Amid all the excitement over generative AI<\/a>, valuations<\/a>, and such, consumer PC news was a bit of an afterthought at Computex 2023<\/a>. That\u2019s why I was so excited to discover this gem buried in the middle of MSI\u2019s very loud and crowded show floor booth: the Prestige 16 Studio Evo. This is coming in the second half of this year, with pricing still to be announced, and I am very eagerly waiting. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n First things first: This device has received Intel\u2019s coveted \u201cEvo\u201d certification. The reason this is exciting is that, to my knowledge, no device with a GeForce RTX GPU has received the Evo certification since the program\u2019s inception in 2020. (It\u2019s possible there\u2019s one out there somewhere I don\u2019t know about, but even if so, it\u2019s still a very rare phenomenon.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The reasons for this are somewhat obvious. To earn the Evo certification, Intel requires that a device offer a certain level of battery life and performance within a certain weight class, which is difficult to achieve with a power-hungry discrete GPU inside. But the Studio Evo can include up to a GeForce RTX 4060 \u2014 and that\u2019s a legitimate GPU that should lend a big hand in gaming and graphic work, unlike some of the weaker MX chips that you often see in these thin-and-lights, which aren\u2019t too distinguishable from Intel\u2019s integrated offerings these days. MSI\u2019s representatives were very clear with me at the booth that the RTX 4060 model, specifically, is Evo-rated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, in my experience, the Evo label is not always guarantee <\/em>of things like speedy performance and all-day battery life. Nevertheless, the fact that an RTX 4060 system was performing efficiently enough that Intel would even consider <\/em>it for the program excites me greatly. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Recommending a really solid Windows laptop for content creators right now is tough, and I think there are real openings in the market this Prestige 16 could fill. It can be a real pain to use programs like Premiere Pro and Blender on a 14-inch screen, and I often advise professionals to go bigger if they can. But 15-inch and 16-inch devices with discrete GPUs inside them can get really heavy really fast \u2014 which is also not great for many video folks, who may need to carry their laptop to shoots alongside lots of other bulky gear. I\u2019ve been waiting \u2014 like really, eagerly waiting \u2014 for a 16-inch device with a discrete GPU to come along that isn\u2019t a total tank. A solid battery lifespan would really seal the deal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Prestige 16 Studio Evo is 3.3 pounds \u2014 close to pound and a half lighter than the 16-inch MacBook Pro<\/a>. I can tell you, having held the thing, that it is very <\/em>light. LG Gram<\/a> light. \u201cAre you sure this isn\u2019t an empty chassis?\u201d light. It would be a dream to carry around in a packed backpack. I\u2019m wistful just remembering what it was like to pick this up. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n That\u2019s especially true because the finish feels a solid step above what I\u2019ve experienced from MSI before \u2014 this company often puts out laptops<\/a> that are covered in fingerprints like, five seconds after unboxing. I tried very hard to smudge the Prestige\u2019s lid on the show floor, and I actually couldn\u2019t. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The Prestige 16 Studio Evo also has a 99Whr battery, which is the largest battery you can bring on a plane (and thus, the largest you will likely see in a consumer laptop). <\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s one more nifty thing about this product, which is that it looks like it might be one of the first 14th-Gen Meteor Lake laptops we\u2019ve seen in the wild. The spec sheet in the booth just lists \u201clatest Intel Core i7 processor,\u201d and \u2014 as Notebookcheck <\/em><\/a>also discovered \u2014 the processor in the show floor unit was simply listed in Device Manager as \u201cGenuine Intel(R) 0000\u201d and showed 22 threads. It certainly is not a 13th-Gen mobile i7, since there\u2019s not a 22-thread offering in that lineup.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now, I don\u2019t want to get my hopes up or jinx anything. But I\u2019m wondering whether maybe, just maybe, this is a good sign for the efficiency of the upcoming Meteor Lake generation. After all, many of today\u2019s workstation laptops have bad battery life and a hefty chassis for a reason: Intel\u2019s current heavyweight processors are inefficient and hot. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The phrase \u201cMacBook Pro alternative\u201d is thrown around a lot. But this Prestige is shaping up to be one of the closest contenders I\u2019ve seen in 2023 so far. Now, let\u2019s wait to hear about the price.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n