• ASUS South Africa has announced that three new AI laptops revealed at Computex 2024 have gone live for pre-order locally.
• The new laptops are powered by AMD’s recently revealed Ryzen A1 300 series processors.
• The three AI laptops are the ASUS Zenbook S 16, ProArt P16, and ProArt PX13.

ASUS South Africa is wasting little time in getting new hardware into the country. This as the company has confirmed that three new AI laptops, currently being showcased at Computex 2024, have gone live for pre-order in SA.

The AI laptops in questions are all powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 processors, which too were revealed at Computex this week. The AI laptops are the Zenbook S 16, ProArt P16, and ProArt PX13.

The use of AMD’s silicon over say Qualcomm is significant, as AMD claims its offering yields more AI functionality.

To that end, and looking at the more creator-focused AI laptops, ASUS notes that, “the 16-inch ProArt P16 clamshell and the 13-inch ProArt PX13 convertible powered by the up to 50 TOPS AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor — one of the latest Ryzen AI 300 Series processors — with up to a 321 TOPS NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU.”

“Existing 2024 models in the Vivobook family — the 14-inch Vivobook S14 (M5406), the 15.6-inch Vivobook S 15 (M5506), and the 16-inch Vivobook S (M5606) — now have refreshed specifications and are all available with up to an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor,” it adds in a press release shared with Hypertext.

Looking at bit closer at the ProArt models, ASUS has a Black chassis that’s 14.9mm thin and 1.85kg light for the larger 16″ ProArt P16. The company says the GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU onboard provides RTX AI acceleration in top 2D, 3D, video editing, and streaming apps.

It also handles video editing tasks 2.5 times faster with DaVinci Resolve, and Adobe Premiere Pro’s AI Speech Enhance runs 4.5 times faster. On top of this, 3D is accelerated by as much as six times in Autodesk Arnold, and ProArt P16 has access to exclusive NVIDIA AI software like NVIDIA Broadcast, RTX Video, and the ChatRTX tech demo. 

As for the 13″ ProArt PX13, it has a 360-degree rotating hinge that facilitates flipping between laptop, tent, stand, or tablet modes, as well as a 3K ASUS Lumina OLED display. Internally, up to a GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU can be specced, opening up AI-accelerated workflows from textures to lighting effects to AI-generated imagery.

Other noteworthy elements include WiFi 7 connectivity, along with I/O ports including twin 40Gbps USB-4 for fast charging and external displays, as well as HDMI 2.1 FRL, and a UHS-II MicroSD card reader.

“All three new models are Copilot+ PCs and feature the ASUS-exclusive StoryCube and MuseTree apps to enable smarter and more streamlined creative workflows, made possible by the power of fully-local AI. StoryCube is a smart, convenient, and powerful digital asset-management tool with AI assistance for scene categorization and clip generation, allowing users to effortlessly manage and export the contents of their file library. MuseTree transforms inspiration into imagery swiftly, allowing users to generate more creativity through simple graphical interactions, while intelligently storing and managing their ideas at all times,” highlights ASUS.

Shifting to the Zenbook S 16, ASUS has prioritised it being both powerful and portable. Here the company says it measures just 1.1cm thick and weighs 1.5kg. Also worth mentioning in terms of the design is the all-metal chassis that features an outer lid made of Ceraluminum, which is an exclusive material that blends the feel of ceramic with the strength of aluminium, according to ASUS.

In terms of other specifications, up to 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD can be specced, and up to 32GB LPDDR5x of RAM is an option. The 16″ 3K 16:10 panel also features a 12 Hz refresh rate, NanoEdge bezels, and a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. On the port side of things, two USB-4, a USB 3.2 Type-A, an HDMI port, an audio jack, and an SD card reader are present.

“Zenbook S 16 also includes enhanced privacy features. Inside, the Microsoft Pluton security processor creates a protective boundary around critical components to safeguard them from external threats. Outside, the FHD AiSense IR camera supports Windows Hello, Adaptive Lock and Dimming, Windows passkeys. It enables users to log in to apps and accounts with just their face,” ASUS points out.

As for the recommended pricing and pre-orders, ASUS South Africa has advised the following from 15:00 on 3rd June 2024:

• Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) is available for pre-order via ASUS eShop and Computer Mania at R40 999 (RRP),
• ProArt P16 is available on pre-order via ASUS eShop at R69 999 (RRP),
• ProArt PX13 is available on pre-order via ASUS eShop and Evetech at R51 999 (RRP).