The early-teens 3D screen craze never materialized into sustained interest, but Asus is returning to the 3D well with a pair of new laptops. Asus unveiled the ProArt Studiobook 16 and Vivobook Pro 16X at CES 2023, both of which feature high-resolution OLED screens with glasses-free 3D. According to Asus, the use of OLED improves the 3D effect over previous models, but finding uses for 3D on a laptop may be difficult.
Putting aside the 3D display for a moment, these laptops are packed with cutting-edge hardware. The Core i9-13980HX, Intel’s most powerful mobile Raptor Lake chip, is found in both devices. Asus buyers will receive an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU with 8GB of memory and a TDP of 150W. There are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm jack, ethernet, and an SD card slot for connectivity.
The spec sheets for the Vivobook (above) and Studiobook (below) differ slightly, including memory and storage configurations. The Studiobook is the more expensive model, with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and two 4TB PCIe 4.0 SSDs. The Vivobook has 16GB of RAM (upgradable to 64GB) and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
The laptops have identical 16-inch OLED displays with a 3200 2000 resolution and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The panel has an optical resin coating and a lenticular lens that divides the image into left and right halves. The display works in tandem with a pair of eye-tracking cameras that can adjust the image in real time, expanding the “sweet spot” where the full 3D effect can be seen.
Asus is demonstrating the laptops with niche applications in mind, such as 3D rendering and architecture. The ProArt Studiobook also has a handy rotary encoder nestled next to the trackpad, which allows you to change brush sizes or scrub through a video. They include a 3D model viewer and apps for viewing 3D images and video. It also allows for stylus input on the display.
Asus has yet to announce pricing or a release date for these laptops, which is typical for CES announcements. A mid-2023 release date is likely, as is a hefty price tag for all of this cutting-edge hardware.
