HP's ZBook line often appears on our list of Best Workstation laptops, and for good reason. The ZBook line offers impressive performance, quality displays, and high levels of portability that meet professional needs at admittedly premium pricing.
At CES in Las Vegas, HP unveiled the ultra-light ZBook Ultra 14 G1a laptop, a professional workstation that's just 0.7 inches thick and weighs a mere 3.3 pounds. It also features AMD's new Ryzen AI Pro Max "Strix Halo" APU, giving it a powerful integrated graphics chip and 128GB of memory on the package.
Initial reports of the Strix Halo chipset indicated its integrated graphics chip could compete with an Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, and if those reports are true, that could make the ZBook Ultra 14 a powerhouse combination of raw performance and extreme portability.
HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Specs
| Price: | TBD |
| CPU: | AMD Ryzen AI MAX PRO 380 up to AMD Ryzen AI MAX PRO+ 395 |
| GPU: | AMD Radeon 8040S to 8060S iGPU |
| NPU: | AMD XDNA 2 |
| RAM: | 128GB |
| Storage: | 512GB up to 4TB SSD |
| Display: | 14-inch (1920 x 1200) IPS up to 14-inch (2880 x 1800) OLED |
| Battery: | 74.5 Whr (watt-hour) |
| Dimensions: | 12.29 x 8.48 x 0.7 inches |
| Weight: | 3.3 pounds (starting) |
HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: Features and design
The ZBook Ultra 14 G1a doesn't change up the standard ZBook design language much, with the same sleek, minimalist aesthetic that's characterized HP's workstation laptops for the last few generations.
What separates the ZBook Ultra 14 G1a from other Windows workstations is its high degree of portability. The ZBook Ultra fits in the portability sweet spot at 14 inches and under 4 pounds. And at just 0.7 inches thick, it's a solid rival for the 3.4-pound Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2024).
The ZBook Ultra also features a highly accurate display, with options up to 2.8K, which is great for photo and video editing. Plus, as an AMD Ryzen AI platform, it also has access to the Microsoft Copilot+ suite of AI applications.
HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a: What's next?
We have high hopes for the power of the new AMD Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" chipsets, both the professional workstation class Pro variants and the gaming versions. Early benchmarks indicate the upcoming AMD APU is a pretty powerful chip, though we'll have to wait and see how Strix Halo performs in our labs before making any claims of how it might revolutionize workstations.
However, based on what we do know so far, the ZBook Ultra 14 could be a solid MacBook Pro 14 rival, especially if HP keeps the price below $2,500.
The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is expected to release in the first quarter of 2025, though the exact date and pricing has yet to be revealed.
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