Asus’ new rival MacBook Pro costs $5,000

Asus released several clamshell phones on Monday, including the new business-oriented ExpertBook B5, which starts at $1,300. Four new ProArt Studiobooks start at $2,000. But if you’re looking to splurge, check out the Asus ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W7600), which comes with an Intel Xeon processor and Nvidia RTX graphics and costs a whopping $5,000.

All four of the ProArt Studiobook Pro OLEDs announced today (W7600, H7600, H5600 and W5600) come with Pro Windows and a 16-inch HDR-enabled OLED with slightly above 4K resolution (3840×2400 vs 3840×2160), thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio.

In comparison, the 16-inch MacBook Pro has a 16.2-inch screen with a resolution of 3456×2234. It can also go up to 120Hz, depending on what you’re doing. The Apple laptop’s screen has a lower pixel density (254 ppi) than Asus’s (283 ppi) and uses Mini LED technology, which tends to be higher contrast than OLED. The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, has a brighter screen (up to 1,000 nits in full screen versus the Studiobook’s claimed 550 nits).

All Asus Studiobooks announced today are equipped with up to 64 GB of DDR4-3200 memory and a pair of PCIe slots (one version 4.0 x4, the other 3.0 x4). This means you can get up to 4TB of storage space on these powerful storages. These maximum specs will set you back $5,000; a similar configuration on a 16-inch MacBook Pro costs roughly $4,900. You can upgrade storage to 8TB on a MacBook Pro, but that will raise the price by $1,200.

The Studiobook has a decent selection of ports: one Thunderbolt 4, one USB-C (3.2 Gen 2), a couple of USB-A (3.2 Gen 2), the latest HDMI (2.1), RJ45 Ethernet, and 3.5mm. Jack. Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro has three Thunderbolt ports, but no USB-A or Ethernet. The MacBook Pro has an HDMI port, but it uses HDMI 2.0, not 2.1.

The ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W7600) differs – and in price – from other Studiobooks in its processor and GPU. While other ProArt Studiobooks include up to the Intel Core i7-11800H and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, the W7600 can run the Intel Xeon W-11955M and RTX A5000.

The Intel Xeon line is designed for more powerful workstations and servers. The Xeon W-11955M was announced in May for mobile workstations. It has eight CPU cores, 16 threads, and a 2.6GHz clock speed that can boost up to 5GHz. The laptop’s product page states that you can temporarily boost the TDP from 45W to 95W, or use a steady 75W in “performance”mode. (Apple’s most expensive version of the 16-inch MacBook Pro uses the M1 Max. These are different types of cores, but the chip has 10 CPU cores and 32 GPU cores. To learn more about the M1 Max, check out our 2021 Macbook Pro review.)

Meanwhile, back in April, Nvidia announced the RTX A5000 for professionals looking for thin and light laptops. The mobile GPU has 16GB of GDDR6 memory and can be overclocked to 1455MHz at 110W. Asus used it in the W7600 to meet workloads such as CAD modeling, high-resolution video editing and 3D product design. Asus opted for a thinner version of the Max-Q RTX A5000.

According to Asus, the new Asus laptop is 0.77 inches (19.6 mm) thick and weighs approximately 5.29 pounds (2.4 kg). The 16-inch MacBook Pro is thinner (0.66 in / 16.76 mm) and lighter (4.8 lbs / 2.2 kg with M1 Max).

Asus says the ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED can support TDPs up to 140W. The company did not mention noise levels under high load, but in “normal”(not “performance”) mode, the company promises that the sound of these fans will be below 40 dBA.

All new ProArt Studiobooks are available now, with the exception of the ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W5600), which will be available in the first quarter of 2022.

Ars Technica may be compensated for sales from links in this post through affiliate programs.