LG on Thursday formally announced its next-generation LG gram ultra-thin notebooks. The new laptops will be as sleek as their predecessors, but will get a more durable chassis, Intel’s latest quad-core 8th generation Core i5/i7 processors, optional Thundebolt 3 connectivity and a higher-capacity accumulator that enables 19 – 22.5 hours battery life.

The new LG gram 2018 notebooks will continue to be offered with 13.3”, 14”, and 15.6” display panels with optional touch support. LG does not disclose resolution, but it looks like it is going to remain at 1920×1080 pixels, unchanged from the current-generation LG gram and standard for laptops with an ultra-long battery life. The upcoming LG gram PCs will come in a new Carbon Magnesium alloy chassis that visually resembles the current-gen LG gram notebooks, but has one important difference. LG moved the webcam along with a light sensor and microphones from the bottom of the display bezel to its top (where they should be). The display hinge remains the same, just like the overall look of the chassis: smooth rounded edges and no sharp corners. Meanwhile, LG used a new alloy for the chassis and also redesigned internals of its gram laptops to make them more rugged and durable to survive improper handling and unfriendly environments. The manufacturer says that its 2018 LG gram notebooks have passed U.S. military MIL-STD 810G durability tests for resistance to impact, pressure and temperature, but does not elaborate. Back in the past LG’s Gram PCs were criticized for being too fragile, so the new systems apparently address this drawback.

LG does not share all technical specifications of its next-gen gram laptops, but only says they are based on Intel’s 8th generation Core i5/i7 processors that have four cores and therefore offer better performance than predecessors in applications that can take advantage of additional parallelism. Beyond CPU specs, we know almost nothing. It is logical to expect that some variants of the systems will feature 8 GB of memory, others will be outfitted with 16 GB, but larger options remain to be seen. When it comes to storage, the new systems will come equipped with SSDs of regular capacities you expect from modern notebooks (256 GB – 512 GB), but will also feature an additional M.2 slot for an extra drive. As for connectivity, the notebooks will also feature an 802.11ac Wi-Fi + BT module, two USB 3.0 Type-A headers, a USB Type-C connector that can serve either as a Thunderbolt 3 port, or a USB 3.0 port (depending on the SKU), an HDMI output and a mini-jack for headphones.

Another key improvement of the next-gen LG gram laptops over predecessors will be a new battery featuring 72 Wh capacity that enables 19 – 22.5 hours of battery life (based on MobileMark 2014 criteria) depending on the model. It is unknown whether LG tailored its systems to run longer by using more energy efficient components (e.g., LPDRR3 instead of DDR4, etc.) and tweaking settings, but this is something we are going to learn in the future. In any case, the new LG gram laptops might be not only one of the most compact mobile PCs around, but also among the longest-lasting ones.

The LG Gram 2018 Brief Specifications
  13.3"
13Z980
14"
14Z980
15.6"
15Z950
Screen Resolution 1920×1080?
Touch Support Optional, LG's IPS In-Cell Touch technology
CPU Family 8th generation Core i5/i7 processors
Model Core i5-8250U - 4C/8T, 1.6 - 3.4 GHz, 6 MB cache, HD Graphics 620 at 1.1 GHz, 15 W
Core i5-8350U - 4C/8T, 1.7 - 3.6 GHz, 6 MB cache, HD Graphics 620 at 1.1 GHz, 15 W
Core i7-8550U - 4C/8T, 1.8 - 4.0 GHz, 8 MB cache, HD Graphics 620 at 1.15 GHz, 15 W
Core i7-8650U - 4C/8T, 1.9 - 4.2 GHz, 8 MB cache, HD Graphics 620 at 1.15 GHz, 15 W
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 620
RAM 8 GB
16 GB
Storage 256 GB SSD
512 GB SSD
1 TB SSD (?)
+ 1 extra M.2 slot for SSD
Wi-Fi 2×2 802.11ac Wi-Fi with BT
USB 2 × USB 3.0 Type-A
1 × USB 3.0 Type-C or Thunderbolt 3
Thunderbolt 3 Optional
Fingerprint Sensor Optional
Audio Microphone, 1.5 W stereo speakers with DTS Headphone: X enhancement
Other I/O MicroSDXC card reader
Battery 72 Wh
Battery Life 22.5 hours 21.5 hours 19 hours
Thickness Thin
Weight 965 grams
2.12 lbs
995 grams
2.19 lbs
1095 grams
2.41 lbs

LG plans to start selling its 2018 gram laptops sometimes next month in the U.S. Pricing is not announced at this time.

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Source: LG

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  • twtech - Saturday, December 16, 2017 - link

    This sounded pretty good - until I saw the keyboard with a dreaded number pad.

    Off-centered keyboard is a deal killer. Can't effectively use it as an actual laptop.
  • Samus - Saturday, December 16, 2017 - link

    I agree. The overall keyboard destroys the otherwise excellent machine. It's unbelievable so many companies mess up keyboards. It seems HP, Lenovo and Dell are the only PC makers (excluding Apple) that get it right. Literally everyone else fucks up the keyboard.
  • DanNeely - Saturday, December 16, 2017 - link

    It's worse than that, it's a 3 column abomination not a full pad; meaning it's unusable for the fraction of the market that does significant amounts of numeric entry and do want a numberpad.
  • twtech - Sunday, December 17, 2017 - link

    And on top of that, I notice that the touchpad isn't centered below the keyboard. Meaning that you're likely to end up resting your right palm on the touchpad surface, and end up accidentally moving the cursor and clicking while trying to type.

    It's too bad. The laptop looks pretty good other than that.
  • mpbello - Monday, December 18, 2017 - link

    That and the lack of a trackpoint.
  • Xajel - Saturday, December 16, 2017 - link

    Strange as they should use the extra space provided by the larger screen to have a larger battery, in theory this can bring longer battery life even with the larger screen.. but they're using the exact same battery for all screen configuration making the larger screen having shorter battery life.

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