Asus ZenBook 3 launched, touted as better than MacBook

The latest iteration to the company’s notebook lineup, the ZenBook 3 packs in top-of-the-line specifications in an impressively thin form-factor.

The latest iteration to the company’s notebook lineup, the ZenBook 3 packs in top-of-the-line specifications in an impressively thin form-factor. (Asus)

Alongside the ZenFone 3 and its variants, Taiwanese giant Asus also unveiled the ZenBook 3. The latest iteration to the company's notebook lineup, the ZenBook 3 packs in top-of-the-line specifications in an impressively thin form-factor.

Asus says the ZenBook 3 is lighter and thinner than Apple's 12-inch MacBook. In fact, an executive with the company boldly claimed that the ZenBook 3 is "best of both" Apple MacBook Air and the MacBook.

As for the specifications, the Asus ZenBook 3 weighs 2 pounds (920g) and measures 11.9mm in thickness. The ZenBook 3, which uses aerospace grade aluminium body design, sports a 12.5-inch full-HD (1920x1080 pixels) display. It is powered by Intel Core i7 processor, coupled with up to 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB SSD storage. It houses a Thunderbolt 3 connector and USB-C for charging, and a fingerprint sensor. Much like Apple's 12-inch MacBook, there's no regular USB port to be seen on the notebook.

For the pricing, the ZenBook 3 with entry level specifications -- Core i5 CPU, 256GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM -- will cost you $999, whereas the top-of-the-line model with Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 4TB PCIe SSD will set you back by $1,999.

There's another high-end model of the ZenBook 3, which is priced at $1,499. It packs in Core i7-6500U, coupled with 16GB LPDDR3-1866, and 512GB PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD. There's no word on its availability.