Whenever anybody asks me to recommend a great Windows laptop to rival the MacBook Air, the name Zenbook is never far from escaping my mouth.
Asus' Zenbook line offers some of the most visually impressive, sleek, and slimline laptops on the market, built from premium materials with unique finishes and proportions that make these laptops so thin they look like optical illusions.
Making the Zenbook all the more of a recommendation, Asus on Monday teased an all-new Copilot+ PC model of its popular laptop, set to be revealed as part of the company's Always Incredible CES 2025 event kicking off on January 7, 2025.
The world's lightest Copilot+ PC
Last year, Asus' Zenbook S 13 became one of the thinnest laptops on the market at just 0.42 inches thick.
It would seem that the lessons Asus learned on its way to crafting such a thin laptop have been expanded, as the company now claims it's made the lightest Copilot+ PC in the world with its upcoming Zenbook.
The machine's lightweight build is likely down to refinements on the same qualities that made last year's Zenbook S 13 so slim: A magnesium-aluminum alloy chassis, a solid CNC keyboard deck that requires no additional support, and a more optimized internal layout with an ultrathin cooling fan and slimline vapor chamber.
However, that's not to say Asus hasn't innovated even further in making every millimeter inside its Zenbook count. We'll need to wait for CES 2025 to learn more.
A Zenbook with a 'cutting-edge processor'
While we can't say ahead of time which processor the new Zenbook will feature or confirm any specifications, the mention of a "cutting-edge processor" may suggest several options for the laptop's CPU selection.
The obvious processor options for the Zenbook include Intel's Lunar Lake, Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite, and AMD's Ryzen AI Strix Point chips.
However, CES 2025 will likely bring several new silicon announcements. As such, there's an outside chance that we can take the "cutting-edge" claim at face value, with the potential to see the laptop adorned with Intel's next-generation Arrow Lake or AMD's Krackan processors.
On the far end of speculation, the Zenbook could also host Qualcomm's rumored Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 processor (also known as the Snapdragon X2 Elite). However, that may be more wishful thinking on our part.
One thing we can say for definite is that the shift to Copilot+ computing will undoubtedly benefit Asus' upcoming laptop.
Copilot+Zenbook: Perfect harmony
Not only will the new Zenbook be ultra-lightweight, with Asus claiming it to be the world's lightest Copilot+ PC, but it'll also be among the most ultra-efficient thanks to its Copilot+ PC branding.
AI and Copilot+ PCs have had an impressive outing throughout 2024, showcasing impressive performance and longevity thanks to their improved efficiency and battery life.
A particular star among this year's release has been the Dell XPS 13 (9345), outfitted with the powerful Snapdragon X Elite CPU, which dazzled during our Laptop Mag battery test — lasting over 19 hours of web surfing at 150 nits of brightness on a single charge.
According to Asus' testing, this new model may become a go-to for laptops with the best battery life, rating the Zenbook with a jaw-dropping 32-hour battery life. We look forward to going hands-on with the Asus Zenbook to see how well those claims hold up in our proprietary tests.
What's next?
Next up, CES 2025. That's where the always-interesting Asus will be hosting the Always Incredible launch event (streaming live, January 7, 2025, at 9 a.m. Pacific and Noon Eastern) showcasing this new Zenbook in full alongside similar hardware offerings from other manufacturers — like the recently announced Acer Swift 14 AI.
Here, we can expect processor details to be revealed and wider specifications and potentially more information about how the company achieved its new ultra-thin-and-light design. Not to mention when this new Copilot+ Zenbook will become available for purchase.
