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Comment by decremental | Hacker News Reader

Is it legal to sell something that looks almost indistinguishable from a MacBook?

These responses to anyone pointing out how similar the design is are so disingenuous. Very strange!

Um, this thing has actual buttons, so clearly not a rip off of a MacBook. It also has what appears to be a dedicated power button. Also, this thing is user repairable. That's clearly not copied from Apple.

Edit: so not a dedicated power button, but an integrated finger print reader. uh-oh, case is getting weaker ;-)

> To make device security convenient, we also built a Windows Hello-compatible fingerprint reader into the power button

It's both a dedicated power button and a finger print reader.

So, uh, like a MacBook?

(For the record I'm not bothered by the similarities; I honestly think that if you go minimalist with your design language you kind of converge on this look. I would offer the gentlest of criticisms, though, in the way the up and down arrow keys are half-height but the left and right are full. That's another trend Apple started and it is bad. Ironically, Apple's current laptops are moving away from it again!)

Actually, my 2019 Macbook has all 4 arrow keys half-height, but the left/right keys are bottom aligned with the down key rather than .keys { vertical-align: center; } I try my best to never use those keys.

That was the first one that switched back, I think. Personally, I prefer that design to the full-height left/right and half-height up/down keys, because it's just easier for me to find the right arrows that way. (I'd prefer full height on all of them, but I recognize a laptop keyboard is space-constrained, at least if it's 13" or below. The 16" MBP has less excuse.)

I don't really care so much about half-height left and right keys versus full-height ones, but I've discovered that what I really hate is when half-height PgUp and PgDn keys are on either side of a half-height Up arrow key. This means I constantly hit PgUp/PgDn with my pinkie when reaching for Left or Right (and ultimately on my current machine I had to override this with a keyboard remap).

It can't be a dedicated anything if you just used the word "both" implying it does 2 things.

Huawei and others have been doing it for years. Google the “Matebook”.

I have a Matebook D, and I wouldn’t say it’s any more of a clone of a MacBook than any other manufacturer.

Check out HP’s current line up. They seem to come in two flavors: “MacBook clone” and “MacBook clone, but in black”.

https://www.hp.com/us-en/shop/slp/optane/2-in-1-laptops?jump...

Apple nailed the “generic laptop” design with MacBook but they also has their own design language like the iconic fillets. I guess that’s how they draw a line and I guess that’s enough for each sides.

I don't think I could distinguish it from any laptop.

Do MacBooks come with a windows key?

There's not a whole lot of trade dress to claim on aluminum rectangles. So that just leaves the logo.

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