Apple haters will hate no matter what. I dislike the iPhones, but love their Macbooks. I have gone through multiple Windows laptops until a year ago when my latest Windows laptop broke. I decided to use my brother's Mac for the semester. Something weird happened, I fell in love with that Mac. Macbooks are not just beautiful, but they are practical with their hardware and software combined. Sure, they charge extra for the brand name, but so what? What they offer makes it worth the premium price. I prefer Android for a smartphone, PS4 for consoles, Mac for laptops, and Windows for Desktops. You can't get anymore diverse than that......but yeah, quit hating.

Isn't it more of an ultrabook then a netbook? Most ultrabooks are priced that high, at least the higher quality ones are. Also Core M is like stupidly good. 1/3 the wattage of Haswell for the same performance. Can't wait to see the Surface Pro 4 with one of these.

It perform less that the 4200U ( U for ultra low power ), this thing is just enough good for browse internet. who is the main utilisation for this type of laptop anyway. But seriously the performance are even down compared to previous version. Im not sure the course of thin and light weight is not going out of limit ( and i dont say that only for Apple ).. Well its my taste, but i prefer a more balanced solution. With something like this one, i will need 2 laptops for cover my use. ( Who could happend anway as for my work we offtly use 8000$ laptop ( portable workstation) from time to time, but it is not mine . )

It perform less that the 4200U ( U for ultra low power ), this thing is just enough good for browse internet. who is the main utilisation for this type of laptop anyway. But seriously the performance are even down compared to previous version. Im not sure the course of thin and light weight is not going out of limit ( and i dont say that only for Apple ).. Well its my taste, but i prefer a more balanced solution. With something like this one, i will need 2 laptops for cover my use. ( Who could happend anway as for my work we offtly use 8000$ laptop ( portable workstation) from time to time, but it is not mine . )

It's slightly worse in graphics but for everything else it trades places with the 4200U, in fact I'd say its generally faster in CPU tasks then the 4200U. http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Processors/Intel-Core-M-5Y70-Review-and-Performance-Testing-Broadwell-Y And again, it's 1/3 the wattage. 5 watts vs 15. That's pretty impressive.

Apple for the average customer is a quality brand with quality products. Nothing wrong with Apple products. They bought a lot of tech to the masses and made it easy to use. The premium pricing is the norm for such a company. Build quality is very nice. My family is growing-up with Apple ipads as a normal everyday device. People don't care about windows, desktops or even laptops much anymore...apart from gamer friends (few and far between). My 4yr old calls his ipad his "computer". Can't argue with that.

Their attention to design is where that cost is justified. I mean you can say what you want, but Apple was the first to really push the industrial design of not only laptops (with aluminum unibody) but phones as well. 3 years ago every single person sat here and talked about how the iPhone was stupid because it didn't have a user replaceable battery, SD card or has a glass back. They talked about how plastic was better (which I actually agree with) than aluminum and that the design of the iphone didn't matter, features sell. Well now HTC's flagship is also aluminum. And the S6 ditched IP67, SD Card, plastic and removable battery and it's now made out of aluminum chassis with a glass back. As for the laptops it's the same thing. Every single manufacturer was in a complete race to the bottom. HP/Dell/Lenovo, they all started shipping absolute garbage laptops with cheap plastic clips holding everything together. Terrible TN screens that wouldn't even display an image without sitting directly in front of it. .3MP webcams. Keyboards who's keys break off within 1000 presses. Margins on these machines was razor thin and the cheaper they could go with every component the better. Apple started changing all that when they actually started calibrating their laptop displays. Using uni-body aluminum chassis. Started paying attention to not only the specs but the form factor as well. The Macbook Pro's with the X1600's in them back in 2006 were gorgeous devices compared to garbage like this: http://www.notebookcheck.net/typo3temp/_processed_/csm_hp_dv9580eg_gesamtkleinneu_b0a3f73ef8.jpg Apple raised the bar in a lot of different areas and I'd argue that their marketing was the reason why other manufacturers were successful. No one gave a crap about things like screen calibration/quality on phones, camera quality, pixel density, materials, etc until they made a big deal out of it. Yeah I mean some manufacturers were pushing to differentiate themselves in certain ways, but the bar was always so low that it was essentially irrelevant. And honestly, in most cases their stuff isn't even that overpriced. Can anyone show me a laptop with similar specs to that, at that price range? Dell XPS13 comes close, but it's FHD TN, has 4GB of ram and 120GB SSD for $200 less.

I do agree with you, they did set the bar high. I would say other manufacturers simply wanted more profit. But regarding similar alternatives, you can have this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-flip-2-in-1-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/7289029.p?id=1219262038351&skuId=7289029 It does not have an aluminium body and an SSD, but it does have a touchscreen IPS display which would be adequate, you can use it as a tablet, and it also has better gaming performance due to the 840M. And more processing power since that i7 is much better, albeit it needs 15W of power. Slip a 256GB SSD in and you reach 1100$ instead of 1300$ for a much better performing laptop with more features and which can be used as a tablet, but without an aluminium body. Would you choose the macbook over this? And please note: I compared US prices. Apple products are very expensive in Europe. This macbook is probably going to hover around 2000EUR here. The ASUS Flip in Romania (where I live) is around the same price as found at bestbuy. In europe nobody in their right mind would choose that Apple over this. LE: as an alternative ultrabook instead of laptop, you have the Zenbook line which offers ridiculous price/performance ratio. I can't seem to find any on bestbuy, but by reviews, you seem to grab one with Core M and QHD IPS display for around 1000$.

Honestly, only hipsters with a two digit IQ are interested in apples sh*tty overpriced products, cause it makes them "cool".

2304x1440... good luck running anything at that resolution with what horse power it provides. 8:5, been a while since I've seen that.

Honestly, only hipsters with a two digit IQ are interested in apples sh*tty overpriced products, cause it makes them "cool".

Yeah because everyone owning an Apple product is an idiot. Way to generalize champ! P.S. If you have nothing constructive (whether negative or positive, your opinion) to say then don't bother saying anything at all.

Honestly, only hipsters with a two digit IQ are interested in apples sh*tty overpriced products, cause it makes them "cool".

Yeah and i took a proctored IQ test and scored 167, but since i use an Apple product I'm retarded. Seriously, why don't mods ever do anything about these trolls, flaming in an AMD/NV thread and mods are all over someone who even implies an insult, but kids like Dorlor who insult others they dont do sh1t

Honestly, only hipsters with a two digit IQ are interested in apples sh*tty overpriced products, cause it makes them "cool".

You ever use one in the enterprise field? Macbook's are amazing for that. Thin, light, for what's offered compared to the competition they actually are cheaper and Apple gives 10x better support compared to Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc etc. For this one I'm not going to give out any infractions as of yet because people want to be close minded and only care about what's in their own little world. I will set the record straight right now, these have a place in where they are used for their purposes. If you want to flame them, if you want to argue it, if you don't have anything good to say then keep it to yourself. Any other posts now will receive infractions.

I do agree with you, they did set the bar high. I would say other manufacturers simply wanted more profit. But regarding similar alternatives, you can have this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-flip-2-in-1-15-6-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i7-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-black/7289029.p?id=1219262038351&skuId=7289029 It does not have an aluminium body and an SSD, but it does have a touchscreen IPS display which would be adequate, you can use it as a tablet, and it also has better gaming performance due to the 840M. And more processing power since that i7 is much better, albeit it needs 15W of power. Slip a 256GB SSD in and you reach 1100$ instead of 1300$ for a much better performing laptop with more features and which can be used as a tablet, but without an aluminium body. Would you choose the macbook over this? And please note: I compared US prices. Apple products are very expensive in Europe. This macbook is probably going to hover around 2000EUR here. The ASUS Flip in Romania (where I live) is around the same price as found at bestbuy. In europe nobody in their right mind would choose that Apple over this. LE: as an alternative ultrabook instead of laptop, you have the Zenbook line which offers ridiculous price/performance ratio. I can't seem to find any on bestbuy, but by reviews, you seem to grab one with Core M and QHD IPS display for around 1000$.

At the resolutions you're talking about, a GT 840 is as bad as integrated graphics. You're not going to be playing any games on it, move past that idea, you're playing games on low graphics at 1366x768, unacceptable on a QHD monitor. Now, the 840m has a max TDP of roughly 30w. The integrated intel does effectively the same thing in a TDP of 4.5w-6w. And that includes the CPU. So now you've got a discrete card, and a bulky battery you're carrying around so you can effectively do exactly what the MacBook can do. The i7 on the one you've chosen doesn't add to the package. This would be equally performant, and cheaper, on an i5. This i7 isn't going to suddenly enable a good workstation experience. I challenge you to tell me what purpose the i7 serves on a laptop convertible, over the i5 or Core M. Essentially it boils down to this. You're carrying around 45w of power consumption so you can do 20% better in a benchmark than another machine that uses 5w. The things that that additional horsepower allows you to do that you can't do on the core M MacBook are non-existent. Is it better at playing games? Sure. Will it enable a good experience on literally any game? No. Will it enable additional work functions? No. And now, ignoring all that, you're opening the thing up and reinstalling Windows so you can add the SSD it should've already had anyway. The MacBook user has been using their laptop happily while you're looking for your screw driver. For what? For nothing, once you're all done, you can do exactly what they can do.

At the resolutions you're talking about, a GT 840 is as bad as integrated graphics. You're not going to be playing any games on it, move past that idea, you're playing games on low graphics at 1366x768, unacceptable on a QHD monitor. Now, the 840m has a max TDP of roughly 30w. The integrated intel does effectively the same thing in a TDP of 4.5w-6w. And that includes the CPU. So now you've got a discrete card, and a bulky battery you're carrying around so you can effectively do exactly what the MacBook can do.

What. The 840M carries Battlefield 4 multiplayer on 1080p medium quality at a constant 30 fps. On QHD you could probably play on low with around the same FPS. The HD 5300 on the other hand is far far weaker, it doesn't get even remotely close to the 840M especially in higher resolutions. So no, the integrated graphics doesn't _do the same thing_ while consuming 1/5th of the power. Far from it.

The i7 on the one you've chosen doesn't add to the package. This would be equally performant, and cheaper, on an i5. This i7 isn't going to suddenly enable a good workstation experience. I challenge you to tell me what purpose the i7 serves on a laptop convertible, over the i5 or Core M.

Do you understand the definition of a workstation? "A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications." - Wikipedia. Workstation =/= general-ass laptop that you simply do your secretary work on. For example I am a programmer by profession. I wouldn't go under a quad-core i7 on a laptop. The difference in compilation and interpretation is simply that big. You might tell me that you wouldn't get an ultrabook for such tasks. I assure you that a lot of people do. It's small, it's light. And you need it to be powerful. The Core M _is_ ridiculously efficient, I'll give it that. But a good performer? Not in the least. The top-end Core i7 U is around 70% faster than the top-end Core M, with a 15W TDP. And if you want to go full yolo on CPU performance, you can get a 47W 4980HQ which is more than 3 times as fast as the top Core M.

Essentially it boils down to this. You're carrying around 45w of power consumption so you can do 20% better in a benchmark than another machine that uses 5w. The things that that additional horsepower allows you to do that you can't do on the core M MacBook are non-existent. Is it better at playing games? Sure. Will it enable a good experience on literally any game? No. Will it enable additional work functions? No.

No, you're carrying 45W of power consumption to get 3.3x the performance of a Core M. That is a colossal difference. "Will it enable additional work functions? No." No, but it will make those work functions significantly faster. Are you really questioning the purpose of a strong processor? Would you choose a 5W Core M over a 45W Quad i7 when you require CPU-intensive tasks? No. You would waste your money. And why the hell are we talking about battery life? You are not going to run intensive tasks on battery anyway.

And now, ignoring all that, you're opening the thing up and reinstalling Windows so you can add the SSD it should've already had anyway. The MacBook user has been using their laptop happily while you're looking for your screw driver. For what? For nothing, once you're all done, you can do exactly what they can do.

I seriously hope you are kidding. You know that just about any laptop in this market segment offers an optional SSD out of the box right? The one I posted simply didn't have one because I didn't bother searching for a perfectly comparable ultrabook.

Let's face it - it's a device supposed to look good, and on top of that, handle a few tabs in web browser. And I think Macbook Air will handle that. Will it work terribly if one tries to: - Open a lot of tabs? - Use multiple apps? - Launch games? - Use any productivity tools with projects bigger than hello world? Yes, of course yes, it will be slow as hell, but does it matter? I really like my phone (Note 3), it's great for what I'm using it, but if I tried any of the above, it would be a disaster too. It's not meant for such workflows. Apple is just selling a great-looking netbook. And you can buy it... or not? If you like it and find the price to be ok, especially if you consider it to be a good-looking accessory because of its design, why wouldn't you get one? If you want a powerful "stationary" laptop, there are ones like ASUS G751 - super-solid design, lots of power, and running cool & quiet at the same time, with cost just a notch greater than Macbook Air. But in its weight you might get Airs for whole family. And a cat. And a dog. Still, it's not heavy enough to be uncomfortable to use when put on legs, and doesn't get uncomfortably warm in such position even during gaming. There are laptops in between, like new Dell XPS 13, which in my opinion is superior to most of the ultrabooks, but if you *must* have a sub-1kg one, or like Apple ecosystem, then it's not an option. To be honest, I think that it's not Apple with new line of laptops being a joke, but Lenovo, especially with their T (business) and W (workstation) lines. When I got W520, it was the only quad core mobile workstation worth buying. When I checked out their latest offer, with W550s, I can see a fraction of CPU power of my 4-year old laptop with no 4-core options, 16GB RAM limit instead of 32, less connectors, less HDD slots, and exhaust directed to the right, and the keyboard and touchpad are a joke. Yes, it's a tiny bit lighter (not that much if you remove optical drive from the old laptop), tiny bit thinner, and there's 3k screen option. But that's it. When we compare it to their offering from 4 years ago, it's simply inferior, even when we forget about all the progress in hardware. And Macbook Air? The new one is better than the old one. It's a simple as that. I wouldn't buy it anyway, but it's just a matter of personal needs. If I was given Surface Pro and new Macbook Air to choose, I wouldn't think even a second and grab Surface. -- EDIT -- I'm sorry for my ignorance or extreme surprise. I didn't even think it is a regular Macbook, not Air... well... it's bad.

What. The 840M carries Battlefield 4 multiplayer on 1080p medium quality at a constant 30 fps. On QHD you could probably play on low with around the same FPS. The HD 5300 on the other hand is far far weaker, it doesn't get even remotely close to the 840M especially in higher resolutions. So no, the integrated graphics doesn't _do the same thing_ while consuming 1/5th of the power. Far from it. Do you understand the definition of a workstation? "A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications." - Wikipedia. Workstation =/= general-ass laptop that you simply do your secretary work on. For example I am a programmer by profession. I wouldn't go under a quad-core i7 on a laptop. The difference in compilation and interpretation is simply that big. You might tell me that you wouldn't get an ultrabook for such tasks. I assure you that a lot of people do. It's small, it's light. And you need it to be powerful. The Core M _is_ ridiculously efficient, I'll give it that. But a good performer? Not in the least. The top-end Core i7 U is around 70% faster than the top-end Core M, with a 15W TDP. And if you want to go full yolo on CPU performance, you can get a 47W 4980HQ which is more than 3 times as fast as the top Core M. No, you're carrying 45W of power consumption to get 3.3x the performance of a Core M. That is a colossal difference. "Will it enable additional work functions? No." No, but it will make those work functions significantly faster. Are you really questioning the purpose of a strong processor? Would you choose a 5W Core M over a 45W Quad i7 when you require CPU-intensive tasks? No. You would waste your money. And why the hell are we talking about battery life? You are not going to run intensive tasks on battery anyway. I seriously hope you are kidding. You know that just about any laptop in this market segment offers an optional SSD out of the box right? The one I posted simply didn't have one because I didn't bother searching for a perfectly comparable ultrabook.

Translate to: "My example was a really poor one, but here's why you're wrong for dealing with it" Like you say you wouldn't take less than a quad core i7, but the one you linked is a dual core i7. You say Ultrabooks shouldn't come without an SSD, but you linked one without one. You did this to illustrate a price point, but I'm not really sure of your point at all now since the machine you're saying you would need is completely different from your example machine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHZ8ek-6ccc just for laughs haha

Translate to: "My example was a really poor one, but here's why you're wrong for dealing with it" Like you say you wouldn't take less than a quad core i7, but the one you linked is a dual core i7. You say Ultrabooks shouldn't come without an SSD, but you linked one without one. You did this to illustrate a price point, but I'm not really sure of your point at all now since the machine you're saying you would need is completely different from your example machine.

No, you missed the point. I was trying to prove that you can have a machine with superior hardware in the same price point, and I believe I was successful in that scope. Since you gave me as an example, do note that I wouldn't even buy an ultrabook. I'm the kind of guy who buys a thick 17 inch laptop with great hardware. When I see thin laptops I think 'bad cooling'.

No, you missed the point. I was trying to prove that you can have a machine with superior hardware in the same price point, and I believe I was successful in that scope. Since you gave me as an example, do note that I wouldn't even buy an ultrabook. I'm the kind of guy who buys a thick 17 inch laptop with great hardware. When I see thin laptops I think 'bad cooling'.

No, you utterly failed in that scope. You linked an inferior machine to the Macbook and pretended that it somehow justified being 200 dollars cheaper. For a real comparison, I'll do your side of the argument too. HP EliteBook Folio 1020 is closest thing I can find to the MacBook in terms of specs, target audience, and purpose. It uses the same processor, the screen is only 1080p, and the SSD is only 128GB. It's list price is 1250. Going to the 256GB SSD puts you at 1539 and you STILL don't have a laptop with the specs of the Macbook, even if you COMPLETELY ignore how thin it is, or the fact that it uses USB to charge, you still can't even get the same laptop.

Ok, that comparison made me question if I should argue with you anymore. HP Elitebook are high-grade business-class laptops that have immense functionality and offer a ridiculous variety of purposes. Does this macbook feature docking stations? No. Does this macbook support ProtectTools which basically acts like a 'security server', INVALUABLE in a corporate environment? No. Is this macbook even spill resistant? No. Will this macbook take drops well? No. I hope I made myself clear that the Elitebook is in a completely different class than you think. It has NOTHING to do with this macbook's target audience, nobody buys an elitebook to browse facebook. Now. You mentioned something about resolution. You really believe 1440p is a good idea on a 13" laptop? I don't understand this resolution mania, but ok I'll bite. Good. Next topic. I apologize for harsh words, but the next time you want to compare something, stop pulling specs and prices out of your ass. Here you have similar specced machines. Do note that the asus does lack a few things, but it's almost HALF the price. http://blog.laptopmag.com/asus-ux305-vs-macbook Want more alternatives? http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/dell-xps-13-non-touch-2015 http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-spectre-x360-13t http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/lenovo-yoga-3-pro-hybrid Now tell me again that this macbook is not overpriced.