Xiaomi Takes Aim at Apple With New MacBook Pro and iPhone X Rivals

[Blakjack]

But Steve didn't belive in copying design aesthetics. He was talking more about feature sets and how products operate. For him it wasn't merely copying. It was adopting features and actually implementing them better. To me, that's not copying. That's just doing something the right way.

 

[chucker23n1]

Proves that Apple did not get rid of SD card et al. cuz of thinness alone.

The ports section of the device appears to be about 54% thicker, so no, this device doesn't prove that.

And even then, they don't have enough room for Ethernet. I'm sure if Apple were to make a thicker MBP again, someone would complain about lack of Ethernet.

Adapters worth 150$ are built into this Xiaomi thing. Amazing! Apple should copy them now...

I doubt Apple has any difficulty making a laptop with these ports. They just choose not to.

 

[tpham5919]

Lol... That's a pretty good copy... What a shame! At least at your own spin to it or something.
[doublepost=1505158905][/doublepost]

That quote doesn't mean what you think it does, unless you take it completely at face value. Sick of reading it whenever somebody blatantly rips off Apple's design.

I might have missed the interview/memoir/biography in which Jobs explained what he really meant when he said what he said. So far I've all read/seen/heard someone else's interpretation of what Jobs might have meant to say. Do you have a source from Jobs himself?

 

[Yojimbo007]

That quote doesn't mean what you think it does, unless you take it completely at face value. Sick of reading it whenever somebody blatantly rips off Apple's design.

What does it mean?
[doublepost=1505159201][/doublepost]

That quote doesn't mean what you think it does, unless you take it completely at face value. Sick of reading it whenever somebody blatantly rips off Apple's design.

What does it mean ?

 

[tipoo]

One thing I will say, that budget MX150 is uncomfortably close to the Radeon pros in the 3K+ rMBP 15, while being found in 600 dollar devices

Even on compute the 150 trades blows with the Pro 560. The 560 should become the baseline next refresh, if they insist on staying with AMD and 35 watts.

 

[Tech198]

i like this laptop... at least it gotta bigger room either side of the keyboard..

Atmos in a laptop? Awesome, if that's how it sounds.

 

[latweek]

For Apple enthusiasts - THIS is why Apple is diversifying into services, subscriptions, content, etc. instead of developing state of the art hardware that can just be knocked off and commoditized.

 

[fribhey]

that's not a steve jobs quote.

 

[sirozha]

Stopped reading on this first sentence. Ludicrous statement. Xiaomi may have unveiled new products that mimic Apple's but they compete no more than a Hyundai Azera competes with a Lexus GS. This is especially true outside of China. No on looking to buy a Lexus is also considering a Hyundai. Two different breeds of buyers sharing zero DNA.

I've owned Lexus GS and IS, and now I buy exclusively KIAs. It so happened that I made very smart investments in the past decade and can now afford any car I want, including a new Lamborghini, and I always pay cash. Those who knock KIA (or Hyundai) have never sat inside a relatively new model. If you opt for an upper trim, you are getting a luxury car with a KIA (or Genesis) badge.

By the way, Lexus is a mediocre "luxury" car, so I'm not sure why you used it as an example unless a more expensive dealership doesn't let you inside their showroom. Lexus is just a badge, not much else. I still own a GS, but I live in a place where Lexus are driven by the status symbol wannabes who can't afford a real luxury car. The folks with money around here drive Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley, McLarens, etc. there are hundreds of them driving at any time within a 3-mile radius of my house; so much so that those who drive Maserati are looked down upon by the ultra privileged. Porshes and Teslas are common cars on the streets and are considered average-man's cars around my area.

I CHOSE KIA and enjoy driving it every day. Even the infotainment system in KIAs beats the horror that Lexus puts in their cars. I wouldn't claim that KIAs beat Porsches, but they as sure as Hell beat Lexus - if you stack a 2017 Sorento SXL V6 against a Lexus RX or 2017 Cadenza against a Lexus ES, or 2017 K9 against Lexus LS. And in a couple months, KIA Stinger is coming out that will give Lexus GS a serious run for its money - literally.

I enjoy seeing how others judge me by the KIA badge without realizing that I drive a car much superior to those driven by the *******s in Lexus, Accuras, and Infinities whose only dream in life is to be able to afford a BMW, Mercedes, or a Tesla. All their lives are centered on getting a more prestigious badge. They would be in heaven if they could drive a Porsche. In the meantime I buy the most expensive KIA, which is a beautiful car with the best in class safety and infotainment and pay much less than their crappy Lexus, Accura, and Infinity cost. And I really love being judged as being poor by those asshiles whose net worth is 1/100th of mine, and who live their entire lives in debt while trying to look like a million bucks.

There's more to life than chasing badges even if you can afford them. Trust me on that.

 

[thisisbbb]

Chinese company Xiaomi today held an event in Beijing, where it unveiled new products that will rival the MacBook Pro and iPhone X.

First up was the new Mi Notebook Pro, with a fully metal enclosure that looks virtually identical to Apple's latest MacBook Pro in Space Gray.

Mi Notebook Pro is equipped with a 15.6-inch display with narrow bezels, a full-sized backlit keyboard, custom Harman Infinity speakers with Dolby Atmos sound, and seven ports: USB-C, data-only USB-C, dual USB 3.0, full-sized HDMI, a 3-in-1 SD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The notebook is equipped with up to Intel's new eighth-generation Core i7 quad-core processor, up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics card, and 256GB of SSD storage. It will run Windows 10 Home Edition out of the box, with support for Windows Hello fingerprint authentication.

Mi Notebook Pro pricing ranges from about $850 to $1,075 based on current exchange rates, which is under half the price of the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro, but The Verge found it only has a 1080p display.

Next up was the Mi Mix 2 smartphone, which has a nearly edge to edge 5.99-inch display on the front of the device, beyond a small bottom bezel or "chin" that is 12 percent slimmer than the original Mi Mix.

Mi Mix 2 is equipped with a 64-bit Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with four-axis optical image stabilization, and a rear fingerprint scanner. An earpiece speaker is hidden along the top edge, while the front-facing camera is housed in the bottom bezel.

Mi Mix 2 will likely ship with Xiaomi's MIUI operating system, based on Android. Pricing starts at about $500 at current exchange rates.

Like other Xiaomi products, the Mi Notebook Pro and Mi Mix 2 will be available soon in China, followed by other global markets. The devices will likely be available through resellers only in the United States.

Other announcements included a special ceramic edition of the Mi Mix 2 and a new Mi Note 3 phablet with dual cameras.

Xiaomi's event took place just one day before Apple's first-ever event at the brand new Steve Jobs Theater at its new Apple Park headquarters.

Article Link: Xiaomi Takes Aim at Apple With New MacBook Pro and iPhone X Rivals

 

[MaxinMusicCity]

Chinese company Xiaomi today held an event in Beijing, where it unveiled new products that will rival the MacBook Pro and iPhone X.

First up was the new Mi Notebook Pro, with a fully metal enclosure that looks virtually identical to Apple's latest MacBook Pro in Space Gray.

Mi Notebook Pro is equipped with a 15.6-inch display with narrow bezels, a full-sized backlit keyboard, custom Harman Infinity speakers with Dolby Atmos sound, and seven ports: USB-C, data-only USB-C, dual USB 3.0, full-sized HDMI, a 3-in-1 SD card slot, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

The notebook is equipped with up to Intel's new eighth-generation Core i7 quad-core processor, up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics card, and 256GB of SSD storage. It will run Windows 10 Home Edition out of the box, with support for Windows Hello fingerprint authentication.

Mi Notebook Pro pricing ranges from about $850 to $1,075 based on current exchange rates, which is under half the price of the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro, but The Verge found it only has a 1080p display.

Next up was the Mi Mix 2 smartphone, which has a nearly edge to edge 5.99-inch display on the front of the device, beyond a small bottom bezel or "chin" that is 12 percent slimmer than the original Mi Mix.

Mi Mix 2 is equipped with a 64-bit Snapdragon 835 processor, 6GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera with four-axis optical image stabilization, and a rear fingerprint scanner. An earpiece speaker is hidden along the top edge, while the front-facing camera is housed in the bottom bezel.

Mi Mix 2 will likely ship with Xiaomi's MIUI operating system, based on Android. Pricing starts at about $500 at current exchange rates.

Like other Xiaomi products, the Mi Notebook Pro and Mi Mix 2 will be available soon in China, followed by other global markets. The devices will likely be available through resellers only in the United States.

Other announcements included a special ceramic edition of the Mi Mix 2 and a new Mi Note 3 phablet with dual cameras.

Xiaomi's event took place just one day before Apple's first-ever event at the brand new Steve Jobs Theater at its new Apple Park headquarters.

Article Link: Xiaomi Takes Aim at Apple With New MacBook Pro and iPhone X Rivals

If it isn't American Engineered, I don't buy it.

 

[JDW]

I'm curious what ports you "require" and why?

To even ask that silly question shows either ignorance of what is actually needed from a computer labeled by Apple as "pro" or it shows apathy. Either way, I don't join you. I've been a Mac lover since 1984 and I don't do Windows. But I do know a good computer from a bad one.

The 2015 MacBook Pro 15 inch was the last "pro" notebook and Apple's lineup because it included "pro" features like a built-in SD card slot and legacy USB 3 ports among on other important things like MagSafe and a good keyboard and a decent size battery.

Don't get me wrong. I love USBC. But the 15 inch MacBook Pro is spacious enough for Apple to have included four of those USBC ports plus all of the other ports and features I just mentioned, as evidenced by the fact that a Chinese company pretty much accomplished that!

I mourn the fact that many of my fellow Apple fans rejoice in the mundane and defend Cupertino no matter what. So many are selfish. When you yourself deem something unnecessary, you chastise and gut your fellow Mac users who do feel they need or want those missing features. You do this to defend the status quo at Apple. But Apple is big enough and wealthy enough to defend itself without your help. If anything, your fellow Mac users who are suffering by the lack of features need your help in joining them to send feedback to Apple to tell Apple that if they want to gut a computer, they've got the MacBook and MacBook Air lines to do that! That's right, you can rejoice in the mundane "thin and light" nature of the MacBook and the MacBook Air. Why must the MacBook "pro" be stripped down to the same level as those other two low-end lines? It's ridiculous and unthinkable.

USBC is great but it won't become ubiquitous even in the next two or three or five years. Until it does become ubiquitous we need legacy functionality built in, especially on a computer big enough to contain it all!

The reason I say Jonny Ive has to go is because anyone who knows anything about Apple knows full well that Steve Jobs gave him quite nearly unlimited power at Apple, and Tim Cook expanded his role at Apple to not only guide the hardware design but also software design as well. I think minimalism is great up to a point. Johnny Ive's team crossed that line of balance with a late 2016 MacBook Pro. He basically made the MacBook "pro" like a MacBook or MacBook Air. And for top end 15 inch MacBook Pro model that cost over $4000, that's simply not right. Thankfully I'm not alone in voicing the right opinion on this. Many of my fellow Mac users out there join me in voicing these serious and legitimate concerns. And the following two locations are where those concerns should be directed to help invoke positive change at Apple:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macbookpro.html

tcook@apple.com

 

[brdeveloper]

Don't know if it's a copy, but those devices look great. For half the price of a real Macbook/iPhone, they seem to be a great deal. Competition is always a good thing. If Apple can't make something really unique, then it should work harder.

 

[sirozha]

I find it even more sad than Apple doesn't give us the ports we require even though MacBook Pro cost four times more than this.

To say that this company is blatantly ripping off Apple is ridiculous. This Chinese company has bested Apple by offering their customers an SD card slot and legacy USB 3 ports.

Would I buy it? No, because it runs stupid Windows. But that doesn't make me happy and satisfied with Apple's stupid stripped down MacBook "pro" machines. For now, I remain content with my fully loaded 2015 MacBook Pro — the last good "pro" Apple notebook (except for the stupid antiglare coating that comes off).

Minimalism has gone too far. Apple needs to ditch Jonny Ive.

Make the MacBook Pro great again!

Same here. I'm staying with a 2015 15" MacBook Pro and am seeing no path for an upgrade so far. I am not sure what I will be doing a few years from now, but I'm not buying a MacBook Pro without regular USB ports or without an HDMI and mini-DP. I hope Apple will bring these "legacy" ports back like they did with FireWire a while back.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Those who knock KIA (or Hyundai) have never sat inside a relatively new model. If you opt for an upper trim, you are getting a luxury car with a KIA (or Genesis) badge.

By the way, Lexus is a mediocre "luxury" car, so I'm not sure why you used it as an example unless a more expensive dealership doesn't let you inside their showroom.

Yes my dad leased Hyundais. It's the reason I'm familiar with them. They are fine cars for what they are but they do miss the fit and finish of what is passed off as a luxury car. If you believe the KIA or Hyundai competes with the upmarket brands and think your Kia is equal to a lux brand then you make my point exactly. It's not to put anyone down, it's just the buyers of each has a different state of mind or goal.

Lexus isn't my cup of tea, so I agree with your comments, but it has it's market and that market isn't looking at KIA or Toyota. I could have used any lux brand but decided to give Lexus a mention this time because I'm usually using BMW or Audi as the comparo. Again my point is someone looking for a lux car isn't looking for a value car. It's NOT to say someone looking for a value car has no money and can't afford a lux car.

 

[sirozha]

That MacBook clone looks extremely tempting as a linux machine. Though I'm an Apple purist for the reliability of their notebooks, not because they're 'pretty'. Every wintel machine I've ever been tempted by has broken down after month 13. Not falling for this.

Agreed. I am ready to go straight Linux for work at this point, and this laptop seems like a great machine to run Linux on. I would love to know if Linux runs on it.

I have been delving in Linux for 15 years now and am running it in a VM on the Mac for certain tasks. For what I do, Linux is more suitable than macOS. For my wife, there's no way in hell I will go Linux. She will stay with macOS. Windows is banned in this household forever.
[doublepost=1505167575][/doublepost]

Yes my dad leased Hyundais. It's the reason I'm familiar with them. They are fine cars for what they are but they do miss the fit and finish of what is passed off as a luxury car. If you believe the KIA or Hyundai competes with the upmarket brands and think your Kia is equal to a lux brand then you make my point exactly. It's not to put anyone down, it's just the buyers of each has a different state of mind or goal.

Lexus isn't my cup of tea, so I agree with your comments, but it has it's market and that market isn't looking at KIA or Toyota. I could have used any lux brand but decided to give Lexus a mention this time because I'm usually using BMW or Audi as the comparo. Again my point is someone looking for a lux car isn't looking for a value car. It's NOT to say someone looking for a value car has no money and can't afford a lux car.

Have you driven an upper trim 2017 Cadenza or Soremto SXL or a Kia K900? Take them for a test drive and then post again.

Don't compare Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Subaru, etc. to the 2017 KIA. The latter is in a class of its own. I challenge you to test drive a KIA Sorento SXL with NAPA leather, lane guidance, adaptive cruise control, auto braking, AWD, and a dozen other safety features as well as with CarPlay/Android Auto Infinity infotainment and tell me that the latest Lexus RX beats it in quality of the ride, quality of materials, infotainment, or safety. Lexus got itself a brand recognition a while back, but KIA has overtaken it. I know many reading this are laughing, but I laugh at them because they don't see the quality behind the badge that they learned to disdain two decades ago.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

Have you driven an upper trim 2017 Cadenza or Soremto SXL or a Kia K900? Take them for a test drive and then post again.

Hey look I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt with my mention of Hyundai. They are fine cars. My point was not to insult them but rather to note Hyundai:Xiaomi buyers are different than Lexus:Apple buyers. And yes, the products are not exactly equivalent either. But any 2nd tier make vs 1st tier would have worked too. You totally missed my broad point and internalized it instead. My post was not about Hyundai cars. It was that most Xioami buyers are not looking at Apple products and vice versa.

 

[pgwalsh]

I just find it sad that they're blatantly ripping off entire designs from Apple.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

I applaud them for doing this because it will push Apple to the next level.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

For Apple enthusiasts - THIS is why Apple is diversifying into services, subscriptions, content, etc. instead of developing state of the art hardware that can just be knocked off and commoditized.

Apple need to dev state of the art hardware! If not they will fall behind and make themselves vulnerable. Just look at what outsourcing has done.

 

[Rob_2811]

They didn't rip off the Touchbar then? Can't imagine why..

 

[fourthtunz]

that's not a steve jobs quote.

Pablo Picasso

 

[57004]

Runs Windows? Nope not interested, thanks.

If it's anything like my Xiaomi Notebook Air 13, it also runs Linux beautifully without any driver issues.

The 13 can be had for 600€ now and as such is a great alternative to the retina MacBook Pro 13. It even has dedicated video for that price, and a decent keyboard. No butterfly low travel.

In the end I moved to Linux on all my macs as well. It's sad it has to be this way but with Apple's increasingly higher pricing and reduction of ports, OS focusing too less on power users etc., it was unavoidable.
[doublepost=1505175909][/doublepost]

Agreed. I am ready to go straight Linux for work at this point, and this laptop seems like a great machine to run Linux on. I would love to know if Linux runs on it.

I have been delving in Linux for 15 years now and am running it in a VM on the Mac for certain tasks. For what I do, Linux is more suitable than macOS. For my wife, there's no way in hell I will go Linux. She will stay with macOS. Windows is banned in this household forever.

Linux runs super great on my notebook Air 13. All drivers installed out of the box on Linux. Just had to blacklist one driver to make the WiFi work (it detected the wrong one which may be fixed already).

Wouldn't be surprised if this 15 works just as well. Linux is very popular in China too.

 

[mi7chy]

But Steve didn't belive in copying design aesthetics. He was talking more about feature sets and how products operate. For him it wasn't merely copying. It was adopting features and actually implementing them better. To me, that's not copying. That's just doing something the right way.

iPhone 6, 6S and 7 copied the phablet that Samsung popularized but with hugely bloated bezels. How is that doing it right?

 

[sirozha]

Hey look I'm sorry you got your feelings hurt with my mention of Hyundai. They are fine cars. My point was not to insult them but rather to note Hyundai:Xiaomi buyers are different than Lexus:Apple buyers. And yes, the products are not exactly equivalent either. But any 2nd tier make vs 1st tier would have worked too. You totally missed my broad point and internalized it instead. My post was not about Hyundai cars. It was that most Xioami buyers are not looking at Apple products and vice versa.

You didn't offend me, but you totally missed my point. I buy Apple and I buy KIA. And, I'm the same person. I don't mind paying more for quality products. In fact, I prefer to pay more and buy quality instead of buying cheap crap. However, I refuse to pay extra for same or lower quality just because of the badge. I've been paying the "Apple tax" for over a decade as long as I saw value in the Apple gear, and haven't complained. Instead, I was happy to pay more for much better quality when buying Apple.

However, if someone produces a phone or a laptop comparable to or better in quality than Apple's for half the price, I will certainly stop buying Apple. I am not going to pay Apple double the price just for the logo. The argument of the OS running on Apple devices is a strong one and doesn't directly translate into your Hyundai vs Lexus analogy. Obviously, besides the Apple hardware, there's also the OS to consider. So, for non-professional users, I would still recommend Apple, but for myself, I'm prepared to switch to Linux as long as I can find quality hardware.

My last straw is the lack of any usable ports on the latest MacBook Pros. For some reason, this argument is dumbed down to external storage devices. I'm an engineer and deal with USB peripherals that have nothing to do with storage devices. I also work on multiple displays. The manufacturers of these peripherals will not start making same devices with USB-C connectors anytime soon, and even if they did, I would not rush to buy the new version of the same devices just to be able to plug them in the new Apple laptops.

I don't want to have to carry a dongle for HDMI, a dongle for USB, a dongle for mDP, a dongle for Ethernet, etc. And then, I need to double or triple those dongles to have a set at home, a set in my office, and a set in my computer bag lest I should forget a certain dongle when going to my client's site. However, I'm happy Apple has native social media integration with Facebook and Twitter in their OS /sarcasm.

The other day I found out that Apple removed faxing support from Sierra (again!) after I fought a long fight to bring it back to El Capitan after it was removed from Yosemite. I now have to run a Windows VM to be able to fax through a USB modem connected to my 2015 MacBook Pro. If I upgrade to a 2016 or 2017 MacBook Pro, I will also need a dongle for the USB fax modem. I know there will be geniuses here telling me that faxing is an outdated technology, and I really must send a fax, I can do it via an e-fax provider. In my case, I need to fax from a real modem to test VoIP environments that I architect to ensure that faxing over IP works well. Hence, I either have to carry a fax machine with me or carry a USB fax modem in my bag. Faxing is very much still alive in the corporate world - the world where professionals work, not the social-media world where emoji is more important than FTP, which was also removed from macOS half a decade ago.

Apple doesn't seem to be interested in professionals any longer. They don't care about engineers. At one point, another move like this on Apple's part becomes the last straw for one when one says, "Screw your, Apple. I'm going with Linux or I'm going with Windows." In my case, I have a special disdain for Windows - the same level of disdain that you have for Hyundai and Kia. So, for the lack of an upgrade path for me from my current 2015 MacBook Pro, I'm gonna have to find solid non-Apple hardware and go with Linux, where they don't waste time on the silly emoji, but instead make the OS suitable for engineers.

 

[MadeMyDay]

This is great for people who want to look cool without spending the premium on an Apple MacBook Pro. Just add an extra Apple sticker to the back and tell anyone who asks that you are currently running Windows 10 in Bootcamp.