If you’re planning on buying a gaming laptop, it looks like it might be best to buy now rather than waiting for new hardware. Although Nvidia is rumored to launch three new desktop GPUs soon, it appears those graphics cards are unlikely to appear in laptops any time soon. Does it make sense to wait for an RTX 40-series refresh if you’re a laptop user? For various reasons, probably not.
Various leakers have been sharing information about the rumored RTX 4070 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and RTX 4080 Super for some time now. Given that Nvidia is planning to give a “special address” at CES 2024, the general assumption is that this is the time when the company will officially announce the RTX 40-series refresh.
Nvidia already has a full range of top-tier graphics cards available, so the refresh may seem a bit unnecessary. However, the hope is that these GPUs can drive down the prices of other Nvidia cards. If there is an RTX 40-series refresh, desktop users may be able to buy better GPUs at the same price, or benefit from lower prices on non-Super models. This is why now is actually a very bad time to buy a desktop GPU made by Nvidia.
Theoretically, the same would be true for gaming laptops if RTX 40 Super GPUs ever come out. However, according to laptop and desktop PC maker XMG, this super refresh may not include mobile cards.
The company shared a roadmap update for XMG and Schenker laptops, giving customers a glimpse of its plans for 2024. The announcement reads: “As the year turns, we typically see a ton of new launches in the laptop components space. In our XMG laptop roadmap for November 2023, we provide an early glimpse of why we’re planning only minor updates for early 2024. Neither XMG nor Schenker have the introduction of new Nvidia graphics cards on their agenda, but there are some CPU refreshes for existing platforms. are anticipated.”
This means that Nvidia is sticking to the desktop segment for now, and RTX 40-series laptops are likely to remain as expensive as ever. Perhaps the Super Refresh will eventually come to mobile GPUs, but it doesn’t seem like it will come in the next few months.
It may be better to buy now instead of waiting. There are plenty of Black Friday gaming laptop deals available right now, so if you find a laptop you like, take advantage – if XMG’s prediction proves true we won’t see any significant price cuts for months.