Microsoft's Surface Book Ads Borrow Music From Apple to Focus on Things a Mac 'Just Can’t Do'

[LordVic]

If it is not exclusively written on their website - then the answer is "no"
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Does the Microsoft website specify which i7 they use in the SB?

TO answer mine, and everyone elses questions I just priced them out and dug for the stats just to see what you get for the Best price of either:

Surface Book Max Configuration: $4,249.00 (CAD)
CPU: Core i7-6600U http://ark.intel.com/products/88192/Intel-Core-i7-6600U-Processor-4M-Cache-up-to-3_40-GHz
Graphics: Nvidia Custom GPU based on Nvidia's Maxwell series chipset w/ 1gb GDDR5 RAM
Display: Detachable 13.5" 3000x2000 3:2 IPS 10-point Touchscreen Display
Memory: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3 RAM
Storage: 1TB NVMe PCI-E storage
WIFI: 802.11AC
Ports: 2x 3.0 USB, SD Card, Headshet, MiniDisplay Port.
Cameras: 5.0Mpx front facing, 8.0mpx Rear Facing
Included in purchase: Surface Pen

Top of the line 13" MacBook Pro: $3,279 (CAD)
CPU: Core i7-5557U http://ark.intel.com/products/84993/Intel-Core-i7-5557U-Processor-4M-Cache-up-to-3_40-GHz
Graphics: Intel integrated Iris Graphics 6100
Display: 13.3" 2560x1600 4:3 IPS Display
Memory: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3 RAM
Storage: 1TB NVMe PCI-E Storage
WIFI: 802.11AC
Ports: Thunderbolt, 2 x USB 3.0, SD card, HDMI, Headset
Cameras: 720p Front Facing
Including in Purchase: N/A

Top of the line 15" MacBook Pro: $3,899.00 (CAD)
CPU: Core i7-4980HQ http://ark.intel.com/products/83503/Intel-Core-i7-4980HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-4_00-GHz
Graphics: Radio R9-370X w/ 2gb DDR5
Display: 15.4" 2880x1800 4:3 IPS Display
Memory: 16GB 1600MHZ DDR3
Storage: 1TB NVMe PCI-E Storage
WIFI: 802.11AC
Ports: Thunderbolt, 2 x USB 3.0, SD card, HDMI, Headset
Cameras: 720p Front Facing
Including in Purchase: N/A


Anyone able to do pricing on these in USD? I keep getting CAD prices when I do them since I'm in Canada

 

[bjet767]

And, no thanks on touching my screen. Having smudges, and smears all over is not visually appealing to anyone using a laptop. That doesn't add anything to the experience besides adding cleaning time.

Well, that's just an opinion and many of us would like, a great deal, the ability to use OS X with touch screen.

Also you're opinion seems to fly in the face of all those Windows purchasers of this new Book.

 

[LordVic]

Well, its a little complicated. For the non-dGPU models, the the Surface Book carries a $200 premium. The dGPU wouldn't even be much faster if the 13" rMBP was using Skylake with the Iris 550.

Also, Apple's and Microsoft's SSDs aren't created equal. MS's SSDs only get 300mb/s write, IIRC.

To finish, the high end models are actually even more expensive than a 15" rMBP. At $2700, the only real benefit is the detachable screen. Compare it to Razer blade 14, and the value is even worse.

With that said, its a cool machine and would totally buy one. The pen and detachable screen are really going to have to make a difference to your workflow on to make it worth it on the high end, especially when the rMBPs and Razer Blade 14 get skylake.

I jsut did a pricing above

But as for the SSD's. Not sure where you're getting that. The Surface Book is using the same storage type as the Mac pros. NVMe PCI-E Based and is getting similar performance http://www.anandtech.com/show/9767/microsoft-surface-book-2015-review/3

You might be thinking of the Surface Pro's, which I believe are using different configuration
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one thing microsoft can't do... bootcamp

Thats not something to be proud of.

Bootcamp is required on OSx because Apple doesn't play nice with others. Enough demand was given to allow Windows installations on Apple hardware, which artificially via software lock in, attempts to block other OS's from installing. The solution Apple provided was Bootcamp, to allow only their selection of Windows to be installed alongside (and not replacing) OSx.

Meanwhile, in "PC" land. There's virtually nothing built in to block you from running any Operating system natively, without the need for "bootcamp". Most windows PC's, including many of Microsoft own hardware can multi-boot any OS you choose to install. If you decide you're done with Windows, go ahead and install Linux on it. Or Try hackintoshing OSx. You can try to even write your own!

Without replacing portions of the EUFI on an Apple computer, you're not going to be able to do that due to software lockin on the Mac
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Doubt that there will be too many photographers wanting to touch their laptop screens.

The touching portion isn't great for photo work. More for UI navigation. EG: Slider bars in lightroom are nicer to manipulate with a touchscreen

The real "winner" for photographers is the surface pen

 

[FoxDev]

Does anyone think it's a duplicate of surface pro? I think they can develop different keyboards for different contexts. I mean better performance attachable keyboard for home users and light performance (such as type cover) for travel. Of course, lacking proper apps is a shame for surface devices. We could see a lot of migrating from apple to surface. Apple and Microsoft they both can do better, but not due to commercial reasons.

 

[nightsky971]

...

 

[xDKP]

I might be wrong here, and it might be because they don't want to piss off their partners (more than they already do by releasing this thing), but why attach one of the smaller players in the market? I get it with attacking the iPhone, because of the amount of phones they sell, but the Mac people are not really switching to this, unless the design REALLY gets a big big overhaul (functionality wise it looks pretty great!)

 

['Dorian]

I'm not happy with Windows 10 at all. The blatant spying features and forced updates at probably the worst. So far every time windows auto updates, it has interfered with one thing or another I was working on and it constantly causes problems with other software I use. Luckily my win-pc is basically just for gaming.

 

[jedifaka]

Except for now, iPad doesn't run desktop apps like Photoshop, which was pretty much the whole point of the commercial, no?

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.

 

[puckoon14]

He can't do that on his Mac? So he has a Mac, presumably for personal use, and only uses Windows for work because he has to? That's a terrible message from MS.

I happen to know he has at least 4 Macs in his office/studio and owns an iPhone. Maybe he has a PC at home. He even shot the promo pics of the Siamese Fighting fish for Apple's latest iPhone.

 

[ackmondual]

The new MS devices are the first ones that perked my interest and when combined with the the holdup in Apple's ability to get Skylake into their products in a reasonable time period I have been looking at them. I've been a Mac user since 1984, and have never used a product from MS. When I visit a MS store and fool around with the products I confess I have no idea what is going on. To illustrate my ignorance, I do not know how you find and start a program on one of these things. Usually one of the smiling droids working there pops up and starts showing me things the products will do, and this doesn't help. I tell them all I want to do is look at photos, delete the ones I don't like and do light edits using Photoshop on the ones I want to keep and run a chrome browser in the background. Instead the droid starts drawing circles around text blocks, moving them around, showing me to "share" them. This has happened more than once, and I have no idea what or why the droid is doing this - my best guess is they're programmed to do these odd things and hope it sells something. From what I can tell, the screen resolution on their products is excellent, the pen is a very handy device to have. I have concerns about the hinge on that laptop gizmo, I'd worry that crap in my backpack would get caught in and mess it up and I don't like the way the laptop doesn't close all the way. Software maturity seems to be lacking, what I've managed to find on them indicates they lack a lot of functionality when compared with the Mac. Photo sharing is one area I've asked a lot of the droids about, it's clear that's not something they know anything about. I keep hoping if I visit enough stores I'll run into a droid that uses a camera and can show me something I might be able to understand.

paragraphs please!

 

[jedifaka]

You missed the opening line of the ad where he says, "This is the first time I've worked on the Surface Book?"
That's pretty much the whole theme of the campaign. "Hey everybody. This Mac guy loves our product."

More interesting to MacRumors readers would be if Tim Flach really switched as a result of his introduction to Surface Book.

I happen to know he has at least 4 Macs in his office/studio and owns an iPhone. Maybe he has a PC at home. He even shot the promo pics of the Siamese Fighting fish for Apple's latest iPhone.

 

[JorgTheElder]

Also, plastering the screen with grease and fingerprints one minute and then using a trackpad the next is anything but professional.

You are _so_ right... touch-screen devices will never take off.. /rolls-eyes
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I'm not happy with Windows 10 at all. The blatant spying features and forced updates at probably the worst. So far every time windows auto updates, it has interfered with one thing or another I was working on and it constantly causes problems with other software I use. Luckily my win-pc is basically just for gaming.

Then I assume you don't use any iOS devices.. they, like nearly everything in the mobile-device category, have pretty much all the same telemetry gathering. The big difference is that it has been there since day one and does any attract much attention.
Edit... It has been pointed out to me that this up until the last two generations of iOS devices this was really only true with devices that had mobile connectivity. Since the introduction of Siri/Cortana/OK-Google and other cloud services, Windows 10 style telemetry is pretty much a standard feature of all modern mobile devices.

 

[puckoon14]

You missed the opening line of the ad where he says, "This is the first time I've worked on the Surface Book?"
That's pretty much the whole theme of the campaign. "Hey everybody. This Mac guy loves our product."

More interesting to MacRumors readers would be if Tim Flach really switched as a result of his introduction to Surface Book.

Sorry, you are right. I didn't watched the shorter edit.
We can watch out for behind the scenes shots on his social media accounts to see if he does switch.

 

[JorgTheElder]

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.

I understand that completely. I am the opposite. After 20 years of using mostly Windows and only a little OS X I just am not comfortable in OS X. The big thing that drives me crazy? I want a menu-bar on every window I have open (all 10 or more of them some times.) At work I have a Surface Pro 3, and a Mac Book Air, and I only use the Air when I have OS X specific tasks I need to do. And yes, my Air has finger-prints all over the screen because I keep trying to use it as a touch device. I love touch screens and never plan to go back to a non-touch device.
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Well, my friend, think it over carefully. I have a friend who bought one and later got an iPad Pro instead.

Sounds like the things he does work fine on the iPad Pro. That is fantastic since it is a lighter device with better battery life. The SP series is targeted at people that want full desktop-apps most of the time and the slate form-factor some of the time. If you don't want/need full desktop apps, you will likely be unhappy with the compromises that the SP series makes to do what it does. I would certainly not recommend a SP to anyone that doesn't need to run desktop-style software.

 

[theluggage]

if they are really that desperate to do comparative advertising

True, but then this is the first time they've really been competing directly with Apple on hardware. The fact that MS is now punting its own high-end laptop direct to consumers - pretty much copying Apple's business model of ignoring the low-end, low-margin and concentrating on the deep-pocketed - is a major U-turn. Its not so much a response to Apple suddenly threatening Microsoft's market as Microsoft suddenly deciding to go for a slice of Apple's "luxury laptop" pie, where Apple have been in a strong position since the PowerBook days.

In other news from the hell freezes over department, Microsoft has announced SQL Server for Linux. I think what this is suggesting is that Microsoft doesn't think it can make money selling operating systems any more.

I have an ipad air too. To get proper pencil functionality I'd need to fork out $750 for the pro- at the same time I am interested in getting a new macbook pro.

Just checked and the Surface Book/rMBP difference in the UK is £1299 - £999 = £300 ($428) which would go a long way towards buying your iPad Pro (plus you end up with a tablet + a working laptop rather than a tablet + paperweight). Looking now at US prices, the difference there is $1499 - $1299 = $200, which doesn't make such a convincing argument. It turns out that another thin MS can do better than Apple is screw UK buyers: unless I'm making a mistake (UK sales tax would make a 20% difference, not a >100% difference)

 

[ZipZap]

The future of all OS is to incorporate touch. Even Apple will eventually put the capability of MacOS. While most of you see no value, that opinion will change as the hardware and software get even more compelling.

 

[JorgTheElder]

rather than a tablet + paperweight

How are any of the Surface line a paperweight? I sit at an SP3 all day every workday simultaneously running Visual Studio, Outlook, a Win7 VM in Hyper-V, and multiple browsers. How is that a paperweight?

 

[blut haus]

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".

That's kinda ridiculous rhetoric in my view. Are you not heavily invested in Apple's ecosystem? Both companies are going to make great and lousy products from time to time. Switching your ENTIRE ecosystem, apps, etc, just because of one good product from a competitor seems awfully expensive in the long run.

 

[73b]

"I CAN do that with my iPad Pro"

 

[Max(IT)]

he's touching the notebook's display with his fingers and the pencil ... the whole notebook is moving ... I found it utterly ridiculous and I definitely don't want to touch my laptop's display.

 

[Renzatic]

he's touching the notebook's display with his fingers and the pencil ... the whole notebook is moving ... I found it utterly ridiculous and I definitely don't want to touch my laptop's display.

I touch my tablet because it's a tablet, and don't mind finger smoo all over the screen. I don't touch my laptop because it's a laptop, and I expect it to be in pristine condition at all times.

THIS DISTINCTION IS NOT ARBITRARY! IT IS BASED ENTIRELY UPON SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED FACT!

 

[MacAddict1978]

Yeah I'd expect to do different things with a computer that costs up to 3x as much also.

its on par with the macbook pros price. that $3k is after maxing out options, it starts at 1499

 

[Renzatic]

Eww at the Surfacebook Pro layout. Thankfully the Mac Can't Do that!

If you want to try for a more fair comparison, you might as well show the inside of the actual computer component, rather than the more sparse screen.

 

[952863]

If you want to try for a more fair comparison, you might as well show the inside of the actual computer component, rather

That doesn't look too bad, but I still think the Macbook Pro has better layout/engineering. But, in regards to MS, this is probably some of their best engineering efforts within their company. And, thanks for sharing this pic.

 

[Max(IT)]

I touch my tablet because it's a tablet, and don't mind finger smoo all over the screen. I don't touch my laptop because it's a laptop, and I expect it to be in pristine condition at all times.

THIS DISTINCTION IS NOT ARBITRARY! IT IS BASED ENTIRELY UPON SCIENTIFICALLY RESEARCHED FACT!

I don't know if there is any scientific research behind that, but this is how I see the whole matter: I don't want to touch a laptop while using it