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This could be Windows’ M1 moment — but expect it to cost a ton

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang holds up two RTX Spark laptops at Computex 2026

Nvidia's announcement that it's getting into the consumer laptop chip space with RTX Spark is huge. Apple has proved for years that Arm-based chips can perform incredibly well while also delivering great battery life - at least on the Mac. In the Windows world, performance hasn't fully matched up under Qualcomm chips, mostly in the graphics department. There's clearly still untapped potential, and Nvidia seems to be promising to deliver it.

This could be Windows' moment to blow us away with a new generation of supremely capable chips, much like Apple's back in 2020, with the introduction of the M1. But why does this launch feel simultaneous …

Read the full story at The Verge.

Dell is bringing back the XPS 13 as a MacBook Neo competitor — with a temporary discount to $599

A student sitting on a park bench while wearing headphones around their neck, working on a Dell XPS 13 laptop.
Dell is aiming for students like Apple did with the MacBook Neo. | Image: Dell

Dell is making good on its tease from CES and finally announcing a new XPS 13. The XPS 13 returns as a budget-friendly option, launching in July at a promotional student price of $599 - though that introductory deal only runs until September for back-to-school shopping; it'll start at $699 for everyone else. The $599 promo exactly matches up with the MacBook Neo's starting price, but students can actually get Apple's budget laptop for $100 less. That means Dell has its work cut out proving that the XPS 13 is worth the extra money.

This will be Dell's thinnest and lightest XPS to date, measuring 0.5 inches / 12.7mm thick and weighing just 2. …

Read the full story at The Verge.

This extravagant gaming laptop could ruin other screens for you

A pre-production 2026 Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 gaming laptop sitting on a black cut mat in front of a blue illuminated backdrop. The large black laptop is emanating colorful lights from its keyboard and underglow around its chassis.
A speedy 18-inch Mini LED that needs to be seen to be believed. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

My eyes have seen the PC gaming promised land, and it's a beautifully bright world without a shred of blurriness. It's warm, it looks lovely, and it's impeccably sharp. Also, it's expensive as hell.

I've dipped my toe in this world by testing a pre-production version of the upcoming Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, which was recently announced ahead of Computex 2026. It's a gigantic 18-inch gaming laptop that comes with a top-of-the-line 24-core Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX CPU and can be fully kitted out with an RTX 5090 Laptop GPU and 128GB of RAM. Asus sent me a model to test that's maxed out on all specs except storage (it's got "just" 4TB). And of …

Read the full story at The Verge.

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