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A week with Googlebooks: four notes from our testing so far

2026-10-09T09:36:02-04:00

Software, software, software. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Google's new operating system is off to a rocky start. The five newly launched Googlebook laptops have hardware that ranges from great to excellent, but the software in its current state is the weak point. There are four of us on staff at The Verge actively testing Googlebooks and, frankly, our internal Slack discussions have been mostly filled with collective venting of frustrations, disappointments, and bewilderment.

The promise of Googlebooks as a fresh and smartly designed alternative to Windows or Mac for Android phone owners sounds great, but there's more than just a few kinks and quirks to work out. Some of its issues and challenges …

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The first Nvidia RTX Spark laptops cost up to $7,000

2026-10-07T15:12:02-04:00

The 15-inch Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599. | Photo by Tom Warren / The Verge

The first array of laptops powered by Nvidia's new RTX Spark chip are designed to compete with high-end MacBook Pros - and they've got some high-end prices to match.

The flagship Surface Laptop Ultra and RTX Spark laptops from Dell, Lenovo, MSI, HP, and Asus start as low as $2,599 for configurations with an 18-core CPU, 24GB of unified memory, and 512GB of storage. That's close in price to a similarly specced 14-inch MacBook Pro with M5 Pro chip, though Apple includes 1TB of storage. But the prices for both RTX Spark and Apple laptops of course go much, much higher.

Of the pricing we've seen so far, a kitted-out Asus ProArt P16 RTX Spark …

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These are the first five Googlebook laptops

2026-09-28T06:38:51-04:00

Google and partners are finally announcing the first laptops under the new Googlebook banner. There are five models from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo to kick things off. They're available for preorder starting today and arrive in stores on October 4th.

Starting prices range from $899 to $1,299, putting the Googlebooks in the same territory as the MacBook Air and a plethora of Windows laptops. Each Googlebook also comes with 12 months of Google AI Pro with 5TB of cloud storage, along with three-month trials of YouTube Premium, Adobe Photoshop, and CapCut. Google's also promising up to 10 years of updates.

Here's a look at the hardwar …

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I got to see Google’s wild ideas about the future of laptops

2026-09-21T15:38:05-04:00

Googlebooks look like fancy Chromebooks at first, but there are interesting software ideas. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

There are a few things about using a Googlebook that immediately feel just right. The hardware is polished (since it's based on current laptops). The OS is familiar (if you've ever used a Chromebook). But most impressive, it integrates your Android phone with your PC so they feel more like one device. It's the culmination of a series of new ideas that blur the two devices together. After my first look, I went from doubtful to excited by the prospect of Google pulling it all off.

After an initial bare-bones announcement in May, Google is finally launching Googlebooks - its new line of Android-based laptops. The initial five Googlebook models …

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The Dell XPS 13 is the first real competitor to the MacBook Neo

2026-10-02T14:25:24-04:00

Welcome back. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

Dell's last XPS 13 was meant to be a farewell before the company sunset the entire XPS brand. But it was a bitter ending, and an overpriced one as well. Earlier this year, Dell resurrected the XPS name with the excellent (and very expensive) XPS 14 and 16. And now, it's reinvented the XPS 13 as a much more affordable thin-and-light to take on the MacBook Neo.

Call it another comeback.

The 2026 XPS 13 has the nicest hardware you'll find in a new $700 laptop outside of Apple's Neo. The core components - the screen, keyboard, trackpad, and speakers - are all great or excellent. It's an exquisite package in a sleek and very thin ultra-portabl …

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Dell’s newest laptop sounds a lot like a MacBook Neo

2026-09-01T18:14:09-04:00

That’s a bold color, especially for a Dell. | Image: Dell

Dell's new Dell 14S laptop sounds a lot like a MacBook Neo: it comes in four colors, is aimed at students, and it starts with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Announced at IFA 2026, the 14S is meant to sit below the recently launched XPS 13 and offer another affordable laptop option as most other models continue to climb in price. The 14S will come in linen (beige), dusty rose (pink), washed denim (blue), and velvet green (yep, that's green). That's much more colorful than the XPS 13, and like its fancier brethren, the 14S can be configured with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB or 1TB SSD.

The Dell 14S isn't as thin or as light as the XPS 13, but in …

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Dell’s new XPS 14 is better in almost every way

2026-06-05T16:40:57-04:00

Back from the dead. | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge

The 2026 XPS 14 is the best premium laptop we've seen from Dell in a while, with incredible build quality in a thin machine and good performance thanks to Intel's Core Ultra Series 3 "Panther Lake" chips. A bonus: Dell killed its lame "Premium Plus" naming scheme. XPS is so back!

I can't believe how much of a turnaround this new model is from the XPS 13 I reviewed last year, which at the time was set to be the line's depressing swan song. The new XPS has improved in just about every way, with an actual physical F-row, better speakers, and remarkable battery life. Too bad it's wildly expensive.

Dell XPS 14 (2026)

Score: 7

Pros	Cons
Exceptional …

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This could be Windows’ M1 moment — but expect it to cost a ton

2026-06-02T12:03:48-04:00

Nvidia's announcement that it's getting into the consumer laptop chip space with RTX Spark is huge. Apple has proved for years that Arm-based chips can perform incredibly well while also delivering great battery life - at least on the Mac. In the Windows world, performance hasn't fully matched up under Qualcomm chips, mostly in the graphics department. There's clearly still untapped potential, and Nvidia seems to be promising to deliver it.

This could be Windows' moment to blow us away with a new generation of supremely capable chips, much like Apple's back in 2020, with the introduction of the M1. But why does this launch feel simultaneous …

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These are the first Nvidia RTX Spark laptops

2026-06-01T08:28:42-04:00

A lot of details are still under wraps, but at least we know what the new Nvidia Spark laptops look like. | Image: Nvidia

Nvidia has officially entered the world of consumer laptop chips with the RTX Spark, and several device makers already have hardware lined up for it. Microsoft, Asus, HP, MSI, Lenovo, and Dell are expected to launch RTX Spark laptops sometime this fall, and some of those partner companies have shared details about what we can expect.

The common feature shared by all of the upcoming launches is that Arm-based Nvidia RTX Spark superchip, though several variations are in the pipeline. The flagship version unveiled by Nvidia at Computex includes 20 CPU cores, 6,144 GPU cores, and 128GB of LPDDR5X memory - making it near identical to the GB10 ch …

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Dell is bringing back the XPS 13 as a MacBook Neo competitor — with a temporary discount to $599

2026-06-01T12:49:58-04:00

Dell is aiming for students like Apple did with the MacBook Neo. | Image: Dell

Dell is making good on its tease from CES and finally announcing a new XPS 13. The XPS 13 returns as a budget-friendly option, launching in July at a promotional student price of $599 - though that introductory deal only runs until September for back-to-school shopping; it'll start at $699 for everyone else. The $599 promo exactly matches up with the MacBook Neo's starting price, but students can actually get Apple's budget laptop for $100 less. That means Dell has its work cut out proving that the XPS 13 is worth the extra money.

This will be Dell's thinnest and lightest XPS to date, measuring 0.5 inches / 12.7mm thick and weighing just 2. …

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