CES 2026: Is this the year of the PC?

Despite the immense popularity of MacBooks, Windows laptops garnered plenty of hype at CES 2026 – with all major brands and some scrappy startups showcasing portable PCs with serious power, increased intelligence, and innovative designs.

Much of the focus was on the PC gaming community, a highly passionate group (and often with deep pockets), who will salivate over many of the CES announcements.

A few trends emerged at CES, perhaps shaping what we’ll see over the coming months.

Power play

“Faster and smarter” might be the best way to summarize the latest crop of PCs, including (not-so-surprising) reveals from the top microprocessor brands: Intel launched Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) processors, the first platform built on its advanced Intel 18A (2nm) process node. AMD focused on enthusiast gaming and esports players, especially with its “fastest gaming processor” claim (the Ryzen 7 9850X3D). Qualcomm focused a little more on automotive tech and robotics but also flexed its recent wins in the laptop space.

On a related note, powerful on-device AI integration, with bigger NPUs, is very much a part of this story – and not just reserved for gamers.

Innovative designs

From dual-screen laptops to rollable and extendable displays, CES is the place to see innovative takes on the traditional laptop, whether you consider them overpriced gimmicks or genuinely useful tech. We can see an argument for both camps. Do you really need a screen that can extend a few inches vertically or horizontally? It’s interesting, for sure, but I'm not convinced how these futuristic concepts will play out.

Battery life, and more

Props to Qualcomm for raising the bar in the power department with laptops like the ASUS Zenbook A14 topping 32 hours between charges, and now other chipmakers are announcing solutions that sip rather than gulp electricity. Intel, for one, is promising up to 27 hours of battery life with its latest Core Ultra 3 PCs. Other PC trends include brighter OLED displays, richer colors, and touchpads with haptic feedback.

All told, CES 2026 made it clear that the next generation of laptops will give users more exciting options, whether you care most about raw power, long battery life, or trying out bold new designs.