ASUS attributes the ZenBook 3's weight loss to a new "aerospace-grade aluminum alloy," which it says is 40 percent stronger than what's typically used in laptops. Honestly, that just sounds like marketing fluff, but there must be something special about the laptop's new material if it lost 0.6 pounds from the last-gen model. ASUS is still sticking with its "spun metal" style, so hopefully you're a fan of the concentric metallic rings on its cases. It'll be available in Quartz Grey, Royal Blue and the seemingly ubiquitous Rose Gold.

Unlike the MacBook, the ZenBook 3 won't be under-powered. At the top end, you'll be able to configure it with an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD (which should be faster than a typical SATA drive). The display is covered in Gorilla Glass 4, and it looks like ASUS was also able to slim down the bezel (now the screen covers 82 percent of the laptop's front). The ZenBook 3 packs in a Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port for charging (which it says can juice the laptop's battery up to 60 percent in 49 minutes), and it should deliver around nine hours of typical battery life. As for cooling, ASUS says it's developed the "world's thinnest" fan at just 3mm. There's also a built-in fingerprint sensor with Windows Hello support.