MSI partners with Mercedes-AMG for new laptop design

The big news from MSI at Computex 2023, was the announcement of a partnership with Mercedes-AMD Motorsport. Eric Kuo, EVP for MSI’s notebook division was met on stage by Christoph Sagemueller, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport for a theatrical ‘signing’ ceremony. At the heart of the agreement is a limited edition, AMG-styled version of MSI’s Stealth 16 laptop – complete with revamped magnesium alloy chassis – although no speed/performance bumps were included. So what was the driver for this deal?

According to Kuo, MSI has launched a new initiative to differentiate its notebook products from the competition, by raising design standards and looking to innovate where possible – under the heading ‘MSIology’.

MSI already believes that the new Stealth 16 is the ‘epitome of luxury and high-performance’, but both of those terms are subjective in this instance. What they are trying to do is combine the best of both worlds from MSI and Mercedes-AMG. The laptop boasts a Selenite Gray colour design, with an exclusive AMG Rhombus pattern and a magnesium-aluminium alloy chassis – aiming to evoke the Mercedes-AMG GT2 race car.

At its core, it comes with the same 13th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and GeForce RTX 40 series graphics as its less stylish predecessor. It would have been nice to see a clock bump in either the CPU or GPU. The 4K OLED display does look crisp and the whole thing should stay cool in the heat of battle with its advanced Cooler Boost 5 system that combines dual fans with five heat pipes.

MSI’s efforts at a classy look-n-feel extend outside the AMG-branded laptop itself – in the form of a range of specially designed accessories. An exclusive Premium Bundle Pack features a mouse, mousepad, USB drive, and pouch – all showcasing the collaboration.

According to the MSI product team on hand, this collaboration is rooted in their shared commitment to pursuing the pinnacle of luxury and performance. Eric Kuo told us, “For us, luxury gaming is more than just playing the games”. Opening the box should be the start of a ‘luxurious journey’.

Christoph Sagemueller, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, said that it was important for Mercedes-AMG to have found a partner that their values and ambition. Calling MSI a “perfect fit”, Sagemuller went on to say that, “MSI demonstrate a strong commitment to innovation and a passion for high-performance products”.

While the Mercedes sports cars at the event drew a lot of attention and the look/feel of the updated Stealth 16 is certainly appealing – the innovation that really caught our eye was the huge touchpad on the Raider GE78 HX.

For a start, it has a proximity detector (see below), which means that the top of the keyboard is muted black, until your hand approaches – and then the attractive glowing begins. In addition to the huge trackpad itself, you have a set of ‘virtual buttons’ that give you quick access to standard system functions – plus the ability to customise the interface yourself.

Aimed very much at the creator market, MSI has integrated the edge version of the AI Artist into its latest laptops, which aims to harness the potential of generative Ai – to provide a more intuitive and faster way of generating photo-realistic images without the risk of data leakage, particularly for creators.

Many of these new models will be on sale shortly, but MSI was keeping the specifics of regional launch pricing close to its chest. We expect to see online ordering in the near future.

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KitGuru Says: How much do you reckon this laptop will end up costing at launch? 

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