- The revamped Lemur Pro offers more powerful internals and considerable battery life for its Linux-based clients.
- 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 focused on selling systems with Linux preinstalled, has refreshed its Lemur Pro 2020, offering major internal upgrades, multiple display options, and battery life comparable to a MacBook Air.
At just under 1 kg for the 14-inch variant and 1.34 kg for the 16-inch variant, it is also the industry’s first lightest Linux laptop in the 14-inch form factor, despite a battery rated for 18 hours between cycles.
This puts it in the same weight class as the 14-inch LG Gram and 13.3-inch Fujitsu LifeBook line, although it offers considerably more robust internals than both models.
Multi-day battery life on a Linux laptop
The Lemur Pro’s price is high, starting at $1,999 on its website before a $76 discount comes in, but one can quickly see why the manufacturer is pricing it at almost $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 between an Intel Core Ultra 5 325 or X7 358H processor. The former is an 8-core processor, while the latter is a considerably more powerful 16-core processor that forms a crucial part of its performance-focused Panther Lake offerings.
Users can take it to the next level 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 says Lemur Pro is aimed at students, frequent travelers, digital nomads, developers, engineers, and IT professionals, to name a few, and that some may want an air-insulated computer, while others may not need a webcam or microphone, or may view either as a security risk.
Prospective buyers can also choose between a 14-inch FHD+ display and a 16-inch QHD+ display, although the laptop continues to offer up to 18 hours of battery life in both configurations.
Apple’s MacBook Air also reportedly offers up to 18 hours of video playback and 15 hours of wireless web browsing, putting it in the same endurance range as the Linux-based Lemur Pro. In our review, we found this claim to be largely valid, with 15.5 hours of battery life while 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 redesign.
While there have been no independent reviews confirming the Lemur Pro’s battery life claims, if they are true, the MacBook Air M5 may well have a serious and powerful competitor vying for some of its audience of developers and IT professionals.
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