Huawei’s MateBook 13 Is a Powerful MacBook Air Clone

Huawei’s MateBook line is getting a new addition today: the MateBook 13. The company’s MateBook line of products always had a resemblance to Apple’s MacBook products, and the latest addition is no different.

The company’s new MateBook 13 is essentially a much more powerful MacBook Air running Windows 10. Weighing just around 1.3kg, the device comes with a 2K display. The 2K display panel on the device is surrounded by 4.4mm bezels, offering a screen-to-body ratio of 88%.

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In terms of specs, the MateBook 13 comes with Intel’s latest 8th gen U-series processors. There are two different variants — the i7-8565U variant comes with the MX150 GPU from NVIDIA with 2GB of GDDR5 RAM, 8GB of regular RAM, and 512GB PCIe SSD. The other variant that comes with the Core i5-8265U processor includes the Intel Integrated UHD Graphics 620, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of PCIe SSD storage.

Huawei says the new MateBook 13 also comes with its “cutting-edge” fingerprint sensors found on its Android phones, letting users quickly unlock their device. The device promises to offer around 10 hours of battery life.

The MateBook 13 certainly looks like a solid product, though I feel like it is a little uninspired and Huawei should invest in coming up with its own design/style instead of just copying Apple. Either way, the company is also launching a new Android tablet today, though that doesn’t look like an Apple product, thankfully. As for the MateBook 13, the device will be available in the United States on January 29 from Amazon and Newegg. The Core i7 variant costs $1299 while the Core i5 variant costs $999.

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Conversation 14 comments

  • the_real_entheos

    07 January, 2019 - 1:42 pm

    <p>How about a mention that it has a 3:2 display (2160 x 1440). Not an ordinary 2K, and also not a clone of a macbook air, since that is 16:10. </p>

    • skborders

      07 January, 2019 - 1:56 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#392568">In reply to the_real_entheos:</a></em></blockquote><p>So a MacBook Air clone only better?</p>

    • ecumenical

      07 January, 2019 - 2:01 pm

      <blockquote><em><a href="#392568">In reply to the_real_entheos:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Thanks for this info. Terms like "2k" are pretty useless. I wish folks would just report the actual resolution.</p>

  • Orin

    07 January, 2019 - 2:32 pm

    <p>Looks like it's touch screen too! Nice looking machine.</p>

  • lbastie

    07 January, 2019 - 3:09 pm

    <p>Nice, but spyware device </p>

    • dontbe evil

      08 January, 2019 - 1:36 am

      <blockquote><em><a href="#392605">In reply to lbastie:</a></em></blockquote><p>probably no … but if you're really worried just reisntall windows from scratch</p>

  • Pbike908

    07 January, 2019 - 3:17 pm

    <p>The I7 device looks like a decent value…the I5 device a little expensive….</p>

  • bluvg

    07 January, 2019 - 3:20 pm

    <p>3:2 display tho! :)</p>

  • vernonlvincent

    Premium Member
    07 January, 2019 - 3:26 pm

    <p>Please tell me it supports Thunderbolt!</p>

  • digiguy

    Premium Member
    07 January, 2019 - 5:11 pm

    <p>Mehedi this is no Macbook air clone and, above all, this is nothing new. </p><p><br></p><p>We had it in 2017, except that the 2017 was a great device, this is:</p><p>- 200 gr heavier with the same battery</p><p>- quad core CPU but no longer fanless (2017 was one on the rare fanless U series)</p><p>- 300 nits instead of 350</p><p>- still no more than 8GB RAM and non upgradable </p><p>- still no TB3</p><p><br></p><p>Basically this is worse than the 2017 model. Good job Huawei!</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

  • crystalcheung

    07 January, 2019 - 8:11 pm

    <p>I'm not a fan of huge trackpad. I think the trackpad size of Surface Book is optimal. Any bigger size does not add real value to user experience. It's a bit disappointing that Huawei almost copies the entire design of MacBook Pro's keyboard and trackpad.</p>

  • Jhambi

    07 January, 2019 - 8:35 pm

    <p>Better be fanless. Also Huawei is state spy company. Who knows what backdoors are baked into this thing.</p>

  • george_perry

    08 January, 2019 - 12:57 am

    <p>Thanks Mehedi, I bought one of these about six months ago. Love it. Like the 3:2 screen for several reasons but also have a new Macbook pro for business and travel that I like. But other than the OS difference they are very close in hardware quality but only my opinion after working on them for a while. (we'll see what longevity looks like on the Huawei.)</p>

  • dontbe evil

    08 January, 2019 - 1:35 am

    <p>except is not a macbook clone, is one of many windows ultrabooks millions of years ahead of apple … but if you don't put apple or mac or iphone or ipad in the title, is not cool enough for clicks and comments</p>

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