CNET is running an article that looks beneath the surface of the Lenovo IdeaPad U110, the Apple MacBook Air, and the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 to show just how similar they are, and why that is.
All three of these ultraportable laptops are actually very close once you look at the core electronics (CPU and graphics) and storage options, as CNET mentions:
…some of the sveltest, lightest, and most impressive of notebooks: the Air, X300, and just-released U110.
Scratch the surface (or lift up the keyboard in this case), however, and you’ll find that their unique exteriors house similar Intel core electronics.
Does this have anything to do with nefarious strong-arm tactics on Intel’s part? Or just that AMD and Nvidia don’t have competitive offerings in this space? The evidence points pretty convincingly to the latter.
Read: CNET / nanotech : the circuits blog (“Bona fide Intel monopoly: Ultraportables”)