HP’s newest laptop, the 10.4-mm-thin Spectre 13.3, is the company’s attempt at building a MacBook beater — complete with slimmer profile, larger screen and more horsepower.
The HP Spectre, introduced today, boasts an eye-catching “Ash Silver” color inspired by the “tapered copper” shade used in the jewelry world. HP is clearly borrowing from Apple’s fashion-conscious approach to design, as epitomized by the introduction of the rose gold color option for Apple Watch and the latest iPhones.
HP Spectre specs
The HP Spectre sports a 13.3-inch Gorilla Glass screen (compared to the 12 inches of Apple’s ultra-thin Retina MacBook) and your choice of sixth-gen Core i5 or i7 processors, with a maximum of 8GB of RAM and 512 gigs of solid-state PCIe storage. Finally, the new HP notebook features three USB Type-C connections, two of them supporting Thunderbolt.
The Spectre 13.3 will be available for preorder April 25 starting at $1,170.
As I noted yesterday, the ultra-slim notebook market is a small one, but HP is clearly seeking design cred bragging rights with its new laptop.
“For years, Apple has been seen as the innovator and the driver of innovation,” Ron Coughlin, president of HP’s personal systems group, said. “HP is really taking over that mantle.”
Having seen its revenue fall by 12 percent in the fiscal quarter ending in January, HP obviously hopes that borrowing a bit of Jony Ive’s design fairy dust will help it succeed in a shrinking PC market.
Of course, while HP may have beaten Apple on the slimness of its new notebook, customers will still be stuck with a machine that runs Windows. Whether that’s a worthwhile tradeoff that makes the HP Spectre a good option is up to you!
Source: Engadget
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
16 responses to “HP’s new ‘MacBook beater’ is world’s thinnest notebook”
Wow. That’s one hideous laptop. The chrome metal design and the hinges are horrible.
does it run os X?
Can I have a triple boot setup with linux, os X, and windows?
no
Plus, hp laptops are crappy and fail after 2 years.
I say this from experience.
Probably Castrol GT X
It’s a nice laptop. However, it doesn’t compare to the understated elegance of Apple’s MacBooks. I have no use for one at all, it’s not fast enough for what I need it for, but it’s just a beautiful piece of design. This is trying too hard.
I think the only people who put any credence in a writer’s headline are other writers.
The two major faults in your statements are that this still only runs Windows (crash, reboot, restart) and that in my experience of owning more than a dozen HP laptops they simply do not last.
come on, windows is not crashing anymore or not significantly more often than mac os.
Some things are still annoying and in private I prefer my Mac, but Windows 10 is pretty stable and I haven’t had a single crash with it.
it’ll be brought to crap by windows. Never had a windows PC that lasted more than 2 years without slowing down to a nearly intolerable speed and 3 without being totally useless. So I switched to a macbook in early 11 and am still using it.
What the hell are you doing to your laptops!?!?
Same thing I do with my MacBook. Using it. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t deal with computers for a living who’s ever gotten more than 3 years out of a PC.
Even tried Alienware at one point. 6 months for 3 grand before the thing started over heating and shutting down.
Thats one gaudy design, and Core i5/i7 w/ only 8GB RAM sounds very 2011. Looking forward to a new Skylake MBP fingers crossed this summer.
All that and it runs Crapblows 10. Da Ali G would love that design though….
Lets hope it sells like hotcakes. Apple need some serious competition on specification to force them to build machines that don’t start with a crippled spec and require lots more cash to add sufficient RAM / CPU / SSD
lol.
This laptop has 0 chance of selling.
An XPS15 is a true macbook rival, not this.
No Windows laptop will ever be a MacBook killer, regardless of the design of the thing, simply because it runs Windows. The Windows crowd simply doesn’t get that we stay with Apple because of the OS — and that Windows is not regarded in any way a comparable user experience by most Mac users. In fact, I’d rather use a beat up and ragged older Mac running OS X than a pristine, brand new Windows computer. Looks and fashion only go so far. I love the durability of Apple/Mac products, but the main draw is the terrific, speedy, production-enhancing OS. Windows always feels like it’s still in early beta despite years of development.
Of course, if you LIKE using Windows, this new HP may be just the thing for you. Make Mine Mac.
These Apple fanboys must not have much experience in the real world; El Crapitan has been MUCH more troublesome than Windows 10.
But does does does does it have osx?