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Apple's MacBook Pro vs. Microsoft's Surface Book 2
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This. Windows 10 is simply horrible.
My company started rolling out the Enterprise version but these forced feature updates were dumping new apps on Joe Users computers despite the GPO/GPP's and scripts the desktop team was using to lock it down. So, they stopped the rollout and have since re-imaged everything with Windows 10 LTSB which basically comes stripped down and never gets the cheesy feature updates.
The other MAJOR selling point for Apple is if you are all in, Mac, iPhone, iPad, watch, TV etc their ecosystem is way better and more complete with Apple than any other vendor right now. Microsoft has major holes in its ecosystem (no mobile play). Amazon has big holes as well. Google is closer to Apple, but Chromebooks are horrible and Android tablets are lame in their current state.
Correct comparison to the best Apple laptop is the best Windows laptop: Dell XPS.
Whether they chose the 13 or the 15, Dell would have wiped the floor with the fruit company in every single category except trackpad.
Which is why they chose a kooky but good niche product to compare against the Apple flagship.
Accomplishing absolutely nothing aside from saving Apple quite a bit of embarrassment.
Whether they chose the 13 or the 15, Dell would have wiped the floor with the fruit company in every single category except trackpad.
Which is why they chose a kooky but good niche product to compare against the Apple flagship.
Accomplishing absolutely nothing aside from saving Apple quite a bit of embarrassment.
For me personally, I don’t need it. I realize others do though. I think it’s necessary for apple to stay competitive.
I disagree, I think the Lenovo X1 Carbon is a better product than the XPS 13" because:
- 14" in a 13" form factor is a sweeter spot/better trade off than a 13" in a 12" form factor as the larger display is more benefit than a slightly smaller chassis.
- The build quality is higher. Both use carbon fibre but internally the X1 has the magnesium roll cage and is Mil-SPEC tested to withstand humidity, sand, altitude, shocks, extreme temperatures etc. etc.
- Keyboard is nicer (subjective) and spill proof (objective).
- "That" HDR screen with Dolby Vision.
- IMO the fit and finish is nicer (subjective).
- Lenovo put the webcam in the right place.
- LTE option available.
I agree 100%.
X1C6 is my dream machine.
I just picked the xps because it's more "apple" like. It's the MacBook pro that apple could have made but chose to bunt instead.
I was windows only til 2008 when I switched to Mac and I haven't looked back especially recently with all improvements to Mac office. Windows 10 is much improved from when I used it last in 2008 but it still feels a pretty goofy looking OS IMO. Mac OS feels a more intuitive and has the better built in software out the box.
I bought a surface book 2 in December. My macbook pro needed to be replaced but I can't stand the butterfly keyboard nor the useless touchbar. After a lot of consideration I went for the surface book 2, primarily for the nvidia discrete graphics. What to say, windows 10 is a pain, significantly inferior to macOS. Moreover important apps for my workflow are missing, such as Alfred. I deeply miss mail, preview and quicklook. It's absurd that you can't edit PDF files natively on windows. there isn't even a good mail client for windows. Having said all this, I'm not going back for now. I will be very happy to buy a high end macbook pro when apple will start selling one with a decent keyboard and with an nvidia card. Apart from the software shortcomings, the 2-1 design is great.It's really a shame that apple produces such bad hardware for laptops.
The sad truth is that today one cannot buy the best of hardware and software, we have to choose to prioritize one over the over, which sucks.
V.
The sad truth is that today one cannot buy the best of hardware and software, we have to choose to prioritize one over the over, which sucks.
V.
Fair enough - you and me both! Lenovo went through a strange phase of "experimenting" so each edition came with an annoying drawback. First there was the soft touch key strip and then last year they removed the touch screen option. The 6th gen seems to get everything right with no obvious drawback. Only thing I can think to improve would be to switch to a 16:10 or 4:3 aspect ratio. Apparently that is what they want to do anyway but cannot get the panels affordably.
It was making me laugh thinking of the contrast: the Thinkpad subjected to 140 mesh silica dust for 6 hour cycles as part of testing. MacBook "Pro" keyboard struggles with a spec of domestic house dust for second.
I thought the same thing. In fact I hate the fact I'm starting to like my Surface Pro 4 more. Had to start using it for work but its simply is a better machine then Macbook Pro. Im saying this as Im using my 2015 Macbook on my sofa at home. I even bought the new Macbook Pro but that touch bar is a joke and Im so frustrated that Apple refuses to nickel and dime and not but in BASIC features like touch because they think its going to cannibalize their iPads. It's freaking 2017/2018 for crying out loud. Sometimes you need to zoom in on a drawing, an excel, a pdf! Plus the quality just seems to be going down the sh*ter.... My iPhone X is crapping out every day...ugh....APPLE I USED TO LOVE YOU...
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Except for Apple will never do it....cause... its Apple. Looking forward to smaller notch and a slightly improved specs on all products. But hey record quarter everyone...... (no one but apple employees cheering...) GET IT TOGETHER APPLE
[doublepost=1525830782][/doublepost]I don’t know about the Surface, but after 40 years of Mac, I’m finally open to something new. I cannot believe Apple hasn’t developed a touchscreen yet. Touchscreen has been around so long that my PC friends have already retired their first even second touchscreen PCs. It’s embarrassing.
One of Apple's biggest competitors in the laptop space is arguably Microsoft, with its line of portable, productivity-focused Surface Book machines. Microsoft in November released its newest product, the Surface Book 2, a 2-in-1 PC that has quite a few selling points to entice Apple customers.
In our latest YouTube video, we took a look at the 15-inch Surface Book 2 and compared it to the 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro across a number of categories including build quality and design, key features, and overall usage experience for someone in the Apple ecosystem.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Both the Surface Book 2 and Apple's most recent MacBook Pro models are powerful machines with some of the latest technology in processor and graphics cards, so modern apps, games, and other software features run well on either device.
The Surface Book 2 and the MacBook Pro are both well-built with attractive, eye-catching designs, but there are some major differences here. While the MacBook Pro is a traditional laptop with a display and attached keyboard, the Surface Book 2 is a 2-in-1 with a touch display that can be converted into a tablet.
Because of its 2-in-1 design, the Surface Book 2 has an usual hinged design that lets the display be folded backwards or disconnected from the keyboard entirely for use in a tablet mode. The MacBook Pro, meanwhile, has no touch screen and it is a unibody machine.
Microsoft's Surface Book 2 has a wealth of ports that are missing from the MacBook Pro, which only offers 4 USB-C ports (albeit with Thunderbolt 3). The Surface Book 2 has an SD card slot, a USB-C port, and two USB-A ports, something that Apple users unhappy with the MacBook Pro port situation will appreciate.
The Surface Book 2 may have a 3240 x 2160 touch screen display, but it has some faults compared to the MacBook Pro's 2880 x 1800 display. It's nowhere near as bright, and it's also not quite as crisp. As for the trackpad, the MacBook Pro wins out because of its large trackpad equipped with haptic feedback and support for multiple gestures. Trackpad is one area where PC laptops often lag behind Apple, and the Surface Book 2 is no exception.
When it comes to the keyboard, the Surface Book 2 has a softer keyboard that's not quite as clicky and solid as the keyboard of the MacBook Pro, but as we well know, the keyboard redesign on the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro models has been receiving a lot of attention lately for reliability issues and its seemingly frequent failures, so the Surface Book 2 may have the edge here.
The aforementioned 2-in-1 tablet option for the Surface Book 2 is something Apple just can't compete with. You can press a key on the Surface Book 2's keyboard and pull the display right out of the keyboard to use it as a standalone touch-based tablet with the Surface Pen and the Surface Dial, both of which are ideal for creative tasks.
There are no input devices like a Surface Pen available for the MacBook Pro, and the main feature that it can boast over the Surface Book 2 is the Touch Bar, something that arguably does not get as much use as a 2-in-1 design.
The Surface Book 2 has a lot of perks that aren't available on Apple's MacBook Pro, but choosing to adopt the machine over an Apple device is still going to be difficult for those enmeshed in the Apple ecosystem. There's a lot of integration between macOS and iOS, and features like Continuity, Handoff, and iCloud will be missed if you're used to Apple devices. Certain software, like Final Cut Pro, is also limited to Apple's machines.
So which one is better? As with a lot of devices that are similar in specs, it's tough to say. It largely comes down to preference - do you want to use macOS or Windows? Most people in the Apple ecosystem likely won't want to give up macOS/iOS perks for the Surface Book 2's feature set, but those who don't use a lot of crossover functionality won't miss macOS as much.
If you're not tied to a specific operating system and don't mind mixing devices across different platforms, Microsoft's Surface Book 2 is absolutely worth considering as a powerful, capable machine that offers functionality you can't get in a MacBook Pro.
Would you switch from an Apple machine to the Surface Book 2? Let us know in the comments.
Article Link: Apple's MacBook Pro vs. Microsoft's Surface Book 2
And I’m with you on the SD card slot. I need that, and the USB and thunderbolt ports that drive all of my portable drives and screen. Apple engineers are in a bubble if they think we don’t. But at least they left the headphone jack, which I sorely miss from my phone.
So actually, when my MacBook Pro and iPhone age out next year, if Apple doesn’t get itself together and innovate, I will be looking around/
I'm on pro on all the Windows computers. One was upgraded from Home and once I disabled the recommendations and set Chrome as default the nags seemed to stop. It is a little more "naggy" about stuff like Edge but I tend to ignore that.
I’m not too sure why you needed to say that. I’m well aware of the keyboard issues but honestly, I’m not a keyboard enthusiast so it personally doesn’t matter to me all that much; if it doesn’t work I can simply install an external keyboard.
It seems that you think I hate the Surface Book, but if you read my comment properly, you can see that I very well have an interest in buying this thing regardless of my fears of the hinge (which in itself isn’t as bad either; the same solution on the MacBook Pro can be done on the Surface Book, albeit, with more steps and resources but with more space).
We need to stop with the hate here, but I realize that my statements will fall on deaf ears so do whatever you want.
Thank you for the info. I'm building a PC with my son this summer so I'll go for Pro vice Home.
The Surface Book uses a "U" type CPU cramped into the display part of the device. It is not designed to offer sustained performance, even less so with the 13" model. This is not a problem for most people who do surfing and word-processing, but don't expect to render videos at full CPU performance. Unfortunately Microsoft keeps using somewhat problematic Genesys Logic USB hub chipsets on all USB ports. The SB2 comes with a slightly updated chipset version (compare to SB1) that works a bit better, though.
What a ridiculous statement. You don’t see how requiring an external keyboard might, at least for some people defeat the entire object of having a thin and light laptop?
Sure, I mainly use my MBP for desk hopping, with a large screen and ext keyboard, so, yes, I could personally cope if the keyboard was not precisely to my taste - but I do need it sometimes and (on a $2000 machine) would quite like it to be reliable. Meanwhile, many, many other people buy these primarily for use on the move.
Apple only make a few models of laptops. They can’t afford, long term, to use love-it/hate-it keyboards, let alone ones that die at the first grain of dust.
I had an Apple II. It had lots of problems so the 2017 MBPro must suck, too. Oh wait, it doesn't. Surface Book isn't plagued with any of the shortcomings you've listed in your post. It actually IS a good machine. Then again, this 15" MBPro I'm typing this on is now 6 months old and has had the keyboard replaced twice. Does it mean all Apple devices are crap? Sadly, I'm beginning to lean into that direction more and more.
Having said that, I've owned two Surface Books and I've sold both of them. Mostly because I could make a profit out of the deal. There's nothing wrong with the device, I just didn't like the 13" form factor so that 15" SB might actually be more to my liking. I'm still not a fan of Windows but W10 has come a long way and sadly, macOS has also done so - only in the other direction. Every day I have more issues with the machine, I need to restart the computer on a weekly basis to keep everything running smoothly and the computer lags all the time unless I do that. It's a fully specced machine so it shouldn't with only <30 tabs on Chrome, mail, calendar and a few other applications running in the background. I also hate the fact that I need to use an adapter for everything I do. I hated the fact that the new power brick doesn't come with a longer cable, I needed to pay extra for that. I also needed to pay some more to get the USB-C -cable so I can actually use it. Nice way to up the power brick cost from ~$100 to nearly $200.
I want to love macs. I find it harder and harder every day. I don't use continuity features at all and iCloud less and less. I'm at the 200GB limit at the moment and don't really want to pay 5x the cost to get 1TB. If there still was the 500GB step I'd go for it in a heartbeat, now I'm seriously thinking about moving away from Photos completely. Apple has the Courage to drop everything we need. I don't have the courage to keep using crappy systems.
I did look at them and perhaps you ought to as well. I didn't claim they were asininely thin like the MBP which has driven Apple's traditional core-customer base away in droves. Rather I stated that they are pretty thin which if you look at one up close is fact.Pretty Thin?!?
Did you LOOK at that picture of the two of them stacked up???
I rest my cases...
Except in your case you are talking about one machine. I’ve tried multiple MS products and had quality issues with most of them. I wanted to like Surface. I used to have MS everything, from Surface to Lumia to Band to Xbox. So many quality issues that I just had to cut my losses with the brand. I’m glad you haven’t had the same problems, but I never said that because of my issues, no one else should buy one. I’m simply answering the question in the thread.
There's plenty of options for editting PDFs, though I understand your point in that its not native to the OS. As for mail clients, I use Office365 at work, so I'm a "seasoned" user of outlook and so I'm used to that interface. The delivered email client isn't great, but consider other options, such as postbox