Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Microsoft Says 'Disappointment' of New MacBook Pro Has More People Switching to Surface Than Ever Before

newyorkone said:
Not that it would matter, but maybe we need to start a petition asking for Tim Cook to resign.

This is embarrassing. Microsoft is the new Apple? Ugh, I shudder at the thought, but innovation wise, Microsoft is currently besting Apple. Sad...
Click to expand...
Microsoft is the new Apple because a marketing VP at Microsoft wrote a blog post?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jakexb
MacRumors said:
In a blog post, the company said more people are switching from Macs to Surface devices than ever before following the "disappointment" of the new MacBook Pro, particularly among professional users.
Click to expand...
So Microsoft is suggesting that professionals who need a pro grade laptop are turning to a...Surface?! Pardon me whilst I stifle a cough. I get that's Apple is no longer playing to the true pro grade market. But no one can convince me that any Surface is pro grade just because the new MBPs no longer are. MS may be getting purchases from the bewildered and disgruntled, but I think the majority or pros have better impulse control than that.
 
I don't personally need a laptop with a touch screen, but I think Microsoft has been right that a combined operating system for both keyboard/mouse input as well as touch is a good idea. I currently use a Windows laptop, iPad, and an iPhone, but I admit it would be nice to "combine" my laptop and my tablet.
 
paulvee said:
I guess that's why there's such a long wait still for the new MB Pros? People who listen to marketing pablum are just more low-information media consumers. I'm not doing a spec analysis - you all know what you need and what you want - although I'd venture to guess that most of the bashers here have not actually used a new MBP and are just repeating the same 5 variations of posts ad nauseam. I'm not doing that, though. I'd like 32GB, myself, but can live without it on this machine at the moment, even running video, audio and photo apps. What I'm talking about is Microsoft talking about all the "disappointment." Do you know the kinds of morons who write PR copy?
Click to expand...

people who listen to the supply chain pablum are just more low-information media consumers. TC works with negatives on hand, he will always try to create only what is asked for, hence the 'waiting list'. If you want to interpret that as 'high demand', then you're wrong yourself.

easy huh?
 
  • Like
Reactions: drewyboy
I can completely see this as a fact, and I think more people are leaving Apple as a professional platform than ever before. I dont think its only the MacBook Pros fault, but apples decisions this last year in general. All their computers are falling behind, and nothing seem to be on the horizon. The only thing apple keeps updated are their high prices.
I decided to leave apple this fall, before the MacBook Pro, being sick of all the uncertainties and lack of computers with proper power. This is after 10 years of loyalty and some heavy investments into apple. ...After the MacBook Pro came out I felt I made the right choice leaving. The whole company seem to be falling behind on every aspect.
 
  • Like
Reactions: boilingDream, Ladybug, ackmondual and 3 others
craig1410 said:
As I sit here doing professional development work on my new 15" MBP+TB with 5h12m of battery life left having been working since around 10am (3pm now), and the fact that I choose to work on this machine when I have a 27" iMac 5K (4GHz/24GB/1TB) sitting upstairs, should speak volumes to anyone who doubts this machine is anything but great!

I respect the opinion of anyone who takes the time to form an actual opinion of their own rather than just 'retweeting' the opinion of others. Sadly I think many opinions above are 2nd hand at best, trolling at worst and based on nothing of substance.

Perhaps Microsoft have indeed seen more trade-ins than before but since we don't know if that was 3 instead of 2 last time or 300,000 instead of 500 last time, it's completely meaningless. I find it very hard to believe that anyone would switch from Mac to Windows because they might have to buy a dongle or two. Also bear in mind that the new MBP was severely supply constrained throughout November with no machines shipping until the last 2 weeks of the month.

Yes the price going up is unfortunate but here in the UK that is largely for FX reasons. Also, the addition of Touch ID along with the TB is not a cost-free addition and will most likely account for the rest of the increase. I personally like the TB and find it useful but for those who don't yet, you need to give it some time for developers to start incorporating it in their apps. For me, Touch ID alone is worth the extra cost anyway.

To anyone with an open mind reading this, don't take my word for it or anyone else's, go see a machine yourself and spend some time with it in the store. Do the same for competing products by all means but for heaven's sake make your choice based on your own, informed opinion.
Click to expand...


Quoted in full, because it was such a great comment... I started off after the Keynote signing the same line as everybody else.. "disappointment, over priced, under powered, gimmick!" but after playing around with friends new MacBooks (maxed out 15's) and the smaller ones in stores and comparing them, side by side, to "premium" Windows machines I have done a full U Turn and not too proud to admit it. The touch bar is actually brilliant, contextual buttons are a revelation, drilling down from menus from the top of your screen feels as old school as using floppy disks. The design and build quality is still miles ahead of anything else, the Surface Pro looks great in pics but the keyboard feels cheap and generic whereas the MBP's feels like a well designed and crafter bespoke offering.

I believe these are fantastic machines, which people are parroting criticism of, I won't be buying one myself because I can't justify the cost (I don't really need one - have an iMac, 2013 rMBP and built an i7/970 Hack for fun/htpc/gaming) but people should reserve judgement until they actually use one... from someone who has used one (a bit, played Doom, ran Sketch and PS) I feel these are the perfect balance of portability and power (also remember all the people who are claiming they are underpowered and that they'll carry on using their 2011 mBP's instead are kinda forgetting those 2011's are prob about half as fast as the 2016's).
 
  • Like
Reactions: craig1410
drewyboy said:
And Apple's "amazing" apple watch sales numbers are...??
Click to expand...
So you're saying then that Surface sales aren't amazing? This is just trolling by Microsoft. They know Apple rumor sites and places like The Verge will report on this and it will get lots fanboy war clicks and posts on twitter and Facebook. This is all about stirring the pot and Apple centric sites are perfectly happy doing so if it means more page views and clicks for their site.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HenryDJP and 5105973
iMcLovin said:
I can completely see this as a fact, and I think more people are leaving Apple as a professional platform than ever before. I dont think its only the MacBook Pros fault, but apples decisions this last year in general. All their computers are falling behind, and nothing seem to be on the horizon. The only thing apple keeps updated are their high prices.
I decided to leave apple this fall, before the MacBook Pro, being sick of all the uncertainties and lack of computers with proper power. This is after 10 years of loyalty and some heavy investments into apple. ...After the MacBook Pro came out I felt I made the right choice leaving. The whole company seem to be falling behind on every aspect.
Click to expand...

How's your experience in the wild so far?
 
Being a focused Mac user for way over a decade I got to say I was amazed how well-polished the latest version of Win 10 is (installed on my 2015 MacBook Pro). MacOS feels dated in comparison, the only marketable improvements in years basically being emojis and Siri. The i-ecosystem, proprietary apps (Sketch, Affinity etc) and device integration remain strong, but given Apple's continuous underwhelming offerings, hardware compromises and exorbitant pricing, not even ecosystem lockdown will suffice to keep Mac users on board for the years to come.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ackmondual
MacRumors said:



Microsoft has announced November was its best month ever for consumer Surface sales. In a blog post, the company said more people are switching from Macs to Surface devices than ever before following the "disappointment" of the new MacBook Pro, particularly among professional users.

surface-book-vs-new-macbook-pro.jpg
Shortly after the new MacBook Pro launched, Microsoft launched a promotion offering MacBook Pro and MacBook Air owners up to $650 credit towards a new Surface Book or Surface Pro 4. Microsoft also unveiled the Surface Studio in October, and the all-in-one desktop has been met with positive reviews.

Microsoft's Surface Book starts at $1,499, the same price as Apple's new 13-inch MacBook Pro with a standard row of function keys. Touch Bar-equipped models start at $1,799 for 13-inch models and $2,399 for 15-inch models.

Article Link: Microsoft Says 'Disappointment' of New MacBook Pro Has More People Switching to Surface Than Ever Before
Click to expand...
I spent 30 minutes at the Microsoft store playing with the Surface Studio and was so blown away. As a pro photographer I am looking to replace 2 retouching machines and the iMac is getting very long in the tooth as well. Retouching on the screen was so amazing and the ability to adjust it to any angle was amazing. The Dial was really amazing as well but I preferred it on the desk as oppose to on the screen. The only thing that has kept me from pre ordering two is hard drive file formatting as I have hundreds of mac formatted drives. Really hope apple is listening but to be honest I don't think they care.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hrebik1
Blackstick said:
We have 2200 Dell Latitudes, 800 Macs and about 100 Surfaces in the enterprise. Employee satisfaction rates with the Dells and Surfaces are about the same, around 35% happy... Macs are at 80%. It's a Surface, but it's also still Windows...
Click to expand...

Yep....the grass is always greener until you actually have to use Windows 10 for a bit.
 
I had been playing to buy a MBP, but I am not interested in the current revisions. I would have been thrilled with an update with the old form factor and a better graphics card than the new models. Obviously, that's not going to happen, so I'm staying away.

I bought a Surface Pro. I really, really like it (though it's mostly too big to use as a tablet, so it's a little confusing!). The touch screen is great. It seems ironic to me that Apple loves getting rid of any physical buttons and loves touch screens (iPhone, iPad, touch bar, etc.), but they are adamant against a touch screen laptop. I'm definitely a convert in that issue. "Microsoft Hello" where you just look at the tablet and it unlocks by recognizing your face is very nice too. Piece of cake to plug it into external monitors--I've been using it at business meetings and conferences. Very nice, when compared to iPads, that it can run real productivity software. IMHO, the iPad as a productive device is a joke.

Cons of the Surface -- I had to update the webcam driver before it would work.

Really, the only thing holding me back from switching off Mac entirely now is that I'm so wedded to the Apple ecosystem. With two MBPs at home, MP at work, multiple iPads, iPhone, and an Apple Watch (and heavy use of iCloud drive and iCloud keychain), the connectedness matters to me. I feel like it's a bitter pill to swallow every time Apple announces a new product now.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hrebik1
Rogifan said:
So you're saying then that Surface sales aren't amazing? This is just trolling by Microsoft. They know Apple rumor sites and places like The Verge will report on this and it will get lots fanboy war clicks and posts on twitter and Facebook. This is all about stirring the pot and Apple centric sites are perfectly happy doing so if it means more page views and clicks for their site.
Click to expand...

I'm just saying that criticizing a company for not putting out numbers is a little ridiculous when the company that they clearly are biased towards doesn't do that either. Wait till quarter investor calls and I'm sure MS will give the numbers, yet apple continues to hide numbers of products they like to make claims about.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PizzaBoxStyle, TechGeek76 and mkeeley
Add me to that list ... not really, but I AM returning my 2016" MBP. Far too buggy and Apple is gambling by releasing fixes too close to the return period.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mkeeley
Now MS is using the same marketing tactics as Apple. "Our best ever" doesn't mean it is the best.

If MS sold 100 Surface and now it sold 150, they can use "impressive grow, best sales ever" and all marketing words Apple loves to use. "Magical" comes to my mind.
 
The Surface pro isn't for everyone. While it's hybrid nature is appealing to some, it may be a pretty big turnoff for others. Same with the Surface Book, with only a couple hours of tablet battery life, it might be awkward for many. But people (eg. Apple) should take note that these systems are both innovate and available. It took a boldness and a sort of out of the box mentality to design these things, something Apple clearly now lacks.

And Microsoft isn't the only PC vendor. Take a look at some of the systems Dell and HP are now making. I have an XPS 13 that is, perhaps, the greatest laptop I've ever owned in my life. It's that good.

Still, when it was time for my last work system refresh, I picked a 13" MBP. I'm just more comfortable with it, in the way that I earn my livelihood. But we now have three PCs in the family (XPS 13, SP4, and a workstation). Oddly enough, I now use my PC for personal stuff and my Mac for work.

But we're gradually leaving the Apple ecosystem. When my kids broke one of our new Apple remotes, we scored two Roku sticks and one Fire TV stick for a bit more than the cost of replacing that one remote ($29 ea black Friday sale). Both systems are about as intuitive as our Apple TVs, and they actually crash less (new ATVs are much less stable than the ole ones were. Point is, Apple wants a 3-4x premium for... what?

Apple is getting complacent. Innovate, or die. They can't just keep raising their margins of nothing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: businezguy
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back