Inside the vaulted Galleria Meravigli, something other than fashion or furniture stole the scene at this year’s Milan Design Week. ASUS arrived not with product displays but with a full-on sensory encounter. The exhibition, titled Design You Can Feel, unfolded across a series of spatial experiences—from sculptural installations to textured laptops that hum with the energy of Icelandic lava and Maldivian surf. This exhibition moved beyond messaging—it was full sensory participation.

Designer: ASUS

Willful Wonder, the centerpiece installation by Studio INI, greeted guests with fluid, wing-like panels that moved in rhythm with each step. Every step triggered movement. Touch fed into sensors, and those signals morphed into reactive, AI-generated visuals that shifted in real time. As visitors moved, the sculpture responded—flexing, folding, revealing, and resetting with each gesture. Material design met behavioral input without screens or instructions.

ASUS built the entire exhibition on three themes: materiality, craftsmanship, and artificial intelligence. These weren’t just taglines; they were baked into the surfaces of every object on display, especially the laptops.

Four Finishes, Four Stories

The Zenbook Ceraluminum Signature Edition series debuted as a tactile tribute to nature’s most evocative terrains. ASUS moved past brushed metal and predictable silhouettes. Each variant in the collection became a study in geological storytelling.

Obsidian Black draws from the volcanic force of Geldingadalir in Iceland. Laser sintering sculpts the surface, mimicking the movement of lava frozen in time. There’s a tangible duality between gloss and matte that feels like magma cooling mid-motion.

Pamukkale White channels Turkey’s cascading terraces. Its soft sheen and gold accents emerge from CNC diamond cutting—light bends and bounces along every curve, like mineral-rich water sliding over travertine steps.

Terra Mocha reaches into Jordan’s Wadi Rum. Its rosette-like geometry emerges not from surface prints, but from within the material, shaped entirely through ASUS’s own ceramization technique. You don’t see the pattern—you sense it, like the grip of sandstone under palm.

Luminous Blue is the most ethereal. Inspired by Vaadhoo Island’s glowing tides, its surface dances under ambient light thanks to calibrated laser-induced oxidation. It shimmers, pulses, disappears in shade, and returns in reflection.

These designs weren’t made for decoration. They were shaped with geological intent, built to retain the memory of the environments that inspired them.

Ceraluminum: Skin and Skeleton

What connects these finishes isn’t aesthetic alone. It’s the material itself—Ceraluminum. ASUS spent four years developing this patented ceramic-aluminum hybrid. No pigments are used, and no acids are involved. The surface is formed by exposing aluminum to precise voltage and mineral inputs through a high-voltage water-based process. That creates a hard, scratch-resistant shell with three times the fracture toughness of anodized aluminum.

It’s not a coating. It is the surface. The hues and porosity are intrinsic, not sprayed on. ASUS refers to this as “modern alchemy.” Fair. It balances mass reduction, structural strength, and textural richness with zero chemical runoff. And it’s 100% recyclable.

The first laptop to feature it fully was the Zenbook A14, already available in Iceland Gray and Zabriskie Beige. At 2.18 pounds and measuring just 0.53 inches at its thinnest, it showed the material’s production potential. The Signature Editions expand that ambition with storytelling built into every curve.

Engineering, Hidden in Plain Sight

Every Signature Zenbook includes top-tier hardware. Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors and Intel Arc graphics drive the experience. Up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD handle creative workloads without lag. The vapor chamber cooling system keeps noise low and heat down.

ASUS Lumina OLED displays—3K, 120Hz—show off deep blacks, punchy highlights, and subtle midtones. The sound system is Harman Kardon-certified. There’s a dedicated Copilot key, and the glass touchpad supports smart gestures. No spec is tacked on. Every feature serves a purpose.

The machines feel as refined inside as they do on the outside. Even the sleeves—made from Kvadrat Febrik’s Arda textile—extend the story. Woven from wool using water-efficient methods, they provide grip, protection, and texture.

Not a Concept. Not a Campaign.

Zenbook Signature Editions are real machines built to handle real work. They’re thin enough to slip into a tote, strong enough to live untethered, and precise enough to become part of your everyday rhythm. They aren’t pretending to belong in a gallery. They operate, perform, and happen to also carry the clarity and restraint of something display-worthy.

ASUS hasn’t announced the release date yet, but the Zenbook A14 is already on sale in the U.S. and offers a preview of the Ceraluminum experience in two colorways. For those who value tactility, quiet resilience, and design rooted in place, the Signature Editions mark a new intersection—where Earth meets interface.

Where your next laptop stops feeling like a device and starts behaving like something alive.

The post ASUS Brings Earth, Emotion, and Engineering Together at Milan Design Week 2025 first appeared on Yanko Design.

It’s 2 a.m. Your ultrabook is wheezing through a Blender render, Chrome tabs are multiplying like rabbits, and somewhere in a Discord thread, someone’s flexing their water-cooled RTX 4090 rig. You think, “I should’ve just built a desktop.” But here’s the twist – what if you didn’t have to?

The Thunderboost eGPU Dock is what happens when the age-old tradeoff between portability and power gets blown apart. It’s a six-inch box that slips into your backpack, weighs less than your charger, and turns your modest laptop, mini-PC, or Steam Deck into an RTX-powered monster for everything from work to play to even dabbling with LLMs and GPTs. No compromises. No need to buy a second machine. Just plug it in and let it rip.

Designer: ThunderBoost

Click Here to Buy Now: $759 $1099 (30% off) Hurry! Only 7 of 345 units left.

Inside that slim housing? NVIDIA’s mobile RTX 4090 GPU with 16GB of GDDR6 – yes, mobile, but don’t let that word trip you up. This isn’t some watered-down silicon. This chip is capable of real-time ray tracing, 8K video editing, and yes, training Large Language Models at your kitchen table. We’re talking 9728 CUDA cores in a form factor smaller than a paperback. That’s not just efficiency – it’s borderline magic.

The LLM part matters more than it used to. Whether you’re tuning a small GPT model on local data, building a fine-tuned classifier for medical research, or just tinkering with AI art engines, the ThunderBoost gives you Tensor Cores without renting time on a cloud server. It’s personal compute power – sovereign and local, like the old internet – but with 2025 horsepower.

And if you’re not an AI tinkerer? Cool. Fire up Cyberpunk 2077, crank it to ultra, and pair your laptop with a proper monitor, or even your handheld gaming rig. The ThunderBoost’s HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a outputs mean smooth, high-refresh gameplay. Even on devices that weren’t built for gaming. The Thunderbolt 5 interface keeps latency as low as industry standards permit. It quite literally doesn’t get faster than this!

ThunderBoost’s chassis is a mix of aluminum and carbon fiber, not because it’s trying to win a fashion award, but because heat needs to go somewhere fast when you’re running a 4090 mobile at full tilt. Dual fans handle the airflow, while a dense internal heatsink pulls thermal load off the GPU like a champ. No throttling, no thermal drama – just sustained performance whether you’re rendering Unreal Engine assets or juggling three 4K monitors. And yeah, you can go vertical with the included dock, because airflow actually matters here.

And the ports? It’s a Swiss Army knife for serious setups. Three USB-C, two USB-A, and a 2.5GbE Ethernet port mean your laptop becomes a full workstation the second you plug in. Thunderbolt 5 handles high-speed bandwidth like it’s coasting, while OCulink support (via M.2 if you’re feeling spicy) lets mini-PC builders cut latency even further. There’s also HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4a – enough for buttery high-refresh external displays, VR headsets, or both. And hidden inside? An NVMe SSD bay, because you will need fast storage once you start diving into large projects or game libraries that don’t fit on your main drive. This isn’t a dock that rounds out your setup – it is the setup.

And it’s vertical – literally. You stand it up on your desk with the included cradle, letting air flow through like a proper desktop tower. It’s weirdly satisfying, seeing this tiny vertical monolith silently feeding power to your laptop. When you’re not using it, it literally unplugs and fits into your backpack like one of those chonky Western Digital 500GB hard disks back in the day.

Your laptop isn’t weak – it’s just under-equipped. Like showing up to a drag race in a Miata. It’s zippy, reliable, even stylish, but it’s not built for the quarter mile. That’s where Thunderboost slides in. It’s for the folks who don’t want to gut their setup every two years, who chose thin-and-light for portability, but still crave desktop-class power when the workload spikes. Whether you’re tethered to a corporate-issue ultrabook or holding onto a beloved mini-PC that just can’t keep up with modern engines or AI workflows, this is your performance injection. No need to migrate files, reinstall apps, or learn a new machine. Plug it in, power it up, and suddenly your old hardware feels like it took a sabbatical at NVIDIA HQ.

Still, let’s not ignore the sticker shock. Early Kickstarter units start at $759, which isn’t exactly impulse-buy territory. But put it next to the cost of a gaming laptop or AI workstation, and suddenly the numbers start making sense. ThunderBoost offers variants with the RTX 4090 and the 4060 (all competitively priced so that you get the best deal), but GPUs obviously don’t come cheap. The best part, however, is they factor the current (and future) tariffs into their pricing too, which means US customers won’t have to pay a single dime extra, and EU backers don’t need to worry about extra VAT charges. The ThunderBoost ships globally starting August 2025 – if you set up a Nintendo Switch 2 fund and are now annoyed that the console’s launch is delayed, this might just be the next best splurge!

Click Here to Buy Now: $759 $1099 (30% off) Hurry! Only 7 of 345 units left.

The post This Plug-and-play eGPU Gives Your Laptop The Power Of An RTX 4090 with Thunderbolt 5 first appeared on Yanko Design.

When you buy a laptop, the end-game is to use it for at least 4-5 years till it becomes old tech, and then you ditch the old laptop and upgrade to something new. However, there’s a major flaw with this concept. The only thing that ages in a laptop is a motherboard and its components. The screen doesn’t ‘age’, nor does the keyboard, nor do the I/O ports. However, we discard a laptop in its entirety when the CPU becomes laggy. That’s like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, resulting in us ditching some extremely capable components just because one part of the laptop is outdated. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?

Laptops, sadly, aren’t designed to be upgraded. They’re made to be slim, and fairly set in their ways. Components aren’t designed for modularity in most laptops, although companies like Framework and now Compal are changing this narrative. Meet the Adapt X, a laptop concept from Compal that garnered the iF Design Award this year. With an entirely modular architecture, the Adapt X does two clever things – firstly, it separates the screen, keyboard, and ports into its individual parts for easy upgrading, but secondly, it also separates them in a way that turns a laptop into a makeshift desktop. Undock the keyboard and the screen itself has a kickstand, allowing you to really make the most of your laptop while working in a flexible setup. Sounds incredibly clever, and I can’t help but wonder why nobody ever thought of this before.

Designer: Compal

This approach gives the Adapt X a kind of “laptop shell with desktop behavior.” Want to replace your display? Pop off the screen. Battery acting up? Slide it out. Need more USB-C ports today and an HDMI tomorrow? Hot-swap the entire side panel. There’s a brutal honesty to it—each piece is responsible for its own job, no hidden dependencies, no soldered-on surprises. And somehow, despite all the moving parts, the final product doesn’t look like a Frankenstein experiment. It looks intentional. Clean. Almost minimal.

While Compal hasn’t published full technical specs, what’s known so far leans heavily on sustainability and upgradability. The chassis is built from recycled materials—an increasingly common move among OEMs, but one that feels more genuine here because of the design philosophy backing it. You’re not being handed a recycled plastic laptop that’ll die in four years. You’re being handed a laptop that wants to live longer than your next phone contract. And if it doesn’t, you can surgically remove the weak link and keep going.

Of course, it’s still a concept. Compal is an ODM, not a consumer brand, which means the Adapt X probably won’t hit store shelves with its name on it. Instead, this is a proof-of-concept to tempt the Dells and Lenovos of the world into licensing the design. It’s a soft nudge to the industry: stop building disposable rectangles. Start thinking like builders again.

What sets Adapt X apart from Framework’s platform—beyond the magnetic design—is how it compartmentalizes the laptop experience. Framework offers modularity within a conventional shell. Compal’s take goes a step further by treating the laptop as a desktop in disguise. Every part is a first-class citizen. You’re not upgrading in the laptop. You’re upgrading the laptop.

There’s still friction, of course. ODMs like Compal rarely bring products directly to market. That job falls to the Dells, the HPs, the Lenovos—brands that could easily water this down or ignore it entirely. But if even one of them sees the potential here, we might finally break out of the annual laptop refresh cycle that’s been clogging landfills and wallets alike. Those are real concerns, given that nobody really jumped on past culture-shifting trends like folding displays or expanding displays (something that Compal even demonstrated at MWC this year). But Adapt X isn’t pretending to solve the whole puzzle—it’s just putting the pieces on the table in a different arrangement.

If we’re lucky, someone will pick them up. Maybe even build something lasting. Because for all our talk of sustainability and user rights, most laptops still die too young and too sealed shut. The Adapt X doesn’t solve that with a marketing slogan. It solves it with magnets, modules, and a quiet confidence that computers should be made to evolve, not expire.

The post Compal’s New Framework-Style Laptop Lets You Swap Parts Like LEGO Bricks first appeared on Yanko Design.

What do ultra-thin laptops and large “pro” tablets have in common? They both have impressive capabilities and a scarcity of connectivity options. USB-C was dreamed of being the one connection technology to rule them all and keep devices slim, but the harsh reality is that we have too many standards and connectors now to ignore other plugs and ports. That’s not even considering how different versions of USB-C have different capabilities as well.

Docks and hubs expand those connectivity options, but they bring another problem to the table, quite literally. Now you have cables coming out all over the place. ZAGG just launched a new dock and stand combo that not only offers a more ergonomic way to use laptops and tablets but also hides those unsightly cables using a design that’s genius in its simplicity.

Designer: ZAGG

It’s no longer rare for laptop and tablet stands to offer additional ports. The idea is that you just need a single USB-C or Thunderbolt cable to connect the device to the stand to have an additional five or more ports at your disposal. That sounds neat until you consider that other cables will be snaking out from the base of the stand, making your desk look like a tangled mess.

The ZAGG Pro Dock Stand, as its name suggests, is actually two designs in one. It’s primarily a stand that raises a laptop’s screen to a more ergonomic eye level. Unlike most laptop stands, however, it includes an attached folding stand to support holding a tablet at an angle, allowing you to enjoy the same ergonomic benefits regardless of your device.

Its second function is a dock for additional ports, but instead of having them all on the base, it offloads some of them to a satellite hub that you can hide under a desk or anywhere out of sight. The Stand itself has two USB-C ports, two USB-A ports, an audio jack, and an SD card reader, while the Hub is home to two HDMI ports, one USB-C port, and an Ethernet port. These two parts are connected with a single cable that can deliver 150W of power to charge attached devices.

This split of ports mirrors how some docks split connections between the front and back of a box. This ensures that the most frequently used ports are always within reach, while those that are only occasionally touched can be hidden away. It’s a simple but effective trick that allows the ZAGG Pro Dock Stand to deliver both comfort and convenience in a neat and minimalist package.

The post ZAGG Pro Dock Stand for Laptops and Tablets Come with a Satellite Hub to Hide Cables Away first appeared on Yanko Design.

What happens when design priorities shift dramatically toward absolute portability? Imagine a laptop so light it almost disappears in your bag yet packs the punch of a modern PC. The ASUS Zenbook A14 (UX3407) achieves this near-impossible feat, claiming the title of the world’s lightest Copilot+ PC at a mere 0.98 kg. This featherweight marvel forces us to reconsider what we expect from truly portable computing.

Designer: ASUS

Can something so impossibly light deliver a meaningful experience?

The question lingers as you first lift the A14 from its packaging. The initial reaction is one of disbelief. Surely something this insubstantial can’t house a proper computer? Yet it undeniably does, and therein lies the intrigue of this remarkable device.

ASUS has wrapped the Zenbook A14 in an innovative Ceraluminum chassis, resulting in a laptop that practically vanishes in your bag while promising enhanced capabilities and surprising endurance.

The Zenbook A14 isn’t just a lighter laptop; it represents a fundamental paradigm shift in portable computing, boldly prioritizing extreme mobility over conventional design philosophies.

First contact with the A14 creates an immediate impression. There’s something almost disconcerting about its lightness—a cognitive dissonance between what your eyes see and what your hands feel. This sensation sets the tone for the entire experience: remarkable in some ways, challenging in others.

ASUS has clearly designed this laptop for a specific type of user. Your reaction to its inevitable compromises will depend entirely on whether you share their vision of what matters most in mobile computing.

Design/Aesthetics and Ergonomics

Material Innovation

The Zenbook A14’s physical presence tells a story of material science breakthroughs. ASUS’s development of Ceraluminum stands as the cornerstone of this device’s identity—a ceramic-aluminum composite that enables unprecedented lightness while preserving structural integrity.

Hold the A14 in your hands, and the tactile experience immediately distinguishes it from conventional laptops. Unlike the cool, sometimes clinical feel of standard aluminum, Ceraluminum offers a warmer, more inviting surface. Your fingerprints seem to vanish rather than accumulate, and minor contact with keys or other objects doesn’t leave the micro-scratches that plague typical metal laptops.

The color options—Iceland Gray and Zabriskie Beige—speak to the device’s professional positioning. These subdued, sophisticated finishes avoid drawing attention to themselves and instead project quiet confidence in any setting.

At 14 inches, the display size hits a sweet spot between usability and portability. The chassis maintains remarkable slimness throughout, with the thin bezels maximizing screen real estate while minimizing overall footprint. Closed, the profile rivals many tablets in thickness.

Ergonomics and Usability

Several thoughtful design elements enhance daily interaction with the device. The EasyLift hinge mechanism deserves particular recognition—it permits single-handed opening without the base sliding backward, a small but meaningful improvement in usability that becomes apparent during multitasking scenarios.

Despite its incredibly thin profile, the keyboard offers a surprisingly comfortable typing experience. Key travel feels adequate rather than compromised, and there are three levels of backlighting for low-light environments. Some users might find the key coating somewhat slick initially, requiring a brief adaptation period.

Beneath the keyboard, the touchpad offers generous dimensions with integrated touch-sensitive zones for volume and brightness adjustments. However, this represents one of the device’s few ergonomic disappointments. The clicking mechanism lacks the precision found in premium competitors, occasionally missing inputs or feeling imprecise during fine cursor movements.

Connectivity

Defying the trend of minimalist ultra-thin laptops, the Zenbook A14 offers a surprisingly comprehensive port selection. Two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, a full-size HDMI connector, and a headphone jack provide comprehensive connectivity without requiring dongles for most scenarios. This practical approach stands in refreshing contrast to competitors that sacrifice versatility for design minimalism.

Most impressive is how the extreme weight reduction hasn’t compromised structural solidity. The chassis demonstrates minimal flex during typing or when pressure is applied to the display. Creating a sub-kilogram laptop that maintains this level of rigidity represents a genuine engineering achievement—one that requires rethinking fundamental aspects of laptop construction.

Performance

The Zenbook A14 presents a mixed performance picture that reflects its specialized design priorities. For everyday tasks—managing email, browsing the web, editing documents, and participating in video calls—the system feels responsive and capable. The laptop handles multiple browser tabs and basic multitasking without significant issues.

However, the limits become apparent when pushing beyond these basic scenarios. I experienced occasional stutters when rapidly switching between applications or managing numerous browser tabs simultaneously. These hesitations weren’t severe enough to disrupt workflow entirely, but they served as gentle reminders of the performance ceiling.

Visual tasks represent the A14’s most significant limitation. Its graphics capabilities restrict gaming beyond casual titles and limit graphics-intensive creative work like video editing. This isn’t a laptop designed for creative professionals or gamers—it’s built for document-centric productivity, communication, and web browsing.

The generous memory and storage in the reviewed configuration (32GB RAM, 1TB storage) provide ample headroom for multitasking and file storage. A more budget-friendly variant with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage is expected to offer similar core functionality for most users.

Software compatibility warrants consideration. While most mainstream applications run without issues, specialized or legacy programs may occasionally encounter challenges on this platform.

Battery performance transforms the overall experience. The substantial 70Wh battery exceeds many competitors’ capacities—including the MacBook Air’s by roughly one-third. ASUS claims up to 32 hours of runtime, an ambitious figure that raised eyebrows at the laptop’s introduction.

In my hands-on evaluation, the A14 achieves approximately 16-17 hours of continuous operation under typical conditions. This places it among the elite performers in its category, with only a couple of devices delivering comparable longevity. During my testing, the system easily powered through a complete workday with substantial capacity remaining for evening usage and even some activity the following morning.

Charging capabilities complement this endurance. The battery reaches roughly 50% capacity in just 30 minutes, providing quick power replenishment during brief stops. This rapid charging feature enhances the overall experience, adding practical flexibility to daily use.

Even under demanding workloads, the Zenbook A14’s thermal management is impressive throughout. The laptop operates nearly silently during typical tasks, with fan noise barely registering. Even under sustained demands, the system maintains reasonable acoustic levels—a noteworthy achievement given the extremely thin chassis design.

Sustainability

The Zenbook A14 makes meaningful environmental strides while facing inevitable limitations in an ultra-thin design. ASUS’s development of Ceraluminum stands as perhaps the most significant sustainability advancement associated with this device.

This innovative material combines exceptional durability with reduced environmental impact compared to traditional laptop construction. The ceramic component substantially increases scratch resistance and structural longevity, potentially extending the device’s useful lifespan. By reducing cosmetic damage that often triggers premature replacements, this material innovation may help decrease electronic waste over time.

The exceptional battery efficiency contributes positively to the sustainability profile. Extended runtime reduces charging frequency, potentially preserving battery health and decreasing overall energy consumption throughout the device’s lifecycle. The power-efficient processor further minimizes electricity requirements compared to typical systems.

Packaging improvements demonstrate ASUS’s broader environmental commitment. The Zenbook A14 arrives in predominantly recyclable materials with minimal plastic content. The company has reduced packaging volume by approximately one-third compared to previous generations, decreasing material waste and transportation-related emissions.

ASUS provides standard warranty coverage with available extensions that encourage longer device retention. The company’s recycling program accepts end-of-life returns, ensuring the proper disposal of electronic components and materials.

The laptop’s extraordinary lightness yields indirect environmental benefits beyond the obvious material reduction. The significantly reduced weight decreases fuel consumption during shipping and potentially lowers carbon emissions throughout the distribution chain. While difficult to quantify precisely, these cumulative effects contribute to a smaller overall environmental footprint.

Value & Verdict

The ASUS Zenbook A14 emerges as a specialized tool that excels in a focused vision of mobile computing. At $1,199.99 for the reviewed configuration (recent tariff increases added approximately $100), it commands a premium price justified primarily by its extraordinary portability and battery endurance.

For frequent travelers, field professionals, and highly mobile users, the A14 offers unique advantages that no competitor fully matches. The combination of sub-kilogram weight, 16+ hour battery life, a vibrant OLED display, and comprehensive connectivity creates a compelling package for those who prioritize these specific attributes.

The innovative Ceraluminum chassis represents a genuine advancement in laptop materials, offering practical benefits beyond mere weight reduction. Its structural rigidity, pleasant tactile qualities, and resistance to wear contribute to a premium experience that enhances the device’s long-term value.

Performance capabilities align with the laptop’s intended use case. While not suitable for intensive creative work or gaming, it handles everyday productivity tasks with adequate responsiveness. The occasional stutters when multitasking serves as reminders of the compromises made to achieve the remarkable form factor.

Competitive alternatives offer different balances of attributes. The MacBook Air (M4) provides better performance at a similar price but weighs significantly more. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon matches the lightweight design with superior typing experience but costs nearly twice as much. Dell’s XPS 13 offers competitive pricing but can’t approach the A14’s battery life or weight advantages.

The forthcoming $900 configuration may present an even more compelling value proposition for budget-conscious users seeking the same core benefits. However, it will face the same tariff-related price increase as the premium model. The Zenbook A14 Snapdragon X Plus model is now available for purchase at Best Buy.

Audio quality is the device’s most disappointing aspect, with underwhelming speakers that detract from media consumption. This limitation, along with the modest performance ceiling, defines the practical boundaries of the A14’s capabilities.

The post ASUS Zenbook A14 Review: Featherweight Champion with Heavyweight Endurance first appeared on Yanko Design.

Working professionals have long struggled with the ergonomic challenges of laptop use. Hours hunched over a screen positioned too low leads to neck strain, poor posture, and decreased productivity. Until now, the solution required carrying bulky laptop stands or permanently attaching foldable props to device bottoms, and neither option was particularly elegant for professionals on the move who value both functionality and aesthetics.

Lenovo has addressed this common pain point with its newly introduced Origami X9 Sleeve, a clever solution that transforms from a protective case to an ergonomic stand in seconds. The sleeve, designed specifically for the brand’s X9 Accessory Ecosystem, offers a perfect fit for 14-inch Lenovo X9 notebooks while incorporating an ingenious origami-fold design that elevates the laptop to a more comfortable viewing angle when needed, then folds flat when it’s time to pack up and go.

Designer: Lenovo

What sets the Origami X9 Sleeve apart from conventional laptop cases is its thoughtful engineering. The sleeve features non-slip textured surfaces that keep your device securely positioned during use, while hidden magnetic buttons maintain the stand’s stability. These design elements work together to provide users with better grip and control, ensuring their valuable technology remains safely in place whether they’re working at a coffee shop, airport lounge, or makeshift home office.

Protection remains paramount in the Origami X9’s design philosophy. Strategic padding in key areas shields the laptop from abrasion during transport, while the sleeve’s snug fit prevents unnecessary movement that could lead to damage. This protective approach extends beyond just physical safeguarding – by enabling proper ergonomic positioning, the sleeve helps protect users from the physical strain associated with poor laptop positioning, a feature increasingly important as remote and mobile work becomes standard.

Sustainability features prominently in the Origami X9 Sleeve’s construction. The inner materials utilize RPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate), repurposing plastic waste into functional, durable components. This eco-conscious approach continues with the packaging, which consists of a 100% PCC (post-consumer content) protective bag and Kraft paper belly band, minimizing environmental impact without compromising on presentation or protection during shipping.

The sleeve’s origami-inspired design represents a significant advancement in mobile accessory functionality. Unlike traditional laptop stands that occupy additional space in a bag, or adhesive options that permanently alter device aesthetics, the Origami X9 integrates both protective case and ergonomic stand into a single, sleek solution. When folded into a stand configuration, the sleeve creates a stable platform that raises the screen to eye level, encouraging better posture and reducing strain during extended work sessions.

For mobile professionals constantly transitioning between workspaces, the Origami X9 Sleeve eliminates the need to pack multiple accessories. The quick-transform design means users can go from protected transport to ergonomic workstation in moments, streamlining their setup process and reducing the mental friction associated with establishing productive workspaces in varied environments. This efficiency particularly benefits those who frequently change locations throughout their workday.

The post Origami-inspired Lenovo Laptop Sleeve Transforms into an Ergonomic Stand first appeared on Yanko Design.

It’s March now, and coming off of MWC 2025, where Lenovo blew us away with their parade of innovations (solar-powered laptops, anyone?), it’s refreshing to finally get my hands on products announced at CES earlier this year. The Yoga Slim 9i has landed on my desk at Yanko Design, and this peculiar beauty has certainly captured my attention.

Designer: Lenovo

Sustainability: More Than Just a Buzzword

Before diving into the laptop itself, I have to appreciate the unboxing experience. Lenovo has completely reimagined packaging with its plastic-free approach, and it’s genuinely impressive. The Yoga Slim 9i arrives in a minimalist kraft cardboard box with clean, simple branding. “Plastic-free packaging” is proudly displayed on the front—not as a marketing gimmick but as a statement of intent.

Opening the package reveals an ingenious interior design with cleverly folded cardboard compartments that securely hold the laptop and accessories without a single piece of plastic, foam, or adhesive tape. The inner trays feature printed instructions showing how to remove components and, more importantly, how to reuse or repurpose the packaging afterward. “Reinvent, Reuse, Repurpose” isn’t just printed on the box—it’s built into its very design.

I noticed the Carbon Neutral Product certification badge on the packaging as well, indicating that Lenovo has offset the carbon emissions from the manufacturing, shipping, and five years of use of this device. The laptop itself incorporates recycled aluminum in its chassis, and Lenovo has eliminated harmful substances like mercury from the display. The company has also designed the system for easier disassembly and recycling at end-of-life, though, as with most modern ultra slim laptops, user repairability remains limited.

Lenovo’s CO2 Offset Services allow businesses to offset the carbon emissions of their device fleets, and the company has committed to using 100% renewable energy in its operations by 2030. These broader initiatives suggest that the Yoga Slim 9i’s sustainability features aren’t isolated efforts but part of a comprehensive corporate strategy. While no electronic device can claim to be truly “green,” it’s encouraging to see a major manufacturer taking concrete steps to reduce environmental impact across the product lifecycle.

That Glass Lid, Though!

Let’s address the elephant in the room—this laptop wears a glass hat. Not just any glass, mind you, but a swirling, shimmering pane of Tidal Teal glory that catches light like a jewel. It’s as if Lenovo’s designers said, “Aluminum is so 2023. Let’s wrap this thing in something that belongs in a cocktail cabinet!” The 3D cat-eye effect shifts and dances as you move the laptop, making it rather difficult not to show it off to colleagues.

Despite my initial concerns about carrying around what amounts to a premium snow globe, this glass lid is apparently engineered to handle pressure, drops, and scratches. It’s passed the same military-grade durability tests as Lenovo’s buttoned-up ThinkPads, which feels somewhat like sending a fashion model through military training.

What’s particularly impressive is how Lenovo managed to maintain structural integrity while using glass as a primary material. The lid is reinforced with an aluminum frame that provides rigidity without adding excessive weight. This hybrid construction approach allows for eye-catching aesthetics without compromising on durability—a rare feat in laptop design where form and function often find themselves at odds.

I learned that the aluminum used in the chassis contains recycled materials, part of Lenovo’s effort to incorporate post-consumer recycled content into its products. This small detail speaks to a larger commitment to reducing virgin material use across its product lines.

At 14.55mm thin and a feathery 2.76 pounds, it’s surprisingly portable for something that looks like it should be displayed in a museum. The weight distribution is also remarkably balanced, making it comfortable to use on your lap without feeling top-heavy despite the glass lid.

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t

The true magic trick of the Yoga Slim 9i is its disappearing webcam. Lenovo has somehow managed to hide a 32MP camera under the display—no notch, no punch hole, just pure, uninterrupted screen. This camera-under-display (CUD) technology is a first for laptops, and it’s enhanced with Visionary.ai image processing to compensate for the challenges of capturing light through display pixels.

This technological sleight of hand enables a 98% screen-to-body ratio that makes the 14-inch display feel like it’s floating in space. The camera stays completely hidden until summoned, like a digital genie, and even includes IR sensors for Windows Hello facial recognition.

In practice, the image quality is better than I expected for a first-generation implementation. While there’s some inevitable softness compared to traditional webcams, the 32MP resolution compensates by capturing more detail. The camera performs admirably in good lighting conditions, though it does struggle somewhat in dimmer environments. For video calls in typical office lighting, it’s more than adequate, and the tradeoff for that seamless display is one I’m personally willing to make.

There’s also a physical privacy shutter because even invisible cameras occasionally need blindfolds. This e-shutter provides peace of mind for the privacy-conscious, allowing you to electronically disable the camera when not in use—a thoughtful addition that doesn’t compromise the clean aesthetic.

A Display That Makes Other Screens Look Ordinary

The 14-inch PureSight Pro OLED display is so gorgeous that it makes my TV at home contemplate early retirement. With 4K resolution (3840×2400), 120Hz refresh rate, and color accuracy that would make professional photographers nod approvingly (Delta E<1, 100% coverage of sRGB, DCI-P3, and Adobe RGB), it’s a creator’s dream and a content consumer’s delight.

At 750 nits peak brightness, it’s visible even in bright environments, while VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification means blacks are deeper than a philosopher’s late-night thoughts. The 16:10 aspect ratio provides additional vertical space compared to traditional 16:9 displays, which is particularly useful for productivity tasks like document editing and web browsing.

What’s particularly impressive is how Lenovo has managed to implement touch functionality without adding a visible layer that compromises display quality. The glass surface is responsive and smooth, with excellent palm rejection when typing. Multi-touch gestures register accurately, and the screen’s coating does a reasonable job of minimizing fingerprints—though they’re still visible at certain angles, especially on dark content.

The display is also certified by TÜV for low blue light emission and carries Eyesafe certification, which reduces potentially harmful blue light without compromising color accuracy. After several hours of use, I noticed less eye fatigue than I typically experience with other laptops, suggesting these certifications aren’t just marketing fluff.

OLED technology itself is also more energy-efficient when displaying darker content, as pixels can be completely turned off rather than blocked by a backlight as in traditional LCD displays. This contributes to the laptop’s overall power efficiency, especially for those of us who prefer dark mode interfaces.

Speakers That Surprise

Laptop speakers are typically an afterthought, like those little paper umbrellas in tropical drinks—cute but functionally questionable. The Yoga Slim 9i, however, houses a quad-speaker system with tweeters under the keyboard and woofers on the base, all tuned with Dolby Atmos.

The result? Audio that doesn’t remind you of tin cans connected by string. Bass has actual presence, dialogue comes through clearly, and music has dimension. I’ve caught myself nodding along to tracks while working, momentarily forgetting I’m not wearing headphones.

What makes this speaker system particularly effective is the thoughtful placement of the drivers. The upward-firing tweeters provide directional clarity for high frequencies, while the downward-firing woofers use the surface the laptop sits on to amplify low frequencies. This arrangement creates a surprisingly immersive soundstage that belies the laptop’s slim profile.

The Dolby Access app lets you tweak audio profiles for different content types—music, movies, games, or voice—and includes an equalizer for more granular control. I found the music profile added a pleasant warmth to most genres, while the voice profile enhanced clarity during video calls.

Brains and Beauty

Under its fashionable exterior, the Yoga Slim 9i packs an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor with Intel Arc Graphics 140V. This combination represents Intel’s latest architecture, designed with AI acceleration in mind. The processor features 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, with a maximum turbo frequency of 4.8GHz.

My unit came loaded with 32GB of remarkably fast 8533 MHz LPDDR5x memory (soldered, unfortunately) and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD. This hardware configuration handled everything I threw at it effortlessly—from basic productivity tasks to more demanding creative workloads like photo editing and light video processing.

While not a replacement for dedicated gaming GPUs, the Intel Arc Graphics 140V provides enough graphical horsepower for creative applications and casual gaming. In Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, the system handled large files without noticeable lag, and even some light 4K video editing in Premiere was manageable with proxies.

Given the slim profile, the laptop’s thermal management is impressive. During sustained workloads, it gets warm but never uncomfortably hot, and fan noise remains relatively subdued. Lenovo has clearly put significant engineering effort into the cooling system, balancing performance with acoustics in a way that doesn’t distract during everyday use.

The 75Wh battery supports Rapid Charge Express, providing 3 hours of runtime with just a 15-minute charge—perfect for those “oh dear, I forgot to plug in last night” moments before rushing to a meeting. We’ll be putting the battery through more rigorous testing for our final review, but the quick-charge capability alone is a significant advantage for mobile professionals.

Lenovo’s power management system includes intelligent features that learn from your usage patterns to optimize battery life. The system can automatically adjust performance parameters based on your typical workload, reducing power consumption without noticeably impacting responsiveness—another example of how AI features can contribute to sustainability by extending battery lifespan and reducing energy use.

Minimalist Ports (Perhaps Too Minimalist)

In its quest for svelteness, Lenovo has been rather conservative with ports—just two Thunderbolt 4 connections, one on each side. While these ports are versatile, supporting data transfer, display output, and charging, the absence of USB-A, HDMI, or an SD card reader means dongles become necessary accessories.

This port limitation is perhaps the most significant compromise in the Yoga Slim 9i’s design. For a device aimed at creative professionals who often work with external peripherals, the need for adapters adds friction to the workflow. I found myself constantly swapping dongles depending on whether I needed to connect a USB drive, an external display, or a wired mouse.

Wireless connectivity is cutting-edge with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.3, which is a small consolation when you’re searching for that USB-A adapter at the bottom of your bag. The Wi-Fi 7 support is forward-looking, offering theoretical speeds up to 46 Gbps and reduced latency when connected to compatible routers, though most users won’t see these benefits until Wi-Fi 7 infrastructure becomes more widespread.

Keys and Clicks

The keyboard offers a satisfying 1.5mm of travel with slightly dished keycaps that cradle your fingertips like tiny hammocks. This is notably deeper than many ultraslim laptops, which often sacrifice key travel for thinness. The result is a typing experience that feels substantial and precise, with clear tactile feedback that reduces typing errors.

The keycaps feature a soft-touch coating that provides a pleasant feel while resisting fingerprints and shine—a common issue with cheaper keyboard finishes. The backlighting is white with three brightness levels, evenly distributed across all keys without light bleed around the edges.

Lenovo has included dedicated Quick Keys for enhanced productivity, providing one-touch access to frequently used functions. These include audio profile switching, performance mode toggling, and camera controls. It’s a thoughtful addition that saves time navigating through settings menus.

The trackpad is responsive and precise, handling Windows gestures with grace. While not as expansive as some competitors’ offerings, it provides ample space for navigation and multi-finger gestures. The smooth glass surface offers just the right amount of resistance, making cursor control feel natural and intuitive.

Software and AI Features

As a Windows 11 Copilot+ PC, the Yoga Slim 9i comes equipped with Microsoft’s AI assistant integrated into the operating system. The Intel Neural Processing Unit (NPU) handles AI tasks locally, reducing the need for cloud processing and preserving privacy for sensitive operations.

Lenovo’s AI Core software adds additional intelligence to the system, optimizing performance and battery life based on usage patterns. It learns which applications you use most frequently and allocates resources accordingly. It also adjusts power settings to maximize battery life when you’re away from an outlet.

The Smart Share feature enables seamless image sharing between your smartphone and the laptop. Simply tap a supported phone on the edge of the screen, and the Smart Share app launches on both devices, allowing for drag-and-drop transfer of recent photos. I tested this with both Android and iOS devices, and while the Android experience was slightly more polished, both worked reliably after initial pairing.

Lenovo has thankfully kept bloatware to a minimum, with most pre-installed applications providing genuine utility rather than serving as promotional vehicles. The system comes with a clean Windows installation, enhanced only by Lenovo’s hardware-specific utilities and the aforementioned AI features.

Final Thoughts (For Now)

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i is a curious creature—part art piece, part technological marvel, part productivity machine. It represents a refreshing departure from conventional laptop design, embracing materials and technologies that push boundaries without completely sacrificing practicality.

The glass lid and hidden camera technology break from the typical laptop design formula. These features deliver real value beyond mere aesthetics. The invisible webcam creates a truly borderless display that points to the future of laptop design.

Performance is robust for an ultra-slim device, handling everyday tasks and creative workloads with aplomb. The combination of a stunning OLED display, impressive audio, and capable internals makes it a versatile machine for work and entertainment.

Of course, it’s not without compromises. The limited port selection will frustrate some users, and the premium materials and cutting-edge technology command a premium price. But for those who value design innovation and are willing to adapt their workflow to accommodate its limitations, the Yoga Slim 9i offers a unique computing experience that stands out in today’s market.

The sustainability aspects—from the thoughtfully designed plastic-free packaging to the carbon-neutral certification—add another dimension to the product’s appeal. They suggest a future where high-performance computing doesn’t have to come at a high environmental cost.

Coming off the whirlwind of MWC 2025, where Lenovo showcased even more boundary-pushing concepts, the Yoga Slim 9i feels like the perfect bridge between wild innovation and practical computing. It’s unusual in all the right ways, capable where it counts, and distinctive enough to turn heads in a coffee shop full of MacBooks.

Is it perfect? No. Is it the right laptop for everyone? Certainly not. But it’s exactly the kind of bold design statement that keeps the PC market interesting, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with it in the coming weeks.

The post Teal Glass & Hidden Cameras: The Lenovo Yoga Slim 9i Is a Delightful Oddity first appeared on Yanko Design.

Handheld PCs like the Steam Deck and Lenovo Legion Go are quite the trend these days, but their convenient portability comes at the price of the power that PC gamers demand. Gaming laptops, on the other hand, are getting slimmer and more stylish, but you still can’t enjoy playing your favorite titles in bed or while standing up. There are pros and cons to these designs, but the choice isn’t entirely up to the consumer. They can only pick one or the other, at least with today’s current devices.

This concept for a multi-mode gaming laptop tries to envision a way to give gamers the best of both worlds. It’s a traditional laptop when you need it but also a gaming handheld when you want it. And that’s all thanks to its modular design which is really two devices in one, allowing the user to decide which to use based on their needs and situation.

Designer: Wistron

Laptops are technically portable, too, but the advantage of handheld gaming PCs is that you can use them even without a table or without even sitting down. In exchange, you get slightly lower specs and poorer thermal management, resulting in a gaming experience that is acceptable yet also unsatisfactory by PC gamer standards. The Dual Fusion concept design addresses that by practically hiding a handheld PC inside a laptop or, more specifically, disguising it as a touchpad.

A laptop’s touchpad is a critical part of its user experience, but the area around it is also severely underutilized. When it comes to gaming, however, that touchpad can become more of a nuisance when you accidentally touch it with your wrists. Seeing a potential for reuse, Wistron transforms that whole area below the laptop keyboard into a detachable component that is actually a handheld gaming device.

The idea is that, when you want to play away from your desk, you simply detach that module and carry on with your game. The handheld device itself is more like the PlayStation Portal, meaning it’s a streaming device rather than a standalone computer. It has no computing power of its own and relies on the laptop to render the game’s graphics. The screen, which vertically rotates, can also function as a graphical touchpad or second monitor when it’s docked to the laptop.

This concept solves the problem of performance for such a small handheld device, but it does presume that either the laptop is nearby or that you have good network access to the laptop, maybe even both. Although they have a similar modular concept, Acer’s DualPlay Laptop has a very different idea. It doesn’t have an independent display and practically just hides a wireless game controller, allowing gamers to switch between keyboard and mouse and controller seamlessly without having to carry a separate accessory.

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Although we have yet to see the first commercially available rollable screen phone, we’re already seeing the design used in other industries, particularly in the TV market as well as on laptops. Lenovo’s design award-winning ThinkBook Plus Gen 6 concept laptop, for example, slides its lid up to deliver a taller screen. It does offer more screen real estate to fit more content or more apps, but a tall screen is honestly unfamiliar to many computer users.

In contrast, ultra-wide monitors are quite common these days, but their advantage only works if you’re at a desk where there’s enough space to place it on. Considering their portable designs, laptops are stuck with narrow and more standard screen aspect ratios. This laptop concept design, however, tries to offer the best of both worlds, and it uses one of two popular solutions when it comes to doubling screen size without doubling device size.

Designer: Compal

Truth be told, it’s not clear what mechanism this laptop concept uses to extend its screen, but given the absence of certain details, it can only be a rollable display. After all, Taiwanese ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) Compal already showed off a concept for a dual-screen laptop with a multi-axis hinge, so it’s more plausible that the Infinite laptop concept employs a rollable design this time around. The fact that there doesn’t seem to be any hinge further supports that theory.

Regardless of the actual mechanism, the purpose of Compal’s Infinite concept remains the same. It extends its display laterally, turning a 14-inch monitor into an 18-inch ultra-wide screen to deliver more space for more complex workflows. Only the sides of the laptop lid seem to slide out, and the rollable parts of the screen seem to remain hidden inside the lid when not expanded. The design easily keeps the laptop portable and usable in constrained spaces but still offers the possibility of more screen real estate when needed.

Another unique feature of the concept is the grilles that stand behind the rollable sections of the laptop screen. It appears that these are actually grids of LEDs arranged in a dot-matrix fashion and can be used to show notifications or denote actions. It’s not exactly a groundbreaking feature compared to a rollable laptop screen, but it does add a bit of flavor to the concept design.

Interesting as it may be, the chances of us seeing the Infinite in action are close to nil, at least not from Compal’s brand. The company’s business revolves around creating and licensing designs for device manufacturers, so it might show up someday under a different name. Presuming, of course, the rollable design catches on in the computing space, which has failed to do so despite numerous concepts and prototypes demonstrating its potential.

The post Rollable laptop concept expands sideways to reveal an ultra-wide screen first appeared on Yanko Design.

Laptop buyers are in a weird spot right now. Windows ultrabooks keep getting pricier without major leaps in performance, and Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup, while powerful, starts at $1,599. The new M4 MacBook Air lands right in the middle, delivering serious upgrades without the Pro’s premium price tag. Faster, more efficient, and now capable of supporting dual external displays, this could be the perfect balance of power and portability for most people.

Design-wise, the Air keeps its familiar ultra-thin form factor but introduces a new Sky Blue color (joining Midnight, Starlight, and Silver). It’s a subtle metallic shade that shifts depending on the lighting. Small touches like color-matched MagSafe charging cables continue to show Apple’s attention to detail. Even in a crowded field of premium laptops, the Air remains one of the most refined-looking machines out there. But let’s be honest: we’re all here for the M4, aren’t we?

Designer: Apple

Apple’s M4 chip is this machine’s crown jewel. Built on a second-generation 3nm process, it features a 10-core GPU, improved efficiency cores, and an upgraded 16-core Neural Engine capable of 38 trillion operations per second (TOPS) for AI workflows. Real-world tasks feel smoother, whether that’s scrubbing through 4K video timelines, batch-editing photos in Lightroom, or working with complex spreadsheets. Compared to the M1 Air, performance is up to twice as fast. For anyone still using an Intel-based Air, the gap is up to 23 times faster in specific tasks like video rendering.

Apple claims up to 18 hours of video playback on a charge, translating to ~15–16 hours for typical productivity use. The fanless design keeps everything silent, even under load. Whether you’re deep into a video editing session or juggling a dozen browser tabs, the laptop stays cool and efficient without any distracting noise.

The display remains one of the best in its class. The 13.6-inch and 15.3-inch Liquid Retina screens deliver sharp visuals, up to 500 nits of brightness, and support for a billion colors. Text looks crisp, HDR content pops, and color accuracy makes it great for creative work. Even without mini-LED or ProMotion, it’s a display that holds its own against higher-end competitors.

Previous Air models were limited to a single external monitor, but the M4 version allows two external displays: one 6K (60Hz) via Thunderbolt and one 5K/4K (60Hz/144Hz) via HDMI. For professionals who need a multi-screen setup but don’t want to pay for a MacBook Pro, this is a major upgrade. Whether you’re coding, video editing, or working in finance, the Air now fits into workflows that previously required pricier hardware.

Port selection remains simple—two Thunderbolt ports, MagSafe for charging, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It’s not overloaded with I/O, but for most users, it’s enough. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 ensure solid wireless performance, whether you’re connecting to high-speed internet or syncing peripherals.

The 12MP Center Stage camera now supports Desk View, which automatically frames both your face and workspace during calls. Video calls on older MacBooks always felt like an afterthought, but this new camera makes remote work and virtual meetings feel much more polished. Apple seems to be acknowledging that people rely on their laptops for communication as much as for work, and the changes here make a real difference.

macOS Sequoia enhances the experience with deeper Apple Intelligence integration. AI-powered features like real-time text summarization, image generation, and enhanced Siri capabilities now run more efficiently, thanks to the M4’s upgraded 38 TOPS Neural Engine. Apple is betting big on on-device AI, and this MacBook Air is positioned to take full advantage of future macOS updates that will lean even further into machine learning and automation.

For anyone considering a MacBook Pro, the M4 Air raises an interesting question—do you really need the extra power? With a lower $999 starting price (now with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD base), long battery life, and now real support for multi-display setups, this Air is creeping into Pro territory. Unless your work requires sustained high-performance computing, the M4 Air might be the smarter buy.

At $999, this MacBook Air redefines what a mainstream laptop should be. It’s fast, efficient, and capable of handling demanding workloads while maintaining the portability that made the Air famous. Whether you’re coming from an older Mac, switching from Windows, or just looking for a reliable everyday laptop, this might be the upgrade worth making.

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