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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.
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.