Microsoft Says Its New Surface Book 2 is Twice as Powerful as Latest MacBook Pro

[Labeno]

Wow, much better GPU (NVIDIA 1060 with 6 Gigs) compared to best MacBook Pro using AMD with 4 Gigs.
This means you can run CUDA and much better VR and AR apps.
BTW, Windows is much much better than it used to be. Don't judge without giving it an honest try.
BTW2, I've been an Apple lover for over 15 years... Tim Cook is slowly changing that. But I still love the iPhone.

 

[max2]

No one cares. It isn't as small as a iPad and not as stable.

 

[D.T.]

Microsoft says those tech specs make the Surface Book 2 up to five times more powerful than the original Surface Book, and twice as powerful as the latest MacBook Pro, but it didn't specify which configurations.

Didn't specify which configs, but more importantly, exactly what performance metric(s) are they talking about? I'd assume something GPU related, maybe specifically around gaming where the GTX 1060 might shine - but that's still pretty vague, if there's a 2X performance difference, spit it out, don't use marketing-speak

 

[0186279]

Looks to me like the same price as their MBP counterparts. Does that mean we can stop bitching about Apple's prices being too high?

You may have missed the "twice as powerful as the MBP" part. The reason we complain about the prices of MBP's is because it isn't a pro machine anymore. What you get for the money isn't worth it to many (but is of course worth it to many based on operating system and I totally get that). If you can or need to run Windows, you get way more bang for your buck with these specs.

 

[truthertech]

The big question is whether these are going to be more reliable than the previous ones, which had horrendous reliability problems leading Consumer Reports to pull its recommendation:

"At issue, the publication says, is the “predicted reliability” of the Microsoft machines compared to most other brands, which Consumer Reports said was worse by a "statistically significant margin."

Consumer Reports based its decision on the results of an annual subscriber survey about the products such people own and use.

It estimates Microsoft’s laptops and tablets will experience breakage rates of 25% within two years of ownership, loosely defined as any issue that comes up that prevents the computer from working as the owner expects.

As a result, Consumer Reports added that it couldn’t currently recommend any other Microsoft laptops or tablets, including the latest Surface Pro model that was introduced in June."

 

[iKrivetko]

Why are they using the non-retina in their image?

 

[csurfr]

Looks to me like the same price as their MBP counterparts. Does that mean we can stop bitching about Apple's prices being too high?

Actually the 15” is more expensive than the MacBook Pro. The base 15” surface book only includes 8gb of ram for 2499. To get 16gb you have to spend 2899. Quite a bit more than the 2399 MacBook Pro with 256/16, and still more than the 2799 MacBook Pro with 512/16.

 

[Mobster1983]

Twice as powerful? Really don’t see how that is possible. Seems like they are comparing their top end Surface 15” to the entry level 13” MBP. That, to me, seems to have gone over the line in terms of deceptive advertising.

Also can’t wait to see battery life tests. Somehow I don’t think it will do that well under load.

I also note they talk about the “latest MBP” but have a picture of one from three generations ago.
*edit: um wow. Looking again that is the 2012 Model. WTF?

Oh Microsoft. *rollseyes

 

[bax2003]

Windows has come a long way. It's a lot better than what people think.

Windows 10 is worst than you think.

 

[mattopotamus]

I am sure the "more powerful" claims are comparing a maxed out Surface to the lowest end config Macbook Pro. That is nothing new though, I would do the same if I was in marketing.

 

[mi7chy]

Now we're talking. 15", Intel Coffee Lake, gaming VR capable Nvidia GTX1060, largest software ecosystem and no stupid emoji bar gimmicks.

This also puts to rest the silly fake news that Microsoft is dropping the Surface line.

 

[bgraham]

Not saying much, a freaking iPhone is more powerful than 13 inch models which are still limited to dual core processors.

And all the people that are complaining about Windows, this is not 2010, Windows 10 is excellent and is better than MacOS in some respects but worse in others. Both OS's are very good these days which is only good for the consumer.

 

[The Mercurian]

Microsoft says those tech specs make the Surface Book 2 up to five times more powerful than the original Surface Book, and twice as powerful as the latest MacBook Pro, but it didn't specify which configurations.

Power ? Who cares about that?! Tell us what really matter....how thin is it ????


...said nobody ever

 

[Labeno]

Am I the only one that thinks Apple is getting confusing for customers:
- 8 different iPhones
- 5 different MacBooks
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple after being fired, the first thing he did was get rid of all the duplicate products.
I wish he could come back again.

 

[citysnaps]

When Surface Book 2 units make their way out to customers, it will be interesting to see if Consumer Reports customer surveys cause them to put the device in the Not Recommended category, as Surface Book predecessors are. Link.

 

[downpour]

[Actually, Windows isn't half too bad these days ]

You're right it's not half bad... it's 100% bad.

Seriously though, I try and avoid using Windows as much as possible. The way it handles fonts and high resolution screens is poor, I can't stand the file explorer and the UI is a cluttered mess and a mishmash of old and new ideas. The whole thing seems to have been engineered to ensure the average user's PC will slow to a crawl within a year or so of light use. Perhaps this is a tactic to increase the sale of new PCs.

Microsoft should just scrap all their old code and start again from scratch.

 

[macs4nw]

Article Link: Microsoft Says Its New Surface Book 2 is Twice as Powerful as Latest MacBook Pro

This is definitely a very slick ad for that new SB2, which is indeed one gorgeous product.
Btw, that comparison picture does not portray the latest MBP, but looks like a 2012 13" unibody (non-Retina) MBP.

 

[SoundChaos]

So I'm a little confused.

For 13.5" Surface Book vs 13" MacBook Pro, it's 10 hour battery life is 70% longer than the MBP's 10 hour battery life? And according to the specs on Microsofts website, it says HD 620 graphics, not UHD 620, which means its based on the same Kaby lake 7th gen and not the current 8th gen refresh ones, and this same generation cpu is twice as fast? It remains to be seen if they are using the U or M variant I suppose.

The baseline model appears to be mostly the same specs internally as the 13" MBP 256gb sans-touch bar, for the exact same price. The Mac for that price has a pretty substantial bump with the iris plus graphics vs the HD 620, and I'd be willing to wager cash that the SSD in the 2017 13" MBP is significantly faster as well.

Devil's advocate though, Microsofts simple option for a GTX 1050 gpu in 13" makes it a pretty compelling option, and the 15" models do seem to have some better specs for similar pricing. This is probably where the 2x as fast comes from, but I still have some doubts.

 

[seatton]

Though I will never buy a Surface, competition is good. I hope Apple will focus more on productivity. My iPad Pro still feels like a toy.

 

[donster28]

I’m glad there is competition and good for Microsoft for directly mentioning who they’re going against. But have you noticed that as these big two battle it out, we the consumers are paying a high price for it? I’m just noticing that these gadget prices are scyrocketing as they get upgraded each time...and we’re still buying.

 

[mytdave]

Time will tell. We'll see if these new Surface products work well, or die miserable deaths like the previous models. As for performance, let's see what 3rd parties report instead of relying on fresh Microsoft Marketing Manipulation. Just looking at a spec sheet though, looks like MS has bested Apple, although that's no big surprise since "Pro" in Apple-speak isn't really Pro anymore.

 

[akfgpuppet]

How is this twice as powerful as a Macbook? They claim:

The new Surface Book 2 packs 70% more battery life than MacBook Pro 13”. Surface Book 2 13.5” boasts a higher resolution than MacBook Pro 13”.

Those aren't indicators of a laptop being more powerful.

 

[alexanderkilts]

While MacOS might not be as superior or reliable as it used to be (in my experience; stability and propriety issues frustrate more and more each year) and Windows is getting better, it only takes a few days trying out Windows again to remind me of how far Windows still has to go to win me over. It'd be a downgrade to upgrade, IMO.

So unfortunately I'm still resigned to inferior hardware, either because Apple's focus is on iOS instead of the Mac (or on mass adoption instead of power users) (both understable if I zoom out, but frustrating as longtime individual user) or because the incremental Mac laptop improvements of the last four years don't justify the price of an upgrade/replace.

These are pretty great, though. If they can be Hackintoshed, I'm in. Or maybe I'll become a two-laptop person for a while in anticipation of an i-give-up transition.

 

[Appleaker]

Well it usually is, helped a lot this time by the 8th gen core bump as well the fantastic GPU.

 

[sdvinin]

I get why Microsoft can only compare to Apple but the tech media doesn’t. Why aren’t they comparing to other Windows laptops?

It's like comparing apples to windows.