Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Huawei’s MateBook 13 is smaller than a MacBook Air, yet includes Nvidia graphics

Arif Bacchus
By
1 of 7
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9012
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9023
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9019
Image used with permission by copyright holder
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9016
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9011
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9003
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
huawei announces matebook 13 ces 2019 dsc 9012
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

At CES 2019, Huawei is taking on Apple’s latest MacBook Air. The company famous for its phones and tablets is introducing the MateBook 13, sitting in between the ultra-slim MateBook X, and the budget-friendly MateBook D. Previously announced in China, it’s now coming to the United States.

Recommended Videos

More CES 2019 coverage

Related

With a height and width of 8.31 inches x 11.26 inches, Huawei’s new MateBook 13 is being dubbed as 6 percent smaller than the latest MacBook Air. Compared to the 82 percent screen to body ratio on the MacBook Air, Huawei edges it out at 88 percent, and its touchscreen display has a resolution of 2,160 x 1,440, or 200 PPI.

The thickness of the laptop is also slightly thinner than Apple’s latest offerings, coming in at 0.59 inches compared to the 0.61 inches on the MacBook Air. As for the weight, Huawei’s MateBook 13 is a bit heavier, coming in at 2.86 pounds on models with a discrete GPU, or 2.82 pounds without. Apple’s MacBook Air is 2.75 pounds.

Elsewhere, the MateBook 13 is packing a 3:2 aspect ratio display, with bezels only 4.4mm thick. The display comes equipped to handle 100 percent of the sRGB color gamut, at a maximum brightness of 300 nits. On the inside, the MateBook 13 is powered by the 8th generation Intel Core i5-8265U or Core i7-8565U processor. These are the newest generation available from Intel.

Key Specs

  • Display: 13 inch touch, 2,160 x 1,440 resolution 200 PPI
  • Dimensions: 8.31 inches x 11.26 inches x 0.59 inches
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-8265U or Intel Core i7-8565U
  • Storage: 256GB NVMe PCIe SSD on Core i5, 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD on Core i7
  • Graphics: Nvidia GeForce MX 150 (Core i7 model only)
  • RAM: 8 GB LPDDR3
  • Ports: 2 x USB C, 3.5 mm jack
  • Battery: 41.7 watt-hour

These are quad-core processors, so they’re a step up from the MacBook Air, which comes with the dual-core Core i5-8210Y processor on board. The Core i5 model of the MateBook 13 comes with options for a 256GB SSD, and the Core i7 model can be had with Nvidia GeForce MX 150 graphics and a 512GB SSD. All variations come with 8GB RAM.

Features rounding out the MateBook 13 include a 3.5mm headphone jack, two USB-C ports (left for charging and data, right for Display Port,) and a 1-megapixel webcam. There’s also a fingerprint reader built into the power button, which Huawei promises should make for secure logins. Finally, in testing with video playback, battery life is promised at 9.6 hours on the model with a discrete GPU, and 10 hours on a model with the integrated GPU. A dock is also included in the box, expanding connectivity to USB-A, VGA, and HDMI.

The MateBook 13 will be available on January 29 at Amazon and Newegg, with prices starting at $999. The $999 Core i5 Mystic Silver model will come without the discrete GPU and the Core i7 Space Gray model will come with GeForce MX graphics 150 for $1,299.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Arif Bacchus
Arif Bacchus
Computing Writer
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
The MacBook Air 15 vs. MacBook Pro 14: the easy way to decide
Apple's 15-inch MacBook Air placed on a desk with its lid closed.

Picking out a new MacBook isn't as easy as it used to be.

The hardest choice in the lineup might be between the 15-inch MacBook Air and the 14-inch MacBook Pro. Both are now offered with the same M3 chip, despite there being a $300 difference in the base models. But when similarly configured, there's actually only a $100 difference between these two laptops.

Read more
I needed to buy a new MacBook. Here’s why I bought a power bank instead
Baseus Blade 2 65W power bank for laptops kept on a green couch.

I rely on a 13-inch MacBook Pro from 2020 for most of my work. Despite its age and being a base variant model, it continues to stack up well against my expectations for all these years.

Since MacBooks are known for longevity, the fact that my MacBook Pro still holds up well a few years later shouldn't sound surprising. However, the first signs of aging recently arrived in the form of a warning about the battery's plummeting health. I was already dreading the idea of having to replace what was otherwise a perfectly good laptop.

Read more
Apple quietly backtracks on the MacBook Air’s biggest issue
The MacBook Air on a white table.

The new MacBook Air with M3 chip not only allows you to use it with two external displays, but it has also reportedly addressed a storage problem that plagued the previous M2 model. The laptop now finally has much faster storage performance since Apple has switched back to using two 128GB NAND modules instead of a single 256GB module on the SSD drive.

This was discovered by the YouTuber Max Tech, who tore down the entry-level model of the MacBook Air M3 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. In his tests, thanks to the two NAND modules, the M3 MacBook Air is nearly double faster than the M2 MacBook Air. Blackmagic Disk Speed tests show that the older M2 model with the problematic NAND chip had a 1584.3 Mb/s write speed, and the newer M3 model had 2108.9 Mb/s for the M3 model, for a 33% difference. In read speeds, it was 1576.4 Mb/s on the old model and 2880.2 Mb/s on the newer model.

Read more