- Revamped Lemur Pro offers more powerful internal features and a massive battery life for its Linux-based customers
- Ultraportable class laptop offers two screen sizes and up to 18 hours of multi-day battery life
- Users can also choose to skip Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, in addition to an optional webcam and microphone
System 76, a Denver, Colorado-based company that focuses on selling systems with Linux preinstalled, has updated its 2020 Lemur Pro, offering major internal upgrades, more display options, and battery life on par with a MacBook Air.
At just under 1kg for the 14-inch variant and 1.34kg for the 16-inch variant, it’s also the lightest Linux-first laptop in the industry in the 14-inch form factor, despite packing a battery rated for 18 hours of life between cycles.
This puts it in the same weight class as the 14-inch LG Gram and 13.3-inch Fujitsu LifeBook series, although it offers considerably more powerful internals than both models.
Battery life for several days on a Linux laptop
The Lemur Pro is priced at a premium, starting at $1,999 on its website before a $76 rebate kicks in, but you can quickly see why the manufacturer is pricing it near $2,000.
The laptop offers 32GB of non-user-upgradable LPDDR5X RAM, a base configuration of a 1TB SSD, WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and a choice of an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 or X7 358H CPU. The former is an 8-core CPU, while the latter is a significantly more powerful 16-core CPU that is a crucial part of its performance-centric Panther Lake offering.
Users can kick things off by upgrading their storage to 4T via the website’s built-in configurator and choosing whether they want WiFi, Bluetooth, a webcam or a microphone.
System76 states that the Lemur Pro is aimed at students, frequent travelers, digital nomads, developers, engineers and IT professionals, to name a few, and that some may want a computer with air dispersion, while others may not need a webcam or microphone, or may consider it a security risk.
Prospective buyers can also choose between a 14′ FHD+ display and a 16′ QHD+ display, though the laptop continues to offer up to 18 hours of battery life in both configurations.
Apple’s own MacBook Air is also said to offer up to 18 hours of video playback and 15 hours of wireless internet browsing, putting it in the same endurance range as the Linux-based Lemur Pro. In our review, we found that claim to be largely true, with 15.5 hours of battery life when browsing the web.
Carl Richell, founder and CEO of System76, praised the laptop while noting that Intel’s Panther Lake chips were a crucial part of the Lemur Pro’s overhaul.
While there hasn’t been any independent review to confirm the Lemur Pro’s battery life claims, if they hold up, the MacBook Air M5 might just have a serious, powerful contender fighting for a chunk of its developer and IT professional audience at the same time Apple has decided to raise prices across the board, creating a perfect storm even though it comes with twice as much RAM as standard.
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