This machine runs AMD’s Ryzen AI Max Pro processor, but a lot of workstation apps are only certified on Nvidia, so it’s hard to recommend a laptop that’s not certified for professional work.
HP’s ZBook Ultra G1a is an interesting laptop. It’s positioned as a mobile workstation, but it doesn’t have a discrete GPU. Instead, it utilizes AMD’s Ryzen AI Max Pro processor, designed to deliver desktop-level performance in a mobile chip. This performs exceptionally well for applications that leverage many CPU cores and/or the integrated neural processing unit (NPU). However, it falls short for tasks requiring professional-level graphics capabilities.
The machine looks and feels like a solid executive notebook, measuring 12.29 by 8.45 by 0.71 inches and sporting a silver-gray aluminum chassis. It’s similar to the medium-gray color of previous HP laptops; more recent HP’s EliteBooks moved to a lighter «glacier silver» color.
It’s hefty, weighing 3.51 pounds, or 4.6 pounds with the included 140-watt charger, which is larger than what you’d expect from executive notebooks. The machine itself weighs about a pound more than the Intel Lunar Lake-based EliteBook Ultra G1i, and a quarter pound more than the EliteBook X G1a, which sported a Ryzen AI 300 laptop.
My unit had a Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 processor, the top model in this year’s lineup. As part of AMD’s Strix Halo family, it has 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock speed of 3GHz and a maximum boost of up to 5.1GHz. It has Radeon 8060S graphics, with 40 graphics cores. It has a default TDP of 55 watts and is made on TSMC’s 4nm process. This gives it a nice advantage over the Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 (Strix Point), which I saw in the EliteBook X G1a with 12 cores, 24 threads, and only 16 graphics cores. My unit has 128GB of memory and a 2TB SSD.Performance
As you would expect, the extra power certainly shows up in many performance tests. In general, it scored about on par with Lunar Lake and Strix Point laptops on single-core tests, but was among the top laptops I’ve ever tested on PC Mark 10’s Modern Office and Applications benchmark, though the EliteBook X G1a was similar.
