Microsoft Debuts New Dual-Screen Devices, Updated Surface Laptops and More

[Mydel]

Lots of Microsoft hate, but Apple should welcome MS’ offerings. If I didn’t have a Surface Laptop and Windows desktops I could never afford to buy Apple’s phones, watches, AirPods, and (some) services.

Love my Apple mobile products.

Also love my first gen i5 Surface Laptop I bought open box for $500. The keyboard is amazing and I get a lot of writing done on it.

Windows’ updates have been obnoxious but they’re getting a lot better about that and to be honest, my iPhone 11 Pro and Apple Watch 4 have been updating/notifying of updates all damn week. I was in the store the other day and looked down at the time and my watch was in the middle of an update. I didn’t even know that could happen when it was off the charger.

Yes. I fully agree. I am using daily iPad Pro 12 and the only thing that really annoys me is the keyboard. I am using Apple keyboard folio and I think its horrible for the price, I would love for apple to make something in the Surface X keyboard. Im always loosing the pencil and trackpad for pages or keynote would be god sent!!!

 

[sunapple]

Not quite a foldable device and at least the screen design isn't tainted by the notch.

I think it’s a great implementation of a foldable device, even if it’s two separate screens. It folds a full 360 degrees and folds flat, that’s years away for OLED or maybe not possible? They could always make the middle bezel smaller.

 

[BlowAway]

Wait... The Surface Pro X has an ARM processor...? I hope this goes over better than last time...

Meanwhile, the mac lineup still doesn't have any model running an ARM processor.

 

[BlowAway]

I think it’s a great implementation of a foldable device, even if it’s two separate screens. It folds a full 360 degrees and folds flat, that’s years away for OLED or maybe not possible? They could always make the middle bezel smaller.

It's a great device for people who like working with separate screens.

 

[ani4ani]

Microsoft is starting to out-apple Apple... What's going on here ?

Microsoft, the software company is doing more interesting hardware than Apple, the media and services company these days

 

[sunapple]

It's a great device for people who like working with separate screens.

Have you seen Westworld by any chance? I want those phones/tablets and these Surface NEO and DUO devices actually come kinda close (albeit with larger bezels and thicker). Trifold with separate screens, but seem to work fine as one big screen despite the small lines. I'd buy it.

 

[BlowAway]

The only exciting thing here is the Surface Pro X, and it's not exactly groundbreaking, just a product finally maturing into what it should have been all along.

The Surface Pro X is a whole lot thinner than any mobile device made by 

 

[HughMabin]

This was like an example of how to do everything wrong with an unveil. Apple hasn't innovated much lately, especially with their PC's, but at least they are still World #1 by a thousand miles at revealing new products and making consumers excited to buy and use them.

Apple:

Warm, inviting conferences
Well-paced, sharp speakers with rehearsed, rarely cringey presentations
Products available to pre-order/buy within a week of reveal
Sleek, minimalist designs, artistic lines, form and function blended together
Steve Jobs/Tim Cook make me feel like they might literally bring me milk and cookies

Microsoft:

Confrontational speaker in disturbing galaxy shirt accusing journalists of "doing their jobs" poorly.
Walking in and out of the rows like Maury about to reveal who the father of the Surface Neo is.
Products available to pre-order/buy maybe in another year lol
Earbuds that look like pop sockets, giant disgusting bezels on phones in 2019 (correction 2020), visible hinges making the tablet look like a Leapster device.
This presenter made me feel like I was being cross-examined on the witness stand.

I was excited for Microsoft to reenter the cell phone market honestly. I owned a Windows Nokia 1520 phone and loved it. It had an incredible processor, plenty of RAM, X-Box games, offline/online Nokia gorgeous road atlas maps, flashy colors, amazing 20 megapixel camera, and a giant screen before it was cool. It needed app support, but the core Windows operating system was excellent and I enjoyed the phone. But these devices are dead on one-year-from-now-arrival, I wasn't interested in any of them, and frankly the presenter was so rude I wouldn't buy these products even if I saw them at Best Buy this weekend.

Logged in just to say I couldn't agree more! Does MSFT have any PR people who actually review / rehearse these presentations before they are delivered?

The cockiness, the tone and the looks of this guy would fit an MLM convention at best. I cannot make any sense out of this - I was so looking forward to this event and I wish Microsoft all the best (even though I'm rather heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem), but this was a complete PR disaster.

Also, this dual screen fantasy does not seem to solve any real world problem - or if it does, Microsoft failed to convey the message.

Also, revealing a tech product one year ahead of market availability is just plain stupid - either you give all your competitors a year to develop their products and/or worse even, you overpromise and underdeliver and all the hype will turn into mockery come holidays 2020.

To me, all of this is either vaporware or will go the way of 3D TVs at best.

 

[kazmac]

Liking what I see, may pick up a Surface Laptop 3 15" if the graphics meet my needs. I loved the SL2 when I tested and think the Surface Laptops are beautifully built and very comfortable to use. Finally ready for Windows.

The Pro 7 and Pro X are priced too iPad Pro for me, so I'll wait for sales (and reviews) as there probably will be sales before the holidays.

Some cool things announced (what I really want is a smaller Surface Studio made by MS with current internals and a lower price point. The Lenovo isn't there).

 

[sunapple]

Logged in just to say I couldn't agree more! Does MSFT have any PR people who actually review / rehearse these presentations before they are delivered?

The cockiness, the tone and the looks of this guy would fit an MLM convention at best. I cannot make any sense out of this - I was so looking forward to this event and I wish Microsoft all the best (even though I'm rather heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem), but this was a complete PR disaster.

Also, this dual screen fantasy does not seem to solve any real world problem - or if it does, Microsoft failed to convey the message.

Also, revealing a tech product one year ahead of market availability is just plain stupid - either you give all your competitors a year to develop their products and/or worse even, you overpromise and underdeliver and all the hype will turn into mockery come holidays 2020.

To me, all of this is either vaporware or will go the way of 3D TVs at best.

Lol, I'm glad I'm not the only one annoyed by him (Panos Panay, hardware guy). Apparently, many people view him as "a legend" when it comes to presentation. Yet, I only saw a guy how was indeed very cocky and annoying. Walking away just before revealing their one-more-ting, the DUO, and then coming back on stage - super forced and awkward.

Glad I could vent 😂

They did make it very hard for themselves, having to deliver on the 2020 promise. However, they did it with good reason because developers need to be onboard from the start. The hardware isn't that hard to do (although not easy), it's the software that needs to work. Panos even said on stage how he was nervous about it, not wanting to reveal a work-in-progress. I give him some credit there.

 

[Jsameds]

Why is two screens suddenly being haled as 'innovative'?

 

[M3gatron]

I've always admired the Surface line. I feel MS is doing a pretty good job at innovation here especially running the same OS rather than a modified one like iPAD OS.

I actually don't mind the dual screen idea. It's better than looking at a crease.

Android on their own phone? What a fail. They should have been able to put a flavour of Windows on the phone. Never liked Android, probably never will. Not sure why MS chickened out on this one.

Because Android it's by far the most popular mobile OS and it's not difficult for Microsoft to make it look like they want.
It will be an Android phone with a focus on Microsoft services. It sounds quite interesting in my opinion.

 

[Rogifan]

Why is two screens suddenly being haled as 'innovative'?

Made me think of this:

 

[Kabeyun]

Godlike innovation. This, Apple. This. This is what innovation looks like. Not that APFS crap. Not that triple camera crap. Not that FaceID crap. Not that A13 Bionic crap. Not that Swift crap.

I cannot wait to get these and be more productive. Watching two YouTubes videos at the same time. Watching Netflix AND working on a document. This is magic.

Your list of “crap” is a list of real innovation that has been widely lauded, copied, or both. Your comment is so opposite of credible that I think you’re being a provocateur. And being “productive” is watching two YouTube vids simultaneously?! LMAO!!!!!! And if you want two apps simultaneously, for a while now both android and iOS/iPadOS tablets can do that “magic” without a freaking hinge running down the middle.

Wow very cool. I wonder why its taken so long for a book style device to emerge - finally. Will be the perfect reading device. I can see a Kindle style option emerging at some point. And Apple will no doubt follow suit. Will take some ironing out though, optimum designs will take a few years to settle re: hinges and displays, I'd personally love a matte version. Opens up a lot of UI possibility and could really shake up software over the coming years. Good move MS!

I disagree. You don’t need it to fold like a book to be the ”perfect” reading device, nor do you need color, Windows, or an absurdly high price for an ebook. I’m actually struggling to find a use case. At best these will be low volume niche products. Or toys for the well heeled curious.

 

[maflynn]

Why is two screens suddenly being haled as 'innovative'?

Only when apple rolls out a dual screen product, people will say its innovative and apple invented it 😄

 

[kingax1]

Logged in just to say I couldn't agree more! Does MSFT have any PR people who actually review / rehearse these presentations before they are delivered?

The cockiness, the tone and the looks of this guy would fit an MLM convention at best. I cannot make any sense out of this - I was so looking forward to this event and I wish Microsoft all the best (even though I'm rather heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem), but this was a complete PR disaster.

Also, this dual screen fantasy does not seem to solve any real world problem - or if it does, Microsoft failed to convey the message.

Also, revealing a tech product one year ahead of market availability is just plain stupid - either you give all your competitors a year to develop their products and/or worse even, you overpromise and underdeliver and all the hype will turn into mockery come holidays 2020.

To me, all of this is either vaporware or will go the way of 3D TVs at best.

Actually, in Microsofts position the more companies jump ahead and make these products = the more Microsoft Windows 10X is utilized = the more developers jump on tweaking their software for 10X. I dont think it would hurt them in this case since they are the blood that runs the machines.

 

[newyorksole]

There will be a lot of haters here naturally, but for years now Microsoft/Google/Huawei events have been far more exciting than Apple events.

Either you like the company who has a superior ecosystem / support channel and better designs or you like the company that tries all these new things which runs blah software and has a less welcoming OS with hardware that isn’t as pretty.
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Only when apple rolls out a dual screen product, people will say its innovative and apple invented it 😄

Lol I hope you guys understand why that even happens. Why when Apple does something it’s touted as revolutionary / innovative even if other companies have done it. It’s really not rocket science.

 

[maflynn]

Why is two screens suddenly being haled as 'innovative'?

Probably because bending displays is innovative. I'm not sure about how MS is approaching this

 

[manu chao]

I like the glass screens with a mechanical hinge design. When the Samsung and Huawei folding phones were intro'd, I kinda thought that the winning design would actually be two glass screens with a real hinge and a super thin bezel that "disappears" when opened flat.

This is getting close. It's going to take a serious product designer to come up with a hinge that practically disappears.

What about two (glass-covered) screens that curve by maybe 90º (Samsung phones get pretty close to that) which via a special hinge design basically touch each other when folded out flat?

 

[Lancer]

Still probably better than the Galaxy Fold phone.

 

[kingax1]

I think the Surface Phone would have been a superior design if it had at least 1 outer side as a fully functional display so you dont have to flip it open every single time you get a call or text message.

For that Id say that phone is a big flop. Add outer screen then it has potential unless you can keep in in your pocket flipped all the way open and trust the durability from scratches and hits.

 

[jclardy]

The Surface Pro X looks like a very serious iPad Pro competitor. They really need to get the software right though, the main issue I had with prior surface’s is the software keyboard...a lot of times I had to manually open it even though I’m in tablet mode and tapped into a text field. The hardware keyboard is excellent on the surface line, and it sadly puts apple’s iPad Pro and MacBook Pro keyboards to shame.

The other test will be the virtualization layer - will it be nimble enough to run x86 apps at an acceptable speed?

 

[leman]

Meanwhile, the mac lineup still doesn't have any model running an ARM processor.

Apple has had an iPad Pro for a while. I don't really see a principal difference between Surface Pro X and the iPad Pro to be honest. Seems to be the same type of device.

 

[Tiger8]

Macrumors, seriously? Surface Pro designed to 'compete with iPad Pro'? I think you got this backwards, surface pro was a hit years before iPad Pro was released.

 

[maflynn]

Macrumors, seriously? Surface Pro designed to 'compete with iPad Pro'? I think you got this backwards, surface pro was a hit years before iPad Pro was released.

Yep, the iPad Pro is Apple's response to the Surface Pro