Pansonic’s rugged Toughbook line expanded this week with the Toughbook 40. The new laptop carries many of the hallmarks of its predecessor, including military-grade durability specs and swappable parts, with some upgrades in size and display.
Toughbooks have durable designs meant to withstand long drops (as much as six feet, in this case) and challenging conditions, like rain. But another standout characteristic is their modularity. The Toughbook 40 has eight parts made to be easy to repair or upgrade: the battery, RAM, storage, and keyboard, plus four expansion areas. Various types of expansion packs are available, including an optical drive, fingerprint and barcode readers, and extra I/O ports, batteries, and storage.
In a FAQ (PDF), Panasonic said you can access most of the expansion areas with a screwdriver and some screws, while some only require you to use a slide lever. IT managers can lock down the SSD or expansion areas with a screw. According to Panasonic, there are 6,048 ways to build the Toughbook.
At 7.4 lbs, the 14-inch Touchbook 40 is 1.2 lbs lighter than the preceding laptop, the 13.1-inch Toughbook 31. That’s several pounds heavier than today’s ultralight laptops, but Toughbooks are built for extreme cases, like military and law enforcement use.
At 1,200 nits, the laptop’s 1920×1080 touchscreen is fit to use in a sunny room or outside. Panasonic didn’t specify battery life at that extreme brightness but claims that the PC can last up to 18 hours on the MobileMark 2014 benchmark and 36 hours if you get a second battery.
The laptop’s resistive touchpad has a 60 percent larger area, and it can be used while wearing gloves or during rain.
Inside, the Toughbook 40 has up to an Intel Core i7-1185G7 with Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics (a discrete, unspecified GPU will be coming at some point). The laptop is configurable with up to 2TB of storage, upgradeable via a quick-release latch, and up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM. Additionally, there’s a 5 MP webcam and the option for 4G or 5G connectivity.
In Panasonic’s announcement, Toughbook GM Craig Jackowski said the Toughbook 40 is the “most rugged” of the series. It meets the MIL-STD-810H and MIL-STD-461H military specifications and is CID2-certified for use in hazardous environments. It is IP66-certified, protecting it against dust and powerful water jets.
On the security side, the laptop has an encrypted OPAL SSD with optional FIPS, TPM 2.0, Intel Hardware Shield, and Microsoft Secure-core PC. The Toughbook 40 also introduces a “Secure Wipe” feature that “wipes the contents on the drive in a matter of seconds,” according to Panasonic.
Aimed at businesses and the public sector, the Toughbook 40 will start at $4,899 when it comes out in late spring, Panasonic’s announcement said. If you’re seeking something with a more digestible price, the 13.5-inch, DIY-friendly Framework laptop just got 12th Gen Intel CPUs.
