Dell's new laptop leaves the power cord in the past

There will likely come a day when power cords connected to devices will seem as archaic as cars you actually once drove yourself. Pushing us further towards that day is a new laptop announced at CES by Dell. The Latitude 7285 2-in-1 notebook, out later this year, will be equipped with wireless charging capabilities, making it the first laptop to tout the feature and letting it join the ranks of its cord-free-charging smartphone brethren.

The 7285 was announced among a raft of other offerings from the computer maker, including the dazzling Dell Canvas, pitched at digital artists. The 12-inch computer/tablet will charge when set down on a mat, which can be had for an additional price. The wireless charging capabilities are provided by company WiTricity, which is AirFuel certified, so if you have Qi-enabled devices, they likely won't work on this mat.

To use the device in tablet mode, the screen detaches and promises a somewhat disappointing six hours of battery life. When it's time to dock the tablet, Dell is offering three different keyboards: a lightweight travel keyboard; the wireless charging keyboard; and a larger productivity keyboard that has a power pack, which adds four hours to the device when it's not on its mat.

The laptop also has a micro SD slot and two USB Type C/Thunderbolt ports. It comes with up to 512 GB of SSD storage, has an Intel Core i7 chip, is loaded with Window 10 and features an impressive 2,880 x 1,920 screen. The tablet alone will weigh 1.4 lb (675 g) and with the standard wireless charging keyboard attached, it will clock in at 2.3 lb (1043 g).

No pricing details have been released for either the 2-in-1 or the wireless charging mat, but Dell says the entire system should be available in May.

Update July 12, 2017: The Latitude 7285 2-in-1 is now available. Pricing starts at US$1,199 for the tablet only, or $1,789 to include a productivity keyboard and active pen. The wireless charging keyboard and mat are listed as optional extras.

Source: Dell