MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ review: Intel Panther Lake arrives with a roar
New Windows laptops are slowly trickling out after the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ is the first one I've been able to get my hands on.
Admittedly, there's so much riding on this 2-in-1 work laptop that I almost felt bad for it. For one thing, it's my first impression of Intel's fresh Ultra Core Series 3 chips (previously code-named "Panther Lake"), the first made with its 18A process technology. The chipmaker claims they offer a 60 percent bump in multitasking performance compared to their predecessors and up to 27 hours of battery life. If that pans out, its chips could finally vie with Apple's M-series silicon.
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ also marks my first opportunity to check out the new Intel Arc B390 integrated GPU, which supposedly rivals the entry-level dedicated GPUs found in cheap gaming laptops. Historically, Intel iGPUs haven't been great for serious PC gaming. But the company is so confident in Panther Lake's gaming capabilities that it's planning on launching a handheld gaming platform with it later this year.
As if that weren't enough, MSI redesigned its entire Prestige series of premium business laptops for 2026. The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ is my first glimpse at the new look.
Whew.
Incredibly, maybe even miraculously, the Prestige 14 Flip AI+ meets all of the hype (and I'm not just being nice). In my tests, it combines MacBook-tier multitasking performance with all-days battery life, all wrapped up in a gorgeous convertible design with plenty of future-proofing and a shockingly reasonable price. Did MSI not get the memo about the RAM shortage?
I still have some more benchmarking to do, but I'm already confident enough to award the Prestige 14 Flip AI+ a Mashable Choice Award, an honor reserved for the best gadgets we test. If this is a preview of the 2026 Windows laptop market on Intel, the future is dazzling.
MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ review: Pricing and specs
The review unit that MSI sent me is priced at $1,299.99 and available for purchase through MSI's website and B&H Photo. It comes equipped with the following specs:
Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor
Intel Arc B390 graphics
32GB RAM
1TB SSD
14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixel) OLED touchscreen display with a 60Hz refresh rate and a 16:10 aspect ratio
WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0
Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB-A ports, one HDMI port, and a headphone jack
Includes an MSI Nano Pen
MSI is also releasing a 16-inch version called the MSI Prestige 16 Flip AI+, which has a nicer 2.8K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to a high-end Intel Core Ultra X9 chip. It starts at $1,399 at Costco without its Nano Pen and $1,549 at other retailers with the accessory.
MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ review: Design and build quality
MSI's 2026 redesign for the Prestige series involves a thinner, lighter chassis with an all-aluminum build and rounded corners instead of boxy ones. Additionally, all models have a more minimalist top cover logo with an iridescent finish.
I can't speak for the other Prestige variants, but this 14-inch convertible looks sleek and spiffy. Its smooth Platinum Gray finish doesn't cling to fingerprints, and its wavy logo gives it a slightly futuristic, almost Neo-Y2K vibe. It's a little more interesting than your average silver MacBook impersonator, but it's also not too flashy for the office. I really dig it.
I tried last year's Prestige 13 AI+ Evo and thought its ultralight magnesium-aluminum chassis felt flimsy. The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ benefits from the new fully aluminum case and a little extra heft; it feels very well-made. There's zero give to its lid when I pressed down, and its hinge barely wiggles.
The new Prestige measures 0.47 to 0.55 inches thin at different points on its chassis. Its base is shaped like a wedge with a taper in the front, something it inherited from its predecessors, but its curvier edges make it incredibly subtle. There are two skinny feet running across the underside of its base that keep it slightly elevated when it sits on a hard surface.
That's also where you'll find a storage slot for the MSI Nano Pen, a cute little stylus for drawing and note-taking that's included with the device at no extra cost. It charges while it's being stored and pops out with the push of a button.
MSI designed this stylus in partnership with Microsoft, and it doubles as a way to talk to Copilot. If you press both of the buttons on the side of the Nano Pen at the same time, the Copilot app opens on the Prestige 14 Flip AI+. If you press the buttons again, you can verbally ask Copilot questions or give it prompts using the Nano Pen's built-in microphone. I'm not a fan of AI chatbots so I'd probably never use this feature myself, but I love a freebie. (Ironically, we've been yelling at Microsoft to stop making people pay extra for accessories. It's really this easy!)
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ weighs in at 3.02 pounds. Three pounds is technically our cutoff point for laptops we consider to be lightweight, but it's definitely portable and easy to hold with one hand. For comparison's sake, it's about 0.4 pounds lighter and at least 1.5 millimeters thinner than the latest 14-inch M5 MacBook Pro.
Display
The OLED screen provides deep blacks and punchy colors. This also makes it seem a bit more vibrant than other displays rated at 300 nits of brightness. I didn't have any trouble using it indoors, though I typically set it at max brightness, which will zap the battery faster. Its picture might be a little harder to see in sunnier environments.
The display has a shiny Corning Gorilla Glass covering for durability. I don't have any issues to report regarding its touchscreen capabilities. It's responsive whether you're navigating with the Nano Pen or a fingertip.
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+'s 60Hz refresh rate and 1200p resolution are a little basic, and its lower bezel is a bit thick. But overall, the display looks attractive, if not tremendously crisp. I really can't complain too much: Upgrades like a 120Hz refresh rate and a 2.8K resolution would push the device to a much higher price point.
Keyboard and touchpad
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ has an island-style keyboard with adjustable backlighting and black keys with a soft matte finish. There's a fingertip reader in the power button, which is shinier and slightly recessed so you can't push it accidentally. Its up and down arrow keys are a little too close together for my liking (it's hard to tell them apart with your finger), but that's really my only issue. This is a snappy, satisfying, just-stiff-enough keyboard that I loved typing on.
The mylar touchpad that sits below it is big and velvety smooth, and it makes a pleasant clicking sound when you press down on it all the way; it doesn't feel cheap. MSI is calling it an "Action Touchpad" because it has built-in gesture functions. You can customize these actions in the MSI Center S app, the device's main control hub.
This isn't a groundbreaking feature — lots of other laptops have touchpads with gesture controls — but it's a nice premium detail.
Webcam and mic
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ has a full HD (1080p) webcam with a physical privacy shutter. It supports Windows Hello, a facial login tool, as well as Microsoft's Windows Studio Effects for Copilot+ PCs. These are AI-powered camera settings like background blur, automatic framing, and an uncanny valley eye contact toggle.
The camera's picture quality is passable but not spectacular, something I've come to expect from Windows laptops' webcams. I would say its color accuracy is above-average — warm tones like skin aren't too oversaturated — but it's grainier than the 1080p FaceTime camera on my M1 Pro-era MacBook Pro. It's especially noticeable when you move around the screen.
As for the mic: It's a solid 4/5 on its own, just a little thin and echoey. However, if you turn on the Studio EQ setting in the MSI Center S app, it becomes a 5/5 MacBook-level mic. Overall, this machine is fab for video calls.
Speakers
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ has two 2-watt stereo speakers and two 2-watt woofers. There are two 2.2-inch speaker grills underneath its base.
I always go into testing ready to be disappointed by laptops' sound quality; most of them mandate a good pair of headphones. But you know what? The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ actually sounds pretty decent. While its audio lacks the bass and richness of my MacBook Pro, it doesn't sound muffled or distorted. I don't think you'd realize you were missing out on anything if you don't have better speakers to compare it to.
MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ review: CPU performance
Now comes the juicy part. How fast is that new Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chip?
Here at Mashable, we run a couple tests to measure processing power. One is Primate Labs' Geekbench 6 CPU test. The other is a real-world stress test that involves opening at least 20 Google Chrome tabs and two apps to try to make the device sweat.
In Geekbench 6, the Intel Core Ultra X7 358H chip notched a single-core score of 2,824 and a multi-core score of 16,257.
That first number isn't super impressive. It trails the single-core score of the M4 MacBook Air (3,778). But the multi-core is exceptional. It surpasses that of the M4 MacBook Air (14,992) and the M4 MacBook Pro (15,199). Compared to the newer M5 MacBook Pro (17,470), it's only seven percent slower in demanding multitasking scenarios like video rendering.
The X7 358H's most direct predecessor is likely the 7 255H chip from last year's Arrow Lake era. We tested three laptops powered by that processor — all of which cost more than $2,000 — and two of them scored below 15,400. The only one that scored better than the Prestige 14 Flip AI+ was the Dell 16 Premium (16,881), which was 1.7 pounds heavier and cost $3,200.
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ runs remarkably quiet and cool for a laptop with that much oomph. Props to its new dual-fan vapor chamber thermal system; MSI says it helps heat dissipate faster than the previous Prestige models' setup.
The device's fan briefly kicked on while I was opening tabs for a stress test, but it's so whisper-quiet that I barely noticed it. (The radiator hissing next to my desk as I wrote this review is, like, 10 times louder.) The fan volume didn't increase even when I plugged in the laptop and ran my Geekbench 6 benchmark, which should've made it work harder. It never got hot to the touch.
MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ review: GPU performance
We don't normally run in-depth graphics tests on Windows laptops that lack dedicated GPUs, but Intel has made such a fuss about its new Intel Arc B390 iGPU that I felt obligated. I'm happy to report that Cyberpunk 2077 was playable on the Prestige 14 Flip AI+ at both 1080p and 1200p with the game's default settings enabled. (Intel's XeSS Super Res 2.0 AI upscaling technology was on.)
Unfortunately, I don't have any other testing takeaways or detailed frame rate readings to share at this time. After I cranked up the upscaling to the max settings and closed out of the game to apply them, my game kept crashing at startup. Intel's engineering team is looking into the issue, and I'll update this review as soon as they determine a fix. It could just be a me problem.
For now, I'll say this: The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ isn't a replacement for a proper gaming laptop, but it can almost certainly play most of your favorite titles.
MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ review: Battery life
Strong multitasking performance is one thing, but a premium Windows laptop can't truly compete with Apple's MacBooks if it doesn't offer an all-day battery life, too.
The Prestige 14 Flip AI+ has that in the bag. As I'm writing this, it just surpassed the 24-hour mark in our video rundown test. (I'll update this review with its final runtime in the very near future.) It outlasts every MacBook and nearly every other Windows laptop we've ever tried except for the HP OmniBook 5 14 with Qualcomm's original Snapdragon X Plus chip, which is an extreme outlier.
Only one Intel-powered Windows laptop that we've tested in the past two years has surpassed the 20-hour mark. (Models with those Snapdragon X series chips have generally had more stamina.) That would be the $1,550 Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, which died after 23 hours and 34 minutes. Notably, the Yoga 9i only got a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 10,765 with its Intel Core Ultra 7 258V chip.
As for the last-gen (Arrow Lake) laptops that do offer similar performance: None of them lasted for more than 14 hours.
Final thoughts: Is the MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ worth it?
This is one of the most worth-it laptops I've ever tested — a beautiful and well-made machine with nice specs, plenty of RAM and storage, and uncompromising stamina and computing power. It's a stellar all-rounder, a legit MacBook competitor, and a can't-recommend-enough buy for professionals, remote workers, and content creators.
I reserve the right to edit my final rating for it once I finish my battery life and GPU benchmarks. But at present, the Prestige 14 Flip AI+ earns an overall score of 4.8/5, making it the highest-scoring laptop we've reviewed since overhauling our laptop testing methodology.
What a way to start the year. Good luck, everyone else.