Panasonic’s Toughbook line has long been the business laptop of choice for professionals who do their work in fields, warehouses, and other hazardous environments. While that rugged productivity-focused function continues in the newest Panasonic Toughbook 40, it also brings capable gaming chops, so you can spend your days finishing up a new AAA game in between ticking off your to-do list for the day.
That’s right, the newest Toughbook can be fitted with an optional dedicated GPU, along with a smattering of high-end specs, which should give it enough processing muscle to work through demanding games and applications. It’s a far cry from the usual spec sheet of rugged laptops, which tended to be geared towards basic productivity tasks, making a machine that could appeal far beyond business workers in harsh and demanding settings.
The Panasonic Toughbook 40 comes in a rugged-looking shell that looks more like a security briefcase than a productivity laptop. Seriously, the darn thing looks fit to survive an apocalypse event. The display is larger than previous generations of the rugged laptop, coming in with a 14-inch IPS panel with 1080p resolution and 1200 nits of brightness, making it bright enough to be easily viewable when exposed to direct sunlight outdoors. It’s touchscreen, too, hopefully with support for gloves, since plenty of folks using this will likely be wearing a pair.
Users can opt for 11th-gen Intel processors (Core i5 or i7) with integrated Intel UHD graphics by default, although you can upgrade to either Intel Iris Xe or a dedicated AMD GPU (model not specified, though). The CPU and GPU pairing can be accompanied by up to 64GB of RAM and up to 3TB of storage, making for quite the capable machine if you max out the hardware options.
The Panasonic Toughbook 40 has a 5MP webcam with a privacy shutter and four microphones (with AI noise cancellation) for all your videoconferencing needs, as well as 95db speakers if you prefer not going with headphones during those video calls. The keyboard has color-selectable backlighting, while the touchpad is rated to work with users wearing gloves even in the middle of the rain. There’s a decent number of ports, namely two USB-A, one USB-C, microSDXC, and HDMI, although you get the option to expand it via four expansion slots that allow you to slide in any of the outfit’s modular packs (xPAK), which include optical drives, IO ports, a barcode reader, and authentication systems, making it easy to outfit the laptop with any specific accessory you need at any time.
For wireless connectivity, you get Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as well as an optional GPS, optional 4G (LTE, LTE-A), and optional 5G (mmWave, C-band, Sub6). It has a battery rated at up to 18 hours of moderate use, as well as an optional second battery that doubles the runtime to 36 hours. Naturally, it comes in a rugged shell cut in magnesium alloy that’s rated to both MIL-STD-810H and IP66 standards, so it should survive pretty much anything it’s likely to encounter in hazardous work environments.
The Panasonic Toughbook 40 comes out late in the spring, priced starting at $4,899.