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Microsoft Announces Surface Book i7, Desktop PC 'Surface Studio,' and Windows 10 Creators Update
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I agree with you, however I believe tomorrow´s event will be just more of the same
The Surface Studio is NOT an all-in-one. The guts of the computer are clearly in a separate unit, and that makes mounting the "all-in-one" on a flexible arm either impractical or ridiculous. The keyboard can't even rest partially under the monitor while working, because the guts of the computer are in the way. And speaking of the keyboard, it looks like an Apple keyboard.
Look at the Mac 'pro' laptop line starting with the first Powerbook G4 (Titanium), ie, over the last 15 years. For all it is worth, it has received only minor design bumps and not any bold leaps forward. Yet, 10 out of those 15 years were under Steve Jobs.
I tried the Surface 3 for the past year and just got rid of it to replace with a much more reliable iPad Pro. In Theory, the surface was a far superior device, but I just got sick of constantly having to restart to make the keyboard work, the pen battery needing to be removed and reattached when it disconnected. Power management problems, and software random failures with no apparent rhyme or reason. In theory, the iPad does far less, but what it says it does, it does. I have an Apple Pencil that needs to be recharged (stupid design there) but works 100% of the time. I never have an iPad start itself randomly in my bag and not have any battery life left. I have a $20 bluetooth keyboard that works 100% of the time. I imagine if I bought the smart keyboard, the disconnects i saw on the surface wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue on the iPad.
When I had issues with the surface, I brought it into to Microsoft retail support, and tried calling on multiple occasions. Their answer when I had a random Windows-won't-boot failure was to buy a $200 new refurb because they couldn't figure out how to restore it using their in-store restore key and they claimed a USB failure. I went home, and was able to get a second PC from a friend to try and make a restore key using USB boot I found on their support website for surface and got Windows reloaded (after downloading a legal copy of Windows I had to get from my University). The boot restore didn't have wifi drivers to download it directly...seriously?
On the other hand, any far more limited issues I've had with an iPhone, Mac or iPad I had before this one have all been serviced/repaired/software support offered, often free, sometimes free completely out of warranty, or they replaced a screen within 30 minutes for an iPad I dropped at the out of warranty with the high but fair price.
There are more to computers than just specs. All computers have problems. Macs and iPads are indeed more expensive up front. How they are supported and their reliability do matter however and Apple is head and shoulders above Microsoft. Windows on paper will always do more. But, the reality rarely fits the specs.
When I had issues with the surface, I brought it into to Microsoft retail support, and tried calling on multiple occasions. Their answer when I had a random Windows-won't-boot failure was to buy a $200 new refurb because they couldn't figure out how to restore it using their in-store restore key and they claimed a USB failure. I went home, and was able to get a second PC from a friend to try and make a restore key using USB boot I found on their support website for surface and got Windows reloaded (after downloading a legal copy of Windows I had to get from my University). The boot restore didn't have wifi drivers to download it directly...seriously?
On the other hand, any far more limited issues I've had with an iPhone, Mac or iPad I had before this one have all been serviced/repaired/software support offered, often free, sometimes free completely out of warranty, or they replaced a screen within 30 minutes for an iPad I dropped at the out of warranty with the high but fair price.
There are more to computers than just specs. All computers have problems. Macs and iPads are indeed more expensive up front. How they are supported and their reliability do matter however and Apple is head and shoulders above Microsoft. Windows on paper will always do more. But, the reality rarely fits the specs.
Yea that intro video was deeeeeep... with that soundtrack and the excellent effects...
My take:
No new Surface Pro and just higher margin Surface Book models. *yawn
Surface Studio, a niche $3000 all-in-one. Is it a pro machine? Only 4 regular USB ports, 1 mini display port, only a single notebook-class GPU, 965m Geforce, no pascal. No USB-C, no thunderbolt, no optical audio in/out, no wifi ac, no option for dual/more GPU. Price is actually okay though, considering you are getting 1TB SSD at base price, but is it a "pro" machine? The notebook-class GPU can only take you so far in actual pro environment. It is trying to be "pro" while positioning itself against the iMac, resulting in a mixed bag niche machine.
On Windows 10 Creators update
Paint 3D, whoop dee doo.
Unified messaging for contacts, but does it support the plethora messaging services like WhatsApp, Line, WeChat, etc?
There are people that cannot even get the anniversary update yet due to show-stopping driver bugs.
The Surface dial was cool though. Wish it is platform agnostic, but it is only compatible with Surface devices.
No new Surface Pro and just higher margin Surface Book models. *yawn
Surface Studio, a niche $3000 all-in-one. Is it a pro machine? Only 4 regular USB ports, 1 mini display port, only a single notebook-class GPU, 965m Geforce, no pascal. No USB-C, no thunderbolt, no optical audio in/out, no wifi ac, no option for dual/more GPU. Price is actually okay though, considering you are getting 1TB SSD at base price, but is it a "pro" machine? The notebook-class GPU can only take you so far in actual pro environment. It is trying to be "pro" while positioning itself against the iMac, resulting in a mixed bag niche machine.
On Windows 10 Creators update
Paint 3D, whoop dee doo.
Unified messaging for contacts, but does it support the plethora messaging services like WhatsApp, Line, WeChat, etc?
There are people that cannot even get the anniversary update yet due to show-stopping driver bugs.
The Surface dial was cool though. Wish it is platform agnostic, but it is only compatible with Surface devices.
I don't usually prescribe to if Steve wasn't dead logic, but sadly I think we would have seen some continual improvements and new designs, instead of just thinner products. We'll never now, and while I love my iMac, I can easily say the Studio is a beautiful computer in its own right
Thinness...who cares. But a blend of touch/key/round-fob thing and an intuitive way to use it? Top shelf.
Wow, I've never really like MS products but the Surface Studio is very impressive looking. I don't care for or need a touch screen interface on my desktop, but even without the touch screen interface the technical specification and design appear to best the iMac at first blush.
Apple really need to get back into innovating on the Mac. Steve Jobs once said that the Mac should be the "Digital Hub" with the iMac ideally suited for that role. Today Apple and Tim cook appear to view the iPhone as the center of your digital life.
So which is it? Should the iPhone be an appendage the Mac, or the Mac be an appendage to an iPhone either way neglecting one will hurt the other.
Apple really need to get back into innovating on the Mac. Steve Jobs once said that the Mac should be the "Digital Hub" with the iMac ideally suited for that role. Today Apple and Tim cook appear to view the iPhone as the center of your digital life.
So which is it? Should the iPhone be an appendage the Mac, or the Mac be an appendage to an iPhone either way neglecting one will hurt the other.
It doesn't take much to impress you does it!
Yes, it's a great design. Yes, the tricksy little tablet mode is cute. The CPU in a box out front means the display doesn't have the chin of the iMac. Nice, but it would take a lot more than that for me to move away from the Apple ecosystem and its fantastic apps, productivity, and security.
And Microsoft will need to do a great deal more, over a great deal more time, to make intelligent people move away from Apple.
I don't know if that is true, but the Surface Pro and Surface Book certainly crash and glitch out more than most hardware on the market right now...
Yeah!!!!!!!
And that's sooooooooo gimmicky!
Lol, a context sensitive touch responsive menu bar w/ built in biometric security... who wants or needs it??!!
A true "Pro" machine would have an optional additional expense peripheral of a fake knob that you can stick to the screen & turn like a dial to pop up contextual shortcuts.
Oh, no wait... that slightly mirrors the functionality, only w/ added expense, no security feature, wanton gimmickry, and the ability to misplace it.
windows is really in the wind these days - and apple is resting on laurels. And as an artist, Surface Studio looks amazing. Much more appealing than the iMac.
Well done MS but… let's see how it works in the real world, let's see what issues will show up.
I'll not buy anything from MS, I love OS X (MacOS), I love how Apple develop their own software and how it integrates with everything else in the Apple ecosystem, I love the Apple simplicity and I love how an Apple product works out of the box.
I think most people don't understand the Apple philosophy, Apple didn't abandoned professionals, FCPX is a professional tool and very well developed, LPX is a professional tool too and the iPad/iPad Pro are professional tools also. I just think Apple should manage their product prices, lowering the price according to age, i.e. the actual Mac Pro should be priced by half 1 year after its release.
Oh… remembering the Steve Balmer's laughs and cheap comments about the iPhone price somewhere in 2007… Ahahahah
I'll not buy anything from MS, I love OS X (MacOS), I love how Apple develop their own software and how it integrates with everything else in the Apple ecosystem, I love the Apple simplicity and I love how an Apple product works out of the box.
I think most people don't understand the Apple philosophy, Apple didn't abandoned professionals, FCPX is a professional tool and very well developed, LPX is a professional tool too and the iPad/iPad Pro are professional tools also. I just think Apple should manage their product prices, lowering the price according to age, i.e. the actual Mac Pro should be priced by half 1 year after its release.
Oh… remembering the Steve Balmer's laughs and cheap comments about the iPhone price somewhere in 2007… Ahahahah
I was like OMG OMG OMG they are going to detach the 28" screen now!, but happy with the actual video.
The Surface Studio's chin is huge - - it's just fallen onto the desktop.
I hope you're wrong, but I feel as jaded (realistic?) as you sound. I'm seriously in the market for a new MacBook Pro with 32GB ram, a solid i7 and enough graphics power to adequately support my Thunderbolt2 3440x1440 LG monitor as well as another 1920x1080 HDMI monitor. I suspect I will need a slew of new dongles for my peripherals.... again.
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That Surface Studio has a bunch of people at animation studios I know very, very excited. When Apple neglected the pro market, MS has started to market to and design for that group.
It may run windows, but that means it runs all of the neat tools out there that are windows only and or Cuda only.
With cuda in mind, though, the GPU options are disappointing for the price.
It may run windows, but that means it runs all of the neat tools out there that are windows only and or Cuda only.
With cuda in mind, though, the GPU options are disappointing for the price.
Apple of 2012 is a different company. As a professional, I am tired of Apples constant concessions for thinness and weight. They have disregarded people like me who can justify the expense of these laptops.
While Apple has focused on iOS to OSX integration above everything else, Win10 has caught up and passed the latest Mac OS. People who disparage Windows obviously haven't used it recently.
I have been hanging onto my 2012 MBPr praying Apple would bring out a huge upgrade on Thursday. Leaked photos are not promising and now this new Surface Book looks exactly what I'm looking for. Apple...get your shi* together!!
While Apple has focused on iOS to OSX integration above everything else, Win10 has caught up and passed the latest Mac OS. People who disparage Windows obviously haven't used it recently.
I have been hanging onto my 2012 MBPr praying Apple would bring out a huge upgrade on Thursday. Leaked photos are not promising and now this new Surface Book looks exactly what I'm looking for. Apple...get your shi* together!!