Too bad it's not offered with a 4K display. And personally I would have preferred a TB3 port over all the I/O that this machine has build-in. When on-the-go I'm using wireless connectivity anyway, and at my desk I like to use a TB3 dock with PD as an all-in-one docking solution. Not supporting charging trough USB-PD is also missed opportunity.
However, in addition to the CPU power, and a sane configuration being half the price, the weight looks really good. At 1.4 kg (3.1 lbs) it weighs like a 13" MacBook Pro rather than a 15 or 16 inch one. I've found the difference between 3 and 4 lbs surprisingly noticeable if frequently moving the computer or commuting with it.
The MBP is the world's premier laptop and more than twice as expensive. I'd certainly expect so!
On the other hand, this has a builtin HDMI port, ethernet port and the capacity for internal expansion (unlike the Macbook), so the performance for external expansion is a lot less relevant.
Who wants to carry around a bunch of overpriced dongles anyway?
> At 350 cd/m2 and 84% sRGB the relatively low resolution screen is also going to be darker with poor color reproduction.
I wish somebody would make laptops with high quality screens and low end everything else. Sometimes that's all you need.
Plus, the low end processors often have the best battery life.
An upcoming ARM MacBook could be a great machine for a text editor, terminal, and browser, but I fear there will be new user limitations that block customizations like Karabiner and Hammerspoon that I would miss too much.
Upping the wifi to 6 is only +10? Why bother even offering that.
I don't mind the display but not being USB-C Charging is really disappointing.
That's because the base price includes the 250GB SSD. You can remove it for a 75 Euro price reduction.
The second SSD is also a bit more expensive since there's no M.2/SATA option on the second slot. If you select the 970 EVO Plus (250GB) you'll have to add 20 Euro, which matches the price in the second slot.
That being said if you're planning on running Linux do know for the ax200 you'll want to be on/backported from 5.4+ and grab the latest microcode or it could be a bumpy ride.