The first MSI Claw of the name, Fallout version. © MSI
The least we can say is that when it was released a few months ago, the MSI Claw did not convince many people. The manufacturer did roll out a life-saving BIOS update recently to improve the performance of its portable console, but that will probably not be enough to convince players. This is probably what MSI said, which, as part of Computex, has already unveiled a new version that is much more promising than the one currently available commercially. Here is everything we know about the MSI Claw 8 AI+.
A promising new start for MSI
First of all, the screen of this new portable console gains an inch, going from 7 to 8 inches, still in 1080p with a refresh rate of 120 Hz with VRR. To run games correctly, MSI has decided to boost its chip-side strategy. Exit the maligned Meteor Lake generation, hello the brand new Lunar Lake (it would be a Core Ultra 200 chip). With its Intel Arc Xe2 GPU from the Battlemage architecture, Intel promises up to 50% more performance compared to the previous generation.
The MSI Claw 8 AI+. © Jacob Roach / Digital Trends
Enough to offer much better performance than the MSI Claw and be more able to fight against the new ROG Ally X in particular. Especially since a new 80 Wh battery (compared to 53 Wh for the first model) is on board. Enough to doubly benefit from a sharply increased autonomy thanks to the optimization of Lunar Lake chips. With their NPU capable of reaching 60 TOPS, the latter could also offer certain AI functionalities to come in Copilot+ PCs (such as upscaling). A 1TB full-format M.2 2280 SSD will also be there alongside up to 32GB of LPDDR5x.
More and more portable consoles on the market
MSI improves the design of its console without limiting itself to the screen. Its shell changes, while a second Thunderbolt 4 compatible USB-C port is there, as well as improved LB and RB buttons. Certain specifics of the console remain to be discovered and confirmed, but it is clear that MSI seems to have learned the lessons of its recent fiasco.
This MSI Claw 8 AI+, the price of which remains unknown, should arrive next September according to Digitaltrends. Enough to hope for a price drop for the MSI Claw immediately.