Asus Announces ZenBook 3, a Retina MacBook Lookalike That is Thinner, Lighter, and Faster

[zhenya]

Great specs screen not so much. But it does show what Apple should be doing hardware wise. Windows 10 once you tame its spyware trends runs well, its just the bloatware that comes with all Windows laptops that puts me off. Short of reinstalling Windows 10 trying to remove all the offers, games, extras you never use is a royal pain.

Wait, how exactly is this 'showing what Apple should be doing hardware wise?' It's a DIRECT copy of the retina MacBook with a 15w processor stuffed in there instead of Core-M! This is Apple's design!

Adding a slightly more powerful processor with a fan, that will still throttle heavily under even light use is not necessarily an advantage except on paper where people like you will think that it makes all the difference in the world. As someone who owns both a retina MacBook and a Surface Pro with a processor in a package very much like this Zenbook, I'd much prefer the Core M. You get 99% of the performance, and don't have to listen to that tiny fan spinning as hard as it can the vast majority of the time you use the device. Smaller fans are louder than larger ones, and a 15w processor in this package is going to be running all the time, for virtually zero real-world performance benefit.

Apple made the right choice with Core-M in the MacBook.

 

[Ethosik]

I use Windows 10 and have Classic Shell installed to replace the Tile Menu. But I did a search and found no Candy Crush. I'm on the current stable build.

Maybe I already uninstalled it?

Or maybe Candy Crush is a new feature of the upcoming "Anniversary Update" in July.

I just remember all the anger of "ads" appearing in the tile menu. That's why I thought these games were just icons/tiles to download and are not actually installed.

But I may be confusing two different rumors.

Nope. It even comes installed on Windows 10 Enterprise.

 

[lowkey]

It's a thin computer, so ALL thin computers are now MacBook ripoffs? Give me a break.

nope. i never said ALL thin computers are a Macbook ripoff. You said that in order to disprove yourself and somehow claim a victory in your argument.

this computer is clearly a Macbook 'clone'.
Things the same...
Unibody aluminium...check
Mat unibody finish...check
Tapered bottom part of the body...check
Enough space for just one headphone socket on one side...check
Enough space for one USBC port on the other side...check
Two tiny little dots on the body adjacent to the port...check [not sure what they even are on my rMB ]
Available in rose gold...check
Large trackpad in the same colour as the body...check
A small indent in the unibody just under the trackpad in order to lift the lid...check
Glass all the way to the edge of the lid with black bezel behind...check
Hinge designed to allow the bottom of the screen to drop as low as possible when open...check
One continuous long hinge...check
Keyboard located in a sunken recess of the unibody...check
Up and Down arrows on the keyboard half the size of side arrows in Macbook arrangement...check
"Asus Zenbook" logo located centre bottom of lid...check
Rubber edge to glass screen becomes thicker at the bottom...check
2 pounds...check
"ASUS" logo is shiny gold on matt gold, centre of the back of the lid...check
Low profile keyboard...check
Backlit keyboard...check

Thats 20 design features that are the same...and you're telling me its not a look alike?
OK, so what looks different?? I can only see 4 things...

The edge of the lid is shiny, not matt to match the body...
Keyboard colour matches the body colour...
Holes for the speakers go all the way to the edge rather than stopping at the hinge...
Available in blue.


Don't get me wrong, i think the ASUS looks good. Of course it does, it looks like my rMacbook.

 

[arkmannj]

For HP, that sounds like a very positive review. Everything they've made for the past 10 years has been crap. At this point, HP should be taken as a warning label.

As far as the Zenbook, it remains to be seen, but it should be interesting at least.
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You're right about HP, although I've still had good luck with their laser printers. and the work provided laptop before this current one (circa 2010ish), was big and bulky but it was actually a decent work horse, I obviously didn't like it as much as any Mac, but as far as PC laptops went it did it's job with minimal headache, I'd take it back in a heartbeat over this new rubbish.

 

[HighDesert50]

I think many of us forget that is that the iPhone accounts for about 2/3 of Apple's profit. And, certainly that is where a lot of corporate effort is focused. I might argue that if Apple was focused on OSX computing we would have seen far better integration of the microcomputer and the iPhone, at least akin to that of the iPhone and watch. Rather we have seen a waning of supportive software innovation, e.g., dumbed-down Apple office suite. if we as consumers are not pleased with Apple's microcomputer initiative, then why not explore other more innovative hardware and op systems. The Jobs and Wozniak aura and era are long past. They were the explorers and so should we.

 

[BvizioN]

That is so funny next to the thread of people crying that their Precious macs can't run Overwatch because Apple no longer makes a powerful enough machine. And of course Oculus dumped anorexic Apple.

I use my macbook for final cut pro x, lightroom, photoshop and aftereffects from Adobe. Although there is always room for improvement, been quite happy with it. Do i want apple to make it thinner and lighter and better machine to use overall ? Yes please.

 

[Reksy]

Umm. no. I love my Macbook. Its my main computer at work in a architectural office. Its not useless at all. Runs Indesign, photoshop, word XL, emails, web browsing no problems. The screen is beautiful. The keyboard is great and its so light i sometimes have to check to see if its actually in my bag. Sure it doesn't run Revit, but quite frankly no Mac does that very well.
A couple of the owners of the graphics company i share an office with have MacBooks and love them too. Just normal people who own businesses, do work and employ people. Its just that your insecurities can't accept it.

Lol! Insecurity!

I'm not the one pretending that a Core M can do architectural work and rendering. Either that, or you did so little work that you can afford to wait forever. No serious graphic designer and architect would even recommend an ultrabook with an i7 for that work. You can look all over the internet for people giving it a try and saying you need a full quad core to really begin doing that stuff. So your work is either sparse or very low complexity. If i were suffering from a lack of work to do or having low skilled work, then I'd be the insecure one cause a guy overseas will replace me in no time.

But yeah, no one will actually believe you that you can do serious design and architecture work on a Core M. Nice try though. Its amazing what people will do when theyre stuck in a case of buyers remorse. One of the stages of it is trying to convince others you made a good purchase.

 

[Dayv]

Lower resolution, not fanless (yes, some of us consider this to be a feature of the Macbook), and doesn't run OS X. Don't get me wrong, it looks like a great ultralight laptop for Windows users, but it doesn't make me regret buying a Macbook over a year ago.

I wonder how much battery power it really has. They say "9 hours of battery life for all-day computing", but they don't say under what conditions that test was run or what the mAh capacity actually is. Compare this to Apple's release where they named the capacity and showed off how they engineered the computer to fill every bit of available space with battery. I suspect the Asus has a more traditional battery design. Add in the need to drive fans, allow space for airflow and a more powerful processor and I have to say I'll be surprised if they're truly competitive in real-world battery life.

 

[Tiger8]

Yeah? Well, at WWDC Tim Cook will unveil a full line of nylon covers for the MacBook that shows the world how innovative Apple is.

I almost spit my food reading this as I started to laugh like a crazy man.

Today, YOU WON THE INTERNET!

 

[gamrin]

I think many of us forget that is that the iPhone accounts for about 2/3 of Apple's profit. And, certainly that is where a lot of corporate effort is focused. I might argue that if Apple was focused on OSX computing we would have seen far better integration of the microcomputer and the iPhone, at least akin to that of the iPhone and watch. Rather we have seen a waning of supportive software innovation, e.g., dumbed-down Apple office suite. if we as consumers are not pleased with Apple's microcomputer initiative, then why not explore other more innovative hardware and op systems. The Jobs and Wozniak aura and era are long past. They were the explorers and so should we.

Absolutely. I half expect Apple to leave the dedicated PC market soon. They've languished for several years in both their Mac hardware and software departments—clearly intentionally. I moved to a PC solution after 22 years of using Macs because I'm honestly no longer certain that Apple will continue to support computers that run the software I need to make a living. Windows 10 is nipping at OS X's heels in usability (especially once you download a few OS-modding apps), but it's still an inelegant mess in many ways. In my opinion, Apple's present OSes are hardly better than the current offerings from Microsoft and Google, Apple's software is stagnant, and Apple's PC hardware simply provides too little value for its cost.

On the plus side, I'm honestly glad to see that so much of Apple's old attention to detail and intuitiveness of function have finally rubbed off on some of the other computer and software makers. If you're in the market for a computer and modern OS that doesn't embarrass you with needless complexity and poor performance, you finally have a good choice other than Apple.

 

[routine_analyst]

Those are beautiful computers!

 

[Rigby]

Yeah, and apple is not guilty of such practices get real. Within Windows you can delete those files form your hard disk. In case of apple there is no way around to delete the pre-installed crap in your device: stock, tips, gamecenter, safari, calendar, notes, photo booth, chess, quick time, dvd player, mail and the list goes on. They just take in space on your device, and in most cases there are far better third party apps..

You have a point (on Mac OS), but at least Apple doesn't put advertising icons for paid products on your system, like "get Office". It's also far easier to configure Mac OS for privacy.

So you bashing windows doesn't make any sense..

I actually use Windows 10 myself (and am one of the few that didn't have a problem with Windows 8.1 either). That doesn't mean I have to be happy with every aspect of it. Microsoft is trying to "appify" and "cloudify" Windows more and more, taking away control from the user and aggressively trying to push us in a certain direction. It's not just bloatware apps and hidden privacy settings, but also e.g. how they are trying to make it as difficult as possible to use local accounts instead of Microsoft cloud logins. I don't like it one bit, and really hope Mac OS isn't going in the same direction. My computer is not a mobile device like a phone or tablet. If it wasn't for the lack of some applications that I need for work, I'd have switched to Linux on my desktop computer.

 

[Elijen]

I guess you don't understand how it works then. Have a read on the system behind Apples Touch ID in iPhones/iPad. It's more secure than any of your passwords, how complex they may be.

It's not secure. You don't leave your password on everything you touch with your hands.

 

[madmaxmedia]

who gives a hoot how "Thin" stuff is

Apple does- (edit-someone beat me to it!)

 

[Steve121178]

PPI mate

Meaningless

 

[admob71]

nope. i never said ALL thin computers are a Macbook ripoff. You said that in order to disprove yourself and somehow claim a victory in your argument.

this computer is clearly a Macbook 'clone'.
Things the same...
Unibody aluminium...check
Mat unibody finish...check
Tapered bottom part of the body...check
Enough space for just one headphone socket on one side...check
Enough space for one USBC port on the other side...check
Two tiny little dots on the body adjacent to the port...check [not sure what they even are on my rMB ]
Available in rose gold...check
Large trackpad in the same colour as the body...check
A small indent in the unibody just under the trackpad in order to lift the lid...check
Glass all the way to the edge of the lid with black bezel behind...check
Hinge designed to allow the bottom of the screen to drop as low as possible when open...check
One continuous long hinge...check
Keyboard located in a sunken recess of the unibody...check
Up and Down arrows on the keyboard half the size of side arrows in Macbook arrangement...check
"Asus Zenbook" logo located centre bottom of lid...check
Rubber edge to glass screen becomes thicker at the bottom...check
2 pounds...check
"ASUS" logo is shiny gold on matt gold, centre of the back of the lid...check
Low profile keyboard...check
Backlit keyboard...check

Thats 20 design features that are the same...and you're telling me its not a look alike?
OK, so what looks different?? I can only see 4 things...

The edge of the lid is shiny, not matt to match the body...
Keyboard colour matches the body colour...
Holes for the speakers go all the way to the edge rather than stopping at the hinge...
Available in blue.


Don't get me wrong, i think the ASUS looks good. Of course it does, it looks like my rMacbook.

It's not who does it first, it's who does it right!!!

 

[Michael Goff]

Except when you start losing functionality because of the thinness. Less ports for instance being a big one. Not everyone wants to have to carry around a USB hub.

What does being thin have to do with losing ports? The MacBook having only a single port is because they chose to only have one port. If it were up to them, there would be 0 ports.

 

[Reksy]

It's not who does it first, it's who does it right!!!

Then in that case HP did it with the Spectre. Thin as hell, insanely stylish, ports, not just port. MacOS is losing viability as time goes on as well. They are shutting out the gaming community. They refused to work with blizzard on overwatch which is insanely popular. They refuse to accept Vulkan which a huge amount of developers are switching to. There's going to even less support for OSX.

With vulkan here, as a gamer who only has windows for gaming, I'm more excited for a linux system than MacOS because of security and trustworthiness.

 

[zhenya]

Thin as hell, insanely stylish

Well, they DO say there's no accounting for taste...

 

[Ethosik]

Didn't someone use Final Cut Pro X on the new Macbook and beat a much better spec'ed Windows system running Adobe Premiere Pro? You have to look at the whole value: hardware + software. Final Cut Pro X is blazing fast on my system compared to Adobe Premiere Pro.

This is not the video about the comparison between systems. But it is interesting to see how well the system does with video editing.

 

[Hieveryone]

ASUS today at Computex 2016 in Taiwan announced a wide range of new products, including the ZenBook 3, its third-generation ultraportable notebook that is thinner, lighter, and faster than Apple's lookalike 12-inch Retina MacBook.

The 12.5-inch ZenBook 3 has an ultra-thin 11.9mm aerospace-grade aluminum alloy chassis that weights just 2 pounds and is "50% stronger than the standard alloy" used in competing notebooks. Comparatively, the Retina MacBook is 13.1mm thick and weighs 2.03 pounds.

ZenBook 3's display is crafted from edge-to-edge, scratch-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass 4, with a 1,920x1,080 pixels resolution and wide 72% NTSC color gamut. The notebook has a slim bezel design that provides an 82% screen-to-body ratio for a maximum viewing experience with a minimal footprint.

The Windows-based notebook is powered by up to an Intel Core i7 processor and features 16GB of 2133MHz RAM, up to 1TB of PCIe 3.0-based flash storage, and quad-speaker audio by Harman Kardon. Like the Retina MacBook, the ZenBook 3 has a single USB-C port for charging and connecting peripherals.

ASUS includes a dongle with USB 3.0, USB-C, and HDMI ports in the box, while a larger universal dock is available with additional connectivity options.

ASUS sacrificed a fanless design like the Retina MacBook has in favor of increased performance, but the ZenBook 3 has an innovative cooling system that features the "world's thinnest fan design" at just 3mm. The notebook delivers up to 9 hours of battery life with fast-charging technology for recharging up to 60% capacity in 49 minutes.

ZenBook 3 is available in three spun-metal finishes, Royal Blue, Rose Gold, and Quartz Grey, based on a two-phase anodizing process that creates golden highlights on the diamond-cut edges. Whereas the Retina MacBook's keyboard is always black, the ZenBook 3's keyboard matches the color of each finish.

The full-sized backlit keyboard also has 19.8mm key pitch and a slightly deeper 0.8mm key travel, compared to 0.5mm on the Retina MacBook's ultra-thin butterfly mechanism keyboard that some have contested. Next to the keyboard is a glass trackpad with palm-rejection technology, Smart Gestures, and handwriting support.

An optional built-in fingerprint reader with Windows Hello support enables users to sign in and unlock the ZenBook 3 with one finger tap, in lieu of having to type their password or PIN. Similarly, the 2016 MacBook Pro may feature Touch ID as Apple works on an unlocking-via-iPhone feature for OS X 10.12.

ZenBook 3 will be available in the third quarter of 2016, starting at $999 in the U.S. for the base model with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. A 512GB SSD model will sell for $1,499, while the top-range Intel Core i7 model with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD will cost $1,999.

ASUS also announced the Zenbo home robot, the ZenFone 3 Series, the ASUS Transformer 3 Series, and multiple other new products.

Article Link: Asus Announces ZenBook 3, a Retina MacBook Lookalike That is Thinner, Lighter, and Faster

Aren't there rules banning companies from basically copying their competitor's products? It looks like fake rMB to me...
[doublepost=1464721855][/doublepost]

Well, they DO say there's no accounting for taste...

I actually like this a lot. What brand?

 

[Michael Goff]

Then in that case HP did it with the Spectre. Thin as hell, insanely stylish, ports, not just port. MacOS is losing viability as time goes on as well. They are shutting out the gaming community. They refused to work with blizzard on overwatch which is insanely popular. They refuse to accept Vulkan which a huge amount of developers are switching to. There's going to even less support for OSX.

With vulkan here, as a gamer who only has windows for gaming, I'm more excited for a linux system than MacOS because of security and trustworthiness.

PC gaming isn't exactly going to sell huge numbers.

 

[KPOM]

It's a thin computer, so ALL thin computers are now MacBook ripoffs? Give me a break.

ASUS's chairman directly compared it to the MacBook over and over again during the launch presentation. They clearly wanted to make a device thinner, lighter, and more powerful than the MacBook, even if it is "just barely" on some of those counts. They did the same with their Transformer, except that they targeted the Surface Pro 4. Microsoft fans could make equally strong claims that ASUS "ripped off" the Surface Pro 4.

If you don't believe me, page through AnandTech's live blog.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10372/computex-2016-asus-zenvolution-press-conference-live-blog
[doublepost=1464723824][/doublepost]

if the retina macbook had an i5 in it, it would be a no brainer. but that core M crap is really holding me back. I need something thats faster than my C2D 1.6Ghz 2010 Unibody Macbook Air and has design elements of 2016 not the same design as 2010. Why can't apple Adopt the same methodology as they have with iPhone.

Year one Design A
Year two Design A with specs bump
Year three Design B
Year four Design B with specs bump
etc etc.

The Core M runs circles around your Core 2 Duo. Don't let the low base clock speed fool you. I had a massive OCR task that I split between my Haswell i7-based notebook and the m7 MacBook. The latter performed just as well, if not slightly better. Both throttled at times, but neither stayed either at the base speed or the maximum turbo speed for very long. The reality is that the Core M is underrated as a processor. More OEMs should be using it rather than trying to force the Core i5/i7 into it just so they can advertise double the base clock speed.
[doublepost=1464724030][/doublepost]

I found it interesting that there was no mention of what the GPU is. Maybe nobody cares about that in a notebook like this even when spending 2 grand?

It is the Intel HD 520, which is the integrated chip on the 15W Core i5/i7.

According to Apple philosophy, this laptop is better than a macbook because it is thinner, right?

Maybe Apple will get off the ridiculous "you can never be too thin if it makes us rich" bandwagon and provide innovation in areas like performance and functionality.

Why would they jump off the "thinner" bandwagon when yet another competitor (after HP) has designed a flagship device that specifically embraces thinness and lightness? If anything it shows that the 2015 MacBook upped the ante once again, since that's the notebook that competitors are trying to beat.
[doublepost=1464725756][/doublepost]

Absolutely hilarious to see some people are so "scared" that their beloved Apple company's computer is inferior in any way to any other company's.

As a rMB owner since 2015. This is a great computer from Asus, it addresses a lot of problem rMB has. (shallow keyboard, expensive dongle, weak battery life and expensive price)....


Sure, go ahead and nitpick on their 1080P screen, fanboys, it sure doesn't make you look petty

Well, given that the 512GB model is $1499, it really doesn't address the expensive price all that much. True, it comes with the dongle that Apple charges $79 for, but not everyone wants or needs it. Also, the person who wrote CNet's first look complained that the keyboard didn't register his keystrokes consistently on 2 of the 3 models that he tried. It was too short of a look to test in detail, but he did say that they would look at that in more detail. Also, the battery life in the ASUS is weaker than in the MacBook (9 hours vs. 10 hours in the 2016 model). I'd also want to know how noisy the fan gets.

That's not to say it isn't a nice machine. It certainly looks like a very nice ultraportable, and something I'd recommend to someone in the market for a Windows PC. The Dell XPS 13 and HPO Spectre are my current recommendations.

 

[forerunnerg34]

prrrfff really? a well designed laptop, with state of the art tech? who needs that, show them how is done Apple!! show them what innovation is!.... pliiiizzzzzzz
[doublepost=1464733308][/doublepost]

Pretty sweet, but it ain't running OS X...

Right, There are very good looking laptops out there, the problem is when you turn them on... Windows spyware edition with Windows 1.0 UI theme. That is the reason I'm not switching back to PC.

 

[lowkey]

Lol! Insecurity!

I'm not the one pretending that a Core M can do architectural work and rendering. Either that, or you did so little work that you can afford to wait forever. No serious graphic designer and architect would even recommend an ultrabook with an i7 for that work. You can look all over the internet for people giving it a try and saying you need a full quad core to really begin doing that stuff. So your work is either sparse or very low complexity. If i were suffering from a lack of work to do or having low skilled work, then I'd be the insecure one cause a guy overseas will replace me in no time.

But yeah, no one will actually believe you that you can do serious design and architecture work on a Core M. Nice try though. Its amazing what people will do when theyre stuck in a case of buyers remorse. One of the stages of it is trying to convince others you made a good purchase.

No...you are the one pretending someone said they run Revit and render on a MacBook. LOL.

I guess you missed the part of my post where I said it CANT run Revit?? Sometimes you really have to question peoples comprehension skills here...

My post doesn't even mention rendering. I said Indesign and photoshop mate. Not sure about you but I don't render in Indesign. Haha.

Yeah. I'm going to lose my job because we use a MacBook for Indesign and a PC for Revit. LOL.