LG plans to take on the MacBook Air in 2026 – the Gram AI Pro has serious Air vibes

LG has announced new Gram models for 2026, offering power, portability and some new innovations to compete with the likes of the MacBook Air. The new laptops will be presented at CES 2026 in Las Vegas.

The range uses a new aluminium composite developed by LG called Aerominum. It's designed to be lighter and stronger, with great scratch resistance and military-grade resilience, for a sleek finish.

LG has detailed two models, the 17Z90UR – a US exclusive – which is a 17-inch notebook equipped with the latest RTX 5050 GPU to provide plenty of power on the move. Despite having a 17-inch display, LG says that it's more like a 16-inch format.

LG is also claiming that this is the "world's lightest RTX laptop", which is likely going to be the appeal for those who want to slip proper power into their bag.

The 16Z90U launched alongside is a smaller 16-inch model, but packs in an OLED display compared to the LCD panel found in the 17-incher. That means it's going to offer great quality, ideal for creatives who want the best possible rendition of their works.

The aim of these models is all about ultra portability, although the actual weights and dimensions have not yet been shared.

LG has taken the opportunity to mention that these are CoPilot+ PCs, offering both Microsoft's cloud AI as well as LG's on-device chat AI, thanks to the EXAONE 3.5 sLLM which is designed for personal AI assistance.

The latest processors are claimed to power these laptops, but the only mention is of "latest Intel Core Ultra" – presumably that will link up with Intel's planned CES announcement for the new Panther Lake Core Ultra 3 hardware.

Intel's new hardware will be announced on 5 January by Intel's senior VP Jim Johnson and should see a flurry of new laptops also being released. LG has stolen a slight lead here, just to underline that it's offering thin, light and powerful machines.