Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2015) vs the Apple MacBook - Which is the sleekest?

Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2015)

A few weeks agone, in a verbose and applied science laden press outcome Apple tree announced their new MacBook. Non quite the MacBook Air nor MacBook Pro, the MacBook is Apple tree'southward premium, ultralight laptop competitor. While the design and the thinness were praised, the unmarried USB Type-C port was greeted mostly with jeers, peculiarly for a device that starts at $one,299.

Despite Apple's self-congratulatory accolades on making the new MacBook, Samsung announced a like device back in January with piddling to no fanfare. The new ATIV Volume nine (2015) was the answer to Apple'due south MacBook before information technology was even announced months later.

The ATIV Book 9 (2015) is already available to purchase, and we managed to get our easily on ane. Here are the ways that it is improve than Apple's MacBook.

Spec state of war

Breaking down both laptops by their core specifications, and we tin see both devices run neck and neck for design, including both being completely metal except for their keyboard. However, each has a few tricks that are worth mentioning.

Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2015)

Display

Here, the Samsung clearly wins with its college resolution (2560x1600) display over Apple's MacBook (2304x1440). Although that difference is non vast, combined with the extra 0.2 inches and the ATIV Book 9 gets the upper edge.

Both displays incidentally are 16:10 orientation and not-touch.

Apple is known for using high-quality displays, as in Samsung. In fact, Apple often uses displays from Samsung and LG, making quality comparisons like between the 2 devices.

So far, the ATIV Book 9 has one of the best screens we have seen due to its low reflectivity, high resolution and fantabulous contrast. There are besides bonus features like 'hugger-mugger' mode to hide things on your screen with a tap of the push and outdoor mode, where the display tin can shoot up to a whopping 700 nits of brightness (300 nits is standard for laptops). Outdoor manner kills the bombardment right quick, only it is nevertheless a fantastic option.

Winner: Samsung

Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2015)

Ports

USB Blazon-C is the future, but that future is not here yet. It is non that people accept an event with switching to Type-C but rather there are no other ports on the MacBook: no HDMI, micro SD, or USB three.0. Equally a result, people are planning to pick up the $79 dongle to get work done. It is not the finish of the world, and Apple users should be used to buying dongles and expensive accessories by now, however, it does detract from the MacBook's convenience.

Meanwhile, the Samsung ATIV Book 9 goes in the other management:

USB three.0 x ii
HDMI
Micro SD
AC Ability (proprietary barrel design)

If we had to knock the Samsung model, it would be that concluding ane: the proprietary Air conditioning barrel plug. Sure, it is teeny tiny, but not about as opportune as using a USB Type-C. Withal, having two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and micro SD for reading or expansion is one heck of a bonus.

Winner: Samsung

Weight

The new MacBook is just two.03 pounds (0.92 kg) versus the ATIV Book 9's 2.06 pounds (0.93 kg). If you recollect that half an ounce is detectable, you are likely a human calibration. In fact, the merely-noticeable difference (JND) for 32 ounces in humans would exist closer to iii ounces (0.09 kg). So these devices are equal.

Winner: Necktie

Apple MacBook

Size

In terms of raw dimensions, Apple tree gets the nod for beingness smaller for width 11.04 inches (28.05 cm) and depth seven.74 inches (19.65 cm) versus the ATIV Book 9 at xi.19 inches (28.42 cm) and 8.37 inches (21.26 cm), however, both are very close.

In terms of top (or "thinness"), which is frequently touted as the big selling bespeak for mobile devices, the ATIV Volume 9 0.46 inches (eleven.seven mm) edges out the new MacBook 0.52 inches (13.2 mm) at its thickest indicate. Considering how much emphasis is placed on how thin these devices are, it is fascinating to run into Samsung's ATIV Book 9 beat out Apple here.

Winner: Apple (overall size); Samsung for thinness

Operation

Comparison directly functioning between the two devices is currently non possible, but hither Apple tree has done some things correct.

Both devices are running the new Intel Core 1000: the 5Y31 version for the ATIV, while the MacBook may have Broadwell Y-series (information technology is not yet known). Withal, Apple's is clocked higher at ane.1GHz or 1.3GHz (Turbo Boost up to two.4GHz and two.6GHz) versus Samsung's Core Thousand 0.9 GHz (Turbo Boost upward to 2 GHz). However, it is unclear which OS will make the nigh out of the Core M.

For what it is worth, the ATIV Volume 9 does ship with Windows 8.1 64-bit.

One interesting deviation that should assist Apple is their usage of newer PCIe Flash storage versus Samsung's SSD (SATA III). The downside to PCIe is the price, which costs significantly more than than SATA III SSD.

The ATIV Book 9 comes in 4 or 8GB variants for RAM while the MacBook is just 8GB.

Both devices utilise the Intel Hard disk drive 5300 graphics.

Winner: Apple

MacBook

Battery

It is too early to do real world tests on battery usage, especially since you lot cannot all the same buy and apply a 2022 Apple tree MacBook. Still, in terms of battery ratings, Samsung is claiming 10.5 hours versus Apple'due south ix hours.

Seeing as the MacBook has a CPU that is clocked higher than the ATIV Book 9 that gauge seems rational.

Winner: Samsung

Pricing

Neither 1 of these laptops are going to win an award for existence budget-friendly. However, the ATIV Book nine (4GB/128GB) does come up in at $100 cheaper ($1199 versus $1299) than the base model of the MacBook (8GB/256GB).

However, if you fifty-fifty out the specs (8GB/256GB) and the Samsung is at present more expensive ($1399 versus $1299).

Apple tops off their MacBook at a whopping $1599 for the 512 GB version, probable owing to that pricey PCIe storage solution.

One caveat to add though is Windows laptops often go on sale, whereas Apple products do not. Additionally, users tin can aggrandize the storage on the ATIV Book nine with the congenital-in Micro SD card reader and use the free 30GB of OneDrive cloud storage.

Winner: Samsung for entry-level; Apple for parity cost

Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2015)

Determination

Overall, Samsung's ATIV Volume 9 edges out Apple tree's MacBook in many areas (but not all). In terms of thinness, battery life, display and most importantly, ports, the ATIV Volume 9 is one hot contender.

Perhaps the bigger story though is not then much who wins and who loses in raw specifications and pricing. Rather the big reveal is that Apple did not "invent" the super-thin, ultra-light category of premium laptops.

In fact, Samsung beat Apple to the market and did so with much less fanfare (in fact too little, in my opinion). There were no fancy engineering-porn videos, no half-hour announcements with gasps from the audience. Merely a regular product line refresh from one of the largest PC and digital device manufacturers in the world.

The bottom line is this: If you have the money and want something like the new MacBook but for Windows, the ATIV Volume 9 is your answer, and you can society it today.

Stay tuned for more than in-depth coverage of the ATIV Book nine (2015) from Windows Central, including a forthcoming get-go-impressions article.

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