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Portables (Apple) Apple Hardware

ASUS' ZenBook 3 Is Thinner, Lighter and Faster Than the MacBook (engadget.com) 209

Posted by msmash from the affinity-for-crazy-good-hardware dept.
At the ongoing Computex trade show in China, Asus unveiled the ZenBook 3 laptop. The ZenBook 3's chassis measures 11.9mm while the whole body weighs 910g. At the event, the company's executive said that ZenBook 3 is better than both MacBook Air and the 12-inch MacBook. As for the specifications, the ZenBook 3, which is crafted from aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, sports a 12.5-inch full-HD display (1920x1080 pixels), and offers up to Core i7 processor, 16GB of 2133MHz RAM, up to a 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 SSD, a next-gen USB Type-C port (for power and data transfer), powerful quad-speaker audio by Harman Kardon, and a fingerprint scanner. Do note that there is only one USB port on the device. The entry-level variant featuring Core i5 processor, 256GB of SSD and 4GB of RAM is priced at 999, while the top-of-the-line model will set you back by $1,999. Asus also had nice things to say about the keyboard, though Engadget's reporter was not impressed. More details here.
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ASUS' ZenBook 3 Is Thinner, Lighter and Faster Than the MacBook More

ASUS' ZenBook 3 Is Thinner, Lighter and Faster Than the MacBook

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  • At this rate (Score:5, Funny)

    by ColdWetDog ( 752185 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:25PM (#52211087) Homepage

    Looking out how the great shrink has been progressing, I predict that that 12 inch MacBook Pro will completely disappear from this Universe in about a decade. You can still go out an buy it however since it will be infinitely thin and light, you won't be able see or use it.

    You'll just have to take Tim's word for it.

    • They're actually going for convergence with razorblades.

      Prediction time!

      In 2030, you'll have The Gillette X-treem PRO hypersonic, the only ultimate shaving system (R) for men with 16 laptops for a smoother, closer shave (TM).

  • It's been a few since I've gone to an Apple Store, and had an opportunity to check out the new MacBook. I loved my 2006 MacBook (black, of course) before it died in 2014, and I haven't found a worthy successor to it yet. The new MacBooks are thinner and lighter. I don't like them. Thinner and lighter are fine qualities for a cellphone but not for a laptop.

    • >Thinner and lighter are fine qualities for a cellphone but not for a laptop.

      My shoulder disagrees.

      • My shoulder disagrees.

        I haven't used a laptop as a laptop in 15 years. I got a laptop on my desk at home and a laptop on my desk at work. My iPhone is my portable computer between desks.

        • I hate to be that guy that says you're doing it wrong but... :)

          • I hate to be that guy that says you're doing it wrong but... :)

            My employer got it wrong by getting a 15" Dell laptop that weighs six-pounds. I locked the laptop in the docking station and threw away the combination. No way I'm going to drag that back and forth between home and work.

            • Understood, I'm just pointing out that laptops are often bound to a cubicle desk all day.

              I consulted at a place where 20 odd contractors on a project were each encouraged to BYO laptop. But rather than 'hot desk', they all ended up purchasing dual monitors, full size keyboards and mice. So a small form factor PC like a NUC, Brix or Mac mini would have been better since they never used the internal screens, cramped keyboards or trackpad. (And the workflow didn't (often) involve taking a computer to a meeting

      • If carrying a 4 pound laptop is a physical issue for you, then you got some serious, SERIOUS health problems to address...

        • If carrying a 4 pound laptop is a physical issue for you, then you got some serious, SERIOUS health problems to address...

          Actually . . . yeah, personally my back is terrible (a combination of a childhood accident and mild scoliosis), but it's honestly quite fine as long as I don't spend long periods of time with my spine in a non-straight position or carry things for very long. I walk everywhere, and my Pixel C (which is a bit less than 1 Kg with both it and its keyboard) combined with a few other things in a bag are starting to reach the limit where it'll cause issues for me, but I'm fine as long as I keep things at that. A n

        • It was a heavy laptop, a shoulder bag, the charger, various travel documents, phone charger, pens and other bag cruft. Placing an asymmetric load like that on your shoulder for a long time is not good.

    • Re:Thinner and lighter is not always desirable... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @01:43PM (#52211509) Homepage

      Dot buy new. go find a used 2012 and get the best macbook pro ever made.

      My 2012 is as fast as anything sold today. and it is faster than the Piece of shit Lenovo 5th gen i7 laptop work bought me. Sad that lenovo only makes garbage now.

      • Agreed, unless you want more memory/disk.
        • The 2012 macbook pro has upgradable RAM and disc. I put 8 Gig in there, and a 1Tb SSD, no problems. Ten screws to remove, the bottom comes off, and the RAM and storage are right there. There is no other laptop that I've ever seen that has such easily accessible components. That's so long as you buy the non-retina version. As soon as you move away from that model, it's all glued and soldered and so-on. A shame. I sincerely hope they go back to those earlier design decisions, but it doesn't seem likely.

          • Introduce a feature that prevents an apple device from becoming obsolete??? Doesn't that go against almost every design principal? I mean someone at Apple is probably printing off the original post right now as reinforcement as to why they should never make such design decisions again! They will compare the 2012 MacBook Pro to the 1994 Toyota Corolla

    • Thinner and lighter are fine qualities for a cellphone but not for a laptop.

      Gotta agree. When work approved a new laptop recently, I went with a MacBook Pro - it's still plenty light (a touch under 3.5 lbs / 1.6 kg), but hasn't totally removed all the ports. I'm a bit annoyed that I have to use a USB dongle when I want wired Ethernet, though.

      My boss' boss has the MacBook, and I've used it... but I find the keyboard sub-optimal, and you have to use a dongle for everything.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Teckla ( 630646 )

      Thinner and lighter are fine qualities for a cellphone but not for a laptop.

      Ha, the funny thing is, I bought an Otterbox Defender for my iPhone 6s in order to fatten it up and make it a little heavier.

      Yeah, I'm a little crazy... :-)

  • Don't want a thinner laptop (Score:5, Interesting)

    by caseih ( 160668 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:37PM (#52211147)

    Personally I think laptops are thin enough, maybe too thin. I like the slightly thicker laptops because I find them easier to handle, plunk down, and open the lid. The macbook air amost requires a fingernail to open. Why not make the laptop 1/2" thick and stick a bigger battery in it? Thinness seems to be the latest trend in ADD fashion.

    I also don't want my phones to get any thinner. I always buy a case for my phones these days not because I need to protect the phone, but I want to make it a bit thicker so it's easier to handle and use.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ZipK ( 1051658 )

      The macbook air amost requires a fingernail to open.

      Did they remove the cutout, center bottom at the front of the case, right below the trackpad? It provided a convenient place to use your fingertip to lift the screen.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by caseih ( 160668 )

        Still has the cutout, thank goodness. But still sometimes is a bit of a challenge for those with less dexterity to open. I use my fingernail in that cutout.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Still has the cutout, thank goodness. But still sometimes is a bit of a challenge for those with less dexterity to open. I use my fingernail in that cutout.

          That's the entire point of the cutout, actually. I'm sure Apple would love to save the step of machining it, but they DO realize it's a required part of the case to make it easier to open.

          So no, the cutout's not going anywhere, short of Jony Ive being supreme dictator of the world. (The only alternative would be a button or a slider to unlock, but that h

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by caseih ( 160668 )

            And my point is the cutout and the required fingernail is the reason things are too thin to be usable. I much prefer my thicker Thinkpad that I can open with just a thumb against the screen. I very much agree with the earlier comment that thinness is overrated but weight is not. Thicker and lighter is far better than thinner and lighter for my purposes.

            And yes the keyboards are starting to really suck on those thin laptops. That was the first thing my parents noticed with their new Macbook Air a few mon

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Gamasta ( 557555 )

      I'm with you. I want my mobile phone to last as long as possible, so I changed the 2.200 mAh battery for a 7.200 mAh (Anker battery case on Samsung S2) and I get about 6 days out of it. I see 35% in the morning I know I'm still good for the day. And I buy laptops based on their speed, not appearance. Core i7 with four cores is my standard requirement. I also like 17" screens, so I know I'm looking at at least 2.5kg.

  • But can it run TextWrangler? What I really need is a machine that will run QuickTime, TextWrangler, iTunes and Safari.

  • Not the point (Score:5, Interesting)

    by pushing-robot ( 1037830 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:39PM (#52211155)

    The MacBook already has mediocre battery life, and its case is pretty much solid battery except for the tiny logic board.

    So ASUS comes along, shrinks the case and puts in bigger and more power hungry CPU / RAM / SSD plus extra components like the mini CPU fan and Thunderbolt controller. Guess what's gonna give?

    It sounds like the original MacBook Air; great on paper but in reality a bunch of overpowered components packed in too little space, leading to crappy battery life, overheating and throttling.

    I realize everyone wants ultra-mobile devices these days, but if you're tethered to a charger it's not so mobile anymore, is it?

    • I realize everyone wants ultra-mobile devices these days, but if you're tethered to a charger it's not so mobile anymore, is it?

      That would depend entirely on your use case now wouldn't it. I have a device which the manufacturer claims 10 hours battery life, reviewers claim 7h30min, and me .... well if you ask me I'd say it lasts 4 days because that's how frequently I go between plugging it in.

      Not everyone who wants ultra portable also needs always on. In fact I'd borderline suggest that if you're using the device often enough that the battery life is a problem then an ultra portable probably isn't the most .... ergonomic choice for

    • This is why I still drag around my 2.6 kg ThinkPad on a daily basis, even after buying one of those ultra portables over half a year ago. In theory they sound fine, but the keyboard is too small to work on for any extended period of time, and the computing power is still quite limited since the battery life sucks so badly if you actually use it anyway. They also lack any sort of display connector typically, or it goes through the single USB port (and no hubs support this USB -> HDMI bullshit as far as I

  • Fuck this one port trend (Score:5, Insightful)

    by swb ( 14022 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:43PM (#52211173)

    If skinny eliminates all but one USB port, fuck right off.

    I have the previous Zenbook and it has 3 ports. Too skinny for an Ethernet Jack, but I was willing to live with that. One USB port isn't enough.

    • From the pictures it's just a headphone jack on one side, and USB 3 on the other, so that's the charge port too.

      Absolutely ridiculous. Especially since the battery is likely so tiny you'll have the thing hooked up to a charger most of the time.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by macs4all ( 973270 )

      If skinny eliminates all but one USB port, fuck right off.

      I have the previous Zenbook and it has 3 ports. Too skinny for an Ethernet Jack, but I was willing to live with that. One USB port isn't enough.

      Exactly. And yes, I apply that standard to the MacBook and the Pixel, too.

      For one thing, it instantly means you can count on purchasing a Port Replacer Docking Station to the tune of about $200, and then either dragging it around with you everywhere, or suffering the pain and embarrassment of not having a critical port available when on the road. And the Power connector shouldn't be shared with ANYTHING, period, full stop.

      Say what you will about the MBA, but at least it has 2 USB 3.0 ports, a dedicated

      • If skinny eliminates all but one USB port, fuck right off.

        I have the previous Zenbook and it has 3 ports. Too skinny for an Ethernet Jack, but I was willing to live with that. One USB port isn't enough.

        Exactly. And yes, I apply that standard to the MacBook and the Pixel, too. For one thing, it instantly means you can count on purchasing a Port Replacer Docking Station to the tune of about $200, and then either dragging it around with you everywhere, or suffering the pain and embarrassment of not having a critical port available when on the road. And the Power connector shouldn't be shared with ANYTHING, period, full stop. Say what you will about the MBA, but at least it has 2 USB 3.0 ports, a dedicated MagSafe power connector, AND a Tumderbolt port. Plus an audio out/in port and an SDXC card reader. Yes, it doesn't have an Ethernet port; but a $30 adapter takes care of that, when needed. To me, the MBA is what better describes a PRACTICAL minimum for Ports in a size-conscious laptop. NOT this ASUS POS, the Pixel, or even the new MacBook.

        Huh? I'm not sure where you're getting your hate for the Chromebook Pixel in this case. The Pixel, in addition to two USB Type-C ports, has two USB 3.0 ports, a TRS jack, and an SDXC slot. By my count that puts it at the same connection count as the MBA, and I'd personally take two Type-C ports over a magsafe and a lightning port (but of course that's preference; if you're in the Apple ecosystem of devices already you might well prefer differently) which is the only difference in terms of ports and slots.

        No

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Making the goal to produce a computer as thin as a stick of gum and then requiring that users plug in a honkin' dongle to make it usable defeats a significant purpose in having a notebook computer. Wifi doesn't hold a candle to gigabit Ethernet when the cable is an available option and all of my USB devices require a USB-A connector.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Why is it that the shittyest ideas seem to catch on and become trends, and good ideas fall by the wayside? The single combined charge/USB/thunderbold port is a great example, but also making it 0.1mm thinner every year, getting rid of SD card slots (on both phones and laptops), soldered in SSDs and RAM, super glossy screens you can't read, glued in batteries, track pads with hidden buttons, webcams without hardware shutters/disable switches...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by swb ( 14022 )

        I can only imagine that the MBAs ran financial models that said they'd save $3 per machine shaving off all the ports but the combi port and pick up on average $3 per machine in accessory sales due to the ridiculously sparse ports.

        Maybe they even did some kind of study that showed that 75% of the people never used more than one port at a time and that 90% of the time people didn't connect anything to the USB port (I made those numbers up, but chances are so did some product manager who earned a bonus if they

        • Maybe they even did some kind of study that showed that 75% of the people never used more than one port at a time and that 90% of the time people didn’t connect anything to the USB port (I made those numbers up, but chances are so did some product manager who earned a bonus if they cranked up the margin by a few percent).

          Tim Cook once said on stage something to that effect - an internal study produced results similar to the ones you made up.

          The Macbook and Air were responses to that study.

          My original

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by swb ( 14022 )

            If I used a laptop as a desktop in a generally fixed location, a dock or USB hub or something would make sense, but they're generally awful for portability, especially if you end up needing a power brick for them.

  • you're all chatting about a commercial (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:44PM (#52211185)

    enjoy your debate over paid advertising

  • I used to be into Macs (Score:4, Interesting)

    by wjcofkc ( 964165 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:45PM (#52211193)
    Ten or so years ago I could not have imagined that someday I would not be a Mac user. OS X was part of my holy trinity of favorite operating systems. Linux had long since established it's mainstay, while FreeBSD was and is just plain fantastic as a server os.

    People argue that Apple's whole lineup was and continues to grow stale. This is true, but I personally have no allegiance to brands that put out an OS, I have allegiance to the operating systems. As the first few years of my fling with Apple OS, X seemed to be getting better and better. Minor UI tweaks, smaller and smaller OS. I'm going to get to into because I'm not here to give a review but there was a point for me personally where I felt they just kinda fucked up the whole gui. I was out.

    I am very particular of operating systems. I recently got a BlackBerry Classic (and yes I get maid fun of ) Everyone has asked why I didn't get the Priv. Then they are confused since I "Like BlackBerry" yet tell them if I was going to get an Android it would be a Samsung. I try to explain how it all about the os and what that means, but I only receive blank stares.

  • 3 things (Score:5, Insightful)

    by sootman ( 158191 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:46PM (#52211203) Homepage Journal

    One: the PC vs Mac spec war is basically meaningless, because people who buy Macs want OS X, and people who buy PCs don't want OS X or don't care, and never the twain shall meet.

    Two: "At the event, the company's executive said that ZenBook 3 is better than both MacBook Air and the 12-inch MacBook... it sports a 12.5-inch full-HD display (1920x1080 pixels)..." -- OK then, it's NOT better than the 12" MacBook's 2304 x 1440 screen.

    Three: Remember when laptops were as big as a phone books? Like in the 166 MHz ThinkPad 380 days. BACK THEN, making them thinner and lighter was a worthy pursuit. But bragging that your laptop is 11.9mm thick instead of 13.2mm, and 910 grams vs. 920? WHO GIVES A SHIT! That's a difference of 1.3mm and the mass of two US five-cent coins. Are you fucking kidding me? Ugh. They're thin enough now. Quit making them thinner and put some battery or ports back in. (This goes for all OEMs, and double for Apple.)

    • And, for all that is pasta, bring back the damned 17 inch MPB already. The one with the matte screen.

      NOT Shiney! Not Shiney!

    • Correction....

      The MBP is one of the best Windows laptops out there (once you get Win10 loaded).

    • Remember when laptops were as big as a phone books? Like in the 166 MHz ThinkPad 380 days.

      You must mean back in the Tandy 1400 LT days. Either that, or you must have had a very small phone book in your neck of the woods.

  • Thunderbolt 3 USB-C Port =... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Glasswire ( 302197 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @12:49PM (#52211219) Homepage

    the following connectors embedded/extensible and accessible with dongles - power, 2 X Display Port 4K , multiple 10GE connections, as many USB 3 as you might want as well as extension of the system PCIe to even allow external graphics adapters (Although I think the internal Core i7 Skylake graphics will be pretty good) and huge amount of direct connect NVMe (direct to processor cache) external SSD drive support. That little USB-C port is why you don't need any other ports.
     

    • Re:Thunderbolt 3 USB-C Port =... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ColdWetDog ( 752185 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @01:06PM (#52211311) Homepage

      that little USB-C port is why you don't need any other ports.

      You shall be strangled in a necklace of dongles. Very slowly.

    • It's all about target market. If all you do is write email, use Facebook, browse the web and make Power Point presentations, then you really only ever need one port. If you're reading this odds are you're exactly not in that market. That's fine. Let the business people buy this one.

      Have a look at the ZenBook UX305 if you want an ASUS.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Fuck dongles, I don't want to carry one around or be looking for it in a drawer when I want to charge and use USB at the same time. Just make the laptop 1mm thicker and 10g heaver and a couple of USB ports on there. They can even be type C if you really want.

      If you really really want just one port for some reason, get wireless charging working at the very least.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by epyT-R ( 613989 )

      The whole point of a portable computer is to keep it portable.. The ports should be in the machine instead of the power brick.

  • I see this term in product descriptions frequently. What does this mean and why would I care if a laptop (or flashlight or whatever) is made out of aerospace grade aluminum vs. some other grade of aluminum? It's not like I am planning patching a hole in my airplane or spacecraft with my laptop. I always assumed the term was just a marketing thing that sounded sort of cool, but is there some specific technical reason why "aerospace" grade vs some other grade? I care about "light and strong", but many types o
    • Marketing. All Al alloys are "aerospace grade" - it just depends on the specific application.

    • A while back some marketing idiot found out that aircraft weren't really make of aluminum foil like his mother told him when he was six.

      Since planes are cool and techy and light and strong, 'aircraft' aluminum is cool and techy and light and strong. And cool and techy and light and strong sells.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by iris-n ( 1276146 )

      It's not like I am planning patching a hole in my airplane or spacecraft with my laptop.

      Well, this kind of head-in-the-sand attitude leads to disaster [wikipedia.org].

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by RDW ( 41497 )

      Never mind the metal. Can anyone confirm that this laptop comes with military strength encryption? I'd also hope that for that price it's fitted with an ergonomic keyboard made from space age polymers, is protected by marine grade sealing, and features superfast wifi, audiophile speakers, and a True (We Really Mean It This Time) Ultra HD display.

  • Some of us would rather run the Mac OS on a slow fat computer than run Windows on a fast thin computer. The hardware isn't really that interesting for regular folks surfing the net and watching Utube or using MS Office. Just need something to get the job done without any hassles or malware.

    There is the issue of fashion however. Slim is sexy. Nevertheless there is only one laptop that makes an impression at Starbucks--it's the one with the lit up Apple logo. The beauty of this is that the mass of humanity ca

  • The glare finish which Apple popularized (thanks, Apple) is profoundly irritating to use under almost any lighting conditions other than complete darkness.

  • ZenBook 3 is better than both MacBook Air and the 12-inch MacBook.
    They are not only not in the same league they are not even playing the same game.

    I'm tired of this bullshit. The ZenBook does not run OS X. At least not legally. At least it does not come with a disk.

    So no one cares if it is "better than < insert your hate Mac >"

    As well we can soon compare the next Tesla with a Tada running on natural gas or a plane for a boat for that matter.

  • Seems like a step backwards (Score:4, Informative)

    by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @04:20PM (#52212563)
    Just to sidestep the PC vs Mac comparison, let's compare this to its predecessor the UX305CA.

    UX305 [notebookcheck.net]: $699, Core M, 8 MB RAM, 13.3" 1080p matte IPS screen (option for 3200x1800) covering 90% of sRGB, 256GB SSD, 3xUSB 3.0, mini HDMI, 12.3mm height, 1.192kg, 45 Wh battery giving 6+ hours. About the only thing it was missing was a backlit keyboard and a fan.

    Zenbook 3: $999, Core i5, 4 MB RAM, 1080p IPS screen (implied touchscreen), 256GB PCIe SSD, 1xUSB 3.1/Thunderbolt, presumably HDMI via Thunderbolt, 11.9mm, 0.910kg, supposedly 9 hour battery though I usually reduce claims to 2/3 which would put it at 6 hours. Backlit keyboard, has a fan.

    The UX305 was a worthy ultrabook that I've been recommending to a lot of people who otherwise would've settled for a low-end laptop. Usually their budget was around $500, while the UX305 frequently went on sale for $600 - the size, build, SSD, screen, and generous number of ports made it an easy up-sell for an extra $100. The Core M processor isn't a limitation for most people's computer use.

    The new Zenbook 3 comes in at an extra $300 putting it out of reach of budget shoppers. It has a better CPU but lower base RAM, a faster SSD but only people doing video editing will notice the extra speed, loses all those ports (many people I know leave a nano receiver plugged in and use a wireless mouse), shaves a little off the weight and height, and has a backlit keyboard. Honestly, that doesn't seem worth an extra $300.

  • Read my lips. I want a big fat battery. (Score:3)

    by BlueCoder ( 223005 ) on Monday May 30, 2016 @06:27PM (#52213241)

    Stop trying to make things thinner unless your going to do something with the saved space. If you can't figure out more features then default to big fat battery.

    I would carry around one of those 1985 brick phones if it meant I didn't have to charge it all the time.

    I have a dream that one day all people will only need to charge their phones and laptops once a week...

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