"While the world waits for thinner, higher-resolution notebooks from Apple"
I'm not waiting for one. Fuck Apple. Why does this site always have to mention them?
I'd bet far more people are waiting for superior Win 8 tablet hybrids with their superior IPS displays, that also have the advantage of touch, better mobility, and longer battery life due to their keyboard docks that contain another battery.
Chill, man. People mention Apple because they're a market leader in mobile devices. Yes, I'm sick of them being used as the "standard" by which others must be measured when they have so many shortcomings themselves, but that's not worth getting quite so worked up about.
Case in point - IPS displays in mobile devices is something that Apple forced into play with the iPad, like it or not. Prior to that they only showed up in $3k+ workstation laptops. This is A Good Thing and personally I'm glad for the boot it gave to the PC sector, that being the one I care about.
I don't think so, TN displays are avoided for touchscreens even before Apple, as they simply cause too much trail when touched. No doubt, however, that Apple popularized touchscreen form factors like the smartphone and the tablet.
But coming back to the computing world, Apple's Macbooks have fairly low resolution 6-bit TN panels! (albeit about as good as TN gets) Yes, I know the rumors say they will have "retina displays" but that's just a rumor.
Regarding ips, I think there were a few oems that used them in laptops (hp,lenovo,dell) that were in the 1-2k range, however, Apple has, to my knowledge, never used ips in their laptops. So, this would seem to be the case where the pc oems are dragging apple, hopefully, towards ips in their laptops.
Many of us ARE waiting for those next gen Win8 machines, However, it's hard to believe that such machines would exist in their current rumored form without Apple's market presence.
One obvious reason is the use of a unibody aluminum case. Not sure why being rude is so acceptable. The web is a big place. Find some place more to your liking, unless you enjoy trolling.
It's induction. Note you said Win 8 tablets with 1) superior IPS displays first popularized with the iPad 2) touch first popularized with the iPad 3) better mobility first popularized with the iPad 4) longer battery life first popularized with the iPad 5) keyboard docks that contain another battery first popularized with the Transformer
Note that 4 out of 5 thins were introduced by Apple in 2010?
So much the same with "thinner, higher resolution notebooks". Did you ever notice the trend of 1366x768 13", 14", 15" everyone seems to be hewing to except Apple? The only model Apple offers at that low a resolution is either the 11" MacBook Air or 10" iPad; Their 13" MacBook Pro is 1280x800, their 13" MacBook Air is 1400x900
There is the expectation that within a month they will start offering super high resolution displays as standard, and the hope is that soon everyone else will start pushing much higher resolution screens than 1366x768 at the 13", 14", and 15" because Apple does.
This is being compared to the Apple MBP line because: 1) aluminum unibody construction. AFAIK, this is the first non-apple machine to feature this design. I think other manufacturers have had unibody skeletons/frames, but still kept the external casing in pieces. This allowed for more body flex, which like it or not, has a pretty big impact on subjective build quality
2) The hinge mechanism on this machine is also the first I've seen that resembles Apple's hinge. I'll admit that I don't follow every laptop's release, but for me, this is the first time I've seen a centered single hinge.
3) Between the color scheme, black chiclet keyboard, black bezel, and trackpad (which from these pictures, doesn't have separate left/right click buttons), this machine looks remarkably similar to a Macbook Pro. Sure, the hardware is different and it's a full keyboard, but the overall "look and feel" is reminiscent of a Macbook Pro.
The fact of the matter is that most PC laptops have been traditionally non-unibody plastic. Circa 2000-2006 was dominated by matte plastic, 2006-present has been more glossy. Grey and black dominated the color schemes. Some manufacturers had swappable body panels for color customization. After the Macbook Pro release, I'm pretty sure most laptops still had lid latches vs Apple's magnets. You could argue that this Asus has some incremental changes that are minor relative to its immediate predecessor, but the overall design is eerily Apple-esque.
Point no. 2 is incorrect. I just bought this and it's not center hinged. The chunk you see spanning much of the length of the laptop is the battery itself. When you remove the battery, you'd clearly see that there are hinges on the far ends.
But I do give credit for Apple in regards to the aluminum encasement and the style of the keyboard. Personally, I think this style is much better considering it leaves less room for grime to get inside so it stays looking much cleaner for much longer. I'm also glad that companies are doing away with the glossy finish. It's just a fingerprint disaster and we don't need that on our keyboards.
I agree, I have no idea why a $699-$849 laptop is being compared to one that starts at $1199 with a smaller display. If anything this seems much, much more inspired by the HP Folio 13.
The Zenbook Prime review was full of Macbook Air, Air, Apple, Air, as well, with very little mention of ultrabooks that had been announced up to that point (e.g. Thinkpad X1 Carbon) at all.
I understand Anand loves Apple products, but we all look forward to more comprehensive opinion.
Yes, I found this article a little tacky. While the comparison is obvious, I think the blunt title did it for me.
But the Zenbook Prime review was appropriate. The first round of Ultrabooks was terrible. None of them rivaled the Macbook Air in a meaningful way. So when the latest Zenbook seemed promising, the most relevant comparison is with the Macbook Air. Therefore, I see it as a positive that Anand felt the Zenbook was formidable enough to be compared to the industry-leading Macbook Air. Machines like the Folio 13 certainly weren't good enough for such a comparison to be relevant.
The world does not wait for Apple's macs. Their mobile devices yes. But not their macs. Especially the air which by PC standards is a low seller. Hell even on their own lineup it is not such a big seller. The 11"-er is more decent in this respect but that's about it.
According to Amazon, the top selling 13" laptop overall is the Macbook Pro 13". The top selling "ultrabook" is the Macbook Air 13", which comes in at #6 overall. These two computers are also literally twice as expensive as the nearest non-Apple competitor in the top six list.
Now I know Apple gets a boost by not having 30 different models out at one time like most PC companies, but if we're limiting ourselves to specific models, and especially if we're giving weight to the overall amount of money being spent, then yes, more than any other single computer, the world *is* waiting for the next Apple Macbook.
Therefore, if AnandTech articles *didn't* reference marketing and sales leaders like Macbooks then *that* would be biased.
Amazon does not sell computers to the world. Amazon is not the only way to get macs.
The MBA are positioned as the entry level portable macs in Apple's limited line-up. Therefore you have no choice but to get the 11" if you are looking for the cheapest Apple machine. That's why, "a quarter ago", the 11" outsold the 13" 12 to 1(or 10 to 1). The other ultrabooks are positioned as niche, more expensive, machines within their own lineup. It's more likely that people buy something cheaper from HP rather than, say the 1500$ Spectre. Apple doesn't offer you a cheaper choice. Ultrabooks are laptops so, among the top selling laptops they don't even rank. Ranking them as "ultrabooks" for the sake of illustrating the biggest seller is pointless.
No sooner than you go outside of the US, MB awareness plummets. Think big and don't think your own back yard.
About the constant mentioning of Apple, I would understand the Macbook Pro reference if this actually had something to do with it. Apple's keyboard layout is very different. Apple's touchpad is centered. Apple is ditching the optical drive. Apple doesn't have crap-resolution screens. Apple doesn't have SSD cache. I just don't see why Apple is mentioned here, as this has nothing to do with them...
This was a hopeful read until we hit the resolution limited to 1366 x 768 part (technology or quality is not mentioned)
Optional dedicated GPU sounded good for all that could care less for gaming.
Although the SSD Cache also is a waist of money. give me SSD options or a cheap hard drive that I can toss or put into a USB 3.0 housing for extended storage.
On the plus side, solid case sounds good to me. May be the keyboard and trackpad are of good quality and display is at least IPS and I have to compromise my resolution expectations.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
19 Comments
Back to Article
B3an - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
"While the world waits for thinner, higher-resolution notebooks from Apple"I'm not waiting for one. Fuck Apple. Why does this site always have to mention them?
I'd bet far more people are waiting for superior Win 8 tablet hybrids with their superior IPS displays, that also have the advantage of touch, better mobility, and longer battery life due to their keyboard docks that contain another battery.
Spunjji - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
Chill, man. People mention Apple because they're a market leader in mobile devices. Yes, I'm sick of them being used as the "standard" by which others must be measured when they have so many shortcomings themselves, but that's not worth getting quite so worked up about.Case in point - IPS displays in mobile devices is something that Apple forced into play with the iPad, like it or not. Prior to that they only showed up in $3k+ workstation laptops. This is A Good Thing and personally I'm glad for the boot it gave to the PC sector, that being the one I care about.
trane - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
I don't think so, TN displays are avoided for touchscreens even before Apple, as they simply cause too much trail when touched. No doubt, however, that Apple popularized touchscreen form factors like the smartphone and the tablet.But coming back to the computing world, Apple's Macbooks have fairly low resolution 6-bit TN panels! (albeit about as good as TN gets) Yes, I know the rumors say they will have "retina displays" but that's just a rumor.
tuxRoller - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
Regarding ips, I think there were a few oems that used them in laptops (hp,lenovo,dell) that were in the 1-2k range, however, Apple has, to my knowledge, never used ips in their laptops. So, this would seem to be the case where the pc oems are dragging apple, hopefully, towards ips in their laptops.ImSpartacus - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
Many of us ARE waiting for those next gen Win8 machines, However, it's hard to believe that such machines would exist in their current rumored form without Apple's market presence.Surely you see the value in competition, right?
ptmmac - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
One obvious reason is the use of a unibody aluminum case. Not sure why being rude is so acceptable. The web is a big place. Find some place more to your liking, unless you enjoy trolling.michael2k - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
It's induction. Note you said Win 8 tablets with1) superior IPS displays first popularized with the iPad
2) touch first popularized with the iPad
3) better mobility first popularized with the iPad
4) longer battery life first popularized with the iPad
5) keyboard docks that contain another battery first popularized with the Transformer
Note that 4 out of 5 thins were introduced by Apple in 2010?
So much the same with "thinner, higher resolution notebooks". Did you ever notice the trend of 1366x768 13", 14", 15" everyone seems to be hewing to except Apple? The only model Apple offers at that low a resolution is either the 11" MacBook Air or 10" iPad; Their 13" MacBook Pro is 1280x800, their 13" MacBook Air is 1400x900
There is the expectation that within a month they will start offering super high resolution displays as standard, and the hope is that soon everyone else will start pushing much higher resolution screens than 1366x768 at the 13", 14", and 15" because Apple does.
Pandamonium - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
This is being compared to the Apple MBP line because:1) aluminum unibody construction. AFAIK, this is the first non-apple machine to feature this design. I think other manufacturers have had unibody skeletons/frames, but still kept the external casing in pieces. This allowed for more body flex, which like it or not, has a pretty big impact on subjective build quality
2) The hinge mechanism on this machine is also the first I've seen that resembles Apple's hinge. I'll admit that I don't follow every laptop's release, but for me, this is the first time I've seen a centered single hinge.
3) Between the color scheme, black chiclet keyboard, black bezel, and trackpad (which from these pictures, doesn't have separate left/right click buttons), this machine looks remarkably similar to a Macbook Pro. Sure, the hardware is different and it's a full keyboard, but the overall "look and feel" is reminiscent of a Macbook Pro.
The fact of the matter is that most PC laptops have been traditionally non-unibody plastic. Circa 2000-2006 was dominated by matte plastic, 2006-present has been more glossy. Grey and black dominated the color schemes. Some manufacturers had swappable body panels for color customization. After the Macbook Pro release, I'm pretty sure most laptops still had lid latches vs Apple's magnets. You could argue that this Asus has some incremental changes that are minor relative to its immediate predecessor, but the overall design is eerily Apple-esque.
iflippy - Saturday, December 1, 2012 - link
Point no. 2 is incorrect. I just bought this and it's not center hinged. The chunk you see spanning much of the length of the laptop is the battery itself. When you remove the battery, you'd clearly see that there are hinges on the far ends.But I do give credit for Apple in regards to the aluminum encasement and the style of the keyboard. Personally, I think this style is much better considering it leaves less room for grime to get inside so it stays looking much cleaner for much longer. I'm also glad that companies are doing away with the glossy finish. It's just a fingerprint disaster and we don't need that on our keyboards.
damianrobertjones - Friday, June 8, 2012 - link
I was about to say the exact same thing! I actually hope that Asus holds up a middle finger to Anandtech and refuses to offer ANY exclusives ever.Then again I do have a feeling that this site could do with a few exclusives as it's not exactly buzzing with the latest tech news
trane - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
I agree, I have no idea why a $699-$849 laptop is being compared to one that starts at $1199 with a smaller display. If anything this seems much, much more inspired by the HP Folio 13.The Zenbook Prime review was full of Macbook Air, Air, Apple, Air, as well, with very little mention of ultrabooks that had been announced up to that point (e.g. Thinkpad X1 Carbon) at all.
I understand Anand loves Apple products, but we all look forward to more comprehensive opinion.
ImSpartacus - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
Yes, I found this article a little tacky. While the comparison is obvious, I think the blunt title did it for me.But the Zenbook Prime review was appropriate. The first round of Ultrabooks was terrible. None of them rivaled the Macbook Air in a meaningful way. So when the latest Zenbook seemed promising, the most relevant comparison is with the Macbook Air. Therefore, I see it as a positive that Anand felt the Zenbook was formidable enough to be compared to the industry-leading Macbook Air. Machines like the Folio 13 certainly weren't good enough for such a comparison to be relevant.
ananduser - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
The world does not wait for Apple's macs. Their mobile devices yes. But not their macs. Especially the air which by PC standards is a low seller. Hell even on their own lineup it is not such a big seller. The 11"-er is more decent in this respect but that's about it.seapeople - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
Where do you people get your information?According to Amazon, the top selling 13" laptop overall is the Macbook Pro 13". The top selling "ultrabook" is the Macbook Air 13", which comes in at #6 overall. These two computers are also literally twice as expensive as the nearest non-Apple competitor in the top six list.
Now I know Apple gets a boost by not having 30 different models out at one time like most PC companies, but if we're limiting ourselves to specific models, and especially if we're giving weight to the overall amount of money being spent, then yes, more than any other single computer, the world *is* waiting for the next Apple Macbook.
Therefore, if AnandTech articles *didn't* reference marketing and sales leaders like Macbooks then *that* would be biased.
ananduser - Friday, June 8, 2012 - link
Amazon does not sell computers to the world.Amazon is not the only way to get macs.
The MBA are positioned as the entry level portable macs in Apple's limited line-up. Therefore you have no choice but to get the 11" if you are looking for the cheapest Apple machine. That's why, "a quarter ago", the 11" outsold the 13" 12 to 1(or 10 to 1). The other ultrabooks are positioned as niche, more expensive, machines within their own lineup. It's more likely that people buy something cheaper from HP rather than, say the 1500$ Spectre. Apple doesn't offer you a cheaper choice. Ultrabooks are laptops so, among the top selling laptops they don't even rank. Ranking them as "ultrabooks" for the sake of illustrating the biggest seller is pointless.
No sooner than you go outside of the US, MB awareness plummets. Think big and don't think your own back yard.
ajp_anton - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
About the constant mentioning of Apple, I would understand the Macbook Pro reference if this actually had something to do with it.Apple's keyboard layout is very different. Apple's touchpad is centered. Apple is ditching the optical drive. Apple doesn't have crap-resolution screens. Apple doesn't have SSD cache.
I just don't see why Apple is mentioned here, as this has nothing to do with them...
ananduser - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
"Apple doesn't have crap-resolution screens." Yes it does, check the MBP 13".Conficio - Thursday, June 7, 2012 - link
This was a hopeful read until we hit the resolution limited to 1366 x 768 part (technology or quality is not mentioned)Optional dedicated GPU sounded good for all that could care less for gaming.
Although the SSD Cache also is a waist of money. give me SSD options or a cheap hard drive that I can toss or put into a USB 3.0 housing for extended storage.
On the plus side, solid case sounds good to me. May be the keyboard and trackpad are of good quality and display is at least IPS and I have to compromise my resolution expectations.
karasaj - Tuesday, June 12, 2012 - link
Is the GT630M a kepler or Fermi variant?