HP has refreshed its ZBook Ultra G3a mobile workstation line, moving to AMD’s new Ryzen AI Max Pro 400-series processors and, for the first time, offering the machine in a 16-inch configuration alongside the original 14-inch model. HP unveiled the update during a media briefing tied to the company’s broader push into what it calls “hybrid AI,” pairing local, on-device inference with cloud services, depending on the task at hand.
The refreshed ZBook Ultra G3a is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 400-series CPU line. The preproduction unit HP demonstrated used the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495, a 16-core, 32-thread processor paired with AMD Radeon 8060S integrated graphics. Memory tops out at 192 GB of unified system memory, with up to 160 GB available as dedicated graphics memory for AI workloads and creative applications. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 495 has an integrated XDNA 2 NPU that AMD specifies up to 55 NPU TOPS, for a total AI performance up to 131 TOPS, making this a certified AI PC under the Microsoft Copilot+ definition. HP said the 16-inch model starts at 17.9mm thick, making it the thinnest laptop in its class, and rated battery life at up to 16.6 hours. Built-in 5G connectivity through HP Go is optional and configured at purchase.
HP is positioning the 16-inch ZBook Ultra G3a as the first and only thin performance mobile workstation able to run a 300 billion-parameter model locally, according to the company. It also credited a new dynamic thermal design with delivering up to 81% better performance than the prior generation.
