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

[PatriotInvasion]

The MacBook is a design statement rather than a genuinely useful laptop. That's why its fan-less (only achievable using an anaemic CPU) has one USB-C port for minimal clutter and a technically interesting keyboard design but one that as a result of this, is not nice to use...its an engineers 'concept' laptop not a user friendly one.

Sounds like you need a MacBook Pro, which makes it really great that Apple makes a notebook for your high-end CPU, legacy port thirsty needs.

For users who want a 2lb ultraportable Mac, and have no desire to export 4K video from Final Cut, and have never considered buying external hard drives, the 12-inch MacBook is a tremendous portable Mac that will do everything >80% of people want it to do.

 

[LordVic]

I know I'm usually the first to jump on people who scream "copy" but COME ON ASUS

down to the single USB-C port. top bar speaker (oooh, different grill pattern) and "ERMERGERD LOOK HOW THIN" we are.. this laptop is almost a direct copy.

I'll give them credit for putting decent power in the thing. But the last thing I wanted was for another PC manufacuterer t come along and validate the one port minimal different in size of the device design Apple had made. I wanted Apple to have to fix the MacBook (like they had to do for the Air back in the day)

but Asus copying apple almost to the letter here is only going to make Apple double down on their thinner = better efforts.

 

[Lesser Evets]

I love signing into AsusRumors early in the morning and.... wait, this is MacRumors. Sorry, I must have hit the wrong window tab.

 

[LordVic]

True.

Except every Win 10 install gets Candy Crush no matter what:

http://www.winbeta.org/news/candy-crush-soda-saga-now-available-windows-10

thats like arguing that you didnt want minesweeper or Solitaire.

it's a free game Microsoft includes. They've done it since Windows 3.0 (maybe longer)

 

[Precision Gem]

Agreed! This thinner thinner thinner thing has gotten way out of hand! Sacrificing performance and overall usability.

Most people who buy these very thin light laptops, don't buy them as a desk top replacement, but as a machine that they travel with. I would bet that for most people, 95% of what they do one them is: email, Internet surfing, FaceTime home when on the road. So for most people, light and thin is more important than workstation type performance.

 

[lars666]

Fingerprints and NOT a replacement for a unique pass phrase. They are more like a secure username. Legally, the government can compel a person to relinquish their fingerprint, giving them wholesale access to a person's entire catalog of data. If the fingerprint data on the device is compromised... Any old hacker is now, for all intents and purposes, you.

It is easy and fast, but not safe. Do not rely on a fingerprint to secure your data. Security is still a challenge and the best solution we have is a unique pass phrase in conjunction with biometric ID.

These (US) government rules aside: Why not using biometric ID exactely the way it is used in the iPhone/iPad? After X hours without unlocking your MacBook you have to type in your password once. Problem solved. (At least with the same remaining risk you are also willing to take with your iPhone - that the government/police doesn't have the chance to force you to unlock it within the time frame where the passcode isn't required yet - dunno, we don't have this crazy "fingerprint yes, passcode no" differentiation here in Germany when being asked to open your personal data - I never understood the logic behind this rule you have in the USA and why they can force you to unlock your phone your with fingerprint, but not with your passcode...)

 

[H2SO4]

Nobody even remembers a telephone number anymore. All stored in our phones. I'm okay with that, too.

Speak for yourself, that’s the exact reason I don’t store numbers in my phone.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Who cares if they copy the MacBook design?

I'm more interested in how much stuff they've crammed in (no screen comments - that's on the top lid off on its own).

Hope the MacBook Pro is amazing....because the MacBook really, well, really isn't that amazing.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

This looks like an amazing computer with great specs!
Oh, wait. It's a PC and runs Windows 10... I just lost interest.

 

[Michael Scrip]

thats like arguing that you didnt want minesweeper or Solitaire.

it's a free game Microsoft includes. They've done it since Windows 3.0 (maybe longer)

Is Candy Crush actually installed on windows 10 ?

I thought it was just an icon to download it.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

So in short, the corrections are, base model has less RAM than MacBook, design is chintzy and cheap (tasteless spun metal lid pattern, base does not colour-match with lid: extrapolate build quality), display isn't Retina quality in gamut or resolution, but Apple is the one who does not innovate. Also, Asus have a history like other PC makers of lying about battery life whereas Apple is more conservative (I can get over 16 hours from my MBA in a push).

But why add any truth in there when clicks can be had. After all, it is thinner and metal-y.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Speak for yourself, that’s the exact reason I don’t store numbers in my phone.

And... What are you trying to prove with that?

 

[Zirel]

I don't get it why notebooks like these is able to put Intel Core i7 in it while the MacBook gets a crippled Intel Core M?

I remember the original MBA launch where SJ showed why netbooks is horrible and one of the points was Intel Atom (or along low powered processor or something) Guess what Apple, Core M is the new Atom, and you're using it in your MacBooks!

Because it has a fan and is thicker in reality:

They say it's thinner, because MacBook's feet that are there for a purpose.

 

[LordVic]

Is Candy Crush actually installed on windows 10 ?

I thought it was just an icon to download it.

I'll double check when I get home. did a recentish installation of Win10 on my desktop and I haven't even removed the default start menu tiles. I never customize that thing.

 

[Michael Scrip]

It's a cross between two Apple notebooks; it's thinner and lighter than the rMB, but it packs a Core i5/7-U processor like the 13-inch rMBP.

I think his point was:

If it doesn't run OSX... it doesn't really compete with a Macintosh laptop.

You can compare hardware specs all day long... but software is a BIG part of the Macintosh.

 

[lars666]

Speak for yourself, that’s the exact reason I don’t store numbers in my phone.

You must lead quite an (unnecessarily) complicated life, at least if you have to deal with more than a handful of telephone numbers for your job.

 

[American Hero]

Yeah what do you expect? A bag of potatoes are faster than the entire Mac line-up since they haven't been updated properly.

Edit: Ships with a USB-C adapter included? How generous, take notes Apple...
View attachment 633576

You pointed out another "nickel and dime" scheme from Tim Cook's Apple. Jobs would've provided them for free out of the box, or at least for a more reduced price.

 

[PowerBook-G5]

What is it with Asus and those brushed-radial textures? I just read an article about their new phablet and it too has that texture. Maybe some people like it, but I find it repulsive.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

You can compare hardware specs all day long... but software is a BIG part of the Macintosh.

Hardware specs and hardware design + quality (+ support) are not the same thing. You can be sure they aren't coming near MacBook design + quality in person. They cannot even ****ing colour-match the lid ffs.
[doublepost=1464629466][/doublepost]

What is it with Asus and those brushed-radial textures? I just read an article about their new phablet and it too has that texture. Maybe some people like it, but I find it repulsive.

No, Asus likes it. It looks cheap and 90s. They could just has easily have gone with their second choice checker-plated pattern.

 

[Michael Scrip]

I'll double check when I get home. did a recentish installation of Win10 on my desktop and I haven't even removed the default start menu tiles. I never customize that thing.

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.

 

[HiRez]

2.0 lbs vs 2.03 lbs is "lighter"? Come on. If someone can demonstrate they can perceive a difference of 3 100ths of a pound difference then fine but since that's clearly impossible, it's ridiculous to describe the device that way.

The "thinner" argument is nearly as ridiculous as well (no doubt Apple has played this game too).

And what about real world battery life? That's always the main trade off for weight so it's an important comparison.

 

[LordVic]

2.0 lbs vs 2.03 lbs is "lighter"? Come on.

one good sneeze without covering your nose and they weight the same

 

[smacrumon]

No joke, but today a friend, a real big Apple supporter in the past, sent me a message to say they are leaving iOS for Android. And now this Asus rumor!

Apple, the industry moves quickly when you're asleep at the wheel or out to lunch.

Asus: home of super thin ZenBook MacBooks, home of iMac G4 inspired Zenbo.

 

[mikecorp]

who cares. Apple user will stay with OSX, I can not imagine myself to go back to windows. thiner, lighter is ******** anyway. We need, faster CPU, better GPU, more SSD space, Retina and most important battery performance. I buy a new laptop every 6 years or when I decide it is 6x faster than my previous version. I know and you know people who bought cheaper Asus, HP, Sony and they replace them in 3 years. Everybody know Asus and Sony has extremely ****** service.

 

[RamGuy]

I don't get it why notebooks like these is able to put Intel Core i7 in it while the MacBook gets a crippled Intel Core M?

I remember the original MBA launch where SJ showed why netbooks is horrible and one of the points was Intel Atom (or along low powered processor or something) Guess what Apple, Core M is the new Atom, and you're using it in your MacBooks!

Doesn't seem like you have any idea what you are talking about.

Intel Atom has always been far behind on every level. Intel Atom has never shared the architecture, the same chipset or anything with the current generation Intel offering. It has normally been a pure low-powered offering based on architecture that is several years old.

It's not only the CPU itself being slow and dated in what it offers. The southbridge/chipset and it's SATA controller and everything was nowhere near the current generation performance and offerings.


Intel Core M is another beast entirely. It's based on current generation architecture, todays Intel Core m3, m5 and m7 shares the same architecture as every other Intel Skylake-based CPU's. And the southbridge/chipset is featuring the same current generation controller and offerings. There is nothing gimped about it at all. The only downside of the Intel Core M, and the whole point behind it is to offer something with such a low TDP that it can be run entirely fanless.


Your claim about the Intel Core M being this day and age's Intel Atom is really stupid and just proves you are spreading claims that have no bearing in reality.


And there is really no point in comparing the Intel Core i7 of this new Asus Zenbook 3 with the Intel Core M of the MacBook 12-inch before we can see them in real-life. The biggest issues with putting LV CPU's like the Intel Core i7 like Asus is using here compared to the ULV CPU like the Intel Core M at that Apple uses in such a thin notebook is the fact that the Intel Core i7 requires a much larger headroom of cooling in order to perform without throttling.

What is the point of having the Intel Core i7 if it won't be able to perform normally because of less to ideal heat deposition? How is it going to affect things like battery life? How loud will these tiny fans be in order to keep it cool enough to not throttle below Intel Core M performance anyways? How do we know the fans will even be up to the task?

Asus have released loads of notebooks in the past that throttle a lot gimping performance.