I’m here at Computex and Asus has just made an announcement that’s going to disrupt the current order of creative hardware: the massive expansion of the ASUS ProArt lineup.
In the run-up to Computex 2024, being held in Taiwan from 4 to 7 June, I’ve been inundated with product releases and announcements – and almost all of them have something to do with AI. AMD is releasing a new set of CPUs, GPUs and NPUs, NVIDIA is reaffirming its focus on AI computing with its tensor-core-equipped RTX graphics cards, and Microsoft and its many device partners are putting new, more powerful and efficient AI-centred Copilot+ laptops to market this summer.
But I am currently most interested in ASUS’ new tech.
Until now, the ProArt workstation offering has consisted of two main models, the PD5 desktop tower PC, and the almighty Studiobook laptop, which is one of a few true Windows alternatives for the MacBook Pro (and is a top pick in our best laptops for graphic design guide).
After today, that's changed.
ASUS has announced not one, not two, but three new ProArt lineups, and they all look extremely promising – offering 'AI for creators'.
New ASUS ProArt P16
The P16 is the biggest of the new bunch, a new, sleeker MacBook rival that aims at content creators on the go, balancing a lightweight build with ambitious specs. It's only 14.9 mm thick and weighs less than 2kg (1,850 grams), but on the inside we'll find a new chipset from AMD and NVIDIA-powered graphics. There's the new AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU, with an integrated NPU that's capable of 50 TOPS (trillion operations per second). For comparison, the NPU in the Intel Core Ultra processors released at the start of this year have a 16 TOPS capacity.
The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU powers the visual side, with its AI tensor cores delivering another 271 TOPS (we're gonna be hearing this word a lot in the next few years, aren't we?).
In additon to the known capabilities of the GeForce RTX card, the ProArt P16 has access to exclusive NVIDIA AI software like NVIDIA Broadcast, RTX Video, and the ChatRTX tech demo.
Oh, and it has ASUS' now-famous Lumina OLED display, offering over 3K resolution. Yum.
New convertible ProArt PX13
The ProArt PX13 is a convertible laptop that comes in at only 1.38kg, making it both a direct MacBook Air rival and a high-performance entry into the 2-in-1 space, dominated at the moment by the likes of Dell and HP, with a 360° hinge that allows seamless flipping between laptop, tent, stand or tablet modes. It's got the same chipset and graphics card as the P16, so promises to be another powerful option for content creators on the go.
Wait, a tablet? The ProArt PZ13
In addition to the two laptops above, there's also a tablet on the way, and while the good people at ASUS aren't saying it's an iPad Pro hunter, it's very obviously an iPad Pro hunter.
With a Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processor powering this Windows 11 Copilot+ tablet/laptop, it sports a bright, sharp 3K ASUS Lumina OLED screen and Copilot+ PC AI capabilities. The magnetically-attached full-size detachable keyboard and ASUS pen will ship with the device as standard, which is nice in today's world of add-ons and not-so-micro-transactions. It's also got a 70Wh battery, is IP52-rated durability for dust and water resistance, and has an SD slot with a microSD adapter, but only weighs 850 grams. It's a little heavier than the new iPad Pro, but not by much, when you factor in the stand and keyboard. Priced almost identically to the iPad Pro M4, at about $1,199 in the States and £1,199 in the UK, it's clear who ASUS is aiming at with its new ProArt range. Your move, Apple.
I was at the announcement of the three new models in Taipei today, and the audible groans of disappointment at the news that this model wouldn't be available until the second half of the year were confirmation of my feeling that we could be looking at a new candidate for our top spot among the iPad alternatives on the market...
Bigger Creator Hub, with MuseTree and StoryCube
All three models, called the P16, PX13 and PZ13, will feature ASUS' full Creator Hub, which is being expanded this year with new AI-powered software, including MuseTree, which will utilise Stable Diffusion to help you create art, and StoryCube, which will be a new workflow assistant.
MuseTree, according to ASUS' keynote, “aims to create a tree of endless inspiration”.
In it, you can create an Idea Map and Idea Canvas, import art or draw directly within MuseTree, which then uses generative AI powered by Stable Diffusion and integrates that into the brainstorming process, enables iterative AI-assisted creation, where you can create variants, input new ideas to improve or change your art, while retaining the full history of your process, so you can backtrack to a previous branch on the tree to go in a different direction. This will all be locally processed and stored with the help of the NPU and GPU on board instead of relying on any cloud computing.
StoryCube, meanwhile will be a one-stop AI media hub, which will store, sort and filter all your media using an AI Album, which instantly categorises photos and videos by location, time and media content.
So how much will the new ProArt models cost?
The ProArt P16, and PX13 are already available for pre-order on the official ASUS website, while we'll have to wait a little for the PZ13, which could be simply down to the fact that Qualcomm is still getting its new Snapdragon X processor ready for manufacture.
• The ASUS ProArt P16 starts from $1,899/£2,499
• The ASUS ProArt PX13 starts from $1,399/£1,999
• The ASUS ProArt PZ13 starts from $/£1,199
All the new ProArt models include a free three-month Adobe Creative Suite subscription and a free six-month CapCut Pro subscription.
We will be getting all these models in for testing as soon as review samples are available, do see whether they can stand up to the hype...
For now, here are other Asus ProArt models:
