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Acer unveiled a fourth-generation Vero 16 laptop at IFA 2026, building on last year's sustainability-focused redesign by making the chassis and internal components easier to remove, repair and upgrade. The company also introduced two new lightweight Swift laptops at the same event, signaling it isn't abandoning its traditional clamshell lineup.
Dell has announced the 14S, a mainstream 14-inch laptop offered in four colors with a 61.2 Whr battery for all-day use. It comes with up to an Intel Core 7 processor, choice of FHD or 2.8K displays, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, and weighs just over 2.5 pounds. Pricing hasn't been announced yet; Dell says details will come closer to its fall launch.
Dell is expanding its mainstream 14S laptop series with lower-cost configurations built on Intel's more efficient Wildcat Lake chips instead of Panther Lake. The new models start at 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, come in four bright colors, and pricing won't be confirmed until closer to their fall launch.
Acer has introduced the Swift Blade 14, a 799-gram, carbon-fiber-bodied laptop measuring as thin as 12.95mm, positioning it as a lighter alternative to Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air. The device will ship with Intel's Wildcat Lake processors ranging from a five-core Core 3 to a six-core Core 7, paired with 12GB of RAM, along with either a basic LCD or optional OLED display. Acer also announced the Swift Air 16, a larger companion to the budget-friendly Swift Air 14, though pricing for both new models won't be revealed until closer to their December launch.
Dell introduced the Dell 14S at IFA 2026, a student-focused laptop offered in four colors—beige, pink, blue, and green—with configurations starting at 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, scalable to 16GB RAM and up to 1TB SSD. Positioned below the XPS 13, it includes HDMI, a headphone jack, a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello, and up to 23 hours of claimed battery life, running on Intel Core 5 or Core 7 chips rather than newer Panther Lake processors.
CNET is inviting readers to complete a short survey rating their laptops on battery life, performance, software and value. The results, collected through September, will be used to compile a roundup of top reader-recommended laptops.
Samsung has introduced a cheaper variant of its Galaxy Book 6 laptop lineup, starting at $799, positioned as a lower-cost alternative to earlier models that began at $1,050. The new laptop runs on Intel Core 3 or Core 5 processors, with configurable storage up to 1TB and RAM up to 16GB, and features a 14-inch display with up to 25 hours of battery life. It comes in Gray and a new Violet Silver color and includes AI tools like AI Select and Note Assist.
A review highlights how having two USB-C ports on a laptop simplifies connecting peripherals like portable monitors, since one port can handle power while the other manages video and data. The piece notes that laptops with only a single USB-C port force users to rely on multiple adapters and cables—such as HDMI-to-mini-HDMI and USB-A-to-USB-C—to achieve the same functionality, especially when battery life requires the laptop to stay plugged in.
Several exhibitors at Gamescom in Cologne reported stolen equipment from booths in the show's business zone, including developer Ryan Laley's new Alienware laptop, two laptops from publisher iam8bit, and two laptops plus a Steam Deck from Tessera Studios. The thefts occurred despite the area being restricted to press and industry badge holders, with organizers claiming 24/7 security was in place.
MSI's new Katana 15 HX C14 gaming laptop offers a choice of DDR4-3200 or DDR5 memory across two regional variants, a move aimed at keeping prices down amid soaring DRAM costs. The laptop can be configured with up to a 24-core Intel Core i9-14900HX processor and an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, alongside dual PCIe Gen 4x4 M.2 slots and a cooling system rated for 170W combined power.
EasyEffects is a Linux application that taps into the PipeWire audio system to apply real-time sound processing—equalization, compression, bass enhancement, limiting and more—to a laptop's built-in speakers. Because it works directly with the audio streams entering and leaving the system, users can noticeably improve the thin, tinny sound typical of laptop speakers without buying external hardware. The tool bundles plugins from projects like Calf Studio Gear, MDA.LV2 and GStreamer with adjustable presets, all managed through one interface instead of separate mixers or command-line scripts.
An advocacy campaign is calling on laptop buyers to request refunds for the Microsoft Windows license bundled with their device, arguing that most laptops are sold exclusively with Windows pre-installed even if the buyer intends to use another operating system. The campaign frames this as an unfair practice and provides guidance for consumers to formally request reimbursement from vendors.