Today, I opened up a box that looks like it should hold a MacBook inside.
Not only does the MacBook-lookalike on the front of the box sport a desktop background that I'd bet is one of the stock images on Apple's site, but its placed without any names or labels on a white background, on a box that looks identical to the ones that MacBooks ship in today.
Instead of a MacBook, though, this box contains Xiaomi's latest notebook, the 13.3-inch Mi Laptop Air. We expect this notebook to release on August 21 for $899, and during my brief time with it, I saw some neat features.
MORE: MateBook X Pro vs. MacBook Pro: Which Is Right for You?
The Mi Laptop Air (what a mouthful) has a decent array of input options, with a USB Type-C port, dual USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port and a headphone jack. While I wish the Type-C port was Thunderbolt 3, this amount of options beats the Type-C-only MacBook Pro and the MateBook X Pro, which has no HDMI-out.
Also, the most-shocking element was the absence of a logo on the lid, which is a major pro if you ask me. Also, look at that $899 price. While it's not "super affordable," it's $100 cheaper than the cheapest MacBook Air ($999).
And unlike that Air, it sports a modern 8th Generation Intel Core i5 CPU, with 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. You'd need to spend $1,199 to get a MacBook Air with that much storage and memory, and those MacBooks sport outdated 5th-Gen Intel CPUs.
So, hey, Apple: your imitators are on your tail, and they're beating you on price and specs. Hope those rumors of a new "entry-level" MacBook are true.
