Electronics

What are the best light laptops for an iOS developer who travels a lot?

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Apple MacBook Pro vs MacBook Air vs Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

 vs Dell XPS 13 vs MacBook vs Lenovo Thinkpad T480s vs Dell XPS 15 vs HP Envy 13-ab016nr vs Lenovo Thinkpad T470s vs HP Spectre x360 15t vs Dell Precision 5510

Specs

Weight

3.02lbs

RAM

8/16GB

GPU

Apple M1 8 core

Ports

2/4 Thunderbolt 3 Ports, Headphone jack

Screen size

13.3inch / 15.4inch

Wireless

802.11 a/b/g/n/ac & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:10

Trackpoint

No

Display

13.3 in 2560x1600 IPS

Display Resolution

2880x1800 for the 15" version, 2560x1600 for the 13" version

Storage

-

CPU

-

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2.96 pounds (1.35 kg)3

RAM

8GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory

GPU

-

Ports

-

Screen size

13.3 inches

Wireless

802.11ac Wi-Fi wireless networking; IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n compatible

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

128GB PCIe-based SSD

CPU

1.8GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz, with 3MB shared L3 cache

Battery

Built-in 54‑watt‑hour lithium‑polymer battery

Operating System

macOS High Sierra

Max resolution

1440 by 900

Height

0.11–0.68 inch (0.3–1.7 cm)

Bluetooth version

Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

Width

12.8 inches (32.5 cm)

Camera

720p FaceTime HD camera

Display Panel Type

LED-backlite

Depth

8.94 inches (22.7 cm)

Operating temperature

50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)

Line voltage

100-240V AC

Relative humidity

0% to 90% noncondensing

Frequency

50Hz to 60Hz

Operating altitude

tested up to 10,000 feet

Graphic Type

Integrated

Storage temperature

–13° to 113° F (–25° to 45° C)

Standby Life

30 days standby time

Integrated Graphics

Intel HD Graphics 6000

Web Life

12 hours wireless web

Video Life

12 hours iTunes movie playback

Screen resolution

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2.49 lbs / 1.13 kg

RAM

8GB/16GB LPDDR3 1866Mhz

GPU

Intel HD 620 Graphics

Ports

2x USB-C Thunderbolt 3, 2x USB 3.0, HDMI, 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card, Native RJ45 dongle port

Screen size

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

512GB/1TB SSD

CPU

-

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

1920x1080 or 2560x1440

3DMark Firestrike Score

1001

Dimensions

WxDxH: 12.74" x 8.55" x 0.63" / 323.5mm x 217.1mm x 15.95mm

Battery Life

15.5 hr MobileMark 2014

Battery capacity

57Wh

CPU

Up to 8th Generation Intel Core i7

Ethernet Port

Dedicated Ethernet Port via ThinkPad Ethernet Extension Cable

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2.7 lbs

RAM

8 GB/16GB

GPU

Intel UHD Graphics 620

Ports

2xUSB3 & 1xDisplayPort

Screen size

13.3"

Wireless

802.11 n & Bluetooth 3.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

No

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

128GB/256GB/1TB SSD

CPU

8th-generation Intel quad-core i5-8250U or i7-8550U processor

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

UHD, FHD

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

No

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2.03 lbs

RAM

8GB

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 5300

Ports

1xUSB-C

Screen size

-

Wireless

802.11 ac a/b/g/n & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

480p

Aspect Ratio

16:10

Trackpoint

No

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

256GB / 512GB PCIe SSD

CPU

1.1GHz Intel Core M Turbo Boost 2.4GHz / 1.2GHz Intel Core M Turbo Boost 2.6GHz

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

No

Release date

Aprl 2015

Display size

12inch

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

-

RAM

-

GPU

-

Ports

-

Screen size

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

-

CPU

-

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2kg (4.44 lbs)

RAM

8 / 16 / 32GB DDR4 at 2400MHz

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 630 / NVIDIA GTX 1050 with 4GB GDDR5

Ports

1 HDMI 1.4 2 USB 3.0 with PowerShare 1 Thunderbolt™ 3 (2 lanes of PCI Express Gen 3) Supports: Power In / Charging, PowerShare, Thunderbolt 3 (40Gbps Bi-Directional), 3.1 USB Gen 2 (10Gbps), VGA, HDMI, Ethernet and USB-A via Dell Adapter

Screen size

-

Wireless

802.11 AC & Bluetooth 4.0

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

No

Display

15.6-inch FHD (1920x1080) / 15.6-inch UltraSharp™ 4K Ultra HD (3840x2160) Touch display

Display Resolution

-

Storage

500GB HDD + 32GB Flash / 1TB HDD + 32GB Flash / 256/512GB/1TB PCIe SSD

CPU

Intel Core i3-7100H / Intel Core i5-7300HQ / Intel Core i7-7700HQ

Battery

56 / 97WHr

Operating System

Windows 10

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

15.6 inches

Size

14.06 x 9.27 x 0.45-0.66-inches

SD reader

Yes

Touchpad Size

4.1 x 3.1 inches

Release date for the most recent model

2017

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

-

RAM

16GB

GPU

Intel HD Graphics 520

Ports

3 x USB 3.0 (1 x HP USB Boost), 1 x HDMI, 1 x headphone/microphone combo, 1 x multi-format SD card reader

Screen size

13.3inch

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

512GB SSD

CPU

7th Generation Intel Core i5-7200U

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

1080p

3DMark Firestrike Score

810

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2.9 lbs/1.364 kg

RAM

8GB-24GB

GPU

Intel 520 HD Graphics

Ports

3xUSB-A, 1xUSB-C, HDMI, Ethernet

Screen size

14inch

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

1TB SSD

CPU

Intel Core i7-6600U 6th Gen

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

1080p

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

1078

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

2.89 lb

RAM

8GB

GPU

Intel Graphics 620

Ports

2xUSB-C, 1xUSB-A

Screen size

15.6inch

Wireless

-

Webcam

-

Aspect Ratio

16:9

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

256GB SSD

CPU

8th Generation Intel Core i7

Battery

-

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

UHD

3DMark Firestrike Score

920

Dimensions

-

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

-

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

-

Memory

-

Bluetooth

-

Connections

-

Graphics

-

Operating Systems

-

Chipset

-

Soundcard

-

Display Options

-

Power Adaptor

-

Card Slots

-

Weight

1.78kg to 2.02kg

RAM

-

GPU

-

Ports

-

Screen size

-

Wireless

-

Webcam

720p

Aspect Ratio

-

Trackpoint

-

Display

-

Display Resolution

-

Storage

256GB SSD

CPU

Intel i5 - 6440 HQ

Battery

56Whr /// 84Whr

Operating System

-

Max resolution

-

Height

-

Bluetooth version

-

Width

-

Camera

-

Display Panel Type

-

Depth

-

Operating temperature

-

Line voltage

-

Relative humidity

-

Frequency

-

Operating altitude

-

Graphic Type

-

Storage temperature

-

Standby Life

-

Integrated Graphics

-

Web Life

-

Video Life

-

Screen resolution

-

3DMark Firestrike Score

-

Dimensions

14.06 x 9.27 x 0.66 inches

Battery Life

-

Battery capacity

-

CPU

-

Ethernet Port

-

Card Reader

-

Release date

-

Display size

-

Display Size

15.6 inches

Size

-

SD reader

-

Touchpad Size

-

Release date for the most recent model

-

3DMark FireStrike Score

-

Wi-Fi

802.11ac

Memory

8GB+

Bluetooth

Bluetooth 4.1

Connections

2 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 USB 3.1 Gen2, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: Audio combo in/out, Card Reader: SD, SDXC, SDHC, UHS-11

Graphics

Intel® Pro Graphics 530 & P530

Operating Systems

Win 7 Pro / Win 10 Pro / Win 10 Home / Ubuntu 14.04

Chipset

Mobile Intel CM236

Soundcard

Realtek High Definition Audio

Display Options

15.6" UltraSharp™ UHD IGZO (3840x2160) Touchscreen

Power Adaptor

130 Watt AC adapter

Card Slots

SD/SDHC Card reader

Pros + Cons

Pro
 The default macOS is very developer friendly since it's a Unix

OSX is based on XNU (Darwin) kernel, it's certified Unix and arguably a lot more developer friendly than Windows. Development for Unix is native on OS X. There's a large selection of great development tools available for OSX. The operating system itself comes bundled with a powerful terminal emulator, called Terminal. Additionally, Apple provides tools, like Xcode, an IDE that contains a comprehensive collection of tools for developing OSX and iOS software, for free.
Comment

Pro
 Great performance

The MacBook pro offers great performance both for day-to-day stuff and more niche graphic-related activities. The latest model also has had an update in hardware specs where both the CPU and GPU have been upgraded to their respective latest generations. The 16GB to 32GB help with performance as well and the SSD speeds are unmatched in the laptop market which also helps with general performance.
Comment

Pro
 One of the best SSDs that can be found on a laptop

With read speeds at 3.1Gbps and write speeds at around 4.7Gbps, the SSD used in the Macbook Pro is the best in the market by far. This doesn't just mean opening/saving files is quicker, but it also has a pretty huge impact on general application performance.
Comment

Pro
 Great backlit keyboard and trackpad

The MacBook Pro has a well-spaced, back-lit keyboard and best-in-class button-less trackpad.
Comment

Pro
 One of the best trackpads around

The Macbooks are renowned for having the best trackpad out of any laptop. It has full gesture support, you can configure in the software how much pressure you want before it physically clicks and the finger tracking is perfect.
Comment

Pro
 Fantastic display

The 13" MacBook Pro has a sharp, color accurate 2560 x 1600 IPS display. It's bright at 500 nits, has great viewing angles (viewable at up to 178 degrees) and capable of displaying 87.3% of sRGB color gamut.
Comment

Pro
 Can run up to 3 external monitors and output 4K

With 2 Thunderbolt (DisplayPort) plugs and 1 HDMI, MBP can run up to 3 external monitors and output 4K over HDMI.
Comment

Pro
 Very portable

The latest Macbook Pro has a trimmed down design compared to predecessors. It's 0.61 inches (15.5 mm) thick and and weighs 4.02 pounds. It's thinner than Macbook Air even.
Comment

Pro
 OSX/macOS and most software apps have great HiDPI support

Comment

Pro
 Good customer support

Apple offers support over the phone worldwide, provides support in Apple retail stores and authorized resellers and has community forums where users can help users.
Comment

Pro
 Great keyboard

The Macbook uses the second generation of the "butterfly" keyboards first introduced in 2015. They feel different to use than most laptop keyboards as they are very shallow, but most people report really enjoying the keyboard after getting used to it.
Comment

Pro
 Plenty of RAM for multitasking

The MacBook Pro has up to 32 GB of RAM. That much RAM is perfect for running IDEs, emulators, and virtual machines.
Comment

Pro
 New OSX updates run on older models for quite a long time

Comment

Pro
 Amazing build quality

The MacBook Pro has an all-aluminum body that looks great and is sturdy enough that worries of accidentally damaging are mostly alleviated. It has a robust lid, well-spaced back-lit keyboard with speakers on each side of the keyboard and an excellent button-less trackpad.
Comment

Pro
 Good battery life

The battery drains in about 9 hours of typical use.
Comment

Pro
 Good stability

Comment

Pro
 The OS is exceptionally easy to use

Macbooks are famous for working out of the box. The default operating system (macOS) is also exceptionally easy to use even for people who have never used it before. Most people will not need to customize or change anything since all the apps just work out of the box. The people who like to customize things and tinker with their systems will also find it pretty easy to do so, considering the fact that macOS is a Unix and allows varying degrees of control to users.
Comment

Pro
 Both the hardware and software are designed in-house

Both the operating system and the hardware are designed by Apple and are made to be as compatible as possible from the get-go. Any drawback that the hardware might have compared to competitors, is made up by the great compatibility between the hardware and OS. Furthermore, because Apple controls the hardware that goes inside their laptops, they can be sure that every OS release will be fully compatible even with their older hardware, ensuring software compatibility for many years after the laptop is released.
Comment

Con
 RAM is soldered in

A crippling, unmitigated rip-off which prevents you from upgrading the internal RAM.
Comment

Con
 It's missing the ESC key, which is a hassle for VI users

There is no physical function or escape keys as they have been replaced by a touch screen, so if you're a big Vim user and don't want to change your habits, the Macbook might be a poor choice.
Comment

Con
 Terrible Linux support

The 2016 hardware has zero Linux compatibility due to new standards used by Apple. Until drivers are released for Linux, which there has been no news of, the 2016 Macbooks cannot be used for Linux at all.
Comment

Con
 Limited gaming performance

The Macbook lacks a dedicated GPU, so gaming performance will be limited. That said it comes with the best integrated graphics on the market and will be able to play modern games on low settings well.
Comment

Con
 Glossy screen

Apple has deleted the matte-screen option from its lineup, an unfortunate decision that reduces the usability of the computers and means you get less work done. You won't realize how much time you spend moving your head around to get reflections off whatever you're trying to see until you switch to a matte screen. Those "deep blacks" and "rich colors" that you were supposed to get from a glossy screen are not present, since they're buried behind a sheen of reflection under all lighting conditions.
Comment

Con
 The keyboard is unique in how it feels and some people may need some time to get used to it

The keyboard on the Macbook is unique and some people may not like the way the keys feel to press or not having physical function keys.
Comment

Con
 No Ethernet or FireWire ports

An adapter is required to transfer data over FireWire or connect to the Internet using an Ethernet cable.
Comment

Con
 You need dongles or a dock to connect USB-A devices

There are no USB-A ports, so you'll need a dongle or a dock to use things like webcams.
Comment

Con
 The default OS spies on you

Apple spies on its users, and helps others spy on them too. OSX needs to be wiped from the laptop and be replaced with Linux or another acceptable OS before it can be used. There have also been cases of security issues being reported and not fixed for quite some time. An example is a security issue in iTunes which was left unfixed for three years while it was being used by the government to collect data. These security issues may or may not be intentional, but other data collection is.
Comment

Con
 Requires the use of proprietary firmware

The source code of the firmware isn't available for users to audit or modify.
Comment

Con
 Hard to repair or upgrade the hardware

The battery and other components are glued in, and the battery blocks access to other parts. The battery will wear out eventually, and the fact that it's glued in means that Apple prevents you from easily repairing or upgrading a MacBook Pro.
Comment

Pro
 Good battery life 

The 11" model lasts up to 9 hours and the 13" model up to 12 hours. Great for programming on the go as you don't have to worry about the battery dying.
Comment

Pro
 OSX is developer-friendly

OSX is based on XNU (Darwin) kernel, it's certified Unix and arguably a lot more developer friendly than Windows. Development for Unix is native on OS X. There's a large selection of great development tools available for OSX. The operating system itself comes bundled with a powerful terminal emulator, called Terminal. Additionally, Apple provides tools, like Xcode, an IDE that contains a comprehensive collection of tools for developing OSX and iOS software, for free.
Comment

Pro
 Solid build quality and elegant design 

Macbook Air has a high quality all-aluminum body that looks great and is sturdy enough that worries of accidentally damaging are mostly alleviated. It has a robust lid, well-spaced back-lit keyboard and an excellent button-less trackpad.
Comment

Con
 Low resolution screen 

Depending on the model, the MBA has either a 1366 x 768 or 1440 x 900 screen and that's behind the expected 1080p screens of most modern ultrabooks.
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Con
 Doesn't run OSX

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Pro
 Great build quality

The Carbon X1 is a very light and durable laptop. It has the characteristic raven-black finishing of other Thinkpads on top of a carbon-fiber reinforced chassis. The carbon fiber increases the overall durability of the laptop, making it a great fit for people who travel a lot since it can withstand a lot of physical damages.
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Con
 Extended dual battery adds weight

6-cell extended battery adds 0.4 pounds to take this ultrabook's weight far above that of the ultrabook standard (<3 pounds).
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Pro
 Built-in support for Amazon Alexa

The 2018 model of the X1 Carbon has far-field microphones built-in to work with Amazon Alexa. This will allow you to give commands to Alexa from across the room.
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Con
 Missing an Ethernet port

The X1 Carbon is missing an Ethernet port, so people who prefer having that option as well are forced to use Wifi only.
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Pro
 Excellent typing experience

Like most Thinkpads, the X1 Carbon has an excellent keyboard as well. The keys have about 1.8mm of travel and provide great tactile feedback. Their gently curved keys also make it very easy to target without looking at them. The keyboard also has optional backlighting which can be turned on or off with a simple key press.
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Pro
 Great speakers

The X1 Carbon has bottom-mounted speakers which provide excellent audio output. The sound is loud enough to fill a large room and there's clear separation of sound coming from the speakers, making them great for any sorts of recreational activity involving audio be it listening to music, watching movies or playing videogames.
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Pro
 Excellent display

The X1 Carbon comes in two different versions. With a 1080p or a 1440p display, with the latter being $70 more. Both displays are excellent. The image is sharp and the colors are very noticeable. Although, understandably, the 1440p display has images that are a bit sharper than its 1080p counterpart. According to colorimeter tests, both versions of the display can produce 104 and 103 percent of the sRGB color gamut, respectively. That's very impressive when compared to the average for 14" displays (83%). The 1080p screen is noticeably brighter than the 1440p screen (292nits vs 257nits) and the colors generally start fading only at about 45 degrees viewing angle.
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Pro
 Very portable

At around 2lbs this is a very light laptop. Especially when you compare it to other Thinkpads. It's light enough to carry in one hand and when it's carried in a backpack it's easy to forget that you are carrying a laptop because of how light it is.
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Pro
 Great battery life

The battery supports over 10 hours of light activity like web browsing, watching videos and editing documents. This can be doubled to 20 hours by swapping in the extended, 6-cell battery, which can be hot swapped without turning off the laptop since it also has an internal 4-cell battery.
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Pro
 Latest generation hardware

The XPS 13 was recently updated with all the latest generation hardware which means that it won't become outdated any time soon.
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Pro
 Great keyboard

The keyboard is high quality, feels great to type on and isn't too mushy or too shallow. Even though there's nothing very special about the keyboard, it's as good of a keyboard as you could want.
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Con
 Doesn't run OSX

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Pro
 Stunning display

Before buying you can choose between the 4K UHD- or full HD-resolution touch displays or a full HD non-touch one. However, Linux compatibility for super high resolution displays can be spotty at times, so you might be better off sticking with the full HD if you plan on running Linux. Display quality is very good as far as viewing angles, brightness and color reproduction go. It also has a very small bevel so the screen goes more or less edge-to-edge. It also has an output of 400 nit, putting it in the "really bright" category as far as displays go. As for color reproduction, XPS 13's display produces an impressive 107.2 percent of the sRGB color gamut.
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Pro
 Uses an SSD for faster operations on disk

Using an SSD greatly increases performance for every I/O operation, especially compared to laptops that use an HDD. The laptop will boot faster, programs that need to read and write to disk will run faster and scripts will compile much faster than on an HDD.
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Con
 Spongy keyboard

The keyboard feels a bit spongy and does not have a lot of travel to the keys. When bottoming out there is no feel of completion.
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Con
 Not a great choice for people who use their laptops to game as well

The Dell's integrated graphics are very poor for gaming and you won't be able to play graphics intensive games on it at all. A latest-generation AAA game will run at about 20 FPS with lowest settings. While a less graphics-intensive game such as Dota 2 for example will run at 30 FPS with lowest settings.
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Con
 The touchscreen reflects light making it hard to see unless the lighting on the display is properly set

The screen for the touch-screen model is glossy instead of matte (non-touch screen). For what is a Linux notebook this does not make a lot of sense since most Linux users are the more tech savy who program. A glossy screen is more for multimedia, something Linux is not really known for excelling in.
Comment

Con
 The battery wears out quickly

After some use, the battery continues to fall at an alarming rate, to only 5-6 hours after a couple of months.
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Con
 Webcam located in an odd place

Due to the narrow bezel of the infinity display, Dell moved the webcam to the bottom left corner. This results in an odd viewing angle and the webcam getting blocked while typing.
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Con
 The battery does not last as long as advertised

The laptop never performs to the promised 11-15 hours, average usage is around 7-8 hours.
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Con
 Phone support is very slow

Customers have reported waiting for up to 15 minutes to get connected to someone who will be able to help solve their issue.
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Pro
 Plenty of RAM for all programming needs

Building software typically takes more resources than running the final product. Having a lot of RAM helps building big complex applications faster.
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Pro
 One of the best Windows trackpads available

The Dell's trackpad is one of the best Windows trackpads available. It has smooth and precise tracking and even supports three-finger gestures similar to the Macbook's.
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Pro
 Great build quality

The body has a slick and elegant design. It's a mix of aluminum, carbon fiber and magnesium which hardly ever flexes even when held with one hand.
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Pro
 Toggleable and customizable keyboard backlighting

Users can turn on or off the backlighting of the keyboard as well as adjust the brightness.
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Pro
 Decent speakers

The Dell XPS 13 has above average speakers for a laptop, they get very loud but at max volume tend to distort the music a little too much.
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Pro
 Great online customer service

Dell's customer service is one of the best in the industry. Especially the online customer service website. There you will find frequently asked questions which usually solve 90% of issues, if that's not enough, there's a live chat with a customer service representative, who are usually very helpful and very understanding about every issue that may arise.
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Pro
 Great Linux support

You can configure the XPS 13 to come with Linux out of the box. Even if you pick the Windows version, the XPS 13 has Linux drivers for all of its features and most users have reported that the whole process of installing a Linux distribution on a Dell XPS 13 is very simple.
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Pro
 Excellent trackpad

The MacBook has a large 4.4 x 2.7-inch Force Touch trackpad with a Taptic Engine that delivers haptic feedback whenever the user taps on it to give them the impression that they are actually clicking on it. It also supports gestures and multi-finger swiping. The accuracy is almost perfect and there's virtually no lag or stutter when using the trackpad.
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Pro
 Very good speakers

The speakers, found above the keyboard produce loud and clear sound with minimal to no distortion whatsoever. They can be used for both listening to music and watching movies with no problem at all.
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Pro
 macOS is developer-friendly

macOS is based on XNU (Darwin) kernel, it's a certified Unix and arguably a lot more developer friendly than Windows. Development for Unix is native on macOS. There's a large selection of great development tools available for macOS. The operating system itself comes bundled with a powerful terminal emulator, called Terminal. Additionally, Apple provides tools, like Xcode, an IDE that contains a comprehensive collection of tools for developing macOS and iOS software, for free. You can also install Homebrew, an extremely useful package manager.
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Pro
 Decent battery life

The battery lasts around 7h30m of continuous web browsing which is about average for this class of laptops. Where this laptop's battery truly shines though is under heavy stress where it manages to last an impressive 2h35m under a total stress test (maxed out brightness and processor usage - circumstances that you are likely never going to encounter in the real world).
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Pro
 Extremely portable

The laptop weighs just 2 pounds and is 13.1 mm thin. It's one of the thinnest and lightest laptops on the market and it's extremely portable and easy to carry around.
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Pro
 Decent keyboard

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Pro
 Completely silent operation

Thanks to the Core M processor (which doesn't require a fan) and the SSD storage, there are no moving parts the in MacBook. It will operate in complete silence.
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Pro
 Amazing display

Everything about the display is very good - from its high resolution (2304x1440) to the brightness (325 nitts), uniform brightness distribution (90%), and high contrast ratio (1000:1) with over 95% of the sRGB spectrum. Overall, a great display which will come in handy for people who work with visual arts.
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Pro
 Available in 4 colors

The laptop is available in space gray, gold, silver and rose gold (pink) finishes.
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Con
 Connecting more than one thing requires a hub

The laptop comes with a single USB-C port that's used for charging as well as any other peripherals or external storage devices. Connecting more than one thing at a time requires using a USB hub.
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Con
 Not very powerful

With an Intel Core M processor, the Macbook isn't a serious development laptop. While it will get the job done for lighter tasks, it will struggle with heavier jobs.
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Con
 It's a bit hard to get used to the keyboard

The keys are pretty shallow, with a travel length of just 0.5mm. They still provide good feedback and the writing experience itself is not bad, but it's just a bit hard getting used to, especially if you are coming from a laptop that's not a MacBook.
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Pro
 Very well-rounded laptop

The cheapest configuration is a great choice for general non-intensive use - things like internet browsing, watching movies and similar tasks. Whereas the more expensive configurations are gradually more capable of intensive tasks, like video editing or gaming. It’s not as good as a specialized computer built for a specific purpose, like a video editing laptop with an enormous RAM size or a gaming laptop with a superior graphics card, but it’s a very well-rounded, reliable laptop.
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Pro
 Can run most modern games

Being an excellent all-rounder, it can be used as a gaming laptop for games that are not exceptionally demanding, like Overwatch or Dota 2. Unless you’re using the cheapest model, you can expect a reasonable 60 frames per second for almost all modern games, provided that you’re willing to lower the game’s settings.
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Pro
 Slick design

The whole design is quite stylish. The aluminium chassis provides a very clean look while the black carbon fiber palm rest with an almost borderless display cements it as a visually modern laptop. All of this is made with a premium build quality.
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Pro
 Amazing display

Two display choices are available for the XPS 15, an Ultra HD touchscreen or a Full HD non-touch screen. Both screens have a very wide array of colors as they cover approximately 100% of sRGB color space. The viewing angle is around 170 degrees. However, at 45 degrees, slight color change can be noticed. With around 350 nit output for brightness, it’s a viable choice for outdoor usage. All of this makes it an amazing display.
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Pro
 Operates well on a Linux system

All essential things, like network connectivity, ports and sound, work right “out-of-the-box” with a Linux operating system. There is a compatibility issue on the new 9560 model with its graphics card but the laptop is still very usable with its integrated Intel graphics card.
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Pro
 Good battery life if you pick the 1080p display

Models with the 1080p screen last about 10 hours with general usage. Naturally, if more intensive tasks are involved, the battery will be drained faster.
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Pro
 Solid keyboard and trackpad

The keyboard and trackpad are reliable and solid all-around. The keyboard is responsive but is not super “clicky”, rather a bit soft. It has a white backlight on black keys that illuminates them at night. The touchpad is rather large while having no buttons. Despite this, the XPS 15 can reliably distinguish between the left and right clicks which are done on the trackpad itself.
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Pro
 Optional password-free-sign-in via a fingerprint reader

For an additional $25 it’s possible to enjoy a password-free-sign-in by having a fingerprint reader. It will keep your laptop safe while still providing convenient access to it.
Comment

Con
 Palmrest collects sweat

The palm rest is made from carbon fiber which attracts fingerprints and sweat. After some time it gets kind of unpleasant to touch and needs to be cleaned.
Comment

Con
 Some ghosting in games

The display is not intended for gaming purposes so it can produce an effect called “ghosting”. Ghosting is when the pixels are not able to change their colors fast enough, so the color of the preceding frame can still be slightly seen on the next frame. This causes a blurring effect. Note that it only happens on high framerates coupled with fast objects.
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Con
 Audible coil whine

Coil whine can be heard when it’s generally quiet and the fans are not running. Audible when the laptop is connected to the power supply. The manufacturers have acknowledged it as a problem and, if possible, will push out an update which should eliminate it. Until then, it’s still a gripe.
Comment

Con
 Noisy fans

The laptop is very quiet during idle and light usage but when there is some workload, the fans get quite loud and distracting.
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Con
 9560 model's GPU has compatibility issues on Linux

The new 9560 model has some trouble accepting its GTX 1050 Ti video card while running a Linux operating system. Fortunately, the integrated Intel graphics card is capable enough to substitute it. The manufacturers are probably aware of the issue and will, most likely, release an update for it.
Comment

Con
 Awkward webcam location

The webcam is located under the screen instead of on top. It means that your face will be shown from a lower angle which can seem a bit weird. It also means that your fingers can partially obstruct the webcam while you’re typing.
Comment

Con
 Battery doesn’t hold long with the Ultra HD screen

If you’re choosing the configuration with an Ultra HD screen, expect a very short battery life of around 6 hours for general usage. With more intensive tasks it's even less than that.
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Pro
 Good performance for the price

The HP Envy 13 offers good performance for its price. It can handle up to 16 Chrome tabs open simultaneously without even a bit of lag. Daily mainstream activities such as web browsing, editing files and even development work can be done on this laptop without any particular issues.
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Pro
 People who usually use their laptop on a desk will feel very comfortable with this

The Envy 13 has a hinge on the back which gives the laptop a slight extra boost in keyboard height. This puts the keyboard at a much more comfortable typing position and reduces RSI and finger-fatigue from extensive periods of typing.
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Pro
 Extremely portable

The HP Envy 13 is one of the thinnest laptops on the market at just 12.9mm thick. This detail, coupled with the fact that it weighs just above 1.3kg make the Envy 13 one of the lightest and most portable laptops on the market.
Comment

Con
 The touchpad may be unreliable

Sometimes while dragging the cursor to select text, the touchpad will not interpret the input correctly and may start zooming in or zooming out.
Comment

Con
 No touchscreen version

HP does not provide a touchscreen version of this laptop.
Comment

Con
 Poor battery life

The Envy 13 has a relatively poor battery life. You may get about 9 hours out of it if you use it for general web browsing and some productivity work, but anything more than that (watching videos, light gaming) and you will start noticing that the battery life is considerably lower.
Comment

Con
 Display not suitable for picture editing

The T470s display has a low sRGB color gamut at 95% which is quite low for this category which makes it a poor choice for people that would use it for picture editing.
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Pro
 Great build quality and durability

The chassis is made of magnesium and the lid is plastic reinforced with carbon fiber. Building the body with the same material also means that there's no visible material transitions.
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Pro
 One of the best keyboards that can be found in a laptop

The keyboard for this laptop is one of the best laptop keyboards on the market. It has slightly concave keys which make is easier to hit them. There's a good amount of travel, especially for such a thin laptop. The keyboard is also spill-resistant, which adds to the overall durability of this laptop.
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Pro
 Excellent performance for non-gaming activity

The T470s provides excellent performance for anything non-GPU related. It's extremely fast and responsive and provides more than enough power for business or development related work. It can also play some games that are not resource intensive at relatively high framerates with medium or high settings. For example Bioshock Infinite with medium settings plays at an average of 26.7FPS.
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Pro
 Great minimalistic design

The chassis has a simple matte black coating that surrounds the whole laptop. The only dashes of color are provided by the red trackpoint on the keyboard and the red dot on the logo on the back of the lid. The minimalistic look makes this laptop a perfect fit for business and productivity environments.
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Pro
 Great design

The HP Spectre x360 has an all-aluminum body that gives it a very premium feel. The edges are all smooth and polished which provide a great highlight accent to the laptop.
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Pro
 Excellent performance

Performance of course depends on the configuration, but a medium-powered configuration with 8GB RAM and i7 provides an excellent performance. Multitasking is a breeze and the laptop doesn't stutter or lag even with 20 Chrome tabs open simultaneously. The SSD is also extremely fast and is able to copy 40GB of data in about 2 seconds. Gaming performance is decent as well, managing to hit 40FPS with Dirt 3 on medium settings.
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Pro
 Good keyboard

HP put a lot of effort in the creation of this keyboard and it shows. With 60 gram actuation weight and a travel length of 1.3mm, typing on the Spectre x360 is a great experience, reminiscent of typing on a mechanical keyboard.
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Pro
 Great, colorful display

The Spectre x360 has a great glossy Full-HD screen to complement its amazing design. At 317 nits, the screen is pretty bright and it has a decent color range as well, covering 101.7 percent of the sRGB color spectrum.
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Pro
 Long battery life

For simple activities such as web browsing and editing files, the HP Spectre clocks in at around 11 hours of autonomous battery life.
Comment

Con
 Has some bloatware

While it's less than HP usually has, there are still apps like Netflix, The Weather Channel, Hearts Deluxe, Connected Photo etc.
Comment

Con
 Can easily trap heat and overheat

The extremely thin chassis is a drawback as far as heat management goes. Even a relatively simple activity like streaming HD videos will overheat the laptop and put the internal heat at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit which is 10 degrees higher than the 95 degrees "comfortable" threshold.
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Pro
 Great performance for graphics-related work or gaming

The included hardware corresponds to a moderately powerful workstation laptop. The video card has certified drivers that are optimized for performance with specific applications, like AutoCAD or DCC (Digital Command Control). Similarly, all of provided processors have four cores for high multi-tasking capabilities while the 32GBs of RAM allow running large projects. This combination makes it an attractive option for rendering, 3D modeling, and similar tasks.
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Pro
 Remarkable screen

There’s a choice between a Full HD and an Ultra HD screen. The Full HD is a matte-type screen with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 while the Ultra HD has a glossy, touch-enabled surface which supports resolutions up to 3840 x 2160. Both screens have a very accurate color portrayal with approximately 100% of sRGB color space covered. They also have incredibly wide viewing angles. The brightness for the UHD screen is around 390 nits which is considered “very bright” and can easily be used outdoors. The FHD version has around 360 nits which is slightly worse but is also considered bright.
Comment

Con
 Palm rest gets greasy

The carbon fiber coating is very susceptible to the sweat of your hands. The continuous contact with the skin can make the palm rest greasy and uncomfortable. It has to be cleaned regularly in order to avoid it.
Comment

Con
 Premium pricing

The price seems a bit steep for what you’re getting.
Comment

Pro
 Silent during light usage

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Pro
 Reasonable battery life

With the Ultra HD screen the battery lasts for about 4 hours of general usage. This is with the smaller 3-cell (56Wh) battery. Note that, if you’re choosing the bigger 6-cell (81Wh) battery, the hard drives are limited to the M.2 PCIe drives with no secondary storage option.
Comment

Pro
 Solid touchpad

The touchpad feels a bit slippery but is, otherwise, responsive and reliable. Several different gestures are available to make navigating with the touchpad easier. These gestures, like zoom, rotate, scroll and others, can be disabled via touchpad settings.
Comment

Pro
 Small and lightweight for a workstation

It is surprisingly small and lightweight for being a workstation-type laptop. With the weight ranging from 1.8kg to 2kg and with the dimensions of 35.8 x 23.5 x 1.7 cm, it really is a portable workstation laptop.
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Pro
 Great design

It looks strikingly clean. Built with an aluminium chassis it presents itself as a luxurious laptop. When opened, it has a sleek, dark carbon fiber palm rest with an almost bezel-less display. The small edges allow fitting a 15.6 inch screen inside such a small frame.
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Pro
 Reliable keyboard

The keyboard is covered with a soft coating that is pleasant to touch. The keys feel rather shallow with only 1.3mm travel distance but are still very responsive. It also has a backlight with three options - bright, dim and off.
Comment

Pro
 Great Linux support

The hardware is Ubuntu Certified. It makes sure that Ubuntu, and by extension other Linux distributions work right out-of-the-box without needing to mess with it to get basic things, like Wi-Fi or soundcard, to work.
Comment

Con
 Lacks certain keys

It has no numpad which would typically ease the input of numbers. It even has enough space for it. In addition, the navigation keys (arrows) are replaced with Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End keys.
Comment

Con
 Not ideal for video calls

It has very awkward webcam and microphone locations making it rather unsuitable for video calls. The webcam is located under the screen, instead of on top, which creates a strange angle. It can also be partially covered by fingers when typing. Similarly, the microphone is located at a weird place - at the very front of the frame. At such a close position it can more easily distort your voice.
Comment

Con
 Loud during high workload

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