CES 2023: LG Gram Style is a new ultrathin laptop with a ‘hidden’ trackpad

Korean electronics firm, LG, is not particularly at the forefront of brands that top shipment charts every quarter. However, the company’s innovation division has regularly churned out an interesting slew of devices — including the likes of a television that can be rolled up, smartphones with curved displays and modular attachments, and more. At the ongoing Consumer Electronics Show 2023, the company has showcased two super-slim laptops that are otherwise standard devices, but for a party piece — a trackpad that stays hidden, until you tap on it. 

Called LG Gram Style, the laptop is part of two new super-slim laptops that the company showcased at CES yesterday. The Gram Style looks like a fairly standard laptop, but adds a glass top lid with a shimmer finish in terms of its looks. However, its primary selling point is the trackpad, which remains hidden and sits flush underneath the metal palm rest, entirely invisible from the outside. 

Also read : Top 5 tech trends we expect to see at CES 2023 

It is only when users rest their palms on the metal palm rest, or touches the trackpad area itself, that the latter lights up a border showing the area where the laptop will recognise haptic feedback for user inputs. 

LG’s new slim and gimmicky laptops also come with all the specifications that you would expect to see in any laptop — including 13th gen Intel processors, up to 32GB DDR5 memory, and 1TB SSD storage. Even the ‘Ultraslim’ model, which is just 11mm in thickness and less than 1kg in weight, offers the same set of specifications — but only a normal trackpad to boot. 

Unfortunately, LG’s launches come at one of the weakest periods of demand for consumer electronics around the world — which has been marred by multiple factors including a looming inflation globally. On the other hand, the launches come at the first CES event that is happening at its full, pre-Covid physical scale — with over 3,100 exhibitors from around the world showcasing the latest generation hardware in metaverse experiences, smart home, and of course, televisions.