HP refreshes Spectre x360 with Intel's Kaby Lake processors, a bigger battery, Thunderbolt 3, and Windows Hello support, available now for $1,050
HP's Kaby Lake refresh adds some great features to one of our favorite laptops. — We really liked HP's Spectre x360 Ultrabook when we reviewed its first Broadwell version last year.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Spectre x360 began in 2015 as a 13-inch Broadwell convertible starting at $899, and Ars Technica's review of that first version was warm enough that HP has an audience primed for each successor. This Kaby Lake refresh is the first re-run of that playbook: same convertible, new Intel silicon, plus a bigger battery, Thunderbolt 3, and Windows Hello, now at $1,050.
The move matters because it ties a well-reviewed chassis directly to Intel's newest processor launch, making the x360 a showcase machine for Kaby Lake rather than a standalone redesign.
First-order effects
- Buyers can pick up the refreshed x360 today at $1,050 — $151 above the Broadwell original's $899 entry price — gaining Thunderbolt 3, Windows Hello biometric login, and a larger battery without waiting for a redesign cycle.
- HP gets a current-Intel flagship on shelves immediately, keeping its best-reviewed laptop from looking stale against machines shipping with Kaby Lake.
Second-order effects
- Thunderbolt 3 on a mainstream $1,050 convertible pushes the port toward default status in the premium thin-and-light segment, feeding demand for docks and peripherals built around it.
- The refresh validates an annual cadence — new Intel generation, modest spec bumps, higher base price — that HP repeats with the eighth-gen Spectre 13 update a year later.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the Spectre x360 becomes a rolling vessel for Intel's roadmap rather than a fixed product: later iterations add 4K OLED and LTE on 10th-gen chips and Thunderbolt 4 on 11th-gen, while the base price ratchets from $899 toward $1,099 and beyond.
- Intel's near-monopoly on the line eventually breaks — by 2022 HP ships the x360 with Ryzen 5000 alongside Intel 12th-gen — suggesting the annual-refresh structure survives even after chip exclusivity does not.
The trend: Premium convertibles are settling into an annual refresh rhythm keyed to Intel's processor generations, with each cycle adding connectivity and display upgrades while pushing the entry price steadily upward.