Asus is unveiling a 16-inch variant of its highly regarded competitor to the MacBook Air. Unveiled at CES 2026, the latest Asus Zenbook A16 presents a sophisticated, lightweight Windows laptop equipped with the cutting-edge Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor and a 3K OLED touchscreen boasting a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. Its tan exterior is designed from Asus’ proprietary “Ceraluminum” material, a robust yet lightweight magnesium-aluminum alloy, weighing as little as 2.65 pounds based on the version of Windows it operates. This makes it nearly an ounce lighter than Apple’s 13-inch laptop. Other 16-inch Windows laptops recently reviewed by Mashable weigh between 3.3 to 4.7 pounds.

The Zenbook A16 is a bigger model of the Asus Zenbook A14, a 14-inch Copilot+ PC that received accolades at CES 2025. It featured the previous generation Snapdragon X series processors, a 2K 60Hz OLED screen, numerous ports, and a 22-hour battery duration. As Asus’ inaugural all-Ceraluminum laptop, it weighed as little as 2.18 pounds depending on the specific configuration.

Asus initially set the price for the Zenbook A14 at $899.99, but tariffs on imports from China resulted in a $100 price hike. Nonetheless, it provided an impressive specification list at a competitive price along with a remarkably lightweight yet robust design.

After securing the CNET Group’s “Best Laptop of CES 2025” accolade, the Zenbook A14 was recognized as Mashable’s best ultraportable Windows laptop of the year after additional evaluations. It also made it onto Oprah’s Favorite Things list for 2025, marking the first instance a laptop has been included since the Sony VAIO FJ in 2005.

For 2026, Asus is refreshing the Zenbook A14 with a Snapdragon X2 Elite chip, slimmer bezels, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, and a matte finish on the keycaps for enhanced durability. Its base edition will commence with 512GB of storage and 24GB of RAM, an upgrade from the previous 16GB.

Asus is fully adopting Ceraluminum for its remaining Zenbook lineup. The 2026 iterations of the Zenbook S14, S16, and the dual-screen Zenbook Duo will all be constructed from plasma ceramic aluminum material, which is scratch-resistant, shock-resistant, fingerprint-resistant, and completely recyclable.

Asus Zenbook A16 specifications

When compared to its 14-inch predecessor, the new Zenbook A16 features a larger, brighter, and sharper display, an extra slot for an SD card reader, a quicker processor, and increased memory. It comes equipped with 48GB of RAM in contrast to the Zenbook A14’s 24GB or 32GB. Here’s a comprehensive overview of its specifications:

– Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme CPU
– Qualcomm Hexagon NPU (up to 80 TOPS)
– Qualcomm Adreno GPU
– 48GB RAM
– 1TB SSD storage
– 16-inch 3K (2,880 x 1800) OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate; 500 nits of typical brightness and up to 1,100 nits of peak brightness for HDR content
– FHD webcam
– Two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, one HDMI port, one SD card reader slot, and a headphone jack
– 70Wh battery
– WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4
– 13.92 x 9.54 x 0.54-0.65 inches
– 2.65 pounds with Windows 11 Pro, 2.87 pounds with Windows 11 Home
– Zabrinskie Beige finish

The Zenbook A16 may not be the lightest 16-inch laptop on the market, but it ranks among the lightest options available in the U.S. The Acer Swift Air 16 was introduced at IFA 2025 with AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processors, an optional 120Hz AMOLED display, and a starting weight of merely 2.18 pounds. It is exclusively available in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, starting at €999, or roughly $1,165.

Asus has yet to disclose pricing and availability for the Zenbook A16 and the refreshed Zenbook A14. It remains unclear whether the company can sustain the attractive value of the 14-inch model amidst the ongoing RAM scarcity. This could also result in changes to the specifications for both sizes by the time they hit the market. Committing to 24 to 48GB of RAM for consumer laptops may prove to be impractical.