CES 2024: What to expect from the year’s biggest tech show

Smarter cars

CES has become a major stage for automotive announcements, even as more traditional auto shows decline. Though industry disruptors like Tesla and Rivian will be absent as usual, nearly every mainstream auto brand should be there at the event. We’re expecting fewer flashy vehicle debuts compared to prior years but automakers will unveil some exciting concept cars to tease their visions for the electric future. The real focus will be on in-cabin tech innovation.

Honda also is expected to unveil new details about its “global EV series” of electric vehicles, showcasing several models and technologies that it plans to use in prep for the introduction of 30 new EV models by 2030. Besides this, expect plenty of talk about vehicle connectivity, self-driving capabilities, and sustainable mobility.

‘AI PC’ and other upgrades

CES comes right on the heels of Intel’s launch of its 14th Gen Core processors, code-named Meteor Lake. That means we’ll see a flood of new laptops touting upgraded performance and power efficiency. Major PC makers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo will take the opportunity to show off their latest ultraportable, gaming, and workstation notebooks packing the new silicon.

Beyond faster chips, we’re expecting to see some interesting innovations in laptop design at CES 2024. Things like dual-screen and foldable displays and enhanced gaming capabilities will be highlights of the laptop offerings.

At the same time, the buzz around ‘AI PCs will reach a fever pitch at CES 2024, signifying these specialized computers are truly going mainstream. Intel and AMD are both heavily promoting laptops and desktops with dedicated neural processing units (NPUs) designed to handle AI workloads.

Supercharged gaming hardware

CES is huge for gaming, with major players like Nvidia, AMD, and Razer often choosing the massive spotlight to unveil new graphics cards, laptops, displays and peripherals. This year, Nvidia is expected to reveal its RTX 40-series Super GPUs, juiced-up versions of its current flagship graphics cards. More entries into the portable PC gaming hardware niche wouldn’t be a surprise. We’ll also see gaming monitors with cutting-edge Mini LED and OLED displays, extremely fast refresh rates, and features tailored for competitive gameplay.

AI-powered smart home tech

One of the big ongoing trends at CES is the march of artificial intelligence into consumers’ homes. Appliance makers are baking AI capabilities into everything from refrigerators to vacuum cleaners.

Samsung’s “AI for All” theme will permeate its CES offerings. We may see next-gen air conditioners, fridges, and washing machines boasting AI-enhanced performance. Voice assistants are getting smarter, and LG will show off a Smart Home AI Agent with the promise to understand user contexts better than ever. The technologies may seem more gimmicky than necessary, but gradual improvements in on-device AI will make appliances and household robots increasingly helpful.

Wi-Fi 7

While it might not make headlines, Wi-Fi 7 will surely permeate the entire CES show floor. The next-generation wireless standard is still a work in progress, but enough is known about its capabilities that manufacturers are baking support into laptops, phones, TVs, routers, and other devices set to ship later this year.

Compared to Wi-Fi 6 and 6E, Wi-Fi 7 promises double the bandwidth and speed, up to 46 Gbps, along with better range and less latency. It’s ideal for handling data-heavy tasks like AR/VR, gaming, and 4K/8K video streaming throughout a home.