Asus is working on a major ultrabook refresh to coincide with availability of Intel's new Ivy Bridge CPU and we've managed to get our hands on the full spec sheets. The Zenbook UX31A and UX21A are direct replacements for the UX31 and UX21, respectively, though don't be fooled by their similar product names, these are serious upgrades we're talking about.
Matte screen options will be available on both new models, with the highest spec offering 1920 x 1080 resolution on an IPS display — that's for both the 13.3-inch UX31A and 11.6-inch UX21A. You'll get 350 nits of brightness if you opt for the upgraded IPS display or 300 if you go with a more conventional LCD, in which case resolutions drop to 1600 x 900 on the UX31A and 1366 x 768 on the UX21A.
The Ivy Bridge processors inside will all come from Intel's low-voltage (17W TDP) range and will span the full breadth of options, from Core i3 up to Core i7:
- Core i7-3517U, dual-core, four threads, 4MB L3, cache, 3GHz max Turbo Boost speed
- Core i5-3317U, dual-core, four threads, 3MB L3 cache, 2.6GHz max Turbo Boost speed
- Core i3-3217U, dual-core, four threads, 3MB L3 cache, 1.8GHz (no Turbo Boost)
A choice of 2GB or 4GB of 1600MHz DDR3L RAM (operating at 1.35V instead of 1.5V) will be available, though there won't be any way to manually upgrade after purchase. Intel's integrated HD Graphics 4000 will take care of visuals and a SATA III SSD, maxing out at 256GB, will be in charge of storage. We're hearing a 512GB variant is also being tested.
In terms of wireless connectivity, the new Zenbooks join Lenovo's IdeaPad U300s and Toshiba's Portege Z835 in offering Intel's Wireless Display (WiDi) media streaming technology built in, alongside 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0. Physical ports include an SDXC card reader, two USB 3.0 ports, and a Micro HDMI output. The keyboard is backlit and described as having a "seamless chiclet" design, offering greater solidity and deeper key travel. Battery life is expected to be between six and seven hours on the larger model and around five hours on the smaller UX21A.
Externally, neither the UX31A nor UX21A should look terribly different from its predecessor, both are maintaing the same thickness and weight as previously (18.3mm and 1.3kg for the 13-inch model, and 17mm and 1.1kg for the 11-incher). Prices should begin around $1,050 for the UX21A and $1,100 for the UX31A. Asus hasn't yet settled on a release date, but we should expect to see these on sale around the same time as all other laptop vendors make the move to Ivy Bridge.
Comments
That’s why I’m glad I bought that Arc Touch mouse on sale from amazon. Want!!!!!!!
By The Fight on 03.12.12 11:34am
Want!
By Supernovae on 03.12.12 11:02am
You’re not the only one
By Matous Vales on 03.12.12 11:10am
You win!
By Leveltenproductions on 03.12.12 11:16am
but but…
angry video game nerd hates everything!
By JesseDegenerate on 03.12.12 11:49am
By Chrisness on 03.12.12 7:06pm
Hopefully they fixed the trackpad, that was really the only bad thing about the originals.
By s1riker on 03.12.12 4:11pm
I hope they put the same one in from my Wife’s new asus . It has a trackpad easily equal to a macbook’s. And I hate trackpads.
By VoxMediaUser604384 on 03.12.12 4:39pm
Actually the keyboard needs work too. But I can accept both for full HD IPS.
By GeH on 03.13.12 6:56am
Save the money on the processor and bump the RAM and display. I’d get the low end i3 and the IPS display with 4GB RAM.
By htowngtr on 03.12.12 11:04am
I would do this but, on the previous models I’ve never seen anyone selling them with less than an i5
By kNevik on 03.12.12 11:10am
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By NoelGallagherofOasis on 03.12.12 11:04am
This.
By fierywater on 03.12.12 11:09am
HD IPS display on an affordable laptop. I need this.
By EnemaBagJones on 03.12.12 11:06am
Well, nobody said anything about the IPS options being affordable. :)
By Vlad Savov on 03.12.12 11:08am
hmmm you’re right. If, with the IPS option, it costs more than Envy 14 Spectre, it’d be a tough sell (for me, at least).
By EnemaBagJones on 03.12.12 12:29pm
will still be cheaper than the Air though…
By mjenabi2 on 03.12.12 2:04pm
I actually wish they made it more expensive and added a touch screen to it. I have an asus transformer prime with the keyboard dock, I never use the mousepad for movement, always the primary display touchscreen. Why can’t that become more common for normal laptops? ( Maybe apple will do it and everyone else will follow suit.)
By enlight10ment on 03.12.12 3:24pm
Intel has said that there will be ultrabooks with touchscreens out by the end of the year
By iknowtech on 03.12.12 4:09pm
You need a touch-based UI for that to be useful.
By kulanapan on 03.12.12 5:53pm
Umm.. Windows 8 ???
By NickMD on 03.12.12 6:19pm
Umm… not out yet.
ASUS wont waste its time by making its devices unnecessarily expensive for people to upgrade the OS in the future. When the first Win8 laptops come, then ASUS will go to the drawing board.
By Kangal on 03.13.12 1:10am
Hence “by the end of the year”.
By markiz von schnitzel on 03.13.12 8:34am
*will still look like a MacBook Air
By toomuchcoffee on 03.12.12 11:08am
Surprisingly, in real life they don’t. Maybe only from the sides.
But then again, a 0.64" thick aluminium slab definitely predates MBA.
By jalexoid on 03.12.12 12:35pm