But it isn't a MacBook clone. They reversed the ports (USB-C is on the right). /s
That said, it does look like an impressive machine, though the 16:9 1080p screen is a downer. I guess they needed that to keep battery life acceptable given the Core i7 processor. I'm not sure why the Core i5 model exists. It should have at least 8GB but I guess they worry that it would steal sales from the $1499 model.
It's not a macbook clone because the Zenbook UX305 came to market before the macbook. The silver model has an HP Envy look to it - silver keyboard on silver frame. The rose gold model is macbook in color only.
Well you should say 16:9 panel "perfect for movies" as opposed to wasted pixels sitting black top and bottom. And you could say 16:9 is "better fit for two windows side by side" for people doing real work.
Damn, I really liked it until I got to "one USB 3.0 Type C". 1. I want at least 2 USB ports and 2. This is a premium Ultrabook and it is 2016, why the hell isn't it 3.1 + Thunderbolt 3???
Apple said that the Alpine Ridge chipset wouldn't fit into the thermal capacity of the MacBook. ASUS addresses that with the fan, but the uses that capacity to cram in a Core i7.
The Core M has plenty of real power for doing work. Anyway, my response was addressing why neither has Thunderbolt 3. It has marginal benefit for most of the target population.
Anyway, I'll wait for the AnandTech review before presuming that the Skylake-U automatically performs significantly better. It depends on how well the fan dissipates heat.
So is Core M going to become pretty much an Apple thing? It seems like between the HP Spectre, the ASUS Zenbook 3, and Samsung Notebook 9, among others, Windows OEMs are going out of their way to cram Core i processors into their MacBook competitors, even if it involves adding fans, using lower quality screens, etc. The Skylake M chips are pretty good, and I think are well suited to the use cases of the typical buyer of ultra thin portables. Already Intel's lineup of Core M has shrunk from 7 with Broadwell to 4 with Skylake, 3 of which are the models Apple uses.
The fan may not be enough to keep the zenbook cool. I'd love to see both a MacBook Retina and the Zenbook 3 churn through half an hour of compute intensive computing to see how fast they complete. I expect the Zenbook will be faster in the first 5-10 mins, but will slow to MacBook speeds (if not slower) after it gets thermally saturated. Also, battery life under a moderate load - the Zenbook might match the MacBook under light load, but I'd be curious to see what happens with the fan on.
True. That said, I split a massive OCR job between Abobe Acrobat XI running on my Haswell i7-4600-based Windows notebook and my m7 MacBook past week (running OCRkit which is native to OS X). Not entirely an equal comparison but the MacBook kept pace with the Haswell Core running Intel Power Gadget on both I noticed both had similar CPU usage and both modulated between the base and peak speeds about equally. Perhaps the time to load and unload each file within the batch was enough for the MacBook to catch its "breath," but both ran overnight without a problem.
Your Haswell notebook probably has more thermal headroom than the Zenbook, assuming it's in the 3 lbs class. Apple's not known for providing much thermal headroom either, but I hope Apple built a buffer into the MacBook for heat - otherwise it'll end up in a similar situation to the PowerMac G4 Cube all those years ago - no fan + no thermal headroom = no speed bump, ever.
I'm guessing the port situation is such for two reasons. 1) The target customer doesn't care. 2) It would have been impossible to do while remaining thinner and lighter than the MacBook. ASUS clearly wanted that mantle. Apple told Macworld that they couldn't install a Thunderbolt 3 chip within the thermal constraints of the MacBook (i.e. they couldn't cram in the Alpine Ridge controller). Skylake M supports only 1 USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 port natively, so that's all the MacBook gets. ASUS expanded the thermal capacity by using a fan, but then uses it to install the 15W Core M to claim better performance than the MacBook (though "twice as fast" is a stretch).
Having used a MacBook for the past year, I can say that it is easy to get used to not having ports. I use wireless for as much as possible (including printing, scanning, displaying externally through Apple TV) and rarely need to plug anything in.
Judging by the 2015 Macbook review on this very site, it's actually not a stretch for Asus to claim twice as fast. Being fanless, the Macbook throttled so much that it got beat by the original Zenbook UX305, the latter sporting an inferior chipset. This new unit being actively cooled will have a much higher throttle threshold and thus perform better.
Read my post above. My m7 MacBook performs as well as a Haswell i7. Skylake hasn't doubled that. The 2016 MacBook has improved quite a bit. It's as if the chassis were designed with Skylake in mind.
However, the UX305 was in a bigger form factor. ASUS is using a similar form factor as the MacBook now. Granted, there is a fan, but there is also a lot more heat being generated since the base clock uses up more power.
Doesn't matter. ASUS was the one drawing comparison to the MacBook during the rollout. They weren't comparing specs vs. the HP Spectre 2 or the Dell XPS 13.
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ToTTenTranz - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Nothing says "Macbook ripoff" more than imitating the lack of I/O ports.ImSpartacus - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Yeah, it's pretty depressing. But oh well. I bet asus knows what they are doing.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
But it isn't a MacBook clone. They reversed the ports (USB-C is on the right). /sThat said, it does look like an impressive machine, though the 16:9 1080p screen is a downer. I guess they needed that to keep battery life acceptable given the Core i7 processor. I'm not sure why the Core i5 model exists. It should have at least 8GB but I guess they worry that it would steal sales from the $1499 model.
id4andrei - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
It's not a macbook clone because the Zenbook UX305 came to market before the macbook. The silver model has an HP Envy look to it - silver keyboard on silver frame. The rose gold model is macbook in color only.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
The UX305 is bigger and heavier than the MacBook or this design.nandnandnand - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
"I bet asus knows what they are doing."What a stellar excuse. Are their profits shrinking or increasing during these terrible times for the PC market?
Eden-K121D - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Keyboard stability is going to be bad with such shallow keys and that too of scissor typeChaitanya - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
My only issue is 4GB Ram on the base model, 4GB ram is useless for any kind of serious work. 8GB would be useful.beginner99 - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
16:9 panel need I say more it's fail?WithoutFearOrFavor - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Well you should say 16:9 panel "perfect for movies" as opposed to wasted pixels sitting black top and bottom. And you could say 16:9 is "better fit for two windows side by side" for people doing real work.KPOM - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
I disagree. Since Microsoft insists on using the ribbon, it helps to have more vertical space to get real work done.Nibor99 - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Damn, I really liked it until I got to "one USB 3.0 Type C". 1. I want at least 2 USB ports and 2. This is a premium Ultrabook and it is 2016, why the hell isn't it 3.1 + Thunderbolt 3???taisserroots - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
hear hearKPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Apple said that the Alpine Ridge chipset wouldn't fit into the thermal capacity of the MacBook. ASUS addresses that with the fan, but the uses that capacity to cram in a Core i7.WithoutFearOrFavor - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Yes and I'm pleased to see real power for doing work.KPOM - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
The Core M has plenty of real power for doing work. Anyway, my response was addressing why neither has Thunderbolt 3. It has marginal benefit for most of the target population.Anyway, I'll wait for the AnandTech review before presuming that the Skylake-U automatically performs significantly better. It depends on how well the fan dissipates heat.
Samus - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
They had a real opportunity to nail the MacBook by simply adding more I/O ports. That's literally all they had to do!id4andrei - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Other sites report it being just that. USB+TB.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Until either ASUS or Anandtech confirm I will assume it is just USB 3.0.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
So is Core M going to become pretty much an Apple thing? It seems like between the HP Spectre, the ASUS Zenbook 3, and Samsung Notebook 9, among others, Windows OEMs are going out of their way to cram Core i processors into their MacBook competitors, even if it involves adding fans, using lower quality screens, etc. The Skylake M chips are pretty good, and I think are well suited to the use cases of the typical buyer of ultra thin portables. Already Intel's lineup of Core M has shrunk from 7 with Broadwell to 4 with Skylake, 3 of which are the models Apple uses.aliasfox - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
The fan may not be enough to keep the zenbook cool. I'd love to see both a MacBook Retina and the Zenbook 3 churn through half an hour of compute intensive computing to see how fast they complete. I expect the Zenbook will be faster in the first 5-10 mins, but will slow to MacBook speeds (if not slower) after it gets thermally saturated. Also, battery life under a moderate load - the Zenbook might match the MacBook under light load, but I'd be curious to see what happens with the fan on.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
True. That said, I split a massive OCR job between Abobe Acrobat XI running on my Haswell i7-4600-based Windows notebook and my m7 MacBook past week (running OCRkit which is native to OS X). Not entirely an equal comparison but the MacBook kept pace with the Haswell Core running Intel Power Gadget on both I noticed both had similar CPU usage and both modulated between the base and peak speeds about equally. Perhaps the time to load and unload each file within the batch was enough for the MacBook to catch its "breath," but both ran overnight without a problem.aliasfox - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Your Haswell notebook probably has more thermal headroom than the Zenbook, assuming it's in the 3 lbs class. Apple's not known for providing much thermal headroom either, but I hope Apple built a buffer into the MacBook for heat - otherwise it'll end up in a similar situation to the PowerMac G4 Cube all those years ago - no fan + no thermal headroom = no speed bump, ever.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Core M will continue to evolve.andrewaggb - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Looks pretty nice... but honestly the ports situation is awful.I wish some of these companies would offer two chassis, the slim version like this and a thicker version with some ports and 20 hours battery life....
KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
I'm guessing the port situation is such for two reasons. 1) The target customer doesn't care. 2) It would have been impossible to do while remaining thinner and lighter than the MacBook. ASUS clearly wanted that mantle. Apple told Macworld that they couldn't install a Thunderbolt 3 chip within the thermal constraints of the MacBook (i.e. they couldn't cram in the Alpine Ridge controller). Skylake M supports only 1 USB-C 3.1 Gen 1 port natively, so that's all the MacBook gets. ASUS expanded the thermal capacity by using a fan, but then uses it to install the 15W Core M to claim better performance than the MacBook (though "twice as fast" is a stretch).Having used a MacBook for the past year, I can say that it is easy to get used to not having ports. I use wireless for as much as possible (including printing, scanning, displaying externally through Apple TV) and rarely need to plug anything in.
id4andrei - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Judging by the 2015 Macbook review on this very site, it's actually not a stretch for Asus to claim twice as fast. Being fanless, the Macbook throttled so much that it got beat by the original Zenbook UX305, the latter sporting an inferior chipset. This new unit being actively cooled will have a much higher throttle threshold and thus perform better.KPOM - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
Read my post above. My m7 MacBook performs as well as a Haswell i7. Skylake hasn't doubled that. The 2016 MacBook has improved quite a bit. It's as if the chassis were designed with Skylake in mind.KPOM - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
However, the UX305 was in a bigger form factor. ASUS is using a similar form factor as the MacBook now. Granted, there is a fan, but there is also a lot more heat being generated since the base clock uses up more power.id4andrei - Monday, May 30, 2016 - link
BTW The port in this unit is a TB3 port.KPOM - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
Nowhere on ASUS's website does it say that. It just says USB-C. The Universal Dock appears to be standard USB-C 3.1. https://www.asus.com/Notebooks/ASUS-ZenBook-3-UX39...damianrobertjones - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
"Macbook competitor"I said this years and years ago... Apple was NOT the first company to make thin, small, plus light laptops.
KPOM - Wednesday, June 1, 2016 - link
Doesn't matter. ASUS was the one drawing comparison to the MacBook during the rollout. They weren't comparing specs vs. the HP Spectre 2 or the Dell XPS 13.prasadp4009 - Tuesday, May 31, 2016 - link
The NVMe in Zenbook can be this.. http://www.computerworld.com/article/3077284/data-...