The Asus ZenBook 3 slays the Apple MacBook in specs and price

Asus ZenBook 3

If you were a fan of the ZenBook UX305, you're going to love the ultra-thin ZenBook 3.

Asus pulled the wraps off of its MacBook rival at Computex 2016, touting the Ultrabook weighs in at a scant 2 pounds and 11.9mm (0.46-inches) thick. By comparison, the Apple MacBook .51-inches (13.1mm) tall and tips the scales at 2.03 pounds (0.92kg).

The weighting and thickness reductions are even more striking when you consider the previous ZenBook UX305 weighed 2.64 pounds and was 12.9mm thick (0.51-inches).

Asus ZenBook 3

Despite scaling down the weight and size of the ZenBook, the model 3 is a powerhouse thanks to an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD.

Asus hasn't skimped on the premium built quality either. The 12.5-inch screen is covered by a big sheet of Gorilla Glass 4 and the body of the laptop itself is made from "aerospace-grade aluminum alloy," which the electronics firm claims to be 40 percent than most other laptops.

As for making it so thin, Asus explains it developed the world's thinnest 3mm fan to keep the laptop's Core I-series processor cool while keeping it incredibly thin. Oh and it has a fingerprint scanner for good measure and letting users sign in with Windows Hello.

Asus ZenBook 3

The ZenBook 3 also utilizes a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port for charging to top off an empty machine back to 60% in 49 minutes. What's more, Asus claims users can expect nine hours of usage.

Surprisingly all of these premium features come with an affordable price tag. The ZenBook 3 starts at only $999 with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 256GB SSD. That said, the price goes up to a more significant $1,499 with the 512GB SSD upgrade.

You can also get a richly specced machine with the added Core i7 processor, 1TB SSD and 16GB of RAM for $1,999.

Kevin Lee

Kevin Lee was a former computing reporter at TechRadar. Kevin is now the SEO Updates Editor at IGN based in New York. He handles all of the best of tech buying guides while also dipping his hand in the entertainment and games evergreen content. Kevin has over eight years of experience in the tech and games publications with previous bylines at Polygon, PC World, and more. Outside of work, Kevin is major movie buff of cult and bad films. He also regularly plays flight & space sim and racing games. IRL he's a fan of archery, axe throwing, and board games.