Earlier this year, ASUS released a very interesting slim laptop, the ROG Flow X13. This laptop has the appearance of an Ultrabook, but is focused on e-sports. The reason is that the Flow X13 has the option of being paired with an external graphics card using XG Mobile, a dedicated external interface. Recently, tipsters discovered that ASUS is about to release a new product, the ROG Flow Z13, to succeed this gaming laptop. The keyboard part will become removable and the original dedicated interface for high-speed external graphics cards will be retained:
▲ROG Flow X13 looks quite slim in appearance, but the truth is that the independent graphics card is changed to an exclusive interface for external connection.
The ROG Flow X13 launched by ASUS this year can be regarded as a laptop with no obvious e-sports style. Although it has an orientation of e-sports functions, in terms of hardware, it looks more like a slim business laptop. The machine is not even equipped with an independent GPU core, but uses an external interface to allow the GPU to operate independently of the laptop.
The interface for connecting external graphics cards is also very unique. ASUS did not choose to use the common Thunderbolt interface. Instead, it designed its own exclusive interface and gave it the bandwidth of PCI-E 3.0 x8. Also because of the use of the exclusive external interface XG Mobile and a specially designed external graphics card, the Flow X13 can effectively slim down to a body shape that is almost reminiscent of a business laptop. It also allows players to experience the performance level of a gaming laptop through the external graphics card:
▲The independently powered graphics card connected via the exclusively designed XG Mobile interface has become the biggest selling point of ROG Flow X13 in terms of performance.
The ROG Flow X13 is supposed to have updated specifications and a faster successor next year, and tipster Evleaks (Evan Bliss) recently posted pictures of a suspected successor on Twitter. Judging from the design in the picture, this unreleased product called ROG Flow Z13 has an appearance that is quite similar to the Microsoft Surface Pro 8. The most obvious identification point is the keyboard, which seems to be quite similar to the physical keyboard cover of the Surface Pro series. There is also a stand behind the screen of the ROG Flow Z13 that is similar to the necessary stand of the Surface Pro series. This information may imply that the ROG Flow Z13 will be a 2 in 1 laptop that borrows from the Surface Pro in every aspect:
▲The leaker Evleaks only posted a picture with limited resolution. It seems that the authenticity has yet to be verified (Image source）
In addition, the biggest feature of ROG Flow X13 is that it is equipped with ASUS’s exclusive XG Mobile external interface, which can be connected to an external graphics card to obtain powerful GPU performance. From this point of view, ROG Flow Z13 should also have an exclusive interface with similar or stronger specifications and functions, and can connect additional external graphics cards.
However, since Evleaks only posted product images, no other details were given. Therefore, we can only speculate that there are not many details to talk about at this stage, or Evleaks has accepted a certain degree of silence order. If the latter is the case, it is certain that this notebook will be on the launch stage soon. It might be the CES 2022 exhibition in January next year at the earliest. Although we don’t know how high the final price will be, it is certain that these features should give Microsoft a sense of crisis for its own Surface Pro series.
Source: KOCPC Chinese