HP’s next-generation ZBook workstation laptops, unveiled today, are designed for power-users and creative professionals.
The ZBook Studio G8 is built for 3D modeling, video editing, data science workloads, and even gaming. The 15.6-inch laptop will arrive in July, and HP is marketing it as the most powerful workstation of its size.
The Studio will pack Intel’s newly launched 11th-generation Core H-Series processors. The default configuration comes with a Core i7 chip, but buyers can max out the CPU with a Core i9-11950H processor that features a 5.0GHz boost clock speed.
On the graphics front, the laptop can be outfitted with Nvidia’s RTX 3080 gaming-focused GPU or Nvidia’s RTX A5000, which is designed for professional workloads.
All that power fits in a laptop that weighs just under 4 pounds. An HP-created fan system underneath the notebook promises to keep the system cool. To appeal to gamers, the product can also be configured with an RGB keyboard.
The ZBook Studio starts with a 1080p screen. But you can upgrade to a 4K panel with either a 120Hz refresh rate or a touch screen. HP says it can last up to 20 hours on a single charge.
The second product, the ZBook Fury G8, is also slated to arrive in July. It’ll come in two screen sizes: 15.6 and 17.3 inches.
The Fury is designed for users who want even more power, such as data scientists. For example, the laptops can be configured with up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM, a massive increase from the 32GB available on the ZBook Studio. On the CPU front, you can also max out the laptop with Intel’s workstation/server grade Xeon W-11955M processor, which has ECC memory. In addition, the products can be configured with the latest GPUs from both Nvidia and AMD.
On the down side, the Fury laptops are heavier. The 15-inch model comes in at 5.18 pounds while the 17-inch model weighs 6.08 pounds.
The final product, the ZBook Power G8, arrives a month earlier, in June, and it’s designed to be the most affordable mobile workstation that still packs a punch. (Ahead of the Tiger Lake-H launch, we got our hands on the ZBook Power G8 for an early look.)
The 15.6-inch laptop can be configured with a Core i5 processor up to a Core i9. However, the graphics options max out with an Nvidia A2000 laptop-based graphics card.
All G8 ZBooks include a new tamper lock mechanism for when you leave the laptop unattended. If someone removes the bottom portion of your laptop, the security feature will activate and send you an alert or trigger the PC to completely lock down.
All the laptops also come with 1080p displays, but they can be upgraded to 4K panels.
Unfortunately, HP didn’t reveal pricing, but based on the specs, the laptops will probably cost around $2,000 to $3,000 or more. Look for more details closer to these laptops’ launch dates.
