Porsche has previously lent its design talent, and name, to computer peripheral designs, and in 2017 we saw its first own-branded laptop - a 13.3-inch 2-in-1 Windows laptop. Earlier this week it followed up on its computer design ambitions with a new 15.6-inch laptop design - the Porsche Design Ultra One.
As you might expect from Porsche it has taken some design choices that not only give these laptops their own particular visual appeal but internally set these apart from the host of me-too 15.6-inch laptops crowding the market. It appears to have been the choice of the designers to make a 15.6-inch laptop that is as portable as possible. This is manifest in the sleek 13.8mm thickness (dimensions are 359×249.5×13.8mm) and a device which tips the scales at 1.5kg.
Porsche has selected a 15.6-inch FHD touch-screen panel but it is notable that the lower bezel is rather sizeable. Complementing the visuals are stereo Harman Kardon speakers, positioned either side of the TKL keyboard deck. A fingerprint sensor is situated in the area to the top and right of the keyboard and a generously sized touch pad below it. On the topic of layouts, Porsche has kept clean lines to the front and sized with just a modest sprinkling of essential ports on the sides. Handily there is a selection of essential back panel ports augmenting this choice.
These svelte machines are fanless, which of course means that they don't pack the most potent processors available. Porsche has chosen to equip its Ultra One with your choice of 14nm 8th gen Intel Core i5-8200Y or i7-8500Y. These Y-series chips are both 2C/4T processors with a 5W TDP and integrated Intel UHD Graphics 615. The i7 boasts 200MHz faster base and 300MHz boost clocks and a 100MHz faster max graphics boost clock. Other than that these processors look identical.
Differences between the Porsche Design Ultra One i5 and i7 machines aren't that great in other spec choices either. For your extra money you won't only get the faster processor with the i7 model, you also get double the Ram (16GB) and double the storage (1TB SSD) built-in.
The Porsche Design Ultra One i5 and Porsche Design Ultra One i7 are pre-orderable direct now at US$1,350 and $1,800 respectively. They will ship sometime near the end of December.
Specs:
- Intel Core i5 8200Y/ i7-8500Y processor
- 8GB / 16GB RAM
- 512GB / 1TB SSD hard drive
- 15.6-inch full HD multi-point 10-point multi-touch display
- Amplified by Harman/Kardon
- Voice assistance by Cortana
- Fingerprint sensor
- Dimensions: 359 x 249.5 x 13.8mm
- Magnesium shell
- Weight: approx 1.5kg
- Windows 10 Home
- Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 4.2
- Multiple ports: 2x USB A, 2x USB C, HDMI, Audio 3.5mm
- USB Type-C charger is provided
I notice that Porsche doesn't mention or show off a built-in webcam / mic. Details about the battery life and whether the keyboard is backlit would be welcome too.
