HP unveils the world's thinnest laptop made from aluminium, carbon fibre

A new laptop unveiled by HP today will be the thinnest in the world. At 0.4 inches (10.4mm) thick, the Spectre 13 Ultrabook is thinner than AAA batteries and both thinner and lighter than Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air. It breaks the previous record held by its own 0.49-inch thick (12.4mm) EliteBook Folio G1 enterprise Ultrabook.

In terms of weight, the new copper-toned notebook is not the lightest device around, weighing 2.45 pounds (1.11kg). Most of the body is dark grey aluminium with bronze along the sides.

"Carbon fibre and aluminium craftsmanship give this device the look and feel of pure luxury. The two-tone finish on the copper-coloured spine is an example of the beauty of contrast," the company said.

A big difference with this new model is that the new Spectre is powered by Intel Core i5 and i7 processors rather than the Intel Core M-chips inside most ultrathin Ultrabooks today.

Mike Nash, HP's vice president of consumer PCs said, "'We know that. We've seen Apple do that. But our customers want Core i, and I'm here to tell you today we pulled it off."

Pre-orders for the new Spectre are available in the US beginning on 25 April for $1,170 and will ship in May.