Razer Blade 18 gets $500 price hike and new Intel chip
▼ Summary
– Razer announced a new Blade 18 gaming laptop with an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus chip, starting at $3,999.99 with an RTX 5070 Ti.
– The 2026 Blade 18 is a chip upgrade from Intel Arrow Lake to Arrow Lake Refresh, retaining the same GPU options and dual-mode 18-inch display as last year.
– The display is claimed to be 20 percent brighter, offering 3840 x 2400 at 240Hz or 1920 x 1200 at 440Hz.
– The 2026 Blade 18 maintains connectivity including Thunderbolt 5, HDMI 2.1, three USB-A ports, an SD card slot, and ethernet.
– Razer increased prices on the Blade 18 and Blade 16, with the Blade 16 now costing $500 to $400 more than its March announcement price.
Razer has officially unveiled the latest iteration of its flagship gaming machine, the Razer Blade 18, now featuring an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor. The laptop is currently available for purchase directly from Razer’s website, with a starting price of $3,999.99 for the configuration equipped with an Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti. Buyers can also opt for higher-tier builds, including models with the powerful RTX 5090. That entry-level price tag represents a $500 increase over the 2025 model with the same GPU, continuing a troubling trend of rising costs for the Blade line. This price hike arrives roughly a year after the 2025 Blade 18 saw its own cost increase before it even hit store shelves.
The 2026 Blade 18 appears to be primarily a processor refresh, moving from Intel’s Arrow Lake architecture to the updated Arrow Lake Refresh. The GPU options remain unchanged from last year, and the laptop again features a distinctive dual-mode 18-inch display. Razer claims the screen is 20 percent brighter than its predecessor. Users can toggle between a crisp 3840 x 2400 resolution at 240Hz for detailed work and gaming, or switch to 1920 x 1200 at an ultra-fast 440Hz for competitive play where every millisecond counts. While that 440Hz refresh rate is remarkably high for a laptop panel, running at 1200p across an 18-inch screen naturally sacrifices sharpness compared to a 4K output. Connectivity remains robust, with Thunderbolt 5, HDMI 2.1, three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, an SD card slot, and an ethernet jack all included.
Razer has long been associated with premium pricing, but the cost of its Blades is climbing faster than ever. Beyond the Blade 18’s increase, the smaller Intel Panther Lake-based Blade 16 has also become more expensive since its March announcement. Initially priced at $3,499.99 with an RTX 5080 and $4,499.99 with an RTX 5090, those configurations now sit at $3,999.99 (a $500 jump) and $4,899.99 (a $400 jump), respectively. Razer did not respond to inquiries from The Verge regarding the reasons behind these price increases before publication, but the Blades appear to be the latest casualties of what some are calling RAMageddon , a broader surge in memory costs affecting the entire industry.
(Source: The Verge)
