A new dongle hell? This razor-thin laptop has zero ports

A laptop with zero ports and wireless charging? It seems that this may soon become a reality with the Craob X.

Photos and some basic specifications emerged, painting an image of a razor-thin, ultra-light laptop that seemingly packs a lot of punch within its very small frame. But will the lack of ports be a perk or a flaw?

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Craob X portless laptop. — Image source: MyLaptopGuide

Concept photos, first posted on Craob’s website and then shared by MyLaptopGuide, reveal what might become one of the thinnest, if not the thinnest, notebooks out there. It’s 7mm thin and weighs just under 2 pounds. It has a 13.3-inch screen with next to no bezels and no webcam notch — the camera is just punched into the display.

Although there are plenty of ultra-thin laptops on the market, the Craob X brings an unprecedented design choice in its lack of ports. It’s not just the lack of USB or Thunderbolt ports, there is no charging port either. That doesn’t mean that the laptop doesn’t support these technologies, though — it comes with a wireless charger that offers access to these ports.

The small device attaches directly to the laptop’s lid and offers wireless charging. It also comes with a full selection of the ports that the Craob X itself is missing, and although the manufacturer hasn’t shared a full list, we can assume there’ll be USB type A/C ports, a Thunderbolt port, a and an SD card slot based on the images.

In terms of specifications, the laptop is said to house some very powerful components, especially for a notebook so thin. Craob X is rumored to come with an Intel Core i7-1280P, which is a brand-new Intel Alder Lake laptop processor with low power requirements. The Alder Lake CPU is accompanied by Intel Iris Xe graphics. The laptop’s display also sounds like a strong point, with what Craob advertises as a 4K UHD+ screen. Other specifications include 32GB of LPDDR5 memory and a massive 2TB of PCIe 4.0 storage as well as Intel’s Wi-Fi 6E.

On paper, the Craob X sounds fantastic and has a lot of potential. It looks elegant, is ultra-light, and packs a lot of punch within the tiny chassis. The lack of ports and the fancy wireless charger top off what seems to be a good package. However, there are a few things to consider.

There is a question of efficiency and charging speed where wireless charging is concerned. Craob hasn’t talked about that aspect of the laptop, but it’s likely that the charger may not be as quick as one that plugs directly into the laptop. As such, recharging could take longer than on models that come with ports.

Using the laptop could prove problematic if you ever forget the charger. With zero ports, users will have to make sure to always bring more than just the laptop itself if they want to work on the move. There is a reason why many users were happy to see the return of the ports on the latest MacBook Pros.

With all that said, the Craob X certainly presents a great alternative to similar ultrabooks that could be impressively powerful while remaining feather-light. The company is yet to announce the pricing and availability of the new laptop, so it remains to be seen how big a premium Craob will charge for this innovative design.

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