Shadowing Practice: The Windows Laptop Problem - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
C1
so two really crazy mac laptops have come out in the past month the macbook neo
186 sentences
If sentences are too short or too long, click Edit to adjust them.
1
so two really crazy mac laptops have come out in the past month the macbook neo
2
which is one of the best deals in tech in a long time 600 bucks
3
and more efficient and more capable and better built than almost every other laptop in
4
that price range
5
and the new macbook pros at the opposite end of the
6
spectrum i've been benchmarking a six thousand dollar 16 inch m5 max macbook pro and the results are just getting ridiculous.
7
It has multi-core CPU performance at the top of the charts for every Mac ever.
8
And the GPU is now more powerful than the M2 Ultra in my $10,000 Mac Pro.
9
And the new SSD's read-write speeds are upgraded,
10
approaching 20,000 megabytes per second.
11
It's just absurd.
12
It's awesome.
13
It's a creative professional's dream.
14
Both of these computers are putting Windows laptops on notice.
15
And by extension, Microsoft and Dell and HP and Asus and Lenovo and Razer,
16
et cetera, all on notice.
17
There was a quote recently from an Asus executive that described the new MacBook Neo as a shock to the industry.
18
And yes, but it also got me thinking,
19
what is actually happening with the rest of the industry?
20
What is happening on the Windows side of the fence?
21
So I just started digging in.
22
I started getting my hands on a bunch of these Windows laptops and researching and benchmarking.
23
And it's become pretty clear,
24
the more I think about it,
25
that Windows versus Mac laptops is basically the same as iPhone versus Android.
26
Because just like Android, the advantage of the Windows side is the variety and the choice.
27
But that's also now both an advantage and a disadvantage that's getting kind of scary now.
28
Take this, this is the new Dell XPS 14.
29
I used to really like XPS computers back in the day.
30
Some of my oldest computers were XPSs.
31
Then Dell did this thing where they killed off the XPS,
32
the Latitude and the Inspiron names and rebranded them into Dell,
33
Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max for some reason.
34
Then they came back to their senses and brought back XPS and I bought this one and this thing is really nice.
35
14 inch 2.8K tandem OLED display,
36
thin bezels all the way around with a webcam and no notch,
37
120 Hertz variable refresh rate.
38
And then it's this thin all metal jacket with soft touch finish around the palm rests,
39
which hide a massive force touch trackpad.
40
There's three Thunderbolt ports.
41
There's a headphone jack.
42
And then inside is an Intel Panther Lake processor.
43
This one, a Core Ultra 300 series with their new integrated GPUs,
44
plus 32 gigs of DDR5 RAM and a terabyte SSD.
45
I liked a lot of the previous XPSs,
46
like I said, but this one is in a lot of ways better than those.
47
But it also does have a couple quirks.
48
Like the ports are all Thunderbolt 4 instead of Thunderbolt 5,
49
and there's no SD card slot or any other full-size ports,
50
which on a premium laptop like this is a choice.
51
There's also no lip to open the lid for some reason,
52
so it's always this little awkward pry to like get the laptop open every single time.
53
And then the keyboard is probably its weakest point.
54
It's a bit shallow.
55
The layout is slightly wonky with these top menu buttons,
56
which gets slightly more misaligned the further from the outside you get.
57
But otherwise, I mean, yeah, this is really nice.
58
So this is a $2,200 laptop as specced.
59
So obviously a pretty premium option,
60
but this is just one of many premium options you could pick.
61
Now, why do I bring up this laptop?
62
Well, in Windows land,
63
this laptop being really good actually relies on a bunch of
64
different companies all executing really well at the exact same time, right?
65
So it relies on Dell putting a lot of effort into actually bringing back the XPS line
66
and not cheaping out and doing the metal build quality and the nice display and the whole premium design.
67
It also relies on Intel and this exact generation of Panther Lake chips being good
68
and actually having good integrated graphics because they don't actually offer this laptop with a discrete GPU.
69
And it relies on Microsoft to actually do a good job with Windows
70
so that the software experience is worthy of a premium price tag and not riddled with ads or unnecessary AI features.
71
And if it all happens,
72
then together this laptop feels like it's worth the premium price.
73
But you can probably see where I'm going with this.
74
That doesn't always happen.
75
And lately, Windows has felt like a weak link and every single Windows laptop will have to suffer for it.
76
Now, it's not that the whole OS is like fundamentally bad.
77
It's not super buggy or anything crazy.
78
It's still functional, but it's just lacking the super premium feel that wins everybody over.
79
Like this XPS, the first time I booted this up to set it up,
80
it took me like 45 minutes because of all the forced updates and then all these mandatory sign-ins.
81
And then it's asking me to use Microsoft 365 and then OneDrive and then all these other services,
82
et cetera, et cetera.
83
And then even once I got in, I got ads.
84
Like I got a pop-up ad for McAfee security on this $2,000 brand new laptop,
85
which to be fair is probably a Dell problem,
86
but then that's not even mentioning all the other AI stuff that Microsoft is pushing,
87
the co-pilot stuff, the infamous recall feature that everyone hates.
88
There's generative AI in Microsoft Paint now for crying out loud.
89
Microsoft actually requires a dedicated co-pilot button on the keyboard of
90
every new Windows 11 laptop now to be classified as a AI PC, whatever that means.
91
So it's just between that and the ads,
92
it's just not really feeling like a totally premium experience.
93
And at that high end,
94
when you're spending a lot,
95
users will start to get deservedly really picky.
96
You're spending a lot of money you deserve to,
97
and that's where Apple has pretty much exclusively been playing for like the last decade.
98
The cheapest new MacBook was always a thousand dollars,
99
and then it went way up from there.
100
And they're so vertically integrated with their Apple Silicon.
101
And so the hardware is designed for the software and the software is designed for the hardware.
102
And it's always felt so efficient and clean and performant.
103
And people just love their expensive MacBook Pros.
104
Now there's obviously still reasons why people buy high-end Windows laptops.
105
It's still a lot of the choice and the variety.
106
And there are certain things you still can't get in Mac land.
107
Like if you want a high-end gaming laptop,
108
you know, that's one of those common things you can go get a Razer Blade with a 5070
109
and a 240 Hertz display.
110
That's an option.
111
So there are still those things,
112
but every one of those relies on all of the parts from all those different companies,
113
again, being good at the same time.
114
And that is a tough challenge.
115
So now flip it to the low end.
116
And this is where it gets really interesting because it turns out,
117
as we're learning, a lot of these efficiencies
118
that Apple's been using to dominate the high end are also very effective in the low end.
119
Because to be clear, people are absolutely willing to accept some more shortcomings in lower priced laptops.
120
Like that's a trade-off, it's a part of the game.
121
You know, if you shop around,
122
hey, maybe you'll be able to find a laptop with just the right set of trade-offs
123
that you don't mind while still being decent at the stuff you care about.
124
Like this is the Acer Aspire 16,
125
super popular laptop in this segment.
126
It's actually discounted recently, so I got it for $5.50 from Amazon.
127
And there's a few more stickers on it, yes.
128
And there's a little more plastic and the keyboard deck flex is just a little bit lacking in build quality, yes.
129
And the Snapdragon chip that powers it,
130
you know, it's not gonna have the highest end performance,
131
but it's efficient, so it has good battery.
132
And then there's a nice big 16-inch screen and a bunch of full-size ports here.
133
So if I'm just gonna be writing or web browsing or watching videos on this thing,
134
it feels like a pretty good value.
135
So look, laptops like this have been just fine.
136
They've been thriving at these price points, but here's the problem.
137
here's the brand new Gatorade colored MacBook Neo shaped problem.
138
The starting price for a MacBook has been a thousand dollars for a new machine for the past couple years.
139
Now it just dropped to 600 and actually 500 if you have a student discount.
140
And if you've seen the reviews you already know it turns out
141
that they did a great job with the Neo to making it feel just like the more premium same clean software,
142
same metal build, same keyboard,
143
and more importantly, the same tight vertical integration where the hardware
144
and the software are designed for each other and work super efficiently with each other.
145
So it's like, unless you have a Windows-specific need,
146
like a certain app you need to use software-wise or a certain game you want to play,
147
most people crave the premium experience that's been associated with the Macs that are more expensive for all these years.
148
And so the Neo coming along for 600 bucks represented that premium,
149
well-integrated, efficient experience that is going to be incredibly hard to compete with.
150
In Windows Land,
151
you're not only relying on all these different companies making the parts to all make them well at the same time,
152
you're also paying them all who need their own profits to survive.
153
And so that makes it really hard to make good,
154
cheap laptops and actually profit from that.
155
So then the cherry on top is not only does Apple basically print A18 Pros for cheap,
156
but also Apple's not even necessarily concerned with making a huge hardware profit on selling Neos
157
because this is more of a Trojan horse to create a
158
bunch of new first-time Mac buyers who then become Apple services subscribers.
159
So Apple can make this computer even cheaper than they ordinarily
160
would to effectively acquire new Mac users who will then go subscribe to TV Plus
161
or AppleCare or iCloud or whatever other services.
162
And that's worth more than the hardware margin would be.
163
And it already seems to be working.
164
There was just a Tim Cook tweet this week about how
165
Mac just had its best launch ever for first time Mac customers.
166
So yeah, guilty of talking about Apple a lot in this video,
167
but it turns out the shock to the industry is very real.
168
And it's gonna be
169
so fascinating to see what sort of responses we actually get from Windows laptop makers in the next couple months
170
and years and what sort of strings they try to pull.
171
Because if they aren't able to do anything about it,
172
then Neo's just gonna keep eating their lunch and they can have a bit of a market share crisis on their hands.
173
Also, one more quick thing.
174
We just came out with these stickers that we're adding to our merch store.
175
I love the way this turns out the team cooked on these.
176
This one is a color picker sticker, which is so fun.
177
So it's kind of an if you know,
178
you know design, but you can put them on anything colorful for fun.
179
At least that's what I've been doing.
180
You get a bunch of stickers in a pack.
181
So go get some for yourself and send me pictures of what you stick them on.
182
Tag me on Twitter and threads and stuff.
183
All right.
184
Thanks for watching.
185
Catch you guys the next one.
186
Peace.
Download App
AI scoring for every sentence you speak
TRENDING
Popular
Context & Background
In the video titled "The Windows Laptop Problem," the speaker delves into the recent advancements in the laptop market, particularly comparing high-end Mac laptops to their Windows counterparts. The discussion highlights the benefits and drawbacks of various laptops, emphasizing how the competition has intensified between the two operating systems. This analysis serves as a backdrop for English learners as the speaker articulates technical details while making broader comparisons that can enhance language comprehension.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “Putting Windows laptops on notice” – This phrase indicates a significant change in competition and sets expectations.
- “More efficient and more capable” – Useful for describing improvements or advantages in any context.
- “A creative professional's dream” – An expression that conveys high satisfaction and suitability for specific professionals.
- “That's both an advantage and a disadvantage” – Great for discussing the dual nature of choices in any scenario.
- “A shock to the industry” – This phrase can be adapted to any context where an unexpected change occurs.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To successfully utilize the content of this video for your English speaking practice, especially through the shadowing technique, follow these steps:
- Watch and Listen: Start by watching the video without any distractions. Pay attention to the speaker’s intonation and articulation.
- Transcribe Key Sentences: Write down the top phrases listed above. This will help you focus on specific language constructs that are commonly used.
- Shadow Speak: Replay the video and try to speak along with the speaker. Use a shadowing app or simply pause and repeat phrases after the speaker to mimic their pronunciation and rhythm.
- Practice Daily: Dedicate time each day for English speaking practice. Revisit the video multiple times and gradually increase the amount of content you shadow.
- Record Yourself: Use your device to record your shadowing practice. Listening back can help you assess your pronunciation and intonation improvements.
Employing this shadowing technique will enhance your fluency and comprehension, making technical discussions, like the one in this video, easier to engage with in the future. Utilize a suitable shadowing site or application to track your progress and refine your skills further.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.
☕ Buy us a coffee
ShadowingEnglish remains 100% free thanks to your support. Server and AI costs are high — your coffee keeps us going! 🙏