Now that Intel's 13th generation Core chips are available for laptops, we're seeing waves of new portable workstations at every price point. HP has announced yet another option, aimed at the budget market: the HP Pro x360 Fortis.

If this laptop looks familiar, it might be because it's an update from the existing HP Pro x360 Fortis 11 (what a name!), which is an 11-inch laptop with Celeron or Pentium Silver CPU options and 4-8 GB RAM. The new version has a nearly-identical design with the same convertible 2-in-1 frame, so it can be flipped around and used like a tablet. Just like the previous model, a rechargeable stylus is available, but is not included with the laptop. Wi-Fi 6E is also supported.

The new HP Pro x360 Fortis will be sold with either an Intel N100 or N200 processor, which Intel announced back in January as replacements for older Celeron and Pentium-branded chips. They are low-end CPUs with four efficiency cores and no performance cores, so the HP laptop won't be breaking any speed records. Still, they are aimed at low power usage, so HP's machine might be able to handle hours of work away from a charger.

Shop Now

HP is primarily marketing the laptop at schools and businesses, but it should be available for direct purchase as well. The HP Pro x360 Fortis will be sold for $479, which seems like a bit too much for the hardware being used -- you can find non-convertible laptops with more powerful Core i5 chips for around the same price. The more compact size and stylus support might be worth the slight premium for some people, though. Microsoft says it will be available later in February.

Source: Microsoft