There's always a tradeoff. With the Macbook for example, you get a glossy screen and Thunderbolt doesn't work in Linux. * The Asus Zenbook 301 is a pretty good

There's always a tradeoff. With the Macbook for example, you get a glossy screen and Thunderbolt doesn't work in Linux. * The Asus Zenbook 301 is a pretty good mixture of size and performance. It's as small as a Macbook Air, but has a higher TDP processor and Iris graphics. * Manufacturers suddenly care about good screens. If all you want is a high resolution IPS/MVA/PVA/etc. screen, there's lots of choice. * The "business" models from Lenovo etc. seem to be getting smaller and more aesthetically pleasing. Their build quality was always pretty good (in terms of robustness), now they also look OK. You can get a Thinkpad T440s with a matte 1080p screen, real Ethernet port, backlit keyboard and everything.