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whtrbt7

macrumors 65816
Jun 8, 2011
1,015
73
The Surface book and iPad pro are like complete opposites in terms of usage. The Surface book is more of a laptop 80% of the time with clipboard/something-like-a-tablet usage 20% of the time. The iPad pro on the other hand is a tablet 95% of the time and a tablet with keyboard attached 5% of the time. The surface book runs Windows 10 with a discreet processor a la MacBook Pro when in laptop mode while the iPad pro runs ios9. The surface book is a full x86 design which means full desktop apps while the iPad pro is a full ARM design running optimized apps for touch/tablet. Nobody says you can't have both of the products. I like that Microsoft made this new Surface Book and I think it's a great product. I just don't think they will sell that many of them due to price and functionality. The iPad pro on the other hand is basically the same design as the rest of the iPad's which are really familiar but just larger. I think Apple will sell a decent amount of iPad pros but not as many as they may be expecting. While I do like some desktop apps, I just find that a lot of them are timesinks due to their UI/UX design. Tablet style apps designed for the device they are being used on seem to be more workflow friendly which means a faster but possibly slightly sloppier end result. The average consumer doesn't really want to buy either of these products but professionals depending on their needs are more likely to purchase one of these products or even both. I'm more in need of an ultraportable solution that doesn't require boot times, has basic apps that can get the job done and upload via mobile so of course, that's the iPad Pro. If I was looking to run DxO, Photoshop, Lightroom (iOS version is still pretty crappy, why can't Adobe just put in all the functions like other app writers?), and whatever desktop software while in the field, the surface book would have been an easy choice.
 
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Dranix

macrumors 65816
Feb 26, 2011
1,063
543
left the forum
Why should the future be desktop centric? Let the desktop die. It's time that stupid desks with ****** seats where removed from modern life.
 

Freyqq

macrumors 601
Dec 13, 2004
4,038
181
But even with this, the battery life is advertised at 3 hours when detached from the keyboard. That alone tells me it's not a legit tablet. They're even advertising it as a "clipboard" because they know this.

People thinking Surface Book is comparable to the iPad Pro are missing it, I think. The Surface Pro remains the primary comparison device.

Yeah. Surface Book is a laptop that can be a tablet. Surface Pro is a tablet that can be an laptop. Surface is a tablet that can be a small/slow laptop if the need arises.
 
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Cape Dave

Contributor
Nov 16, 2012
2,298
1,567
Northeast
Admittedly, this is something I'd take with a grain of salt, considering that MS sold out of, I think, the Surface Pro 2 awhile back, and it didn't exactly set the world on fire.

Though there is one thing the Book has that the Surface 2 didn't: positive impressions from the tech pundits, and a lot of excitement surrounding it.

Well, they certainly knocked this one (or two) out of the park and past Apple in some ways. So I would not count them out yet. Underestimating Microsoft often does not bode well for their competition.

And you are right, positive press has been a stranger for Microsoft lately :)
 

Dave245

macrumors G3
Sep 15, 2013
9,763
8,006
Well, they certainly knocked this one (or two) out of the park and past Apple in some ways. So I would not count them out yet. Underestimating Microsoft often does not bode well for their competition.

And you are right, positive press has been a stranger for Microsoft lately :)

Maybe this is why Apple have not announced the release date for the iPad Pro yet, they could be waiting to see what happens. Personally i prefer the iPad Pro and can't wait to pre-order one, but other people might be thinking differently.
 

Roller

macrumors 68030
Jun 25, 2003
2,887
2,040
I work in a Windows-centric organization that nevertheless has many people who've been using iPads. From what I've heard, the majority of them will be switching to the Surface Pro 4. Those who still have Windows desktop computers don't care about Apple's ecosystem, even though they have iPhones. If I didn't care so much about avoiding Windows myself, I'd also get a Surface Pro to replace my 5-year-old MacBook Air. Apple has nothing that competes directly, so I'll have to choose from one of the three laptop lines - MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and MacBook - all of which have compromises.
 

Robnsn2015

macrumors 6502
Jul 12, 2015
345
361
Basically, the Surface Pro and iPad Pro are very different devices that happen to bear some resemblance and have "Pro" in the name.
 

fieldsphotos

macrumors 6502
Aug 15, 2013
274
109
Just pre ordered a surface book. 7-8 week lead times now for dGPU models.

I am really looking forward to some actual reviews and benchmarks. Was a bit disappointed with the 15" dGPU MacBook Pro updates this year.
 

touchstoned

macrumors regular
Apr 4, 2015
173
141
Hermosa Beach, CA
Surface Book has a lot of problems. First and foremost it is priced so high that Apple is suddenly a great value, you have the iPad Pro at 799 and the Macbook Air at 799 so for the price of the non-dgpu surface book you already can have a better performing tablet and laptop. Then you get the dgpu and it gets absolutely absurd: 2600 for a dual core laptop and a cut-down dgpu vs now you can actually buy a 13" macbook pro and an ipad pro and still save money. Who in their right mind is going to drop 2600 on a dual core tablet with 3 hour battery life? Oh wait, we already have some people in this thread who are exactly that crazy about microsoft.

Be rational. If apple had debuted such a device they would be laughed out of cupertino for suggesting it. First people would point out that the Geforce GT 850M already has 2GB of vram, so there would be posts on MR about "NEW MACBOOK PRO HYBRID/SURFACE BOOK HAS HALF VRAM OF 2 YEAR OLD MACBOOK PRO". Then people would point out that it is only dual core, so there would be other posts about how "NEW MACBOOK HYBRID/SURFACE BOOK HAS HALF THE CORES OF 5 YEAR OLD MACBOOK PRO". Then people would point out that it only has 3 hour battery life, and there would be dozens of posts about how "NEW MACBOOK HYBRID/SURFACE BOOK HAS LESS THAN ONE THIRD BATTERY LIFE OF IPAD". And so on, it would be a slaughter. But, because its MS and the usual trolls are out to play, the hugely flawed product that is Surface Book is taken as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Never mind the absurd price. Never mind the microscopic battery life. Never mind the lies about 2x performance, while it actually has half the cores. Never mind the fact that this was all done 10 years ago by HP and Compaq with the T1100.

http://www.cnet.com/products/hp-compaq-tablet-pc-tc1100/



Surface pro 4 has some legitimate use cases for drive through employees and other such workers who need a tablet to input data but also need to run terrible propriety enterprise software that only exists on windows, so I don't fault a person for wasting money on it. Surface book, however, is just terrible all around and has zero reason to exist besides one more vain attempt for microsoft to "catch up" to apple. It has zero redeeming qualities and the marketing for it has been tounge-in-cheek disingenuous and manipulative of non-technical people. Sadly many less informed forum members have fallen for it, and I can only say that it is typical of the "fans" apple has been getting lately: People who actually hate Apple but have no choice besides terrible windows or google software as an alternative, and so like a dirty stray dog or toddler they must be dragged against their will to Apple's cleansing waters. Now, they see an old turd floating by and get nostalgic for their stinky old ways.
 
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fieldsphotos

macrumors 6502
Aug 15, 2013
274
109
Surface Book has a lot of problems. First and foremost it is priced so high that Apple is suddenly a great value, you have the iPad Pro at 799 and the Macbook Air at 799 so for the price of the non-dgpu surface book you already can have a better performing tablet and laptop. Then you get the dgpu and it gets absolutely absurd: 2600 for a dual core laptop and a cut-down dgpu vs now you can actually buy a 13" macbook pro and an ipad pro and still save money. Who in their right mind is going to drop 2600 on a dual core tablet with 3 hour battery life? Oh wait, we already have some people in this thread who are exactly that crazy about microsoft.

Be rational. If apple had debuted such a device they would be laughed out of cupertino for suggesting it. First people would point out that the Geforce GT 850M already has 2GB of vram, so there would be posts on MR about "NEW MACBOOK PRO HYBRID/SURFACE BOOK HAS HALF VRAM OF 2 YEAR OLD MACBOOK PRO". Then people would point out that it is only dual core, so there would be other posts about how "NEW MACBOOK HYBRID/SURFACE BOOK HAS HALF THE CORES OF 5 YEAR OLD MACBOOK PRO". Then people would point out that it only has 3 hour battery life, and there would be dozens of posts about how "NEW MACBOOK HYBRID/SURFACE BOOK HAS LESS THAN ONE THIRD BATTERY LIFE OF IPAD". And so on, it would be a slaughter. But, because its MS and the usual trolls are out to play, the hugely flawed product that is Surface Book is taken as the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Never mind the absurd price. Never mind the microscopic battery life. Never mind the lies about 2x performance, while it actually has half the cores. Never mind the fact that this was all done 10 years ago by HP and Compaq with the T1100.

http://www.cnet.com/products/hp-compaq-tablet-pc-tc1100/



Surface pro 4 has some legitimate use cases for drive through employees and other such workers who need a tablet to input data but also need to run terrible propriety enterprise software that only exists on windows, so I don't fault a person for wasting money on it. Surface book, however, is just terrible all around and has zero reason to exist besides one more vain attempt for microsoft to "catch up" to apple. It has zero redeeming qualities and the marketing for it has been tounge-in-cheek disingenuous and manipulative of non-technical people. Sadly many less informed forum members have fallen for it, and I can only say that it is typical of the "fans" apple has been getting lately: People who actually hate Apple but have no choice besides terrible windows or google software as an alternative, and so like a dirty stray dog or toddler they must be dragged against their will to Apple's cleansing waters. Now, they see an old turd floating by and get nostalgic for their stinky old ways.


Wow, that's a lot of hate and vitriol, LOL. Can you not imagine that for some folks carrying around an iPad Pro AND a 13" MacBook Pro STILL doesn't give you the same functionality as a Surface book? My prime example is Photoshop. An iPad Pro doesn't run full Photoshop no matter how you dice it. I don't want to try and muddle around with Adobe's "photoshop fix" to then import my images to the MacBook to finish editing. That just added steps to my workflow that don't need to be there.

Admittedly a surface Pro 4 might meet my needs just as well as the Book, but I am partial to having a laptop format vs a tablet format. And I like having the dGPU for 3D stuff. Price wise, I was going to buy a 15" MacBook with a dGPU, so the surface book is priced very similarly AND I add stylus functionality. I suspect the 15" MacBook line might be going away for as little love as Apple has been showing it lately. So for those of us who want dGPUs we might run out of options at Apple.


As far as performance goes, that is an unknown right now. I am waiting for actual reviews and benchmarks to judge on that front. If the performance sucks I will cancel my order and get that 15" MacBook Pro.


EDIT: now that I think about it, a better comparison for the surface book is a MacBook Pro tethered to a Wacom Cintiq Companion. The surface book is WAAAAAY cheaper than that option. And if the stylus performance is decent (I don't expect it to fully compare with Wacom), it will be a deal. Many creative professionals have been moving to the Surface line away from Wacom.
 
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Kiwikat88

macrumors regular
Aug 16, 2015
249
384
Texas
i don't thing Macbook Pro has any compromises

Hello subpar GPU...

I got the last gen model anyways, but I could've gotten a much, much better GPU elsewhere. If they would've gone with a 960M or 965M it'd be the perfect laptop for me.
 

Vanilla Face

macrumors 6502
Aug 11, 2013
471
150
I have a 2011 Macbook Pro and I've been trying to decide between getting a iPad Pro and waiting for a Skylake rMB. The new Surface Book is really impressive and makes me consider jumping ship. Even the Surface Pro 4 makes me wonder....
 

touchstoned

macrumors regular
Apr 4, 2015
173
141
Hermosa Beach, CA
Wow, that's a lot of hate and vitriol, LOL. Can you not imagine that for some folks carrying around an iPad Pro AND a 13" MacBook Pro STILL doesn't give you the same functionality as a Surface book? My prime example is Photoshop. An iPad Pro doesn't run full Photoshop no matter how you dice it. I don't want to try and muddle around with Adobe's "photoshop fix" to then import my images to the MacBook to finish editing. That just added steps to my workflow that don't need to be there.

Admittedly a surface Pro 4 might meet my needs just as well as the Book, but I am partial to having a laptop format vs a tablet format. And I like having the dGPU for 3D stuff. Price wise, I was going to buy a 15" MacBook with a dGPU, so the surface book is priced very similarly AND I add stylus functionality. I suspect the 15" MacBook line might be going away for as little love as Apple has been showing it lately. So for those of us who want dGPUs we might run out of options at Apple.


As far as performance goes, that is an unknown right now. I am waiting for actual reviews and benchmarks to judge on that front. If the performance sucks I will cancel my order and get that 15" MacBook Pro.


EDIT: now that I think about it, a better comparison for the surface book is a MacBook Pro tethered to a Wacom Cintiq Companion. The surface book is WAAAAAY cheaper than that option. And if the stylus performance is decent (I don't expect it to fully compare with Wacom), it will be a deal. Many creative professionals have been moving to the Surface line away from Wacom.
If it has Wacom level of sensitivity/functionality then that is a different story, then I would have to re-evaluate it on that premise. I am not sure it has that though.


The dgpu will likely make it perform faster than the 13" and 15" igpu macbook pros (substantially so in the case of the 13") but it will lag in productivity against the 15" quad core and probably just match the 13" broadwell MBP. It is an improvement and I would agree that it should increase the price, but not by 800-1000$. The base price of that dgpu version is $100 short of the Xeon-based Mac Pro. That is excessive.


My rhetoric may be a bit overblown but my qualitative assessment of this product remains valid. I don't see why you wouldn't just go Surface Pro 4. To game?
 
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