Ultrabooks changed portable computing. These days, people can find extremely light, thin and powerful laptops. Two popular devices are Acer's Aspire S7 and Apple's MacBook Pro. With both companies releasing refreshed versions, which ultrabook delivers better performance and more impressive specs?

Acer Aspire S7

The S7 is designed specifically for travelling. The thin and light frame allows people to carry it anywhere. The device features a hinge that opens at different angles suiting a number of viewer preferences. Packed with new features and design, the Aspire S7 is a recommended ultrabook.

Design and Display

The Acer Aspire S7 features a Gorilla Glass lid, magnesium alloy and aluminum chassis. The notebook measures 0.51-inch thick offering excellent craftsmanship. Acer took a careful approach to the Aspire S7. The company made sure every detail fits. For instance, the lid has a slight underbite allowing people to open the lid easily. Since the laptop only weighs 2.87 pounds it might be a good idea for people to use both hands.

Acer incorporated the function row in the number keys. This may be confusing to some. Compared to 2012's model, the keys are bigger. They are similarly responsive but can be challenging to distinguish in the dark. Nonetheless, the keyboard is great.

The laptop features a 13.3-inch screen offering 1920 x 1080 display. It runs on Windows 8.1. Users may find a number of the UI elements looking small but the display does not compromise. It makes sure people can have an excellent viewing experience.

The design of the laptop also allows it to provide wide viewing angles. The hinge of the S7 lets users lay the display flat completely. Those who wish to mount the device on the wall can also do so.

Performance

Similar to majority of ultrabooks around, the Acer Aspire S7 received a Haswell upgrade. Last year, the Aspire S7 only offered three hours of battery life. Fortunately, Acer stepped up and revamped this year's S7. The company changed the 4,680mAh to 6,280mAh. Running on Haswell and a new battery makes the 2013 Aspire S7 stay alive up to seven hours. This is double the battery life than last year.

Other features include 1.6GHz Core i5 Haswell processor, 8GB RAM and up to 128GB or 256GB of solid-state storage.

2013 Haswell MacBook Pro

Apple just released their latest update of the MacBook Pro. This time, the device runs on Haswell and increasingly appears to be more of an ultrabook.

Design and Display

According to reports, the 13-inch Retina model is as ultrabook primarily because of thickness. The device is around 0.71-inch thick. This is 0.75 inch thinner than the model from 2012. This makes the MacBook Pro just a few more steps behind MacBook Air. The current MacBook Air is around 0.68-inch think in its widest point.

The 2013 Haswell MacBook Pro is heavier at 3.46 pounds compared with MacBook Air's 2.96 pounds. This is a great improvement since last year's pro was at 3.57 pounds. The Pro also offers wider port selection. The device features two USB 3.0 ports, SDXC reader, full-sized HDMI socket, dual Thunderbolt 2, a headphone jack and a MagSafe 2 connector.

While Apple released a refreshed line of the MacBook Pro Retina model, the display is familiar. It is the same2,560 x 1,600 IPS display present in the previous model. This does not mean it falls short of competitors. The color reproduction still promises excellent user experience. People will be unable to discern the pixels while viewing.

Performance

Processor configurations for 13-inch include:

  • 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache
  • 2.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 2.9GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache
  • 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB shared L3 cache.

The new Haswell-based MacBook Pros are also one of the few products to run with Intel's new Iris graphics. Intel claims the new graphics chipset is more powerful than the Intel HD 4400 chipset typically included in Haswell laptops. This ensures people can play games without the disruptive buffer. Since the new line also includes PCIe SSD, pairing this with a Haswell processor cuts down the boot time. The Haswell processor also extends the MacBook's battery life up to 11 hours.