Microsoft Launches New Holiday Ad Comparing Surface Pro 3 to MacBook Air

[Edsel]

The Surface Pro 3 is better hardware compared to the MacBook Air. Sorry for the dose of reality.
While Microsoft has been busy developing better platforms Apple has been designing beautiful watchbands. Where is Apple's new Airport Express', updated Apple TV's, updated Thunderbolt Displays......?

Apple has become too preoccupied with fashion over function.

 

[HenryDJP]

I know the OS is the key differentiator here, but it's hard to ignore the versatility of the Surface.

Prior superiority won't be enough to keep Apple on top forever. We need some new ideas.

Oh please, stop kidding yourself. There's absolutely nothing innovative about the Surface pro 3. It just has good specs which continue to prove that most people don't seriously care as much about. MS still can't create an ad with just the Surface Pro 3 because it can't seem to sell on it's own merit.

Back to the ad. This has got to be the cheesiest and most terrible ad MS has ever done...and they've created some very bad ones. Any average joe on YouTube could've created this crap.

 

[KieranDotW]

The one thing that no one seems to get is that OSX is the reason I use Apple products. I don't care if it flips backwards.

This. When people tell me I can buy/build a same-specced computer for cheaper it means nothing to me. I'm paying the extra dough for the (legit, reliable) OS X experience.

 

[HenryDJP]

I think the comparison is kind of dumb, but I do hope that it moves Apple toward an optimized OSX tablet in the near future. Do your magic Apple!

Think about it. The more MS does ads like this against the Macbook Air the more Apple sees it as a compliment. Obviously MS keeps doing the same SP3 vs. MBA ads because they see the MBA as superior.

 

[AppleScruff1]

Oh please, stop kidding yourself. There's absolutely nothing innovative about the Surface pro 3. It just has good specs which continue to prove that most people don't seriously care as much about. MS still can't create an ad with just the Surface Pro 3 because it can't seem to sell on it's own merit.

Back to the ad. This has got to be the cheesiest and most terrible ad MS has ever done...and they've created some very bad ones. Any average joe on YouTube could've created this crap.

But if Apple made the exact same thing it would be the greatest invention since the wheel.

 

[shanson27]

I switched 3 years ago from Windows to Mac, and I don't see any reason to switch back !!! Not really

 

[Robstevo]

To be honest I suspect there marketing of the surface pro 3 is actually working to an extent this time.

Prior to the surface 3 I didn't see any in the wild.

Over the last month about 5 people in my office have bought one because they realise they can go on to site with the models , drawing and a full suite of applications to mark up drawings and and write down changing on PDFs which steam back in real time to the office with one note.

I have also seen about 5 in the wild , business men walking around or at the coffee shop with them.

It's never going to be as popular as an iPad or Mac because the fan base, but it can be a great option to choose between.

I also think a device like the surface is clearly the future.

No matter how powerful the iPad air 2 is , it doesn't seem like it has the powerful applications to take use of it. Unlike a full blown OS that can run photoshop , revit, excel etc when the likes of skylake come out the surface will be a seriously powerful machine.

 

[osaga]

If you show a KFC commercial to a health food fanatic, it's not going to appeal to them. It does appeal to those who eat fast food, and who may be looking for a reason to eat at KFC. Microsoft is just trying to appeal to their base demographic. They're not trying to get mac users to switch to a surface.

 

[ShinySteelRobot]

I know the OS is the key differentiator here, but it's hard to ignore the versatility of the Surface.

The Surface is versatile and all that relative to a laptop. Right up until you want to type with the Surface on your lap....at which point the Surface and its kickstand become an epic fail.

Prior superiority won't be enough to keep Apple on top forever. We need some new ideas.

"Prior superiority"? You say that as if you believe Apple is currently inferior to Microsoft.

 

[Renzatic]

I think it really shows just how lost MS is in their marketing and overall business strategy.

It means nothing of the sort, because Windows has always provided a solid base for the 3D design/photo manipulation/CAD scene, and the Surface does work well with Office applications. This'll be especially true when the souped up touch based Office arrives with Win10.

The SP3 is a great device that works well for a lot of people. It's just not as good of a jack of all trades machine as the Macbooks are. It's stronger in some areas, weaker in others.

 

[HenryDJP]

Weren't Mac sales up over 20% last quarter? Is this ad campaign working at all?

Why yes of course this ad is working. It features the MBA and that's why the sales went up for it. Microsoft is secretly helping Apple's product sales increase.

 

[bawbac]

Oh please, stop kidding yourself. There's absolutely nothing innovative about the Surface pro 3. It just has good specs which continue to prove that most people don't seriously care as much about. MS still can't create an ad with just the Surface Pro 3 because it can't seem to sell on it's own merit.

Back to the ad. This has got to be the cheesiest and most terrible ad MS has ever done...and they've created some very bad ones. Any average joe on YouTube could've created this crap.

"The 6+."
"It's huge!"
-Repeat many times in commercial to get statement across to viewers.

 

[Xiroteus]

I would go with the Surface Pro 3 at the moment yet they are still different devices that can have different uses and I'm waiting for the Air to finally increase its resolution.

 

[bawbac]

The Surface is versatile and all that relative to a laptop. Right up until you want to type with the Surface on your lap....at which point the Surface and its kickstand become an epic fail.

Really...

 

[mi7chy]

I only use the iPad for light surfing. To get work done I use the Surface Pro 3. Macbook Air is a bad comparison since it has terrible resolution. Apple needs an updated Macbook Air 2 hybrid with retina resolution, touch screen, precision pen and detachable keyboard.

As far as lapability SP3 is superior with kickstand since I can have my legs stretched out in a downward incline and it won't tip over like Macbooks. There's also the health benefit that the heat exhaust is directed from top and not from bottom towards your private area.

 

[jmgregory1]

It means nothing of the sort, because Windows has always provided a solid base for the 3D design/photo manipulation/CAD scene, and the Surface does work well with Office applications. This'll be especially true when the souped up touch based Office arrives with Win10.

The SP3 is a great device that works well for a lot of people. It's just not as good of a jack of all trades machine as the Macbooks are. It's stronger in some areas, weaker in others.

A trait that I keep reading and hearing those who like (or want to like) the SP, is that it will be better when...fill in the blank with the various processor or software change. It's as if it's just so close, yet each iteration misses on enough points that you have to wait until the next revision for it to be good. Given I'm a person of a certain age who was in the market when MS grew from nothing, I see this kind of reaction as the historical norm for MS users.

And it's completely different than how most Apple fans are. I can't ever think of a time I said "I can't wait until the new xyz processor is released, because it will make my Mac Pro / MBP / MBA / iPhone / iPad perfect.

In regards to Windows / MS customer base including the CAD / 3D design side -I agree that MS has customers in these markets, but that is decidedly not what the ad is showing. They're showing consumer-level stuff. I can see someone buying and using a SP as a pen-input device, but I don't buy that engineers are going to be knocking out CADCAM work on it. In fact, I would doubt that any of the professional level CAD software are touch optimized to make the SP suitable for using its "benefits" over a dedicated laptop.

 

[AppleScruff1]

A trait that I keep reading and hearing those who like (or want to like) the SP, is that it will be better when...fill in the blank with the various processor or software change. It's as if it's just so close, yet each iteration misses on enough points that you have to wait until the next revision for it to be good. Given I'm a person of a certain age who was in the market when MS grew from nothing, I see this kind of reaction as the historical norm for MS users.

And it's completely different than how most Apple fans are. I can't ever think of a time I said "I can't wait until the new xyz processor is released, because it will make my Mac Pro / MBP / MBA / iPhone / iPad perfect.

In regards to Windows / MS customer base including the CAD / 3D design side -I agree that MS has customers in these markets, but that is decidedly not what the ad is showing. They're showing consumer-level stuff. I can see someone buying and using a SP as a pen-input device, but I don't buy that engineers are going to be knocking out CADCAM work on it. In fact, I would doubt that any of the professional level CAD software are touch optimized to make the SP suitable for using its "benefits" over a dedicated laptop.

Kinda like the iPad Air will be better when it has 2GB of RAM, the MBA will be better once it has a Retina screen, the iPhone will be better once it has a bigger screen, etc, etc?

 

[jmgregory1]

Really...

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Nice pictures of a MS Windows based laptop. There are better windows laptops out there of course, forgetting about any comparisons to Apple products. I bet you'd be very hard pressed to find images of people using SP's as tablets, because both W8 and the hardware itself makes tablet use questionable at best (as far as my own experience has shown). Just the fact that you only see SP's held in landscape mode tells me MS built them as laptops, not tablets, which are more comfortable to hold and use in portrait mode.

 

[Renzatic]

A trait that I keep reading and hearing those who like (or want to like) the SP, is that it will be better when...fill in the blank with the various processor or software change.

I could list a thousand things that could make the SP3 better. Or like Scruff says below, a thousand things that could make Apple products better. It doesn't mean it's crap now, just that, like all things, it has things that could be improved.

Though I still have no freaking idea why MS doesn't have Office Touch on their own freaking platform yet. It makes no damn sense, especially on something like the SP3, where it's power-user bent would be put to good use.

Just the fact that you only see SP's held in landscape mode tells me MS built them as laptops, not tablets, which are more comfortable to hold and use in portrait mode.

 

[shanson27]

Really...

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Windows, Windows Noooooooooooo !!! Windows sucks

 

[Xiroteus]

Once the Air finally gets a better screen the only thing that would have to lean to the Surface Pro is the ability to draw will pressure, if not for that I likely would just go with the Air or a standard laptop and likely a light simple tablet.

Windows, Windows Noooooooooooo !!! Windows sucks

One day I will truly find out why so many hate Windows (it is compatible with so much) without an OS war.

 

[Tassiecelt]

Why does MacRumors always feel the need to give free advertising to Apple competitors?

This is Mac related, and I'm glad to have an opportunity to see an ad I may have missed otherwise, even if it is the cheesiest and most badly made ad I've seen for a while.

 

[scoobydoo99]

I know the OS is the key differentiator here, but it's hard to ignore the versatility of the Surface.

Prior superiority won't be enough to keep Apple on top forever. We need some new ideas.

New ideas? In laptops? There aren't any. i don't understand the obsession many have with demanding the "next big thing" from Apple. Sometimes refinement of an existing, superior product is all you can expect. The Air beats the Surface 3 in every respect that is important to me. I don't need a touch screen on a laptop. I don't need a detachable tablet in a laptop. I certainly don't need a stylus. It's the same type of product PC manufacturers have pushed for 30 years - specs over quality, "features" no one needs, and solutions in search of an answer. It's what a company does that has no vision of how the consumer works and interacts with technology. Apple gets it, Microsoft doesn't. All they can do is add ports, or slots, or anything they can think of to bump specs....because they simply don't know how to build an elegant product.

 

[jmgregory1]

I could list a thousand things that could make the SP3 better. Or like Scruff says below, a thousand things that could make Apple products better. It doesn't mean it's crap now, just that, like all things, it has things that could be improved.

Though I still have no freaking idea why MS doesn't have Office Touch on their own freaking platform yet. It makes no damn sense, especially on something like the SP3, where it's power-user bent would be put to good use.



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Ya, MS totally dropped the ball with Office and the SP. Frankly, they should have put out Office for iOS years ago and they would have owned the iOS market and probably could have made enough money to piss away what they have on the SP so far.

Then to release the SP and still not have a touch based Office is just unbelievable. At least they got the iOS piece figured out. MS, instead of seeing Apple as an enemy, should have more fully embraced both OSX and iOS more and simply focused on being the best communication, spreadsheet and word processing application developer out there. Instead, they thought they would always be the defacto leader, allowing others to come in and steal a bunch of business away from them.

The reason you don't see SP's being used in portrait mode is that the font rendering works best in landscape mode. And the long narrow profile (in portrait) isn't the best layout for many apps or even web pages. How about a picture of you holding it in landscape mode (tablet-style)? What can you do with your thumbs to make interacting with it even partially do-able? And how long can you even hold it this way? I found it tough to even watch videos, without having something to prop it on.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

My boss just went from an air to a sp3.

That's nice. I'm sure he had his reasons, but its not the norm, based on pure sales. Apple doesn't announce specific machine sales # but anecdotally you don't see a whole lot of Surfaces of any generation in the wild. Airports are the best places to notice these things. When I fly I just don't see many. Lots of PCs, Airs, iPads, eReaders, and a few Android tablets. Not too many Surfaces.