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TechZeke

macrumors 68020
Jul 29, 2012
2,455
2,289
Dallas, TX
That's not accurate. Some early reviews saw some variations in write performance, but even then write speeds were mostly good. Many if not most of the early wrinkles were worked out with software updates.
I stand corrected then. Every review I've seen so far has shown 300MB/s write with 1.5GB/s read.
 

Quu

macrumors 68040
Apr 2, 2007
3,429
6,837
I'd rather have OS X than Windows on my notebook. It just is such a great operating system. Things like a touch screen and a pen input or a detachable screen aren't enough to make me switch from OS X.

Also with owning an iPhone like I think most people probably do in the "first world" a Mac really works well with that device. I'd be giving up iMessage, Taking calls through my Mac etc. That's a lot to give up really. Also Time Machine, such a great piece of software that looks stunning and works so well. Still nothing like that for Windows from what I've seen (and I have looked).

I use Windows on my Desktop but if I wasn't playing games on that I'd probably go Mac there too. I would definitely never buy a Windows powered notebook. Now if Apple wants to license OS X to other companies that would sway me but the chances of that happening are zero.

I will say this though, the Surface Book is innovative. Microsoft should be proud that they made such a forward thinking notebook and I think it's about time they got into making great hardware for their platform, having other companies produce the hardware with them offering no alternatives until very recently was allowing other companies to dictate where their sailboat went and that's not good for any company that is trying to be different. No one will care about your baby as much as you do.
 

alexgowers

macrumors 65816
Jun 3, 2012
1,338
892
When will MS learn that they should just make a good laptop and a good tablet and then maybe after that they can surf into the midway point with a convertible laptop/tablet?

I'm sorry but i'm amongst the many people who don't want to skimp on the basics just to have a mechanical detachable hinge, loads of heavy batteries in the screen, touch and pen inputs that really are gimmicks on a laptop and all the awkwardness that goes with compromising. THEN THERE IS THE PRICE, oh god the price of the damned thing.

I really do love MS but i can't help but feel sorry for the stance they've taken, it's a whole they can't back out of now and i wish they had just explored it rather than so smugly bash every other method of making a computer.

They F'd up with win8 then windows mobile imploded then tablets running arm basically imploded now they're back with win10 and it's like they just lost 6 years to everyone else and they still haven't found a way to make the basics work any better than win vista and i hated that too!

For me MS need to get in bed with android, mix in windows 10 and android, pull in all things like contacts, messaging, video calls, webpages etc so when you have an android phone your windows machine just works with it. Exactly like a mac does with iPhones. I'm sure they could pull it off and make it seamless. Knowing MS they won't see that and it'll be the half assed non show it is now forever.
 

oplix

Suspended
Jun 29, 2008
1,460
487
New York, NY
"Things an (insert apple product) can't do" - literal translation meaning they (microsoft) are charging an undeserved premium. If this wasn't the case then the selling point would be the price.
 

wiesemeyer

macrumors newbie
Dec 1, 2008
1
0
Wow, i must admit, I really liked these ads. It's something fresh from Microsoft that we haven't seen in awhile. Kinda selling me on a Surface book!

I have been a very long-time buyer and user of Apple products... and still have most of them over many years of use. When Apple was late bringing out a bigger iPhone, I bought Samsung's, only to come back when Apple finally delivered a bigger phone. I then wanted a touchscreen laptop and tablet combo and again Apple did not have anything close to the Surface Book. After a lot of in-store tryouts, I bought one and I love it. Apple needs to be quicker to the market. I use all facets of the SB and hope Apple shows me what they can do along these lines some day.
 

swajames

macrumors regular
Jan 29, 2003
164
257
I stand corrected then. Every review I've seen so far has shown 300MB/s write with 1.5GB/s read.

No, you're partly right. The Anandtech review did highlight an issue with the Samsung SSD and slower write speeds in some cases but it seems to have been addressed (by Microsoft and you could also download an updated driver from Samsung which helped). I've run some tests on my SSD and I get good write speeds but you may have seen some of the early benchmarks. As I said earlier, the machine is great now but on launch there were some wrinkles...
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
You can't do that on a your Mac, but why would you want to? a better question

That's why we have the iPad Pro and (rumored) smaller tablet..

I can never imagine a desktop/laptop actually good for having to hold your wrist up till u to draw to the screen till u shed tears from the pain...in one hand.

Microsoft is overstepping the simple concept of drawing. I'd go back to Windows if i could, but Mac apps are preventing me.... I spent too much on them :(
 

Chupa Chupa

macrumors G5
Jul 16, 2002
14,835
7,396
Are you really sure they don't care?

It was just a snarky post. Having fun @ Apple's expense since they are a bit laggard in pushing out updates with the latest chips and graphics and such it seems like the red headed step child. But also aimed as MS because, honestly, reviving Mac vs PC is rather lame.
 

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
3000x2000 on the Surface Book ? even with a lower graphics than the MPR-Retina ?

MS is up to some tricks of their own too.
 

Avalontor

macrumors regular
Apr 14, 2010
175
12
The Surface Book is a $1500+ tabbook that needs to make a profit for Microsoft on the hardware sale itself. This is a completely different competition compared to when Microfoft just licensed out Windows and did not need to care about OEM profits and losses. Apple owns high-priced notebooks with over 90% market share. Are you really sure they don't care? Other than 1991 Google is giving away capable OSes and cloud services left and right. Microsoft's software business is in danger to be commoditized and it's high margins are under pressure from freeware. Yes they are really that desperate and marginalized in the new world of mobile computing. Microsoft is sinking fast into insignificance.


Are you sure having 100 Billion in the bank is considered sinking fast into insignificance?
 
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mi7chy

macrumors G4
Oct 24, 2014
10,495
11,155
Going back to a MacBook Pro feels archaic. Always reaching for the screen but it doesn't do anything, force touch gimmick is one of the first things I turn off in favor of effortless tap but it's missing double-tap to drag, etc. It's like the feeling going from a car to a golf cart.

On the other hand, Microsoft is not faultless. They need to offer a larger Surface Pro like in the 13 to 14" range, offer 8GB DRAM as base with fanless Core M and offer SAMOLED screen option to be free of backlight bleed.
 

997941

Suspended
Oct 13, 2015
37
78
*Surface Book bricked after a shoddily-tested Windows Update corrupts OS and causes system to be stuck in a bluescreen loop*

"My Mac can't do that"

Lol...nah, Apple will just brick your iPhone when you don't have them personally repair a part ;)
 

maceric

macrumors member
Jul 27, 2015
56
61
Now, Apple, please borrow some inspiration from the surface book. Say what you want about MS or Apple, but the Surface Book is the first thing in years that have made me consider "switching".
Sadly… I feel the same… I LOVE the detachable and flippable screen/tablet. And this will only become better next year for the Surface Book 2. Microsoft is coming back and doing it right… copying Apple… but innovating more, in my opinion. Apple user since 1995. 7 iPhones. 4 iPads. 4 iPods. 3 Apple TVs. etc…
 

GoodWheaties

macrumors 6502a
Jul 8, 2015
789
840
They're still not fixing the biggest issue though. You have to use Windows. As someone that has OS X, FreeBSD, and W10... I wouldn't wish Windows 10 on my worst enemy. God it's bad. I hate that just for simple things I need to troubleshoot an "issue." Here are two examples of things that I found to be a JOKE:

1) my computer doesn't hibernate. If I install something, I have to redo the power settings to make sure it will even sleep. If I leave USB stuff plugged in I cannot wake with those things. (Mouse and keyboard!)
2) my computer wouldn't stream video to my Xbox one. I kept receiving "an unknown error occurred." When I looked it up, I found that you need to enable media streaming in windows media player.

1. OS X would do a much better job at letting you know if something is keeping it from sleeping
2. OS X would have told me what needs to be on. Like when you try to share files and it says "go to system preferences... Etc etc."

Microsoft can't get the simplest things right.
Agreed. My brothers Vista computer died awhile ago so he bought a new computer with Win8.1 and it wouldn't play his camera videos. I had to go over and help him figure out that he had to download some updates and set up a different default media player. Out of the box. To play videos. Ridiculous.
 
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Deuce on the Clock

macrumors regular
Jan 9, 2016
219
345
My own universe
Yeah I'd expect to do different things with a computer that costs up to 3x as much also.
X.



Following the launch of a few ads focused around the advantages of Windows 10 PCs over Macs, this week Microsoft continued its campaign with new commercials showcasing the Microsoft Surface Book. The ads feature wildlife photographer Tim Flach describing the pros of the Surface Book, pointing out a few things that he "just can't do" on a Mac.

The first video showcases Flach's "initial impressions of the Surface Book," with the photographer commenting on the detail provided by the two-in-one laptop/tablet device. Flach also detaches the top half of the Surface Book to directly edit and manipulate his photographs. He ends the video stating, "I can't do that on my Mac."


The second ad delves deeper into the powers of the Surface Pen and its 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, with Flach comparing the experience he had with Microsoft's device to his time as a painter. Despite the touch-screen similarities the Surface Book shares with the iPad Pro, Microsoft keeps the comparison specifically to Apple's Mac line in each video.


As pointed out by a reader of The Loop, the score for Microsoft's new ads skews close to a Retina MacBook Pro commercial from 2012. Both videos use variants of "Song" by Kidstreet, with Apple's ad playing the "String Version" of the tune and Microsoft's playing the "Reimagined" version.


A third video posted to the company's YouTube channel echoes much of the sentiment of the first two. Microsoft sells the Surface Book starting at $1,499 and goes up all the way to $3,199 thanks to a boosted 1TB flash storage and Intel Core i7 processor. The company first introduced the Surface Book at an event last October, referring to the versatile computing device as "the fastest laptop ever made, anywhere, on any planet."

They don't let you do these things for your own good. Follow blindly people. Apple knows best.
 

StoneJack

macrumors 68030
Dec 19, 2009
2,501
1,632
My take on that is that everything Surface did on that CM, can be done on iPad (not even Pro).
If you need higher sensitivity levels, Pro is a better choice. So graphic artists would really buy Pro or maybe specialized tablets. Who needs then Windows with touch? Surface has been out for number of years, and it didn't catch large portion of market - thats the evidence that Surface is going nowhere, especially with Windows as OS. Trying to use ageing and almost unfixable old desktop system with touch skin is not very popular as witnessed by market.The inefficient OS makes total battery time fall from advertised 9 hours to 3 hours (http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/en_US/pdp/Surface-Pro-4/productID.325711500)

In (whole year) 2015 Surface sold in total 6 million units. http://pocketnow.com/2016/02/03/microsoft-surface-sales-numbers-q4-2015-whole-year. In 2015 MS reported slowing Surface sales and falling revenue as well. http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/22/9599674/microsoft-q1-2016-earnings

According to Statista, total sales of iPad in only 1st quarter of 2016 were 16.2 million units or 2.5 times higher than for whole year of Surface sales.

Moreover, for total of 2015 Apple sold 52.8 million units of iPads (Q1-Q4, 2015).

In 1st quarter of 2016, sales of iPads increased from Q4 2015' 9.8 million to 16.2 million.

Yes, iPad sales are gradually down, because of higher competition (including Surface). But in terms of total market sales, yearly Surface even isn't comparable to quarterly sales of iPad, especially after introduction of Pro and growth on quarter to quarter basis of 65% for iPads in 1Q of 2016.

With the touch skin, Windows seems to reach the final point where it could be modified further. Forking the surface line also is the evidence that MS is out of ideas. It had to toss away its ARM units and OS, instead leaving only Windows, but it also doesn't help much as global PC market is sinking.

Surface is nothing revolutionary. Touch based Windows notebooks were floating around since 2000 and they didn't make a good impression. Surface is just a same thing, maybe rebranded but it is still a Windows notebook.
 
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jkichline

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2010
362
190
It still runs Windows. Today I upgraded a Windows 8.1 Surface Pro 2 to Windows 10. Immediately upon using both versions (I was testing something in Explorer/Edge), I found my self sighs aloud and breathing heavy as my frustration grew. Now I was a Windows and .NET developer for about 10 years, so I have used Windows and administered Windows too. I realized when I switched to Mac that my stress and anxiety came down considerably. It's nice to know that Microsoft hasn't lost that "magic" to make me want to get an EKG.
 

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Nov 8, 2008
5,416
4,182
Florida, U.S.A.
Now, Apple, please borrow some inspiration from the surface book. Say what you want about MS or Apple, but the Surface Book is the first thing in years that have made me consider "switching".
Well, my friend, think it over carefully. I have a friend who bought one and later got an iPad Pro instead.
And he's using it more now, according to his reply:


Screen Shot 2016-03-09 at 22.51.37.png
 
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