GoKawiilThe computing world is splintering into two. At IFA 2026, the world of laptops continued its trajectory from Computex towards a logical conclusion: a world where personal computing aims at the low end to combat the MacBook Neo and pick up customers during a RAM shortage, but otherwise focuses on high-end machines that promise to be agentic machines for the next chapter of the AI boom.
There are machines that are below $800 with 8GB of RAM, and there are machines that are multiple thousands of dollars with anywhere from 128GB to 192GB of memory. Want something in between? Good luck.
The MacBook Neo's long shadow
When Apple announced the MacBook Neo in March, other laptop OEMs jumped to compete. And while devices like the Dell XPS 13 and Chuwi UniBook came quickly (with varying degrees of success), packing Intel's budget-focused Wildcat Lake processors, it was at IFA where those companies finally felt like they had something truly designed to take on the MacBook Neo. The Lenovo IdeaPad Vibe laptops come in seven colors, up from the Neo's four, ranging from "lowkey gray" to "spicy gold," with optional color keyboards and two screen sizes . Unlike other Neo competitors, Lenovo is opting for a mix of Qualcomm Snapdragon X and AMD Ryzen AI 400 chips rather than flocking to Intel.
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Dell's new 14S also has four colors, including a surprisingly bold "velvet green." But its biggest iteration is that it also adds ports. While the XPS 13 had just two USB-C ports, the 14S also has HDMI and a headphone jack. Acer also debuted a 16-inch version of its Swift Air (also in three colors). These laptops were widely considered some of the best from the show. Colors have been a rarity in the Windows PC market, and now that these companies are chasing Apple, they're back.
On the bright side, this means that the spur of affordable, more premium laptops wasn't just a blip following the MacBook Neo. It's still going six months later, and given that Apple is rumored to be releasing a follow-up next year, nicer, colorful laptops may be a permanent fixture of the market.
Agentic AI computers: Laptops or furniture?
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The other computers at IFA were all largely focused on running agentic AI. AMD finally has systems getting ready to ship with its Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495, with up to 192GB of unified memory. Those include the Lenovo ThinkCentre X along with options from smaller names like Minisforum and GMKtec. The companies that are listing prices have them as high as $7,000. (When Strix Halo launched, entry-level configurations could be found under $2,000 with 64GB of memory, so these high-end systems with more memory aren't a shock given rising prices.)
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