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Apple's MacBook Air vs. Microsoft's Surface Laptop 2

dannyyankou said:
This is a sad sentence
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I think the reason why Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 is able to hit $999 price point (with 256GB) is that it uses much slower sub-400 MB/sec SSD. MacBook Air has much speedier SSD that exceed 2 GB/sec.

If you ask me, Apple should offer a choice of slower SSD for lower entry level pricing.
 
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nutmac said:
I think the reason why Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 is able to hit $999 price point (with 256GB) is that it uses much slower sub-400 MB/sec SSD. MacBook Air has much speedier SSD that exceed 2 GB/sec.

If you ask me, Apple should offer a choice of slower SSD for lower entry level pricing.
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double checked for you. the Surface Laptop is using a PCIe based NVME SSD.

Depending on manufacturer of the drive itself, but PCIe NVME drives are rated for 3Gbps continuous read, about 2gbps continous rights. In line with what is standard in the industry.

they're also really cheap these days. The Samsung 970 EVO for example (capable of speeds mentioned above) can be found for approximately $100 for a 250gb version.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820147741

storage has come down in price dramatically. What Apple currently has listed for upgrade prices are approximately 3-5x RETAIL prices for storage. And being NVME based, are user (not easily on the sl2) replacable / upgradable.
 
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I returned a 2018 MacBook Air today that I bought on refurb two weeks ago because it's severely underpowered. I've had a few MacBook Airs over the years, and for the most part they've been pretty kick-ass. I knew going into the purchase that it had a 1.6ghz processor, and I've had a 2.2ghz in my last Air, but man did this new unit crawl. Over the past two weeks of regular use, I've found myself waiting for the computer to catch up on steps inside of tasks that were instant on every other Apple machine I've owned for the past several years (save a horrible 1.6ghz 2015 iMac I got on craigslist for super cheap that I kept for 2 months before getting rid of).

The fact of the matter is that Apple's current lineup is crap. They're jamming 3-4 year old hardware in beautifully designed cases, and purposefully restricting specs on new machines to shoehorn or even trick customers (non-saavy regular folks) into buying whatever is considered to be a "new" computer. Like many of us who frequent MacRumors, I am the point-guy for many of my friends & family when it comes to Apple support and purchase decisions, and I continually find myself directing people to buy 2015 MacBook Pros (regular USB ports, solid keyboards, and now can be found for ~$1100 on ebay/craigslist).

I don't even know how Apple can have a machine labeled "Pro" that only has two USB ports, one of which is instantly occupied by charging. I know that the current gen is called "four Thunderbolt 3" model, but in my opinion Touch Bar ≠ pro machine, and even right now the Touch Bar-less units have only 2x thunderbolt/USBC ports.

It's honestly pathetic how transparent their business practices of tricking the customer and up-selling are. NO computers should come with the option for 8GB RAM in 2019. NO mobile phones should come with less than 128GB storage. Apple has gone downhill and it's a cliche to say it's when Steve passed but you know he would have heads rolling with the current offerings (not to mention the confusing decision-process consumers are faced with!)


LordVic said:
WHY Apple ecided to go with the "Y" series after the Air had been a U series for so long is beyond me. I think they were afraid of cannibalizing MbPro 13" sales so purposely gimped the Air.

However, at the higher price point that the air is now, the use of a slower chip continues to potentially reduce the actual value you get per dollar out of the Air.
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I opted out of Mac on my last pc, partially because of cost but I have to admit my last pc costed over $2000 so it’s not the only reason. If I spend that kind of money I want a design I will love and I hate what they done to the Mac line in the last 5 years. The trackpad is great but the keyboard is really bad compared to my last Mac or my current pc. There is no ports which is becoming less and less of an issue as years go by but I will never buy something with that Touch Bar.

The new Air could have being tempting if they gave it a brighter screen. Hope the new 16inch will have a somewhat decent keyboard, no Touch Bar and à price of around $2500 and it will be hard not to buy as I really like Mac OS but my hopes are not very high.
 
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I just got a Surface Laptop 2 a few weeks ago. It's fantastic! Ultimately I think it just comes down to which OS you prefer. They're both very good pieces of hardware.
 
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Not sure why someone would buy either.
You can get a2015 2.2 I7 MacBook air with more ports for what? $4-600?
Then there's the ubiquitous..for a little less money the pc is...
Thats like you want a great hamburger and someone says
here's this great veggie burger.
Windoz=veggieburger= not what I want.
 
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Can I assume the 2018 MBA will run circles around my 2010 MBP 13" (I got on eBay for $120 last year) which now has a 250Gb SSD?
 
pick whichever tool does the job at your price point. Given most of my drives, save for the newest ones I have bought are Mac OS, i have to keep one authentic mac around in case my hack goes down. But, no issues working in windows. i have the best ROI
 
MacFather said:
Remember the days when Apple was YEARS ahead of the competition?

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Yeah it is strange to have lived to see Apple lead the way to nothing special outside of OS. I would argue they are behind in hardware across the board outside of chips in their smartphones. I still love the brand because they work well and well together, which I would argue is worth the premium.
 
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fourthtunz said:
Not sure why someone would buy either.
You can get a2015 2.2 I7 MacBook air with more ports for what? $4-600?
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When it comes to mobility and or doing simple 1 -2 program tasks, a lot of people don't need a lot of ports on these kinds of machines. That is often why said people have a MBP, iMac, or Mac Pro for more involved work etc.

I think many here fail to realize that this place is not the norm user. Far from it.

Often times, many here get caught up in the new product frenzy. And instead of taking a step back and looking at things logically, many people dive right in and then blame Apple when their expectations (which were far more than what the product really was meant for) aren't met.
 
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ChrisMoBro said:
Why didn’t you compare the Surface with the same spec MacBook Air in terms of storage? Oh wait, that’s because it’s $400 more expensive so you purposefully chose the 128GB model instead do make it appear like the price is similar.
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I just compared 256gb with 8gb of memory and an i5 professor, and the Surface Book was only $100 more.
 
BasicGreatGuy said:
When it comes to mobility and or doing simple 1 -2 program tasks, a lot of people don't need a lot of ports on these kinds of machines. That is often why said people have a MBP, iMac, or Mac Pro for more involved work etc.

I think many here fail to realize that this place is not the norm user. Far from it.

Often times, many here get caught up in the new product frenzy. And instead of taking a step back and looking at things logically, many people dive right in and then blame Apple when their expectations (which were far more than what the product really was meant for) aren't met.
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I get it. No Usb ports and more money is what I was talking about. Who doesn't ever need a usb port?
 
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Lancer said:
Can I assume the 2018 MBA will run circles around my 2010 MBP 13" (I got on eBay for $120 last year) which now has a 250Gb SSD?
Click to expand...

if you can tell me the model CPU that's in it I'll doa quick look up of benchmarks and do a comparison for ya
 
I had to choose between the MacBook Air and the Surface 2... I bought the Surface 2 on the one big feature not represented in the review on the MacAir... the screen is interactive and scrollable. This feature makes the MacAir look seriously out of date and here it is AUS$300 more expensive. Keyboard is far better than the MacAir with more key travel - It was a no brainer. First Windows laptop I bought after 10 or so Apple laptops. And yes it was a good choice.
 
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Really odd that the article also omits the fact that the Surface Laptop has a touch screen and the Macbook Air does not.
 
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I like both, I’m a macOS user, I code on macOS as I prefer the UNIX environment for doing stuff but if was an average user just browsing and stuff the MacBook Air the surface keyboard, trackpad and screen ratio no
 
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LordVic said:
double checked for you. the Surface Laptop is using a PCIe based NVME SSD.

Depending on manufacturer of the drive itself, but PCIe NVME drives are rated for 3Gbps continuous read, about 2gbps continous rights. In line with what is standard in the industry.

they're also really cheap these days. The Samsung 970 EVO for example (capable of speeds mentioned above) can be found for approximately $100 for a 250gb version.
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820147741

storage has come down in price dramatically. What Apple currently has listed for upgrade prices are approximately 3-5x RETAIL prices for storage. And being NVME based, are user (not easily on the sl2) replacable / upgradable.
Click to expand...

That's considerably slower than the MBA.
 
citysnaps said:
That's considerably slower than the MBA.
Click to expand...

I haven't benchmarked the MBA's storage. Care to provide some?

I also never actually made any claims about the comparison of NVME drives to Apple's storage offerings.

I was just responding to a comment that believed that the drive in the Surface Laptop was a SATA based one. It is not. it is an NVME drive.
 
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BasicGreatGuy said:
View the video. It does what you are wanting.
[doublepost=1551220250][/doublepost]
I think the base Air should be $899. I would have bought one at that price. As is, I agree with you that it is overpriced.
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They could remove Touch ID and the T2 security chip that works for purchases just like on IOS, go to a plain touch pad like the Microsoft one with no Force Touch, go back to old USB-A tech and then support it for only 2 years or so to let it match the Surface and lower the price.

You get watch you pay for.
 
I bought a refurb MBA with 16 GB of RAM option. The processor is a bit underpowered but I have more problems on my work machine which is a faster Windows-based Dell.

The problem with PCs has always been Windows.
 
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