What just happened? Asus has built a laptop using a completely new material they are calling “Ceraluminum” to provide durability in an ultra-slim design. Of course, we can’t forget its “superior” AI capabilities that no PC can live without these days.
Asus introduced Ceraluminum during Computex 2024 claiming that the new material is the result of a four-year R&D effort to turn aluminum into high-tech ceramic. Despite the novelty and the seemingly superior qualities of the material, Ceraluminum is debuting in a single laptop model, the Asus Zenbook S 16.
Ceraluminum is synthesized by soaking a sheet of aluminum in hot water, introducing a particular ceramic component into the mix, and bonding the two materials through a “complex” process. The resulting panel feels like plastic but can provide exceptional hardness in a very thin sheet. Ceraluminum is an industry-first innovation with applications in the aerospace and luxury watch industries and is available in different “natural” colors according to Asus.
The Zenbook S 16 laptop is an ultraportable for people working away from home. It has a thin 0.43-inch chassis hosting a 16-inch “3K” OLED display and immersive audio speakers.
The Zenbook S 16 also includes an advanced cooling system with dual fans and an “ultra-slim” vapor chamber designed to avoid thermal issues. Asus claims the system can consume up to 28W without throttling, even under heavy loads and AI-focused tasks. A novel “geometric grille” design also supposedly increases cooling performance.
Aside from the Ceraluminum chassis, the Zenbook S 16 system sports the recently introduced AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. Ryzen’s AI engine delivers up to 50 TOPs of “power-efficient” AI performance, while its battery can seemingly last all-day.
The laptop’s 50 TOPs should be more than enough to satisfy Microsoft’s requirements for a Copilot AI PC. Asus boasts that the Zenbook S 16 includes Windows 11 and its “everyday AI companion” with the troublesome Windows Recall feature. The ultraportable also has several first-party ML-based applications to “empower” users’ daily lives through AI algorithms.
Despite being a consumer-oriented device, the Zenbook S 16 is certified for military-grade standard (MIL-STD 810H) for superior reliability and durability. The first Ceraluminum PC ever costs $1,700, although Asus still has to provide a specific shipping date for the new system.