LG debuts new LG Gram and Gram Pro laptops with NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050; the Pro includes Intel's AI Boost NPU for on-device AI tasks
If you're in the market for OLED displays and better graphics, take a look at the 2024 LG Gram Pro lineup.
Context & Ripple Effects
LG has long positioned Gram around portability and large displays, from its initial US Gram ultrabooks to a 17-inch model whose lightweight design came with reported graphics and chassis compromises.
The new Pro configuration addresses that product-line tension by combining a discrete GPU with an NPU. It follows a 2023 Gram Style review that praised its display and low weight but flagged limited power and thermal management.
First-order effects
- LG can offer Gram Pro buyers a clearer split between conventional thin-and-light use and locally accelerated AI workloads, while retaining NVIDIA graphics for GPU-oriented work.
- Intel gains a visible design win for its AI Boost NPU in LG's premium laptop range; NVIDIA's RTX 3050 becomes the discrete-graphics option in that configuration.
Second-order effects
- The added NPU and GPU raise the competitive bar for premium lightweight Windows laptops, especially models that previously differentiated chiefly through display size, weight, or battery claims.
- LG will need to demonstrate that the higher-performance components do not repeat the power, cooling, and build trade-offs identified in earlier Gram coverage; that balance will shape the Pro's practical differentiation.
Third-order effects
- If this configuration becomes common, premium PCs will increasingly be specified by a mix of CPU, NPU, and discrete GPU roles rather than by processor generation alone.
- The broader shift is toward heterogeneous AI compute: OEMs can segment devices by where workloads run locally, though the value depends on software making meaningful use of each accelerator.
The trend: The Gram Pro is one example of premium PC makers packaging specialized local-AI silicon alongside conventional graphics instead of treating AI capability as a CPU feature alone.