Design
This ultra thin portless laptop takes minimalism to the extreme
We can't tell if the Craob X will become an actual product, but we’re hoping the super thin design has some lasting impact at least.
We’ve all wondered just how thin they can pack down laptops these days. Well, this unknown company called Craob (via My Laptop Guide) unveiled a laptop concept that comes in at 7mm, or .027 inches, thick. "For reference, one of the thinnest laptops on the market right now is the 13-inch Samsung Galaxy Book Pro (0.44 inches) thick, whereas most other lightweight laptops are closer to 0.5 inches thick (though, many like the M1 MacBook Air taper to a much slimmer profile).
No ports anywhere — You’ll realize that this laptop is so thin that you can’t even plug anything into it. Well, not to worry because Craob says where we’re going, we don’t need any ports. That’s right, the Craob X is a completely port-less laptop. It makes Apple’s discontinued 12-inch MacBook and its single USB port look fully-featured.
Laptop port design has varied amongst models and manufacturers with some offering a tight selection of just USB-C ports, while others deck them out with headphone jacks, SD card slots, HDMI ports, and whatever else they can tack on. But Craob’s design with its X laptop is the first laptop concept to skip ports entirely.
Magnetic hub — Since there are no ports, Craob X designed a wireless charger that magnetically attaches to the back of the laptop’s display. The charger is also a hub for all those missing ports as it includes a USB-C, USB-A, and Thunderbolt ports, as well as a headphone jack, and an SD card slot.
The website says the Craob X will have a 13.3-inch 4K UHD+ display with an almost bezel-less design and what looks to be a hole-punch camera at the top center. Craob says the ultra-thin laptop will be compatible with Wi-Fi 6E and will also be built with a 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1280P processor, Intel Iris Xe graphics, up to 32GB Ram, and up to a 2TB SSD.
Coming soon? — Unfortunately, the Craob website only says that its X laptop is coming soon. But we’re not holding our breath. After all, we never heard of the company and the renders look pretty amateur. Even though the Craob X’s design looks incredibly innovative, we’re going to need a healthy dose of skepticism here because it might never even make it to market. Consider it vaporware until we see a working unit.
Even though we’re not sure if this super thin port-less laptop is legit, its unique design will probably intrigue some minimalist consumers out there. And that could potentially influence actual laptop design where we might never see a port again.
