Chuwi LapBook 12.3

Here’s a Chinese brand that’s not struggling to innovate

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Chuwi is one Chinese PC manufacturer that hasn’t been short on product releases over the past 12 months despite being a relative newcomer outside of mainland China.

Available online from GearBest (www.gearbest.com), the LapBook 12.3 is the latest addition to this range and positions itself as a ‘souped-down’ laptop equivalent of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. In other words, if the Surface Pro 4 had a laptop equivalent, the LapBook 12.3 would have been its direct competitor – and no, we’re not counting the Surface Laptop as such a device.

Design

In many respects, comparing the LapBook 12.3 with the Surface Pro 4 is a distraction. A better way to think of this device is: if the iPad Pro and MacBook Air had a lovechild, it’s likely that it would look like the LapBook 12.3. There are very clear design cues that point to some serious aesthetic inspiration from Apple’s range of products – but then Apple’s legendary CEO, Steve Jobs, once said that the company had “always been shameless about stealing great ideas.”

Given the black rim surrounding the screen and the thick bezel, the wedge profile, all-metal chassis and the ‘mono-hinge’ along with a brushed aluminium finish, it’s not surprising that many people’s initial thought will be that it’s an ‘Apple’ when glancing at this notebook for the first time.

Like the iPad Pro and the Surface Pro 4, the LapBook 12.3 has a display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and like the latter, it is a 12.3-inch model with a 2,736 x 1,824 resolution. That’s almost five million pixels, more than twice what you’d expect from a pair of Full HD monitors.

That’s also a higher pixel density than either the iPad Pro or Apple MacBook Pro Retina Display have.