Huawei MateBook 13 is a tiny, powerful laptop that starts at $999

When it comes to laptops, Huawei isn’t exactly hiding the fact that it’s closely following in Apple’s footsteps — its MateBook X Pro was a Windows-based take on the MacBook Pro (only better). 

Huawei’s newest laptop, the MateBook 13, also shares certain traits with Apple’s laptops, sitting somewhere between Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Air.

The MateBook 13 is a 13-inch laptop crammed into a body that’s very similar, dimensions- and design-wise, to Apple’s 12-inch MacBook. The body, which comes in two colors (gray and slightly darker gray), is a dead ringer for the MacBook, only with smaller bezels around the screen, which gives it 6% more screen estate, according to Huawei. 

Note that at 1.3kg of weight and 14.9mm of thickness, it’s actually closer to the MacBook Air than the MacBook. Also note that, unlike Huawei’s MateBook X Pro, the MateBook 13 doesn’t have a camera hidden in the keyboard — the 1-megapixel webcam is placed in the top bezel. 

Even though the laptop is fairly compact, Huawei didn’t skimp on the specs. The 13-inch, 2,160×1,440 IPS screen is a touchscreen with a promised 300 nits of brightness. Processor power goes up thanks to Intel’s 8th gen i7-8565U processor, with a mix of Intel’s UHD 620 graphics chip and Nvidia’s GeForce MX150 discrete chip handling the graphics tasks. Unfortunately, RAM only goes up to 8GB, while storage options include a 256GB or a 512GB SSD. Stereo Dolby Atmos speakers take care of the sound, and there’s a fingerprint reader on board (in the top right corner, above the keyboard). Huawei promises 10 hours of battery life. 

The laptop has a headphone jack and two USB-C ports, but Huawei will also include a dock with additional ports in the box. 

Huawei MateBook 13 will start at $999 when it comes to the U.S. late this month.