Another vendor, another price hike. The RAMpocalypse keeps pushing hardware costs, and there is no sign of stopping. Framework Announces Another Price Hike for its Products as LPCAMM2 Costs Grew Over 2X in a Small Time Frame The latest price hike in memory will shock you, and this is probably the highest price hike we have seen in months, especially for the LPCAMM2 memory modules. OEMs and system integrators have been announcing new price hikes for months now, and it's not surprising to see another price adjustment by these vendors. Popular OEM Framework has an update on the same. The […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/the-rampocalypse-hits-framework-hard-as-lpcamm2-sourcing-doubles-pushing-64gb-configs-to-1600/

KitGuru started strongly with Intel Panther Lake when we reviewed the 2026 version of Asus Zenbook Duo, however the price was rather steep at £2,500. Today we are reviewing an MSI Prestige that should offer most of the performance we saw in the Zenbook Duo while simultaneously saving £1,000 on the cost. That sounds amazing!

Time stamps

00:00 Start
00:42 Panther Lake recap
03:40 Some specs / connectivity / ports
05:49 Battery / Charger / Weight
06:01 Comparisons – port speeds
07:28 OLED panel
08:01 Geekbench 6
08:28 Cinebench 2026
08:59 Points Per Watt
09:12 7ZIP Benchmark
09:28 Aida 64 Memory Bandwidth
09:58 Assassins Creed Mirage
10:47 Cyberpunk 2077
11:34 PC Mark 10 Battery Test
12:09 Keyboard
12:32 Pricing
14:00 Closing Thoughts

Specification:

CPU Intel Core Ultra X7 358H, 16 cores (4 P-cores + 8 E-cores + 4 Low Power E-cores), 16 threads, up to 4.8GHz, 18MB cache, up to 50 NPU TOPS
Display 14-inch, 16:10, 1920 x 1200, OLED, glossy, non-touch
Graphics Intel Arc B390 GPU
Memory 32GB LPDDR5x DDR5-8533
Storage 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4
Webcam IR FHD (1080p) webcam with HDR, 3DNR+, 3-mic array
Wireless Killer Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth v6
Audio 2x 2W Speaker, 2x 2W Woofer

I/O Ports
Left side: 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C with DisplayPort and 100W charging, HDMI 2.1
Right side: 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen2, 3.5mm headset jack

Battery 4-Cell 81Whr
Power adapter 65W PD adapter
Dimensions (WxDxH) 315.6mm x 221.9mm x 11.9-13.9 mm
Weight 1.3kg + 200g for power adapter
OS Windows 11 Pro

Performance and Testing

Geekbench 6 Multi Core

In Geekbench 6 Multi Core the MSI does a decent job and is only a few percent behind the new Zenbook Duo and hugely expensive HP Zbook Ultra G1a. This gives us confidence the Intel Core Ultra X7 358H has decent all-round performance.

Cinebench 2026 Multi Core

Cinebench 2026 Multi Core shows the difference between the Core Ultra X9 388H and Core Ultra X7 358H, which boils down to power draw and clock speed. The Core Ultra X7 in the MSI does a good job but the Core Ultra X9 is more impressive.

Assassin's Creed Mirage at 1,920×1,200 with XeSS Frame Generation

We show a few gaming graphs in our video but this one of Assassin's Creed Mirage at 1,920×1,200 with XeSS Frame Generation tells an important tale. The Asus Zenbook Duo with Core Ultra X9 sneaks past the 60fps mark to deliver a tolerable gaming experience while the MSI cannot quite make it to 50fps. When you consider these two laptops have the same number of CPU cores and the same graphics, we can see the importance of power and clock speed.

Battery Life

Intel has done a superb job with the battery life of their new Panther Lake laptop chips. The MSI impressed us hugely when the battery kept going and going, nearly matching the Zenbook Duo which comes equipped with two batteries.

Closing Thoughts

The MSI Prestige 14 AI+ is a conventional 14-inch laptop that is pleasingly thin and light. The main point of interest is the brand new Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor with B390 graphics, and as we explain in our video this is very close to the top tier of Panther Lake silicon. It came as something of a surprise in our testing when we saw the impact of lower power draw and lower clock speeds that differentiate the Core Ultra X7 from Core Ultra X9.

One area of unalloyed good news is the battery life which runs for more than 22 hours of solid work. If you just want to watch videos we are confident it will last two days, this means you could take the laptop on a short holiday and leave the charger at home. The other features of the MSI Prestige 14 AI+ are all fine, which means our major gripe is that we expect this laptop will sell for more than £1,500.

We estimate the MSI Prestige 14 AI+ will sell for £1,550 inc VAT.

Pros

• Excellent battery life.
• Slender and lightweight chassis.
• Decent performance and a healthy improvement over Core Ultra 200.

Cons

• The OLED screen is adequate but unimpressive.
• Ports and connectors are rather close together.
• The price is fairly steep for a thin and light laptop.

KitGuru says: The MSI Prestige 14 AI+ is a decent everyday laptop that struggles when it comes to gaming.

The post MSI Prestige 14 AI+ Review (Intel Panther Lake Core Ultra X7) first appeared on KitGuru.

Framework has introduced its brand new Laptop 13 Pro, featuring LPCAMM2 support & powered by Intel Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs. Framework Unveils Its First Intel Core Ultra Series 3 Laptop, The Laptop 13 Pro, Powered By LPCAMM2 Memory Today at the Framework Next-Gen Event, Framework showcased a range of laptop updates, including its brand new Framework Laptop 13 Pro. The new laptop is built from the ground up, offering higher performance, higher battery life, and the same modularity that you'd expect from a Framework design. Starting with the specs, the Framework Laptop 13 Pro is powered by Intel's Core […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/framework-laptop-13-pro-offers-a-fully-modular-design-features-lpcamm2-memory-intels-core-ultra-series-3-cpus-starting-at-1199-us/