Taking notes and paying attention to what the competition is doing is a good thing. Especially when you’re trying to find your way in an industry that is seemingly dominated by a select few. However, Chinese electronics manufacturer, Xiaomi, may have emulated their idol a bit too much when they designed their first laptop, the Mi Notebook Air.
If you couldn’t tell from the picture above, it looks like a MacBook Air. The name of the laptop even sounds familiar when said out loud. It’s such a blatant copy that with a passing glance, only an Apple employee would be able to tell the difference.
The Mi Notebook Air comes in either a 13.3″ or a 12.5″ both of which have a metal chassis, HD screens, backlit keyboards and two USB ports. All fairly standard issue with modern day laptops. The computer also comes with Xiaomi Sync software, which allows users to pair their laptop with their smartphone.
What got most peoples attention is that the company is not trying to fly under the radar and hope that people buy the computer thinking its the same as an Apple laptop. Xiaomi claims that their computer is 13-percent thinner and 11-percent smaller than the equivalent MacBook. A statement that many took as the company saying that they’ve essentially taken Apple’s design and made it better.
This is far from the first time that the Chines tech company has copied Apple. Not long ago, Xiaomi released a smartphone, called the Mi 4, which bears a striking resemblance to the iPhone’s body and UI. While blatant copies of western products seem to be common practice in the Chinese market, Xiaomi is definitely at the top of the food chain when it comes to this practice.
The Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air will be available on August 2, in China only. The laptops will retail for $540 USD (the 12.5″) and $750 USD (13.3″).
