When Huawei unveiled the MateBook X Pro at MWC 2018 last year, it was positioned as a rival to the Apple MacBook, even more so because of the 12-inch chassis. Fast forward to this year, the Mobile World Congress 2019, and the updated MateBook X Pro (also referred to as the MateBook X Pro 2019) looks like it is even better equipped to take on the Apple MacBook Pro family.
In many ways, the new Matebook X is more of the same, at least in terms of the design. Huawei has managed to squeeze in a 13.9-inch display into a chassis that is just 304mm in width and is the same as the MacBook Pro 13. That means there is more screen and less body, and therefore incredibly thin bezels which enhance the viewing experience. This carries forward the aluminum build—Huawei maintains this is the high-grade aluminum alloy that is also used for aviation purposes. The only change being the more restrained adaptation of the Huawei logo on the lid. You can choose between Mystic Silver and Space Gray colour options—no doubt these look gorgeous, but a bit more invention with the naming of the latter colour option wouldn’t exactly have gone amiss. At present, Apple sets the benchmark in terms of the build quality with the aluminum build of the MacBook Pro line-up, though the Huawei MateBook X does come close to that level of attention to detail.
Most users would be happy that Huawei hasn’t removed any of the ports in the latest MateBook X—this has two USB-C and one full-size USB port. The Thunderbolt port has been upgraded to a full four lanes of bandwidth, which the company says can now support external graphics, including the Nvidia RTX2080. There is a fingerprint sensor integrated within the power button, much on the lines of Apple’s Touch ID in the MacBook Pro line-up.
The 13.9-inch display (3,000 x 2,000 resolution) display is an ideal go-between, if you find the 13-inch display on the MacBook Pro 13 a tad too small, or the 15.6-inch display on the MacBook Pro 15 a tad too large to carry around.
There is the expected upgrade in terms of the power under-the-hood. The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2019 offers the option of the updated 8th generation Intel Core i5-8265U or Core i7-8565U processors, which Huawei says offer ten percent faster performance than last year’s Intel Core i5-8250U and Intel Core i7-8550U processors. The graphics also get a boost with the Nvidia MX250 GPU, replacing last year’s MX150 GPU. Important to note that the current line-up of the Apple MacBook Pro 13 also offers the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 options, but the larger MacBook Pro 15 also offers the option of the Core i9 processor. In terms of the memory options, the MateBook X Pro 2019 can be configured with 8GB RAM or 16GB RAM, while Apple offers the same spec in the MacBook Pro 13 and lets you crank it up to 32GB RAM with the MacBook Pro 15. However, Apple does not offer any dedicated graphics with the MacBook Pro 13, but have the option of the Radeon Pro 555X, Radeon Pro 560X, Radeon Pro Vega 16 and the Radeon Pro Vega 20 with the MacBook Pro 15.
In terms of the storage, Huawei is offering the MateBook X Pro 2019 with 256GB and 512GB SSD option. In comparison, you can have the MacBook Pro 13 with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB and 2TB SSD options, and there is even a 4TB storage variant with the MacBook Pro 15.
In terms of the pricing, the MateBook X Pro 2019 will be priced at around $1800 (around Rs 1,27,000) for the Core i5 variant and around $2200 for the Core i7 variant. In comparison, the Apple MacBook Pro 13 prices start at $1799 and the MacBook Pro 15 carries a price sticker upwards of $2399.
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