HP Claims Innovation Over Apple With 'World's Thinnest Laptop'

[bodonnell202]

I think people stopped caring about thinner laptops after the MacBook Air came out. If Apple released a new MBA with basically the same design but a slightly bigger (via thinner bezels) and higher resolution IPS screen it would probably be a huge seller. I think the 12" MacBook makes too many compromises already to achieve its ultra thin design.

 

[mildocjr]

It feels quite sturdy. There's a bit of heft to it, but it doesn't feel flimsy or cheap at all.

That is definitely a winner in my book, thanks for sharing. I'm tired of picking up a laptop and it feeling like a LeapPad Laptop. Sad thing is you actually Bing that and a Lenovo is suggested.
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I think people stopped caring about thinner laptops after the MacBook Air came out. If Apple released a new MBA with basically the same design but a slightly bigger (via thinner bezels) and higher resolution IPS screen it would probably be a huge seller. I think the 12" MacBook makes too many compromises already to achieve its ultra thin design.

Tell that to my daughters friends at school and you will find yourself in an angry mob getting ushered to the door.

 

[pika2000]

Cant wait for reviews and stress tests. An i5 and i7 probably won't be able to sustain top speeds for a long time due to heat limitations . Heck, there are benchmarks showing a lower clock speed m3 being faster than m5 just because it can sustain its top speed longer than a higher clocked m5. An i5 or i7 would probably need to throttle down even quicker, unless the cooling system is top notch.

What Apple should "copy" here is having more than one USB C slot. I understand Apple's vision of a totally wireless device, but reality is different. By the time everything is wireless, I would probably have replaced the laptop more than once. The original MacBook Air only had 1 USB port. The second generation has two, and it became the standard reference for an ultra book. I am sure it is possible to have one more USB C slot on the retina MacBook. I mean seriously, this is not an iPhone.

 

[dysamoria]

How solid is it? Does it flex and bend and creak like most other PC laptops I've ever handled? Why are the hinges so insubstantial? They look like they'll break in a couple years like so many other PC laptops I've seen and used.

 

[ignatius345]

the HP Spectre is 10.4mm thick and weighs in at 2.45lbs, sporting a twin-tone aluminum and carbon fiber chassis with an edge-to-edge Corning Gorilla Glass IPS 1080p display. Apple's 12-inch Retina MacBook is 13.1mm thick and weighs 2.03lbs by comparison.

HP is doing (and much worse) what we all complain about Apple doing: removing functionality for the sake of form. This lame thing weighs more than the Retina MacBook and has a much worse display.

The only thing they did right is put multiple ports on it.

 

[mildocjr]

Cant wait for reviews and stress tests. An i5 and i7 probably won't be able to sustain top speeds for a long time due to heat limitations . Heck, there are benchmarks showing a lower clock speed m3 being faster than m5 just because it can sustain its top speed longer than a higher clocked m5. An i5 or i7 would probably need to throttle down even quicker, unless the cooling system is top notch.

What Apple should "copy" here is having more than one USB C slot. I understand Apple's vision of a totally wireless device, but reality is different. By the time everything is wireless, I would probably have replaced the laptop more than once. The original MacBook Air only had 1 USB port. The second generation has two, and it became the standard reference for an ultra book. I am sure it is possible to have one more USB C slot on the retina MacBook. I mean seriously, this is not an iPhone.

Well they did say that they were able to make it thinner due to a new cooling process, I'm more interested in that than the actual laptop at this point

 

[toph2toast]

Hingeless? I still see hinge. In fact, it's one of the worst laptop hinges I've ever seen.

The article clearly says ""nearly hingeless look" when the laptop is closed"

 

[GeneralChang]

This is actually a very good looking laptop. Too bad it runs windows

This. Just this.

Though I might be tempted if I could buy one at a discounted sans-Windows-license price and put a flavor of Linux on it.

 

[a.gomez]

For the past 3 months I have been walking around with a quadcore in a 2.6lb tablet format that has let me do all my design work. No crashes, hickups,... nothing - rock solid and silent.

Regardless of what Apple does next, there are some amazing things going on in windows based computers. And some solutions you can only get in that space. They really are getting their act together.

 

[ZCT]

I think it is very wishful thinking for any company, especially one that has had the problems of HP, to release a single product and then claim that they have taken the 'mantel' from Apple. Dream on.

First off, you're still running Windows. Secondly for me the secret sauce of Apple isn't just what they make, it's how well their products function TOGETHER. So I like my iPad Pro / MacBook Pro / iPhone 6S Plus as a combination of products, that even play well with my Apple TVs.

Even if I were hugely excited with this Donald Trump looking gold and black thin laptop, it's not going to play as well with my other Apple devices as my MacBook Pro does.

I also wish that Apple and others like HP would get it through their heads, I don't NEED to have the thinnest laptop, tablet, phone in the world!

My iPhone 6S Plus is a bit TOO thin in my book. I actually use a case to make it easier to grip. Apple could have made the phone a bit thicker and given me more battery life.

Similarly here HP give us this super thin design, but take away certain upgrade options, sacrifice battery life etc. If I'm carrying a laptop anyway, a few more mm and a tiny bit more weight is a good trade off if I can get 2 hours more life without charging.

Sometimes it seems like manufacturers are busy trying to be cool at the expense of real world practicality. My MacBook Pro is quite thin enough. Now make me an even better display, double the battery life and make it faster please. Making it 5mm thinner does nothing for me. Save that for the Air line or regular MacBook line.

 

[Gudi]

HP will never be as good as Apple until they make watch bands...

And until HP returns to the PC business.

Can't fix it, can't sell it: HP gives PC business to investors

 

[Havok83]

the price puts Apple's too shame. I wish we could get a Pro with at least a 256gb at that price

 

[ignatius345]

The renderings looks very nice and it's only 1lbs more than the iPad Pro (less if a cover is used). It certainly blow away the current macbook.

Did you notice the part where it weighs more than the Retina MacBook and has a 1080p screen? Yeah, really blowing it away

 

[igorsky]

HAHAHA! The comments here are great.

I would have loved to have seen this announced as a new mac laptop and see all the praise that would have been heaped upon on it.

And this seems weird to you even though you're on a website devoted to all things Apple?

 

[GeneralChang]

Meanwhile, my MacBook Pro from 2012 is slowing down to a crawl, ridden with bugs and I wish to hurl it through a window. So frustrating.

This statement concerns me considering my 2010 MBP is running just swell. You may want to sit down for a bit and make sure you haven't got something nasty going on in the background. A suggestion, that's all.

 

[igorsky]

You might need to learn how to use a PC, this kind of exageration are the problem with fanboys, I love Macs, and have mostly Apple stuff, but to say that a ten year old Mac runs better than a 2 year old Worksation is delusional at best.

I have a three-year old laptop running Windows 10 that has so many issues that I'm about to throw in the trash and buy myself a Macbook, which I should've done three years ago, which I'm sure would be running perfectly today. This isn't as much about fanboy exaggeration as it is about Windows users in denial.

 

[KPOM]

HAHAHA! The comments here are great.

I would have loved to have seen this announced as a new mac laptop and see all the praise that would have been heaped upon on it.

Instead it's hideous, and "that hinge" etc. It looks amazing and if they beat Apple at its own thin game, well, just another sign of what it is to be living during the time of Tim's Apple.

No, I think a lot of people would have criticized the 1080p screen. Plus there would have been the normal contingent complaining about how they'd have preferred a slightly thicker device with a bigger battery.

The HP Spectre is certainly a great effort by HP, and it is impressive that they crammed a Core i5/i7 rather than a Core M, but it did make some compromises, starting with the screen.

The 3rd port seems a bit superfluous to me. I'd have left it at 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports. Let's face it, the most likely use of the second port will be to plug in a hub. The days of plugging lots of things directly into our PCs should be drawing to a close.

 

[GeneralChang]

For the past 3 months I have been walking around with a quadcore in a 2.6lb tablet format that has let me do all my design work. No crashes, hickups,... nothing - rock solid and silent.

Regardless of what Apple does next, there are some amazing things going on in windows based computers. And some solutions you can only get in that space. They really are getting their act together.

This thing and the Surface Book have impressed me, I'll admit. It's the inclusion of Windows that still gets me. Hardware isn't much of a differentiator anymore. But Win10 is... well, better, but still miles off what I want.

 

[AntonLee]

yeah how about no. I want my computer to give me more than a year of service before it craps out

 

[mdelvecchio]

what OS does it run? if Windows then nope, still out out innovating Apple.

there's more to it than just being thin.

 

[maxsix]

HP is trying way too hard to be seen as the innovator of the industry and it looks sad. Of course, I'm glad they are trying, but it just comes off as desperate when they have to tell the press that they are the taking the "mantle of innovation". Real innovators don't tell others that they are innovators...because they don't need to. They show it through great products that bring new things to the table. HP has tried to copy Apple's design language for years and it didn't work, so now they are going to just try and churn out flashy, shiny products in the hopes that they will finally be seen as premium and high end. Hell, that new Spectre even has an extremely high-end model that has real gold and diamonds embedded in the chassis! ($18k Apple Watch Edition, anyone?) If anyone is innovating in the PC industry, it's probably Dell with their XPS series which genuinely offers something desirable (InfinityEdge displays with ultra-thin bezels) that it's competitors don't have.

HP tried to "improve" upon Apple's new MacBook, which is admittedly flawed with its atrocious keyboard. However, in their attempt to improve upon it by making it thinner, have more ports, and power, they totally turned the new Spectre into a completely different machine. This seems more like a MacBook Air competitor than anything else. This just proves, to me anyway, that they totally didn't get the vision the Apple has for the future of notebooks. The one port on the MacBook was a conscious choice because Apple believes in a mostly wireless world where we do things through Bluetooth and the cloud...not wires and external peripherals. They used a Core M processor because it provides good performance for the consumers that it's targetted to...people who want ultra-portable notebooks who don't even use half of the performance that their i5 and i7's offer them, but would rather have a thin, lightweight design and completely silent machine. By changing all of these things, HP proves that they truly don't get it and that their attempts at innovation are rather shallow. And, I mean, come on! The new Spectre has a 13" screen and gigantic, chunky bezels...of course there is room for more ports!

If HP really wants to innovate, perhaps they should try to do something about all of the bloatware they ship their machines, and maybe their awful customer service too!

Why Care?

 

[HangmanSwingset]

Yeah this thing is still going to thermal throttle like a bastard.

 

[MacOG728893]

Let's play a drinking game. Every time the narrator says artisan in that video, take a shot.

 

[scott911]

"Early indications are that the SSD and memory are soldered onto the mainboard, suggesting HP sacrificed repairability for thinness. "

hate, hate hate.

 

[srazz]

Ya, maybe its the worlds thinnest but its still a PC.