Microsoft's Latest Anti-MacBook Ad Focuses on Surface Pro 4's Touchscreen

[kingtj]

That's my feeling about the Surface Pro 4 at least. No first hand experience with the earlier models.
But so far, we had problems including the front camera not functioning on one of them, and the microphone not working on another. Still another had issues running external displays reliably. (You never knew when one of the displays would fail to detect and just remain blank. Substituting another Surface Pro 4 with the same cables and displays worked fine - so had to be something with the hardware in one of them.)

And yes, with no solid surface to sit it on - it stinks trying to use it as a regular laptop with the keyboard cover. It's ok as a tablet - except I don't want to be limited to using it that way, or else I'd rather just have the iPad.

After using Surface pro 1 to 4, my thought is still the surface requires a solid surface to run effectively. I still go back to the laptop after a while. furthermore, I had so many bad hardware issues that I have given up on it. Lastly, i have gone to other vendors for the same thing. i figure why i am paying MS when i can get the same product with HP/Lenovo etc. anyhow. just IMO.

 

[Martyimac]

I am considering a "tablet" to replace my old 2009 13"MBP and my iPad. I don't need them both and a tablet form (iPad/SP4) would be suitable for how I use them. I'm hoping this thread doesn't derail to much and helps me make an informed decision.

 

[Kebabselector]

Awful ad to be honest.

 

[Taipan]

When will they finally realize that their selfmade music is just awkward?
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It's funny to me to see the commercials. They are just terrible. But they also make fun of an outdated laptop because Apple has refused to update their line for too long. Hopefully this works to force Apple to actually update this year. I also note that they aren't doing a comparison to the iPad Pro which can do everything they claim their surface does (sans the port or track pad). Why not compare and compete there..... hmm.....

Very doubtful that the next (or any future) update will bring a touch screen to the Macbook. So this has nothing to do with the MacBook not having been updated for some time.

 

[iMi]

Pretty good and funny. I wonder what all the detractors would say if the same ad was made by Apple. You guys would be saying it's the best ad ever made. It's clever and catchy. Apple wiped the floor with Microsoft in the "Mac vs PC" commercials. Overall, best advertising campaign ever made, but some were really cheese, especially toward the end, and no one complained.

Give Microsoft credit when credit is due.

 

[mi7chy]

Message is right on but music could be better. After using a modern hybrid device like the Surface Pro 4 or Surface Book, going back to a Macbook feels like a long in the tooth dinosaur without pen or touch input. Macbook clamshell form factor is the same as the ancient magnesium Sony VAIO Z505 I had in 1998 or so. And, iPad Pro is limited to running blown up phone apps and not professional software. You can spend over $2000 for Macbook and iPad Pro to get somewhat equivalent functionality but without the integration of Surface. Two turkeys don't make an eagle. Maybe the delays mean Apple is making a Surface type device running MacOS.

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Yeesh! That was brutal!

 

[selfsilent]

Let people buy the Surface Pro. People only learn from their mistakes, not through the mistakes of others.

 

[FightTheFuture]

well that's just a bad ad, nothing more.

The purpose of this campaign is to call attention to the product. So even if it's bad, it doesn't mean it doesn't work. But if I were in the market for a tablet, and not a notebook - i would wonder why this is directed to the Mac and not the iPad Pro.

 

[62tele]

That is an awful ad. Bad singing, bad lyrics and writing on a vertical screen looks uncomfortable and unnatural.
Microsoft- still out of step and awkward.

 

[luisfrocha]

Golden. Microsoft are the new Apple.

Yeah, but Apple (as far as I remember) has never used a comparison in their commercials. They simply show what their products can do without saying "ours is better than theirs because...".
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Does MR need clicks that bad that every Microsoft Surface ad is a front page story? Microsoft is targeting the Mac with their Surface campaigns. We get it. Why does every new ad require a front page story on this site?

Because they're funny and a lame attempt from MS; their dying kicks, so to say.

 

[Costino1]

Shouldn't they be comparing the Surface to the iPad Pro?

I'm an Apple guy at heart and have everything Apple, but have to have a Windows HP laptop for work (even though I get an iPad and iPhone with it too for work); and I wish daily that I had a Macbook for work.

 

[luisfrocha]

The only thing worse is Apple's neglected product line. There isn't a single excuse that can justify it. It's pathetic and everyone knows it.

My hope is that they're taking this long because they're cooking up something great for later this year. *crossing fingers*

 

[Mrjoedot]

Last time MS went against iPad Pro, now Macbook
MS must not have known which product is the actual competitor

 

[luisfrocha]

Shouldn't they be comparing the Surface to the iPad Pro?

I'm an Apple guy at heart and have everything Apple, but have to have a Windows HP laptop for work (even though I get an iPad and iPhone with it too for work); and I wish daily that I had a Macbook for work.

Yeah, they should, but then they'd be hurting themselves lol. Despite their product being "better" than the iPad, they're still not selling as many units, I think not even half. About the only valid point in that commercial was that the Surface has a feature complete version of Office, not the mobile version, but whose fault is it that it's not complete? Microsoft's, not Apple's.

 

[vpro]

It is a sad, sad reality when other companies want to compete with APPLE, but non of them take themselves seriously, they all become clownish and rather plain ol' pathetic, their loopy arguments in these ads and showing no strength in the industrial design areas, non, tells you a lot about their worthless products period. It is sad. But it is extremely funny at the same time

 

[scottw324]

Until Win10 ****s up your pen.

I have a Surface Pro 3. While I like many things of the SP3, I am looking to switch to a MacBook Air 13". If I had $1200 right now, I would already have swapped.

 

[luisfrocha]

Don't worry guys, Apple told us the iPad Pro is just like a PC

True, though they said "You can do all this, just like on a PC". They didn't say "The iPad Pro is better than a Surface 4 because we have this or that". It's close, but not quite the same as what Microsoft is doing.

 

[barbu]

Pretty good and funny. I wonder what all the detractors would say if the same ad was made by Apple. You guys would be saying it's the best ad ever made. It's clever and catchy. Apple wiped the floor with Microsoft in the "Mac vs PC" commercials. Overall, best advertising campaign ever made, but some were really cheese, especially toward the end, and no one complained.

Give Microsoft credit when credit is due.

Apple would never let something like this see the light of day. The song-writing and rhyming couplets are crimes against humanity. Nothin wrong with being cute or even self-deprecating, but these ads fail on all counts. It just ends up looking foolish.

 

[luisfrocha]

The keyboard & trackpad on the mac have always been far superior to anything on the windows platform because of the way windows interprets input devices. You 'must' use a mouse with windows to get an ok experience. Now they have a pen and touch, they just expect everyone to assume thats better than one really good input device.

I really feel sorry for MS that they don't understand that. I'd prefer they make a great laptop and a great tablet with no compromises and nothing 'detachable'. Some laptops come very close, the razor blade is high up there despite it's ugly logos and vile green accents, it's a vastly superior device than the surface.

The Razor Blade reminds me of the black PowerBook G3, just more squarish.

 

[shadowmatt]

Why even bother to compete, Apple in computers is not what it once was, Microsoft is doing Apple a favour pretending that Macs are even relevant compared to other computers.

 

[luisfrocha]

Surface Pro: a tablet and a personal computer. A tablet and a personal computer.

If they (Microsoft) had done it right, then the conversation would be different. When Steve said "an iPod, a Phone, and an Internet communicator", they had built something and done it right (for the time). Microsoft's Surface might be a tablet and a personal computer, but as long as they don't do it right, their attempts will fall short.
Apple didn't rush to just slap together something that would do the job, even if it did it half-assedly; that's what Microsoft is doing. Like I've always said, "Just because you can doesn't mean you SHOULD" and "If you're going to do something, make sure you do it right to begin with".

 

[9081094]

The only thing worse is Apple's neglected product line. There isn't a single excuse that can justify it. It's pathetic and everyone knows it.

I hear you. Apple let others make fun of them because now it's the time they can. Waiting for Microsoft is introducing its iMac competitor in October, then the chaos is complete. Everyone is doing it and if Apple won't come up with something special to compete, it's time for me to move on. What the **** is going on at Apple?

 

[Black Magic]

The Surface is a bad product for Microsoft. I took a gander at reviews from various sites like Amazon and saw a lot of what many are saying here: hardware issues across the board! Battery issues some up a lot and apparently die right after the warranty is up. Microsoft claims that it can be used as a tablet, but there aren't many desirable apps on the Surface Pro.

Microsoft is trying really hard these days to stay relevant but that ship done sailed years ago. Buy a Microsoft product now at your own risk.

 

[colorfuel]

Windows 10 is ok as an OS. The worst part beeing its update system. Interrupting your workflow out of nowhere and auto-installing them.

Windows 10 as a tablet OS is laughable at best.

But the worst thing is needing to use the horrible, horrible intel gpu drivers. Seriously, the people at intel responsible for drivers should be put together with the Windows Update crew and made to use Windows 3.11 for the rest of their lives.


I am mad at Apple for neglecting their MBA line, which are, imo, the best Laptops ever built. (Still using a 2010 11" MBA) I do not like the MacBook for its slow CPU and limited physical connectivity, but at least their products do what they are advertised to do and the OS is just so much better for my personal use.

Bring the new MBA soon pls.