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ASUS' ZenBook 3 Is Thinner, Lighter and Faster Than the MacBook (engadget.com)
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.
The MacBook may have a 2304x1440 display, but because it's a Retina display, it's effectively 1152x720. A very sharp 1152x720, I'll grant you, but still effectively only 1152x720.
Just to sidestep the PC vs Mac comparison, let's compare this to its predecessor the UX305CA.
UX305: $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.