This brand-new MSI laptop belongs to a museum – and I don't mean that as an insult

Phone Arena

22-05-2025

There are over 150 computer museums around the world, and here's a laptop that any such museum would be honored to display. However, the laptop I'm talking about is brand-new, so it's not yet time to put it in a museum.One of the reasons we go to a (non-computer) museum is because today, nothing in our everyday life quite strikes us like a Caravaggio painting. Tech is useful, practical – indispensable, even – but it's rarely beautiful… and never breathtaking as an art of work from the past centuries.MSI might be bridging this gap with its latest, super fancy and limited-edition Prestige 13 AI+ Evo ultrabook, now featuring iconic Japanese artwork. This version is called "Ukiyo-e Edition" and it displays The Great Wave off Kanagawa by 19th-century artist Katsushika Hokusai on its lid. The design is handcrafted through a meticulous five-step process by Japanese artisan company Okadaya, making each unit unique and (sadly) limiting the number of laptops that can be produced.Although the appearance has changed, the internal hardware remains the same as last year's model – and that's perfect with me. Clearly, this machine is all about looks, not incorporating 2025 cutting-edge hardware.
Image by MSI The laptop runs on an Intel Core Ultra 9 288V processor with a mix of performance and efficiency cores, reaching speeds up to 5.1GHz. It also features Intel's Arc 140V integrated graphics (iGPU), which is capable of handling casual gaming. Other specs include 32 GB of RAM and a high-speed PCIe 4.0 SSD. This type of storage loads files, apps, and your operating system much faster than older hard drives. It uses a newer, faster connection (PCIe 4.0) that allows your computer to access data more quickly, which means shorter loading times and smoother performance.The 75Wh battery and efficient chip contribute to long battery life, with the standard version lasting about 13.4 hours in web browsing tests. The 13.3-inch OLED display offers a sharp resolution of 2880 x 1800, although it maxes out at 60Hz and 400 nits brightness, which may feel modest compared to some competitors.
The laptop weighs only 2.18 pounds (about 1 kg), has a thickness of 0.67 inches (1.7 cm), and includes a 5MP webcam, two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a USB-A port, HDMI 2.1, and a microSD card reader. Pricing and release details for the Ukiyo-e Edition have not yet been announced, but it's expected to be a limited release.