MSI Pro AP272P

A questionable choice of processor and panel undermine its excellent connectivity and webcam

- TIM DANTON

PRICE £858 (£1,030 inc VAT) from laptopsdirect.co.uk

Given the popularity of Apple's iMac range, it seems odd that the all-in-one Windows PC has never hit similarly heights. There's an extremely limited choice of system for buyers, which means that when a company such as MSI - the Taiwanese manufacturer best known for its gaming laptops and motherboards - offered me the chance to review its latest offering I grab it with both hands.

There are two points of difference here compared to, say, the Dell Inspiron All-in-One (see issue 350, p47). The first is that MSI is targeting professional buyers, as indicated by “Pro” in the product name and the inclusion of Windows 11 Pro rather than Home. The second is that it opts for desktop rather than mobile processors, with a Core i7-14700 inside this model and a Core i5-14400 in its cheaper sibling (£830 inc VAT).

As a result, this PC is a fine performer in tasks that demand many threads. Eight P-cores and 12 E-cores mean that it will be particularly strong when tackling tasks such as video-editing or data processing, as reflected by a 12,398 result in Geekbench 6 and 880 in Cinebench 2024; by contrast, one of Intel's mobile Core 7 Ultra chips typically returns around 11,000 and 600 respectively in those multicore tests. If you decide to buy the Core i5 version of this machine - with six P-cores and four E-cores - then I'd expect it to drop to roughly the same level as a Core 7 Ultra.