[Editor’s note: Monica Chin is The Verge’s former senior laptop reviewer, currently taking a break from tech journalism. But some things are hard to quit.]
As soon as upon a time, within the olden days of March 2020, slightly firm known as Asus launched a spritely whippersnapper of a gaming laptop computer known as the ROG Zephyrus G14. It weighed simply over 3.5 kilos, and it was powered by a very monstrous AMD processor, the likes of which had by no means been seen in a 14-inch type issue.
I nonetheless bear in mind reviewing that laptop computer, virtually 4 years in the past, prefer it was yesterday. I bear in mind working the Crimson Lifeless Redemption 2 benchmark — the final word take a look at at the moment — time and again, poring over the sport settings, making an attempt desperately to determine what I’d messed as much as make the egregiously excessive body charges I used to be seeing make sense. (One of the best Intel needed to supply on the time, bear in mind, was Comet Lake. And, properly, we don’t discuss Comet Lake on this family.)
After which there was the design. The G14 sported a retro aesthetic, spaceship-y in nature with giant, luxuriously snug keycaps and a keyboard font that evoked Johnny Rockets. The lid eschewed the graceful and smooth aesthetic round which laptops had been simply starting to converge at the moment, opting as a substitute to be coated with a curious however completely distinctive dot matrix. If you happen to paid a bit (okay, so much) of additional cash, these dots turned animated LEDs that you possibly can do every kind of funky issues with, from elevating a digital pet to creating a dude’s head repeatedly explode. Since then, there’s been a G14 mannequin that doubles as a DJ deck and one other coated in obscure shapes with “BLACK HOLES IN THE NOW” scrawled throughout the underside. It has by no means been a laptop computer involved with mixing in.
I bear in mind emailing Asus to ask if the $1,449 worth they’d despatched me was a typo — shouldn’t one thing this distinctive be $1,000 extra? And I viscerally bear in mind the sensation I bought when Asus’ consultant replied that no, imagine it or not, that was the true worth. It was a realization that this laptop was one thing new — that this laptop was one thing totally different.
The G14 went on to create what was basically a brand new class of gaming laptop computer over the subsequent few years. The product’s reputation made it mainly unattainable to purchase for fairly a while. It’s been an enormous product for Asus, a near-consistent presence on Finest Purchase’s bestseller lists, and, anecdotally, one of many gaming laptops I most frequently noticed within the wild.
As of late, revolutionary 14-inch rigs abound. Asus’ wasn’t the primary ultraportable gaming pocket book — that honor, in fact, belongs to the Razer Blade — however the Zephyrus G14 nonetheless proved to everybody that not solely might heavy-duty video games run properly on a 14-inch laptop computer with all-day battery life and a cool, daring design, but in addition that such a machine didn’t have to value an arm and a leg.
It redefined the class, in different phrases, by being the precise reverse of a MacBook in mainly each approach.
Quick-forward to CES 2024. The G14, which has largely retained a facsimile of its 2020 chassis since launch, was unveiled with a significant redesign. It’s a lot thinner and far lighter. The spaceship vibe is not any extra. Gone is the dot matrix, as are the exploding heads and digital fauna that it wrought. The lid is now smooth {and professional}, with a — I don’t know, is it a slash? — throughout the middle as the only ornament. The whole lot about it’s rounder, extra polished, and status. As stories from the present have identified, it all of a sudden seems, feels, and appears a heck of so much like a MacBook.
The G14 is much from the one CES launch that’s blatantly chasing the Mac line in the case of design. Dell has swapped out its 15-inch and 17-inch XPS configurations for a 14-incher and 16-incher, respectively (sound acquainted?). The fashions have misplaced not solely their full-sized SD slot (sigh), but in addition their bodily operate row in favor of haptic contact buttons (one other factor a sure Cupertino firm tried). Everybody and their mom is grumpy about it. And it’s emblematic of a bigger development we’ve been seeing all through the computing house in recent times, wherein 13-inchers and 14-inchers are converging on a boardroom aesthetic whereas getting thinner and lighter in any respect prices.
Now, I perceive the will to emulate the MacBook. It’s an outstanding line of computer systems. It’s on prime of Finest Laptop computer pages all throughout the web, and there’s little disagreement as to its worth.
However there are some things I actually hope producers will be mindful as they mull over whether or not to scrap designs that had been distinctive and totally different in pursuit of the MacBook’s feel and look. The primary is that the MacBook will not be simply its feel and look. It’s rather more.
I’d argue that the explanation Apple computer systems have develop into the machine that, like, each skilled has is, moreso than anything, their efficiency. It’s the category-topping energy of each their chips and their battery life — it’s the mixture of power and effectivity that they provide. In any case, the early-2020 MacBook Professional 13 and the late-2020 MacBook Professional 13 had very comparable chassis, however solely the latter had each category-topping efficiency and category-topping battery life, and it solely took just a few months to completely eclipse its Intel counterpart’s gross sales. Class-topping efficiency and category-topping battery life, by the way, are additionally what the G14 has had for a number of years.
I don’t imply to suggest that design is unimportant. I am saying that the pursuit of thinness, sleekness, suaveness, no matter you wish to name it, usually comes with prices.
We’ve seen that play out time and time once more. You may look to the transition from the Dell XPS 13, an all-around distinctive laptop computer that was topping Finest pages within the pre-M1 period, to the Dell XPS 13 Plus, a flaming fireball of an ultrabook with about 5 minutes of battery life, a shallow touchpad, disappointing efficiency, and a irritating keyboard that bought middling evaluations from just about everybody. (Tom’s Information, famous followers of the XPS line, slammed it as “a shocking step backwards.”)
You may look to the ThinkPad Z-series, which needed to omit a lot of the options that make ThinkPads world famend with a purpose to keep a slim body. The Razer Blade has been doing the thin-and-sleek factor for years on finish, and it has persistently been louder, hotter, pricier, and worse within the battery life division than the G14. Heck, you possibly can even look to Apple. In any case, the thin-at-all-costs mindset is what subjected us to 5 years of butterfly keyboard.
I hope this isn’t what’s taking place to the G14, the XPS 13, and different main laptops that obtained redesigns at CES this yr. However I’m seeing some warning indicators. Final yr’s G14 might accommodate as much as an RTX 4090 — Nvidia’s prime weapons — whereas this yr’s caps out at an RTX 4070. I can’t make certain that that is because of the thinner chassis’s lowered cooling capability, however that appears a probable rationalization.
After which there’s battery life, which has lengthy been one of many G14’s most excellent options. Not solely does the 2024 G14 have a smaller battery than its predecessor, nevertheless it has a higher-resolution OLED display. Don’t get me flawed: I like me an OLED display, particularly for gaming, and the Zephyrus’ seems nice. However final yr’s QHD Mini LED panel was already beautiful, with some reviewers reporting that it was mainly nearly as good as an OLED. And high-resolution OLED screens mixed with H-series processors are hardly ever a recipe for distinctive battery life. I’ll level you, once more, to the XPS 13 Plus. The Acer Swift 3. The HP Pavilion Plus 14. The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED. The HP Spectre x360 13.5. I imply, actually, simply take your decide.
I perceive the impulse to observe the cool children to their cafeteria desk. Actually, I do. However the Zephyrus G14 had an excellent factor going. It wasn’t for everybody, nevertheless it was wholly and unapologetically itself. It might be a disgrace, as Home windows machines throughout the market race to catch the MacBook, if such daring merchandise disappeared.