Is Dell’s New Laptop a MacBook Pro Clone?
Yesterday, Dell announced the XPS15z, which it touts as the “thinnest 15-inch PC on the planet*,” bringing “performance, style, battery life and craftsmanship together in a sleek package less than one inch thin.” But at least a few observers have wondered if the $999 laptop is cribbing some of that style from a certain other grey 15-inch laptop.
Wired’s Charlie Sorrel writes, “The 15z is an obvious rip-off of the 15-inch MacBook Pro, from the squared-and-rounded aluminum body to the black screen bezel to the upward-facing speaker grilles to the chiclet keyboard, complete with miniature arrow-keys.” Engadget is a little more diplomatic about the similarities, but comes to a similar conclusion, and not to Dell’s favor: “though the XPS 15z most definitely looks like a MacBook Pro and sports similar materials, you’ll wind up disappointed if you’re expecting the same exacting attention to detail. You’re looking at an aluminum and magnesium alloy sandwich here, not a unibody frame, and much of that metal is thin enough to flex under a little bit of pressure.” Nevertheless, they gave it a relatively favorable 8/10 rating.
More pics:
Apple recently sued Samsung for allegedly copying elements of the iPhone’s and iPad’s design. Do you think the XPS 15zX is too close to the MacBook Pro for comfort, or has the Apple look become so generic as to no longer be noteworthy when it’s imitated?
(As for that * up top about this being the thinnest, it actually directs to this, no seriously: ‘Based on Dell internal analysis as at February 2011. Based on a thickness comparison [front and rear measurements] of other 15″ laptop PCs manufactured by HP, Acer, Toshiba, Asus, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, MSI. No comparison made with Apple or other manufacturers not listed.’ So it’s the thinnest of those that Dell chose to compare it with.)
(via Wired, Engadget. pics via Engadget.)
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