HP ZBook Ultra G1a: An Incredible, Powerful Mobile Workstation Powered By AMD's Ryzen AI Max
Another trait that many Linux users will love is that Microsoft Pluton can be disabled on the HP ZBook Ultra G1a from within the BIOS setup area. Besides being able to disable UEFI Secure Boot, there is also support for disabling Pluton for those concerned about its presence on modern AMD SoCs.
👁 HP ZBook Ultra G1a disabling Microsoft Pluton security
With all of the Strix Halo benchmarking I have been doing, I remain stunned at the performance out of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 and Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 390 SoCs both from the Zen 5 CPU performance and just downright enthralled by the integrated graphics capabilities of Radeon 8050S/8060S. The performance is fantastic for those needing a heavy-duty mobile workstation with a very competent iGPU if not wanting to deal with a dGPU due to the increased power use, complexities under Linux with managing iGPU/dGPU behavior, and/or just not wanting a laptop too bulky. With the Radeon 8050S/8060S Graphics you are able to drive 4K/8K displays, make use of the open-source and upstream Linux graphics driver stack, run ROCm with improving support there for AI/LLM workloads, and/or enjoy Linux gaming. It's a very powerful and well-rounded iGPU.
It's too bad that the AMD Strix Halo laptops are so rare... As of writing it's basically between the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 or HP ZBook Ultra G1a. The ASUS ROG Flow Z13 is more catered to Windows gamers where as the HP ZBook Ultra G1a is a high-end mobile workstation. The ASUS ROG Flow Z13 does enjoy a lower price point (roughly $2k vs. $3k) while the HP ZBook Ultra G1a enjoys the higher build quality, traditional laptop design, and typically better Linux support from HP than ASUS (e.g. LVFS/Fwupd support).
👁 HP ZBook Ultra G1a with LVFS/Fwupd
The HP ZBook Ultra G1a is a fantastic mobile workstation for Linux users -- with the caveat that the web camera support isn't yet upstreamed but will be over the coming kernel cycles and hopefully all ironed out before Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. If web camera support doesn't bother you, the Linux support is in great shape and is also certified by Canonical for Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (where they also carry web camera support in their OEM kernel build). Besides that caveat, the only other downside to note with the HP ZBook Ultra G1a is the high price tag.
The base pricing starts at $2599 USD for the AI Ryzen AI Max PRO 385 8-core SoC, 32GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and 1920 x 1200 display. With the AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 390 model begins at $2949 USD for 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD and 2.8K display or $3249 USD for 64GB of RAM. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 pricing can get up to $4049 as of writing with 128GB of RAM and 2TB SSD. Over $4k for one powerful laptop for creators, developers, AI use-cases, and more. Though recently HP did have the Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 model on sale for around $3.2k... HP's pricing has been fluctuating a lot over the past several weeks with originally the Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 starting out at $6~8k USD. With HP sales the Ryzen AI Max PRO 390 pricing at times have been similar or even higher than the Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 model. Long story short, the HP ZBook Ultra G1a is one heck of a powerful and well-built laptop but with that it does command a significant premium in its price. Hopefully with time the prices will become more manageable for more Linux enthusiasts as well as seeing more Strix Halo laptops from HP and other vendors.
👁 HP ZBook Ultra G1a laptop with Linux
Thanks to HP for supplying the Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 ZBook Ultra G1a review sample these past few weeks for Linux testing, it's been one heck of a wonderful ride.
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