medium settings, it chugged along at a perfect stable 60fps. And playing Dogs of War: E-day on Ultra settings, I never saw it drop below 110fps, which shows what wonderfully smooth experiences you should still be able to expect from native gaming on the RTX Spark.

Honestly, I’d say that if you put the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark up against any similarly priced, specialist laptop focused on AI, creative workflows or gaming, you’ll likely find its performance can’t quite keep up. But that’s the point — RTX Spark laptops are a triple threat: they’re designed to be a swiss army knife that can handle every task you might throw at them. So if you want a lightweight laptop that combines the agentic AI hosting of a compact desktop, the creative power of the Apple M5 and the gaming oomph of the Nvidia Geforce RTX 5060, all in one handy package, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark should have your back.

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark review: battery test

• Battery should last 14 hours of standard use
• Some similar rivals can outlast it

Being able to achieve all of this on the go is impressive. But for that to be sustainable, it needs a battery that can keep up with these kinds of heavy duty tasks. Fortunately, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is capable of decent battery life, even if it’s not quite as exceptional as some of its rivals.

Running it through our standard battery tests, I played a 1080p video at 50% brightness and volume to see how long it took to drain the battery from 100% to 0%. The ProArt P16 RTX Spark ran out of juice after 11h 23m — that’s not at all bad but it’s also not quite at the level I’d expect for a premium laptop like this.

But a video test doesn’t necessarily give you the full picture. One of the big benefits of an SoC is through boosted efficiency during CPU usage, so I wanted to also run some tests that showed how the laptop fared in action. Running PCMark 10’s applications battery test — which runs various Microsoft Office based tasks until the battery is drained — the ProArt P16 lasted 14h 24m.

That’s definitely a better score, even if it falls a little ways short of some of the best laptops for Windows. For example, the Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra managed well over 15 hours in our benchmark tests and that wasn’t even the strongest contender. The MacBook Pro M5 Pro 16-inch clocked over 21 hours, which makes the ProArt P16’s look pretty short-lived in comparison.

Fortunately, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark does have one extra trick up its sleeve: its charging rate. Thanks to its 140W fast charging, topping your battery up again should be a relatively speedy affair. Sadly, my US unit didn’t come with a UK plug — slight oversight there — so I wasn’t able to test this as I would have liked. Still, my 65W charger topped it up relatively quickly, so you’ll definitely get pretty speedy charging out that 140W cable.

So I’d say that, all in all, the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark is capable of competitive battery life. When you’re doing standard office work, it’ll get you through a full day without you having to hunt out a charger. But it’s still not quite able to keep pace with the most enduring batteries on the market and particularly intensive tasks like AI or gaming are going to drain it much faster.

• Battery score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark review: also consider

How I tested the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark

• Tested over the course of several weeks
• Ran a huge number of benchmarks for different workflows
• Conducted experiential AI, gaming and creative testing

Testing the Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark over the course of several weeks, I ran a wide range of benchmarks. Not only did I run a variety of baseline hardware tests using Geekbench 7.1 and Cinebench R23, but I tested performance across a wide range of tasks as well. I used MLPerf Client to test agentic workflows, ComfyUI to simulate generative workflows, PugetBench to automate creative tasks and 3DMark and gaming benchmarks to test in-game GPU performance.

On top of this, I did a wide range of experiential testing. Not only did I use the laptop for plenty of daily and productivity-based work but I also extensively tested agentic AI workflows using Hermes and the local open-source model Qwen3.8 27B. I also tried carrying out creative work using large, hi-resolution Photoshop files and played a range of games including Cyberpunk 2077, Gears of War: E-day and Planet Zoo 2.

As TechRadar’s reviews editor, I have plenty of experience covering laptops. As well as editing scores of laptop reviews over the last few years, I’ve reviewed multiple gaming handhelds and have used a huge variety of laptops over the years, both Windows and MacOS.

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

It's been an excellent year for tech releases, with the arrival of everything from new TV panel developments, to groundbreaking drones, to awesome spatial audio speakers, to a new breed of AI-connected screenless fitness wearable.

It's also been a really difficult year in tech, though, due to the component crisis and rising prices across nearly all products. In the middle of that tension, it only makes sense for us to find out which companies navigated the challenges best by asking the community of tech lovers out there — and so here are the first TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards.

The results are in, so below we've listed the TechRadar Readers' Choice Awards 2026 winners winners in every category, all 100% voted by you!

Phones & tablets

Phone of the Year

Phone Brand of the Year

Phones Innovation of the Year

Best Value Phone

Best Mid-Range Phone

Best Folding Phone

Best Flip Phone

Best Camera Phone

Best Gaming Phone

Best AI Phone

Best Phone Accessory

Best Tablet

Best eReader

Cameras & drones

Camera of the Year

Camera Brand of the Year

Camera Innovation of the Year

Best Beginner Camera

Best Mid-range camera

Best Professional Camera

Best Compact and Instant Camera

Best Action and Vlogging Camera

Best Camera Lens

Best camera accessory

Best drone

Computing

Computing Brand of the Year

Best Computing Innovation

Best Value Laptop

Best AI Laptop

Best Gaming Laptop

Best PC Gaming Handheld

Best Gaming Keyboard

Best Gaming Monitor

Best Gaming Mouse

Gaming

Gaming Device of the Year

Gaming Brand of the Year

Gaming Innovation of the Year

Best Console Accessory

Best Gaming Service

Best Gaming Controller

Best Gaming Headset

Best Gaming Chair

TV & home theater

TV of the year

Home Entertainment Brand of the Year

Home Entertainment Innovation of the Year

Best Gaming TV

Best TV for Sound

Best OLED TV

Best mini-LED TV

Best Value TV

Best Projector

Best Soundbar

Best Wireless Home Theater Speakers

Streaming

Streaming Service of the Year

Best Streaming Service for Movies

Best Streaming Service for Documentaries

Best Streaming Service for TV Series

Best Free Streaming Service of the Year

Audio

Headphones of the Year

Audio Brand of the Year

Audio Innovation of the Year

Best Wireless Headphones

Best Wireless Earbuds

Best Open Earbuds

Best Value Headphones

Best Value Earbuds

Best Value Open Earbuds

Best Wired Headphones

Best Wired Earbuds

Best Bluetooth Speaker

Best Wireless Speaker

Best Portable Audio Player

Best Turntable

Best DAC

Best Stereo Speakers

Health & Fitness tech

Health and Fitness Device of the Year

Health & Fitness Brand of the Year

Health and Fitness Innovation of the Year

Best Smartwatch

Best Running Watch

Best Fitness Tracker

Best Smart Ring

Best Electric Toothbrush

Best Connected Fitness Tech

Home tech

Home Device of the Year

Home Tech Brand of the Year

Home Tech Innovation of the Year

Best Home Light Tech

Best Home Security Device

Best Robot Vacuum

Best Vacuum

Best Air Fryer

Best Coffee Machine

Best Value Coffee Machine

Best Fan

For recent generations of students, Chromebooks are ubiquitous: Google's handy, budget-friendly laptops have become classroom fixtures across the US and beyond, handling everything from homework to essays and assignments.

But many of those students are now heading to university or entering the workforce, where choosing a laptop for themselves is a different prospect altogether – something Apple is making a play for with the MacBook Neo.

Google isn't sitting idly by, though, and the recent launch of its Googlebooks is a big statement of intent.

Far from being the inexpensive Chromebooks familiar in schools, Googlebooks like the Acer Googlebook 14 are premium laptops running a new Android-based OS, with deep smartphone integration and the company's Gemini AI.

After years of gaining a deep familiarity with Chromebooks and ChromeOS, these students might be tempted to stick with Google's ecosystem as they grow older and their computing needs change.

But is familiarity enough? Apple's MacBook Neo and a wide range of cheaper Windows laptops also offer compelling alternatives, and both platforms are already deeply entrenched in work and everyday life.

School of Chrome

Google launched its Chromebook project back in 2011, initially as a general-purpose laptop, but its success really came in the education sector – long dominated by Windows – where inexpensive hardware, straightforward device management, and Google's classroom tools won out.

Michael Boreham, principal analyst at Futuresource, told TechRadar that Chromebooks accounted for just 16% of US K–12 mobile PC sales in 2013, rising to 50% by the end of 2015.

Since 2020, Chromebooks have accounted for between 61% and 67% of annual US K–12 mobile PC shipments, a remarkable level of dominance.

The success of Chromebooks has led to millions of students spending their formative years using Google's OS and apps, with services like Google Docs and Drive also available across Windows and macOS.

But those laptops were generally chosen by schools, rather than their students.

"As students transition from school-issued devices to choosing their own laptops, preferences typically shift away from the devices provided by their institution and towards products that align with personal needs and lifestyles," says Boreham.

Old habits, new laptops

Carolina Milanesi, president and principal analyst at The Heart of Tech, draws an important distinction between students becoming familiar with Google's software and actively wanting to buy its hardware.

"What a decade of Chromebooks built is familiarity with Google's tools: Docs, Drive, Classroom, Gmail," she says. "Those tools run in a browser on any laptop, so that familiarity travels with the student wherever they go, including to a Mac."

"For most students the Chromebook was a device the school assigned, often low-cost and locked down, and the association is with schoolwork more than with a laptop they chose," Milanesi adds.

Futuresource's Student Journey research, which surveyed students in the US and UK, found that durability, value for money, storage, and battery life were among the main factors influencing their purchases.

"The lure of Apple is strong for university students given Apple’s unique position as a lifestyle brand and the power of its joined up ecosystem with the seamless integration between iPhone, iPads and MacBooks," says Boreham.

When choosing a brand, students also considered compatibility with their existing devices, brand reputation, and previous experience. Most university students surveyed also reported paying for their devices themselves or using university loans and grants, making value for money especially important.

That presents an obvious challenge for Googlebooks: price. The laptops start at £999 in the UK, compared to £599 for the MacBook Neo – or just £499 with Apple's education discount – and many of the best student laptops are also considerably more affordable.

These are different machines, for sure, but a price gap of up to £500 is hard to ignore when value for money is such an important factor.

Milanesi isn't convinced it'll be an easy sell: "It will be difficult. Younger buyers have a $499 to $599 MacBook on one side and Windows laptops at every price point on the other, and a new platform asking for a premium carries more risk for the buyer."

Then there's the software. Familiarity with Chrome is all well and good, but university students may need specialist applications that their school Chromebooks never had to handle.

"If Googlebooks can replicate or better the performance of a MacBook or Windows notebook and have access to key applications, like, for example, Adobe’s Photo Editing suite, then it may capture share of the student user base as they move beyond high school," says Boreham.

For Milanesi, Google's enormous user base will only get it so far. "Googlebook has to turn that comfort into a purchase, which means making the Google laptop the aspirational choice rather than the default one," she says.

The Android in the room

Google's biggest advantage might be sitting in its potential customers' pockets: their Android phones.

"The Android phone base is the bigger opportunity," says Milanesi. "People choose personal laptops based on the phone in their pocket far more than on the computer they used in class, and Apple has spent years proving how much phone-to-laptop continuity drives Mac sales."

Features like Cast My Apps let users access their phone's apps on a Googlebook, while the Files app can bring photos and documents from an Android phone onto the laptop. It's the kind of connected experience Apple users have enjoyed for years, and an important part of Google's pitch against Windows.

"Against Apple, Google is offering parity more than an edge," says Milanesi.

While these ambitions might sound good on paper, the experience isn't quite seamless yet. When we put the Acer Googlebook 14 through its paces, the hardware and AI integration impressed, but connecting an Android phone proved more complicated than expected.

Milanesi points to another limitation: "Full phone integration requires Android 17, which shrinks the addressable base at launch given how slowly Android updates roll out."

Every Googlebook already includes a year's subscription to Google AI Pro, but Milanesi believes student discounts and more competitive bundles could help bring the overall price closer to Apple's MacBook Neo. Cheaper models further down the line might also help Google reach a wider audience.

Gemini could be another way for Google to stand out, although Milanesi thinks its importance hasn't been obvious enough at launch. "I wish Gemini stood out more as a driver of the overall experience," she says.

Googlebooks, then, could well benefit from the Chromebook generation, but their immediate success is likely to depend more on the smartphones those students carry than their school laptops.

Amazon has just offered up a rare discount on the MacBook Neo, which brings the budget Apple laptop down to the best price I've seen since June. Stock is very limited, but there's still time to grab the MacBook Neo at Amazon for £609.97 (was £699).

Unfortunately, that's still around £50 more than the previous record-low price, but the chances of seeing a discount like that again are very slim, given the MacBook Neo received a fairly hefty price hike earlier this year. Still, at around £600, the Neo is an excellent value buy for home use, college, and university, if you want a reasonably powerful entry-level MacBook at a more budget-friendly price.

At this sort of price, it puts it more comfortably in direct competition with the likes of the Dell XPS 13 and several more modern Snapdragon-powered machines, which offer a similar level of power, performance, and battery life. It also means you no longer need to pay quite such a premium to get on the Apple ecosystem, if that's your preference for a laptop.

Amazon's rare MacBook Neo deal

Our MacBook Neo review was full of praise for Apple's newest device, calling it "the best budget laptop you can buy". It's a tougher recommendation following the price hike, but discounts like this bring it back down into that mid-to-entry-level price range that we find it excels in.

Yes, with specs that include an A18 Pro chip, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, you aren't getting the raw power you'd find in the Air or Pro. However, the Neo isn't designed for the advanced creative and productivity workloads that the more expensive MacBooks excel at. Instead, it's a smart buy for general use, or for students to take to college and university who prefer the Apple ecosystem.

If the rumors are true, next week could mark the introduction of the first-ever touchscreen MacBooks. That's a Mac laptop with a touchscreen. People will probably embrace them and, no, I don't think their arms will fall off.

Steve Jobs famously hated the concept of a touchscreen MacBook. During an October 2010 product launch, he famously dismantled the notion:

"You know, the first thing you think about is this [he gestured toward the image of someone reading out to touch a MacBook screen]. Right, we thought about this years ago. We've done tons of user testing on this, and it turns out it doesn't work. Touch surfaces don't want to be vertical. It gives a great demo, but after a short period of time you start to fatigue, and after an extended period of time your arm wants to fall off; it doesn't work. It's ergonomically terrible. Touch surfaces want to be horizontal, hence touchpads for a notebook. That's why we've perfected our multi-touch trackpads over the years."

In short:

• It doesn't work
• Touch demands horizontal screens
• Your arm gets tired
• Your arm falls off

Jobs' comments came just 10 months after he unveiled the original iPad, which did have a sort of oddball keyboard accessory that put your hands way too close to the display, and two years before Microsoft introduced its first Surface Pro computers, which were basically tablets with kickstands and detachable keyboards.

Still, Jobs drew a line in the sand, and for more than a decade, Apple toed that line. Even when Apple seemed to split the difference with the Touch Bar on the 2016 MacBook Pro, Apple executives insisted a touchscreen was not the right move for Apple's popular line of MacBooks.

As former Global Head of Marketing Phil Schiller told Steve Levy back then,

"Our instincts were that it didn’t [make sense to do a touchscreen], but, what the heck, we could be wrong—so our teams worked on that for a number of times over the years. We’ve absolutely come away with the belief that it isn’t the right thing to do. Our instincts were correct.”

But unless the rumor mill is very, very wrong, Apple is set to prove Jobs and the rest of the old guard wrong and introduce its first touch-screen MacBook Pro next week in Los Angeles.

It will be, perhaps, a recognition that all those Windows OEMs who build 2-in-1 convertibles where the screen can fold all the way onto the bottom of the laptop or even detach to become a stand-alone tablet aren't wrong. There is a market for touchscreen computers.

What would Steve say?

What, though, would Steve Jobs make of this? The iconoclastic tech maverick, who died in 2011, would surely be appalled. Apple devotees might claim, "This never would've happened on his watch." Maybe they'll unfairly blame new CEO John Ternus, an actual engineer and 25-year company veteran who must've had a hand in the development of the new, alleged, touchscreen MacBook Pro. Surely Ternus was somehow involved over what was likely a 2-to-5-year development process, but the credit or blame should lie with now Executive Chairman Tim Cook, who probably greenlit the project.

If Steve Jobs were alive today, what might he say to Cook and Ternus about this? "Well, you better sell a line of arm sling accessories for all those aching muscles!"

No. In fact, I'm certain Steve Jobs would applaud the innovation. You see, Jobs was often adamant about something until he was not. He would insist Apple had no interest in making a phone, until the company delivered the iPhone.

There was a thing called the Steve Jobs "reality distortion field" for a reason. Steve Jobs didn't think an App Store and third-party apps were needed (or at least he claimed as much) before the App Store was unveiled. Video on the iPod was a bad idea until there was the technology to support it. Then it was a great one.

Steve Jobs believed in changing his mind. In an interview Jobs gave to Playboy as he turned 30, he said, "If you want to live your life in a creative way, as an artist, you have to not look back too much. You have to be willing to take whatever you’ve done and whoever you were and throw them away."

Jobs was more a marketer than engineer and, perhaps, more artist than tactician. In order for him to change his mind, the technology had to inspire him, or in order for him to be satisfied, he'd change the technology and specs (see the last-minute swap of the original iPhone's plastic screen cover to glass) until he was satisfied.

Sure, Jobs could say one thing on stage, and the company leadership would parrot it for years until, like Jobs, the innovation met the moment. And then, as Jobs was wont to do, change their minds.

So, if we do see our first touchscreen MacBook Pro next week, don't shed tears for Steve Jobs' discarded design principles. I'm sure he would say that this is as it should be and that a touchscreen MacBook Pro is, in fact, "magical."

At a glance: Acer Googlebook 14

Acer Googlebook 14 scorecard

How the Acer Googlebook 14 scored in our review

Value

4

Design

4

Performance

3.5

Battery life

3

Overall

4

Group 1 Data

Product	Value ()	Design ()	Performance ()	Battery life ()	Overall ()
Acer Googlebook 14	4	4	3.5	3	4

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Value for money

Starting at $899 / £999 (around AU$1,300), the Acer Googlebook 14 is the most affordable Googlebook in the initial lineup, with the Dell XPS Googlebook ($999 / $1,099 / $2,399) next. It’s around $200 / £200 cheaper than the HP Googlebook 14 and Asus Googlebook 14, the two most expensive Googlebooks.

The fact that the Acer Googlebook 14 is a 2-in-1 device, whereas the more expensive Googlebooks are simply traditional laptops, makes it, in my view, an even better value. The Acer Googlebook 14, as with all other Googlebooks, gives you 12 months of Google AI Pro (worth $249.99 / £220 / around AU$480), plus three months of YouTube Premium and a year of GeForce Now game streaming.

In the UK, Acer is also offering, for ‘a limited launch window’, an Acer Mega-Hardware Pack worth £144.96 which includes a compact 100W fast charger, 5-in-1 USB-C hub, Acer wireless mouse, three-year warranty — and it’ll plant 10 trees in the buyer’s name — a nice nod to Acer’s admirable focus on sustainability. This deal was supposed to end on October 19, 2026, but I have been informed by Acer that it’s been extended until the end of November.

This helps make the Acer Googlebook 14 an even better value, and I’ve asked Acer if similar bundles are being offered in the US, and will update this review when I hear back (the Acer Googlebook 14 isn’t currently on sale in Australia, which is a shame).

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Design

• Only 2-in-1 Googlebook (so far)
• Sleek, premium design
• Lovely screen

When Google announced the first batch of Googlebooks, the company made it clear that these are premium laptops with designs to match. So, don’t think of the likes of the Acer Googlebook 14 as replacements for cheap and cheerful Chromebooks, but instead rivals to the MacBook Air, as well as Windows 11-powered ultrabooks.

That’ll be a disappointment to anyone who was hoping Googlebooks would be more affordable — perhaps rivalling the MacBook Neo when it comes to value for money. However, the Acer Googlebook 14 does look and feel like an expensive laptop, which goes some way to justifying the price.

With dimensions of 12.28 x 8.78 x 0.55 inches (312 x 222.9 x 13.9 mm), it’s slightly chunkier than the MacBook Air 13-inch (M5), though it comes with a slightly larger screen. It’s noticeably lighter than Apple’s laptop, weighing 2.51 lbs (1.14 kg), compared to the MacBook Air’s 2.7 lbs (1.24 kg).

1

2

3

Finger print scanner

The power button includes a finger print scanner for biometric login.

360-degree hinges

The hinges allow the screen of the Acer Googlebook 14 to flip back, turning it into a tablet-like device.

Keyboard

The keys are large and comfortable to type on.

Side view of the Acer Googlebook 14

Explore

It’s the second lightest Googlebook, only beaten by the Asus Googlebook 14, which weighs in at just 2.2 lbs (1 kg). The body of the laptop uses a magnesium-aluminium alloy, which feels robust without being too heavy, so while the Acer Googlebook 14 feels thin and light, it also feels durable. You certainly wouldn’t feel worried about damaging it when taking it out and about with you.

While it’s not the lightest laptop I’ve ever tested, it feels comfortable to hold in one hand, and shouldn’t hurt your back if you’re carrying it around. The thin design does come with some drawbacks, namely with the port selection — you just get three USB-C ports and an audio jack. One of the USB-C ports is Thunderbolt 4, while the other two are slower USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports, so that means you’ll want to pay attention to which port you plug things into, especially if transfer speeds are particularly important.

To Acer’s credit, three USB-C ports are an improvement on the two ports a lot of similarly-priced thin and light laptops offer (such as the aforementioned MacBook Air, though both those USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4). If you need to charge the Acer Googlebook 14, however, one of those USB-C ports will need to be sacrificed.

The screen is a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with a sharp resolution of 2880 x 1800 and an aspect ratio of 16:10 (so it’s a little taller than standard widescreen displays). It looks fantastic, and really helps give the Acer Googlebook 14 a premium feel. As a touchscreen, it’s nice and responsive, and it also means that when using Android apps (which you can install directly onto the Acer Googlebook 14) designed to be used with a touchscreen, they work really well. The bezels on either side of the screen are nice and thin, which gives the Acer Googlebook 14 a modern feel, while also maximizing screen size without making the laptop too bulky.

At the top of the screen is a 5MP webcam with a physical privacy shutter that you can slide to turn off the camera, which is a reassuring feature. The keyboard feels nice and responsive, with a decent travel for each key when pressed. The keys are well spaced, so when typing quickly you can still accurately hit the keys you want. They are also backlit, so using the Acer Googlebook 14 in darker environments isn’t an issue.

There’s also a biometric fingerprint scanner included in the top-right corner of the keyboard for logging in quickly and securely. It works well, though it doesn’t feel quite as quick as the Touch ID button on modern MacBooks.

The Acer Googlebook 14 features a large glass touchpad that takes up around a third of the space below the keyboard, and it responds well to gestures.

On the back of the laptop lid is an understated Acer logo, along with the ‘Glowbar’, which is a thin horizontal line that lights up and changes color depending on what you’re using the Googlebook for. The Glowbar appears on all Googlebooks, though its placement on the lid varies (on the Acer Googlebook 14, it’s located in the corner opposite Acer’s logo).

When you plug in the Googlebook, the bar can display the battery level, and it flashes different colors when using the built-in Gemini AI helper. It adds a bit of interesting color to what would otherwise be a rather plain dark rectangle, and while I like the idea of the Glowbar showing the battery level when it charges, it only does so briefly. Also, when using the Acer Googlebook 14, the screen will be open, which means the Glowbar is facing away from the user, so I’m not quite convinced how useful this feature will be (this is an issue with all Googlebooks, not just Acer’s).

What really makes the Acer Googlebook 14 stand apart from the other Googlebooks it launched alongside is that it’s the only one that has a 2-in-1 form factor. Not only can it be used as a traditional laptop, but the screen can be folded back, turning it into a tablet-like device. Because Googlebook OS can run Android apps, both natively and streamed from your Android smartphone, this could be a big selling point for the Acer Googlebook 14. Thanks to the thin design, the Acer Googlebook 14 doesn’t feel too chunky when used in tablet mode, though it’s thicker and heavier than a regular Android tablet.

Android apps I tried on the Acer Googlebook 14 looked fantastic thanks to the OLED screen, with Netflix and Instagram adjusting themselves quickly depending on if I was holding the screen vertically or horizontally. Google Chrome, the default web browser, also worked well, and holding the Acer Googlebook 14 vertically meant I could read webpages with a lot less scrolling.

There is a slightly strange issue, however. While all the apps I tried did indeed change their orientation depending on how I held the Acer Googlebook 14, the desktop screen didn’t change — it stayed in its landscape orientation, and that meant launching apps either from the desktop or the App Drawer (essentially, Googlebook OS’ answer to Windows’ Start menu, and will be familiar to most Android users) was rather clunky — you either had to rotate the Acer Googlebook 14 back into landscape mode to comfortably launch an app, or just try to launch it with the user interface at the wrong angle.

It's a weird omission — Windows 11 has no issue with rotating its entire interface when you rotate the screen it’s on, and I had been expecting Googlebook OS to do the same. I mentioned this to Acer, and it shared the following:

"Acer Googlebook 14 is the first convertible device to run the new Googlebook OS. For the initial launch, Google has chosen to lock the app tray/taskbar in landscape orientation, as its usage data for convertible devices indicates that landscape is the most commonly used orientation. For additional information and support, please refer to the Google Help Center”

This is a bit of an odd decision by Google — sure, there’s only one 2-in-1 Googlebook at the moment, but that’s still 25% of the currently available Googlebook market. Hopefully this changes soon, as it does make the Acer Googlebook 14’s major selling point less enticing. If I were Acer, I wouldn’t be too thrilled about that.

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Specs

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Performance

• Feels fast
• Screen looks great
• Googlebook OS needs work

Google has been keen to highlight that Googlebooks, like the Acer Googlebook 14, are not simply fancy Chromebooks, but an entirely new product category, and I have to say, from my initial impressions, the Acer Googlebook 14 and its fellow Googlebooks are certainly ambitious. The hardware is excellent, and the model Acer sent me to review features a cutting-edge Intel Core Ultra 5 325 processor and 16GB of LPDDR5X memory, plus a 512GB SSD.

That’s the kind of spec that would do well in a Windows 11 laptop, and Googlebook OS is supposed to be far more lightweight (being partially built on Android), so performance should be even better.

It certainly feels fast and responsive when opening apps and browsing the internet. Finding and installing apps via the Play Store is quick and easy, and familiar to anyone who’s used an Android device. Apps and games that have interfaces designed for desktop use (rather than simply being the Android mobile app in a window) have been tagged, so you should know if an app will work particularly well with the Acer Googlebook 14, which is a nice touch.

Benchmarks

How the Acer Googlebook 14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests

< Prev

Crossmark

Next >

Crossmark: Overall

3647

Crossmark: Productivity

4406

Crossmark: Creativity

1788

Crossmark: Responsiveness

15038

05,00010,00015,00020,000

Score

Crossmark Data

Product	Crossmark: Overall (Score)	Crossmark: Productivity (Score)	Crossmark: Creativity (Score)	Crossmark: Responsiveness (Score)
Acer Googlebook 14	3647	4406	1788	15038

Geekbench 6.7 (Single-core)

2465

Geekbench 6.7 (Multi-core)

9960

Geekbench 7.0 (Single-core)

2427

Geekbench 7.0 (Multi-core)

11416

03,7507,50011,25015,000

Score

Geekbench Data

Product	Geekbench 6.7 (Single-core) (Score)	Geekbench 6.7 (Multi-core) (Score)	Geekbench 7.0 (Single-core) (Score)	Geekbench 7.0 (Multi-core) (Score)
Acer Googlebook 14	2465	9960	2427	11416

Geekbench AI 1.7: TenssorFlow Lite / CPU (Single Precision Score)

1801

Geekbench AI 1.7: TenssorFlow Lite / CPU (Half Precision Score)

1847

Geekbench AI 1.7: TenssorFlow Lite / CPU (Quantized Score)

2332

07501,5002,2503,000

Score

Geekbench AI Data

Product	Geekbench AI 1.7: TenssorFlow Lite / CPU (Single Precision Score) (Score)	Geekbench AI 1.7: TenssorFlow Lite / CPU (Half Precision Score) (Score)	Geekbench AI 1.7: TenssorFlow Lite / CPU (Quantized Score) (Score)
Acer Googlebook 14	1801	1847	2332

Jetstream 2

444

WebXPRT 4

328

0150300450600

Score

Web browsing Data

Product	Jetstream 2 (Score)	WebXPRT 4 (Score)
Acer Googlebook 14	444	328

3DMark: Wild Life Extreme

4068

3DMark: Solar Bay

9071

3DMark: Steel Nomad Light

1780

02,5005,0007,50010,000

Score

3DMark Data

Product	3DMark: Wild Life Extreme (Score)	3DMark: Solar Bay (Score)	3DMark: Steel Nomad Light (Score)
Acer Googlebook 14	4068	9071	1780

1 of 5

That said, when I launched Monument Valley, a popular Android game that supposedly has been updated to work well on Googlebooks, I first had to map touch controls to the keyboard in a rather clunky and confusing manner (and as far as I know, all Googlebooks will come with touchscreens).

Skipping through the mapping process took me to the game, and I found using the touchpad and mouse cursor to interact with the game worked absolutely fine, so I’m not too sure what the point of the confusing mapping process is. Also, despite being labelled as being designed for desktop use, the game initially launched in a window in portrait orientation — so essentially, just showing the Android app. Even maximizing the app window didn’t make it go full screen.

I then tried the Acer Googlebook 14 in tablet mode (thinking that would be ideal for a mobile game), but for some reason, the auto-rotate function didn’t work, even when I toggled it on and off. Then, all of a sudden, it did work, though it asked me to restart the app ‘so that it looks better on your screen’. I did (luckily not losing any progress), and the Acer Googlebook 14 acted as it should. However, the game didn’t take up the entire screen, even in fullscreen mode — instead, it had the (admittedly larger) app in the middle of the screen, then large black borders around the edges. Restarting the app again did give me the full-screen experience, but this is far from a slick and premium experience.

Now, I want to be clear that these issues are related to the software, so it’s not really Acer’s fault. Googlebook OS is clearly still in its early days, and while I didn’t experience any major crashes, there’s still a lot of work to be done by Google, and unfortunately it means that the main selling point of the Acer Googlebook 14 — its 2-in-1 design — isn’t as impressive as it should be.

This also extends to some of the more interesting promises of Googlebook OS. The operating system is designed to be familiar for Android users, and aims to give a similarly slick experience that iPhone users get when using a Mac, such as screen mirroring, seamless switching between devices, and seeing messages your phone receives on your laptop’s display.

When Google launched the Googlebooks a month or so ago, I was shown how the apps on a connected Android phone could be opened on a Googlebook without any installation. Another demo showed someone using an app on their phone, then quickly switching to their Googlebook to continue using the same app where they left off. It was impressive, and something that, as an Android user, I’d been wanting for years. Only Samsung came close, and even that was a bit clunky (and you needed to have a Samsung phone and Samsung laptop).

So, I was disappointed when I just could not get the Acer Googlebook 14 to show the apps on my Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Instead, I was given a QR code to scan, which opened up the ‘Cross-device services’ settings on my smartphone. These were already enabled, and it wasn’t clear what I needed to do. Again, it was far from the slick experience I (and other Android users) had been promised.

After speaking to Acer, I was pointed to a Google support page which announced that Googlebook OS support for Samsung phones has now begun to roll out, and that phones need to run Android 17 (and in the case of Samsung smartphones, also run One UI 9.0). My phone was actually on a slightly older version, but the One UI 9.0 update was waiting to be installed, which I did. I was then prompted (after scanning the QR once again) to update Cross-Device Services. Progress!

It took a while, but I was then able to see my phone’s apps on the Acer Googlebook 14. Clicking on an app brought it up on the screen with a desktop-like interface, though it took a few seconds. This is because the Acer Googlebook 14 is streaming the app wirelessly from your phone, so there’s a little delay, but then you get the app in the exact state you left it on your phone.

With the phone properly connected, you can also view its files within the file explorer app on the Acer Googlebook 14, as well as files saved on the Googlebook’s internal drive, and any Google Drive accounts you have as well. This is another nice bit of interaction between Googlebook OS and your Android device, though again there’s a bit of a delay as the Googlebook streams files from your phone.

Having your Google Drive folders within the file explorer (called ‘Files’) app is another nice touch — as long as you use Google Drive. As an Android user, there’s a good chance that you do use Google Drive, especially as new owners of Googlebooks get a year’s subscription to Google AI Pro for free, which includes 5TB of storage. I actually mainly use OneDrive, and I was pleased to see that once I had logged into the OneDrive app on the Acer Googlebook 14, the files I store on Microsoft’s rival cloud storage service also appeared within the Files app.

So, the Googlebook OS and Android ecosystem feels like it needs tightening up a bit, as this is still early days, but there’s a lot of potential here, and if Google can nail it, it will make Googlebooks like the Acer Googlebook 14 very attractive to people who use Android smartphones.

On-device AI is a big selling point of Googlebooks, and with the included Google AI Pro subscription, you get access to Gemini Argon, Google’s latest AI model. I had a play around with it on the Acer Googlebook 14, asking it to help me code a complex musical plugin for Ableton Live 11, and it was quick and helpful, explaining its process and offering suggestions and advice. Even with Google AI Pro, I did use up my current allowance in around 10 minutes. At least it resets every five hours.

The ’Magic Cursor’ feature is another key selling point (according to Google) of the Googlebook OS. Once you’ve turned it on, you can shake the mouse cursor, and Gemini can view what’s on your screen. You can highlight parts of the screen and ask Gemini questions about it. I tried it while I had a photo open, and it offered to generate digital art based on the photo, or come up with gift ideas for the people pictured.

It is similar to the ‘Click to Do’ feature of Windows 11, but that takes a screenshot of your screen, then offers limited ways to interact with it. The Magic Cursor feature feels much more flexible, as you’re interacting with live elements of the screen, and highlights the benefits of Googlebook OS being built from the ground up to support AI, rather than having AI awkwardly pasted onto an existing operating system, as with Windows 11.

Overall, the day-to-day performance of the Acer Googlebook 14 was very good, though the early nature of Googlebook OS means some features aren’t quite as slick as I’d have hoped.

Acer Googlebook 14 review: Battery Life

Battery life results

How long does the battery last?

Versus Comparison Data

Attribute	Acer Googlebook 14	Samsung Galaxy Book6 Pro	Dell XPS 14 (2026)	Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra
Battery life video test	11.2	14.866666666666667	12.316666666666666	15.183333333333334

Acer Googlebook 14Samsung Galaxy Book6 ProDell XPS 14 (2026)Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

VS

Acer Googlebook 14Samsung Galaxy Book6 ProDell XPS 14 (2026)Samsung Galaxy Book6 Ultra

Battery life video test (hours, mins)

11:12

14:52+33%

Our battery life benchmark involves playing a looped 1080p video at 50% brightness until the laptop turns off.

Because Googlebook OS has been designed as a lightweight operating system, similar to Chrome OS, I was expecting very good results from the Acer Googlebook 14’s battery.

Acer suggests that it will last up to 14 hours for local video playback and up to 16 hours of web browsing. In our battery benchmark tests, which replicated moderate web browsing activity, the Acer Googlebook 14 in fact lasted for just under 10 and a half hours. In our video playback benchmarks, which loops a 1080p video, the Acer Googlebook 14 lasted 11 hours and 12 minutes.

This is below what Acer claims, but it’s not bad — expect the Acer Googlebook 14 to last well over a single work or school day on battery, and with some tweaks you should be able to get a few more hours out of the battery.

Should I buy the Acer Googlebook 14?

Also consider

How I tested the Acer Googlebook 14

• Used as main work laptop for several weeks
• Travelled with it
• Connected it up to my Android smartphone

I used the Acer Googlebook 14 for several weeks, for all manner of tasks, including writing some of this review on it. During that time, I also connected my Android smartphone to it to make full use of the ecosystem. I ran a variety of apps and games on the Acer Googlebook 14 during my time testing it.

I also attended Google’s launch event in London, as well as Acer’s own event, for deep dives into the technology and features. I’ve been reviewing laptops, including Chromebooks, for nearly 20 years, and have used that experience to inform my review.

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

I've finished my weekly search across the web for all of the best laptop deals available right now, and I've whittled it down to 12 top picks in the US and the UK.

Whether you want a super-cheap option, a great value budget machine, or a performance powerhouse, there should be an ideal laptop for you right here — with several choices that would work well for work, school, college, or home use.

If I had to pick one, then this Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x at Best Buy for $549.99 (was $849.99) is my top recommendation in the US. It's a powerful and modern machine with a super-efficient Snapdragon CPU that ensures great performance and exceptional battery life.

For the UK, I'd go with this Lenovo IdeaPad Chromebook at Argos for £269 (was £399). It's definitely a more entry-level choice, but it offers a surprising amount of power for the price, including 8GB of RAM, so it can more comfortably handle everyday jobs and light work.

Those are just two of the best laptop deals I've found this week that I think are worth the cash. Have a browse through all of my top picks below for more.

US laptop deals

UK laptop deals

• Apple tells us it will 'Pro and Tell' on October 28
• The touchscreen MacBook Pro, an iMac with M6, and an iPad mini with an OLED screen are likely incoming
• It comes in the middle of an incredibly busy product cycle for Apple

Apple’s on a roll! Just eight days after dropping the HomeView, HomePod mini 2, and Apple TV 4K, and four days before the iPhone Duo starts shipping, the Cupertino-based technology giant is teasing more.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Apple’s SVP of Marketing, Greg Joswiak, writes, “Can’t wait to pro and tell next week,” alongside an Apple logo being drawn. The same graphic was also posted to @HelloApple on Instagram with the caption, “About next week…” The latter gives us the timing and leaves us marking our calendars for a reveal similar to Apple’s recent home product launches. However, Joswiak’s post teases something Pro that could be on the horizon.

Alongside the teasers, Apple has also sent media invites for an experience in LA on October 28, 2026. That’s the same wording the company used to describe its ‘Welcome Home’ event, so I’d suspect there won’t be a formal keynote, but there will be plenty of hands-on time.

The teaser depicts the Apple logo being drawn using an array of colors, mostly silver, white, and blue, with small, vibrant pops of red, orange, and yellow. To me, it looks as though a finger could be drawing the logo, given the overall shape, or perhaps a brush of some sort is being used to create it.

Either way, it points to the likely arrival of new Macs or iPads. Remember, like most of Apple’s products, these devices feature an Apple logo on the back.

There’s been no shortage of rumors, and it’s likely that Apple will drop a significant update to the MacBook Pro family next week, finally delivering a touchscreen laptop.

That’s something the company has been pretty firm about ruling out, but it seems to have turned a corner if recent reports are to be believed. Both the new 14-inch and 16-inch models are expected to pair the first touchscreen on a Mac with an OLED display, delivering the same vibrant, rich viewing experience as an OLED iPhone or iPad Pro, all within a redesigned, slimmer notebook.

Under the hood, these flagship MacBooks will likely get Apple’s best chips, whether that’s the M6 or the M5 Ultra, which premiered with the Mac mini and Mac Studio in August 2026.

Recent reports also hint that the M6 could be coming to the iMac, which is due for an upgrade after launching with the M4 in 2024. A new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro could also arrive with a design similar to the current generation, likely featuring the M6 chip instead of the M5 for better performance across the board, particularly for AI tasks.

Alongside the Mac, the iPad could also be in the mix, potentially hinted at by the vibrant colors and what appears to be a finer, brush-drawn Apple logo. Coming shortly after the iPhone Duo starts shipping, a major iPad mini upgrade is also rumored. It could carry a considerably higher price — a reminder that the current model starts at $699 / £699 / AU$949 — and add a ProMotion OLED display, a redesigned body, and a more capable chip under the hood.

I’ve been wishing for a redesigned iPad mini with Magic Keyboard support and a better screen for a while, so this would be music to my ears, and likely to many others’ too. The iPad lineup is still in pretty good shape, with the Air and Pro models already receiving updates with better processors earlier this year. Besides the iPad mini, the only other model likely due for an upgrade is the entry-level iPad, but it’s unclear whether it will be updated next week.

Either way, we only have a few more days to wait to see what Apple has been working on. After all, the company has promised to ‘Pro and Tell.’ Let me know what you’re most excited about in the comments below.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has sung the praises of Microsoft's new Surface Laptop Ultra, describing it as "so beautiful" and "incredible".

Speaking at a developer event in London, Huang outlined the development process that went into building the hardware powering the new product, which is the first Microsoft device powered by an Nvidia chip.

“This computer is going to be incredible - it took us four years to build it," Huang told attendees including TechRadar Pro, "this project is really a work of love - we had several thousand engineering years dedicated to it, we build a brand new revolutionary chip, a whole new line of PCs, it’s so beautiful - you’re going to love it.”

The end of the traditional PC?

Revealed in September 2026, the Surface Laptop Ultra is targeted towards developer and AI usage, powered by Nvidia’s RTX Spark platform with an N1X processor and RTX Blackwell graphics, supporting up to 128GB unified memory

This is alongside 24GB RAM and 512GB storage, while the next version has 32GB RAM and 1TB storage, making it ideal for creators, AI specialists, engineers, scientists, developers, and other users running demanding applications.

But as Huang tells it, the creation of the device, set to launch on October 16 2026, was a long and arduous process.

“It took four years to do this," Huang said of the hardware development process. "We were thinking about agentic systems, AI and autonomous systems, and how they’ll be able to access your files, and be grounded on information, and be able to reason about it and use tools - but the ultimate tool is your personal computer, right?"

"So wouldn’t it be cool if we could create a personal computer, a PC that actually runs an agent locally - so it can go off and just work on things for you - and not only could it just run locally, it would be smart enough to use the tools."

Huang explained his vision of "texting" your PC to ask for help, to get it to do tasks like rendering images and updating slides, then delivering them straight to you.

"Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could just text your computer - you don’t have to bring it with you anymore - just leave it at your desk!”

“So we created this thing - it took us four years to do it, so I called Satya (Nadella, Microsoft CEO), and the two of us talked about it…and so we had to create a brand new chip, we had to wait until Blackwell was done - and this thing has 1 petaflops of computing, and because we knew the models were going to be big, we had to redesign how the GPU uses memory - so this is the first Nvidia GPU with shared memory, one petaflops, Blackwell architecture - and also it has to run everything a PC doesn’t.”

“There’s three types of PCs, right," Huang outlined, "there’s the PC that basically you use to type in - that’s called a PC, there’s the Nvidia gaming PC, you’ve got GeForce in that, and you’ve got the Nvidia workstations that runs all kinds of applications…so we figured that if you’re going to have an AI go use the tools, it should be able to use every single tool…it runs everything, it runs every AI framework, it runs any AI model as well."

• LG's FLiPP tech could deliver Tandem OLED performance for much less
• Will arrive on smaller displays first, don't expect it on TVs for several years
• Production for laptop and monitor screens could start in 2027

If you're a fan of OLED, there's an exciting new acronym you need to know: FLiPP. It stands for FMM-Less innovative Pixel Patterning, and the FMM bit refers to fine metal masks. Those are normally used in OLED manufacturing to precisely place the organic emissive materials.

With FLiPP, there's no mask. Instead, the materials are deposited across the glass, given a protective layer and then refined using photolithography and etching to get rid of the unwanted sections.

The biggest single advantage to FLiPP is efficiency. According to trade site The Elec, LG Display found that the tech increased the utilization rate – the efficiency of the production – from 75% in a conventional FMM process to over 93% in a FLiPP process.

That's good news for us, because more efficient production means lower production costs. And that ultimately means we could see much better OLEDs without higher prices.

FLiPP also improved utilization of the organic emissive materials from 40% to 74%, boosted the pixel aperture ratio (how much of the pixel area emits light) to 65%, and enabled the light-emitting area to boost luminance by 1.6x, longevity by 2.4x or reduce power consumption by 13%.

So that means these OLED screens can brighter, or they can be more reliable, or they can use less power, depending on the preference of the device. But in the near future, those devices will almost certainly be laptops and monitors, and not TVs — sadly for those desperate for the price of the best OLED TVs to drop.

What the FLiPP?

LG Display's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Choi Young-seok says that the technology is still in the first development stage. The next stage would be developing actual products, and the third stage is mass production.

That third stage will initially concentrate on the monitor market where displays are smaller — the improved efficiency figures mentioned above were for 23.5-inch panels — but laptops are apparently on the cards as well. LG Display has said it expects to reach this point by late 2027 — so the first products might appear at CES 2028.

According to Cho Heung-ryeol, who is the head of the Next-Generation Display Division, LG Display is currently evaluating its existing LCD and WOLED production lines to see if they can be reused without major modifications, or if new plant would need to be purchased. The former option is of course the preferred one. Either way, LG Display still plans for production to start in around a year.

If you'd like to know more about the technical side of FLiPP and how it compares to other OLED manufacturing processes, The Elec has published a transcript of LG Display's online seminar and you can read it here.