Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air the real alternative of Macbook Air?

[theluggage]

Are you willing to abandon macOS for W10 and this laptop?

I'd want to answer some questions like "what's the keyboard and trackpad like to use" and "can it keep itself cool enough to make full use of the processor" before jumping: there's no point buying this type of computer on raw specs alone.

...otherwise there are plenty of half-decent PC "ultrabooks" out there to consider. Often, they fall down slightly c.f. Macs when you dig a but deeper and accept the 6th-gen Intel processors are only incrementally better that the "old" processors in the Mac - you have to make sure you're really comparing the equivalent processor models.

However, the PC world offers more choice, and our Tim is currently doing a really good impression of someone who isn't remotely interested in Macs.

The issues with Win10 seem to be more "who's computer is it anyway" than anything practical, and I don't 100% trust Apple not to head in the same direction (looking increasingly like Linux time).

 

[grahamperrin]

what's the keyboard and trackpad like to use

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/23192017 under the main discussion, I added two points.

 

[sracer]

I'd want to answer some questions like "what's the keyboard and trackpad like to use" and "can it keep itself cool enough to make full use of the processor" before jumping: there's no point buying this type of computer on raw specs alone.

...otherwise there are plenty of half-decent PC "ultrabooks" out there to consider. Often, they fall down slightly c.f. Macs when you dig a but deeper and accept the 6th-gen Intel processors are only incrementally better that the "old" processors in the Mac - you have to make sure you're really comparing the equivalent processor models.

However, the PC world offers more choice, and our Tim is currently doing a really good impression of someone who isn't remotely interested in Macs.

The issues with Win10 seem to be more "who's computer is it anyway" than anything practical, and I don't 100% trust Apple not to head in the same direction (looking increasingly like Linux time).

Good thoughts.

I have no interest in going back to Windows as my main OS. (I have a few Windows devices running XP, Win7, Win 8.1 RT, and Windows 10) If I ever get to a point where I can't continue to use OSX/macOS devices, that is the point when I switch over to Linux.

At that time my concern will be which devices allow Linux to be install on them.

 

[bubulol]

Well i sold my Macbook 12 yesterday, nice machine for basic use but still lacking something which i dont want any compromise: unique usb-c port and still underpowered as i am going to keep it as main computer
I really like Apple Macbook but prices are pretty insane nowadays, i dont want buy Macbook Air anymore (poor display with TN panel)
Macbook Pro Retina hasnt been updated since years
Now i am looking forward to buy either new Macbook Pro Retina or this Xiaomi
Ofc i still prefer OSX over W10 but for less than 999$ (price from some international pre-order), i d keep an eyes on it

 

[Mrbobb]

If I couldn't buy a Macbook, I'd buy a Zenbook. Still of the same opinion after seeing this Xiaomi

 

[BittenApple]

the options for your poll are stupid

 

[whg]

If I couldn't buy a Macbook, I'd buy a Zenbook. Still of the same opinion after seeing this Xiaomi

I have an ASUS Zenbook since 1.5 years. It has about the size and weight of a MacBook Air/Pro 13" but comes with dGPU. Screen and keyboard are very good, only the trackpad is inferior to MacBook, but this could be Windows' fault. I like OS X much better than Windows 10, but as soon as I'm working inside an application (MS Office, Matlab) the differences are mostly gone, sometimes to the better even.

 

[JaySoul]

Genuinely don't get the hate for Windows 10.

It's not perfect and the Photos app is beyond useless, but otherwise for 95% of the world who simply browses the internet, stores documents etc on their laptop and all that... What on earth is wrong with Windows 10?

I use MBP and a Windows 10 PC every day and they really aren't worlds apart for basic functionality.

For content creation, yes I prefer my Mac but for everything else, they are generally comparable.

 

[sracer]

Genuinely don't get the hate for Windows 10.

It's not perfect and the Photos app is beyond useless, but otherwise for 95% of the world who simply browses the internet, stores documents etc on their laptop and all that... What on earth is wrong with Windows 10?

• Frequent system and driver updates. Each update brings with it the opportunity for something to go wrong. I haven't had a Windows system with Windows 8.0 and later, that DIDN'T have a serious issue with an update.
• Forced updates. You can delay an update but you can't prevent updates from happening.
• The footprint of the operating system grows significantly. That's not a problem with physical harddrives, but with smaller capacity SSD's, it is an issue.
• The performance of the system degrades over time.
• Inconsistent UI. I won't even get into the goofy live tile/start menu.

These may not be issues for you, or you may not have experienced them firsthand, but they do exist and would be reasons why a person would dislike Windows 10.

I use MBP and a Windows 10 PC every day and they really aren't worlds apart for basic functionality.

For content creation, yes I prefer my Mac but for everything else, they are generally comparable.

Yes, define basic functionality basic enough and everything is comparable.

 

[JaySoul]

• Frequent system and driver updates. Each update brings with it the opportunity for something to go wrong. I haven't had a Windows system with Windows 8.0 and later, that DIDN'T have a serious issue with an update.
• Forced updates. You can delay an update but you can't prevent updates from happening.
• The footprint of the operating system grows significantly. That's not a problem with physical harddrives, but with smaller capacity SSD's, it is an issue.
• The performance of the system degrades over time.
• Inconsistent UI. I won't even get into the goofy live tile/start menu.

These may not be issues for you, or you may not have experienced them firsthand, but they do exist and would be reasons why a person would dislike Windows 10.



Yes, define basic functionality basic enough and everything is comparable.

I agree with you on the first two points, but tbh I'm not too fussed. Maybe I'm lucky but my experience with Windows 10 has been generally solid. It even transformed a 6 year old PC from near death to totally fine.

Totally take issue with the performance issue. I type this on my MBP running Sierra and oh my lord, it's been slowing down month by month for the past year. This is after trying everything short of exorcism.

Inconsistent UI - try pinching on Sierra and see that randomly inconsistent mess of apps that appears. Apple are clearly trying to marry macOS and iOS. It's already messy right now.

I dunno, listen... Once you set any computer up how you want it, you tend to ignore most of the noise anyway - as long as it does what you want it to, fast and regularly.

 

[sracer]

Totally take issue with the performance issue. I type this on my MBP running Sierra and oh my lord, it's been slowing down month by month for the past year. This is after trying everything short of exorcism.

I don't know how your experience with the performance of MacOS on your MBP has any relation to my comment about the performance of Windows 10 over time.

 

[JaySoul]

I don't know how your experience with the performance of MacOS on your MBP has any relation to my comment about the performance of Windows 10 over time.

Because OSX/macOS has degraded in performance too?

 

[stockscalper]

Xiaomi is very poor and so is their customer support, if you can find it. If I were going to wander away from Apple I would much rather have an HP Spectre.