Every time you assume the PC trade is out of concepts, they arrive again with some new ones.

CES 2024 provided a stable glimpse of the place issues are going. The AI hype practice is working at full pace, in fact, however we additionally noticed some promising developments for PC avid gamers and a few recent takes on transportable computing. It’s a good time to be a PC person, and these rising tendencies assist show it:

AI PCs (and puffed-up AI advertising) arrive

With Intel heralding the “AI PC era” at CES, PC makers are desperate to play up the AI angle on their newest laptops. Still, customers will have to be savvy about what’s really new and helpful right here.

On the Intel facet, the important thing element is the 14th-gen Core Ultra’s Neural Processing Unit (or NPU), which may deal with AI duties whereas utilizing much less energy than a devoted GPU. Some Windows AI options will require an NPU—together with the Windows Studio Effects package deal that provides background blur and head monitoring to webcam video—and a few PC makers are additionally discovering their very own makes use of for it. HP, for example, has confirmed how its Omen Transcend 14 gaming laptop can offload video streaming duties to the NPU and release the GPU for precise gaming.

Just bear in mind that high-end GPUs are nonetheless better for AI tasks overall, and that common cloud-based AI purposes akin to ChatGPT—and Microsoft’s Copilot sidebar in Windows, for that matter—received’t use on-device processing in any respect. Even some options that distributors are speaking up as AI-based, akin to Acer’s audio noise cancellation, are simply new renditions of what we have already got.

Badass displays get even higher

Matt Smith / Foundry

If 2023 was the 12 months of more accessible OLED monitors, 2024 is about ratcheting up their performance.

LG, for example, unveiled a 27-inch 1440p OLED monitor with a 480Hz refresh rate, as did Asus (which is utilizing the identical LG panel). Both are the quickest OLED displays to this point, and will not be far off from what we’ve seen on the LCD side. Samsung, in the meantime, is boosting refresh charges on its QD-OLED panels, as seen on the Odyssey G8 (4K, 240 Hz) and Odyssey G6 (1440p, 360 Hz).

And if excessive ultrawides are what you’re after, Acer’s becoming a member of the fray with its Z57 Mini-LED curved monitor, which basically places two 4K displays side-by-side on a 57-inch show. It’ll present some much-needed competitors for the likes of Samsung’s Odyssey Neo G95C, which debuted at CES final 12 months. Those out there for high-end gaming displays in 2024 can be spoiled for selection.

The War on Cables continues

Brad Chacos/IDG

While PC {hardware} makers began laying the groundwork for cable-free desktop builds final 12 months, 2024 is the 12 months during which the War on Cables good points vital traction.

At CES, Asus was displaying off a new concept called BTF, which formally stands for “Back to the Future” however technically refers to back-of-motherboard placement for cables and energy connections. BTF motherboards will even have an additional 600W PCIe connector, permitting appropriate graphics playing cards to attach with none wiring. Cooler Master, Corsair, Inwin, Lian Li, Phanteks, Silverstone, and Thermaltake pledging to construct appropriate circumstances below what Asus calls the “BTF Alliance.”

MSI has also found a partner for its personal Project Zero motherboard, which lacks Asus’ particular PCIe connection however in any other case makes use of related reverse-mount strategies to maintain information cables and energy connections out of sight. Maingear plans to go cable-free in its Zero Drop and NV9 Zero Concept designs, each due out this quarter.

Laptop makers get bizarre

Jared Newman / Foundry

Even the best laptops as of late are fairly boring, so it’s good to see PC makers show a style for experimentation as they attempt to stand out.

Exhibit A: Lenovo’s ThinkBook Plus, whose 14-inch touchscreen boots into Android whenever you detach it. Meanwhile, the laptop computer base can maintain working Windows whereas docked to an exterior monitor. Loads of PCs declare to be 2-in-1s, however this one really is 2 computer systems on one machine. Lenovo additionally confirmed off a “Magic Bay” concept for its ThinkBook 13X and ThinkBook 16P, permitting customers to clip a spread of equipment onto a magnetized port on the prime of the display. (Snapping on a small secondary monitor appears particularly interesting.)

Asus used CES to bask in its wild facet, as effectively, saying a portable monitor with a folding screen together with a dual-screen OLED laptop. It’s much like Lenovo’s Yoga 9i from last year, however has a full keyboard and trackpad deck together with a cheaper price of $1,500. Sooner or later, one in all these concepts goes to stay.