New Surface Pro 4 Ad Compares Tablet PC With MacBook Air

[iZac]

Thinking of getting a new Mac?

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//#Mac

lol

Introducing the New Surface Pro 4

From Microsoft


​

Thanks Microsoft, I'll take my cheque now. 🙂

 

[sracer]

As long as there's nothing newer the comparison is fair, I'd say.
Still I think it's a bad idea going after Apple. Apple did the same, yes. But Apple was the underdog, that was funny. Microsoft still owns the PC marked, it just seems pathetic for Microsoft to give Apple so much attention.

Microsoft may still own the PC market, but there has been and continues to be a steady shift away from the PC. Tablets, hybrids, and other mobile devices are making significant inroads into the enterprise which is direct competition for Microsoft and the PC.

Microsoft is right to go after Apple... and go after them where Apple is (currently) weak (from an enterprise point of view).

I said years ago when the Surface was first released: "If you want Apple to produce a quality hybrid device similar to the Surface, don't stop at sending emails to Tim Cook and posting wishes on Mac-related fora, don't hold your nose and buy what Apple is selling... buy a Surface."

Sadly, it shouldn't come to that, but ultimately sales figures (those going to the competition and those withheld from Apple) are the only thing that Apple understands and responds to these days.

I took my own advice and bought a few Surfaces. Through that experience I saw what Microsoft got right, and what they got wrong. I have an excellent idea of what I need in Apple's potential hybrid device that would fit my workflow and use cases.

Harrumphing and whining by Apple customers mean nothing if they continue to buy (old, compromised, or inadequate hardware) that Apple is selling.

 

[Tech198]

But Apple did that very thing when they rolled out the iPad and saying its a laptop replacement.

MS is highlighting its features and strengths and comparing it against Apple who chose not to have those features.

The Surface Pro is not strictly a tablet, as it can act as a laptop, and it runs a full desktop OS.

They did,, but then I think Tim back-peddled on the idea that a tablet was not a replacement sinec u still need a desktop to do "desktop-y" thinks.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

The Surface also doesn't know how to sleep and wake properly (Windows 10 bugs)
The real-world battery life is truly terrible
It feels like almost nobody is making Windows apps anymore - everything feels outdated and abandoned
Surface delivers a compromised experience that delivers the worst of both world's in a very overpriced package.

Get yourself a Mac and an iPad and you'll have the very best of both world's. It should be a no-brainer for anyone.

Don't make me laugh. In fact, the other day I was at a comic book convention and walked by a booth where a professional artist was actually using a Surface Pro 3 for his work while it was hooked up to an external monitor, showing what he was working on using Manga Studio Pro software ( not even out for iOS and this program is one of the most popular among professional illustrators. I should know. I'm one of them and use it extensively ).

If you're deluded to think Windows is outdated, then why is MS still here? Open your blind eyes. Apple has you brainwashed big time. The Surface is both a desktop and tablet combined, so you don't have to switch between TWO computers.

Apple SCREWED up. They should've gone hybrid.

 

[SDAVE]

Microsoft was founded before Apple in 1975. The latter was founded a year after. So without MS, there would be NO Apple.

As a SOFTWARE company (aka writing software for Macs was their first job).

Apple was founded in 1976 as a hardware AND software company, and that was 100x harder than what MS was doing.

Let's be honest here, they both need each other. MS makes ugly things that consumers eat up, and Apple fights back with what they see is the right way to do it.

Neither of them would be alive if they didn't exist -- they are bitter sweet enemies.

But the tides have turned and Microsoft has finally seen the light of integrated devices and the importance of industrial design (they kind of skimped on good typography tho haha, but can't change that overnight) and I'm ok with them doing this -- but their methodology is still incorrect.

 

[-BigMac-]

Yeah, sure. Just pay TWICE the price for TWO devices when you can have it all in ONE machine... That only makes sense in Apple land.

Thats like saying if you like to do laps at track events on the weekends, but your family also likes to go camping every now and then - then your best bet is to get a sporty-high mileage caravan.

Not good at either

 

[roksraka]

And which of those outdated Macs is still objectively a bad computer to a purchase, price aside?

The SSDs are unrivalled in speed, the OS creams Windows, the support is significantly better, the build quality is unmatched, and the CPUs in the 15" are still more powerful than almost all of the 'new gen' CPUs you commenters are crying for.

And it's likely getting refreshed by the end of the year anyway.

I'd like to know exactly what you could do with a slightly quicker CPU that you can't already do on a 15" rMBP.

My computer a late 2013 15" rMBP, and although it is fast enough for most tasks and for most people, I often wish it had better internals. I use it for a lot of CAD design, 3D modeling/rendering and graphic design. For the same price I could now buy either a severely outdated MPB, or a Dell with a 4K borderless screen, Intel Xeon (latest gen), 32GB of RAM, SSD and Nvidia Quadro graphics in an identical form factor. Most people wouldn't notice a difference in performance, but if you rely on powerful computers to do your job, it matters a lot!

 

[cardfan]

It's not like MS is going to do ads battling their OEM partners. Apple is left and considering Apple has the number one brand in the world and doesn't license windows, they couldn't pick a better foe.

Personally, I don't really care for a windows tablet even after trying it. I prefer an OS made for a tablet even if the apps are somewhat limited. So a cheap ipad does the trick with a pencil.

My 10 yr old though uses a wacom and pc and would love a Surface for later. iPads don't appeal to her. She sees Macs as limited. It's hard not to recommend a surface for a student.

Rather than be angry at MS though, Apple could easily up their game with this. Focus on using both an ipad and mac. I should be able to plug in an ipad to a mac and have instant wacom like abilities. Not a third party...but apple should provide this seamlessly.

 

[Nevaborn]

These Ads are meaningless and Microsoft should realise it as consumers do. Compare it to an iPad Pro an actual tablet. Not what is essentially a laptop.

 

[braintumor]

I am waiting for the Surface Pro 5 and will get it to replace my iPad as a true pro tablet!

I hope MS can put a bit more battery life and get it a little more quieter, than I am a happy chap 🙂

 

[SDAVE]

I should be able to plug in an ipad to a mac and have instant wacom like abilities. Not a third party...but apple should provide this seamlessly.

That's not a bad idea and I believe they can pull it off with Bluetooth 4.0 or wifi....but that's such a small feature that no one would use, they've probably tried it internally but no one went "wow" and went with it.

 

[Tech198]

Microsoft was founded before Apple in 1975. The latter was founded a year after. So without MS, there would be NO Apple.

It's true... There was some BASIC code in the early designs. I'm sure some money also exchanged hands.

 

[SDAVE]

These Ads are meaningless and Microsoft should realise it as consumers do. Compare it to an iPad Pro an actual tablet. Not what is essentially a laptop.

They are trying to undercut the laptop market as well as the tablet market.

These kinds of products have failed before, and I don't see it being successful. It will have decent sales but they won't push sales in numbers like iPads and iPhones are doing. It's really a niche market.

I remember back in 2003 when I was high school, some kid brought in a similar product, and I used it and thought to myself wow this is a really terrible idea.

Sure, the mechanics and components have gotten better, but it's really a weird device...trying to make a hybrid laptop and tablet.

 

[2457248]

So was the iPad Pro. It's STILL overpriced without a proper keyboard attached. Surface's memory can be expanded with an SD card, but you can't do that with the iPad ( regardless of Cloud tech ).

i wouldn't compare the two anyway, as the iPP doesn't run a desktop OS.
but yeah, they're still relatively new devices, within 5 years we'll all use one of these, and the price will sink.

 

[anthorumor]

This ad is really annoying (thanks, MS marketing team), but at least the Surface is innovative.

 

[Dydegu]

A hat for your cat is useless?

This headline should read: "Microsoft Hates Dr. Seuss."

 

[SDAVE]

This ad is really annoying (thanks, MS marketing team), but at least the Surface is innovative.

How is it innovative?

I've seen devices like this in 2003 -- albeit not as decent looking as the surface pro -- but in the real world the tablet side only has 3 hours.

 

[Rok73]

It does not matter. The point is that, from a near-monopoly in the '90s, Microsoft, and the whole Wintel ecosystem, is now an underdog in computing. And hardware-wise, MS is an underdog compared to Apple.

It's all fine but I personally hate stupid graphs.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

i wouldn't compare the two anyway, as the iPP doesn't run a desktop OS.
but yeah, they're still relatively new devices, within 5 years we'll all use one of these, and the price will sink.

If apple wanted the iPad Pro to be the big deal it is supposed to be, they could've offered an SD or SSD slot with a revamped OS specifically for the tablet line, it would've made a difference. That's why I've been very hesitant in getting the iPad Pro and looking into the SP4 to replace the first gen iPad I have.

 

[Persicuta]

Seriously, some companies are desperate. I guess we live in a world where looks > functionality. We can all agree that at some point, we have chosen something that looks great but is inferior in functionality to other products. MS need to attack Apple to make sales? LOL

 

[DoctorTech]

I seriously can't see what i need a touch screen for on a mac... The touch pad does it all..

Its faster for me to do the gesture, than to move my finger up to the screen.

Same here plus I HATE fingerprint smudges on my screen. In addition to my 2013 rMPB, I also own a RazerBlade Windows 10 laptop with a touch screen (I had to have a PC with an incredible video card to run my 3D scanner). I like the RazerBlade but I never use the touch screen feature because it leaves fingerprints. I run into the same thing with my 9.7" iPad Pro but with an iPad, there is simply no getting around touching the screen.

 

[Rok73]

Microsoft was founded before Apple in 1975. The latter was founded a year after. So without MS, there would be NO Apple.

There also would be no Apple today or at least as we know it today because of this:

http://www.wired.com/2009/08/dayintech_0806/
[doublepost=1472475563][/doublepost]

Thinking of getting a new Mac?

https://buyersguide.macrumors.com//#Mac

lol

Introducing the New Surface Pro 4

From Microsoft


​

Thanks Microsoft, I'll take my cheque now. 🙂

Why isn't this in Comic Sans?

 

[akuma13]

Same here plus I HATE fingerprint smudges on my screen. In addition to my 2013 rMPB, I also own a RazerBlade Windows 10 laptop with a touch screen (I had to have a PC with an incredible video card to run my 3D scanner). I like the RazerBlade but I never use the touch screen feature because it leaves fingerprints. I run into the same thing with my 9.7" iPad Pro but with an iPad, there is simply no getting around touching the screen.

Just get a matte screen protector. I love it on my ipad pro. So smudges and no glare.

 

[Bubba Satori]

Can MS make an ad without comparing themselves to Apple?

Companies should not be allowed to compare themselves to other companies.
Oh the huge manatee.

 

[Val-kyrie]

You express how good the outdated Macs are but then you say a "likely" refresh is coming. That's the entire problem with the Mac lineup. You want to buy but you can't. And maybe I'm alone but I would be pissed if I spent big money on a outdated computer only to have the replacement come out a few months later with better specs. Just look at the buyers guide here on the site. Click on Mac and it's down right embarrassing. How can anyone here defend that? There have been articles outside of this site bringing attention to this very same issue.

As others here have mentioned and other sites have written, the problem is that Apple has chosen to use Intel's GTe4 (Quad-core+Iris Pro gfx) for its 15" MBPs, which Intel has still not released. It is slated for a Skylake release but not for Kaby Lake--sorry to all who plan to wait for a Kaby Lake update. Apple's choice is either wait on Intel (who is releasing these chips last) or choose a different CPU/GPU combination (e.g., Quad-Core with standard Iris gfx or a Xeon CPU with dGPU).

The issues with battery performance and sleep/wake on Microsoft devices as well as third-party hardware suggests to me we're not seeing much benefit of Microsoft controlling both the hardware and software experience.


Can you imagine Apple selling an iPad that didn't go to sleep properly? Or selling an iPad that wouldn't respond to wake requests on the rare occasions where sleep does work as intended?

Some of this may be related to a bug in the Skylake CPUs.

I'll take the Apple thanks MS. Especially Os X over W 10. The constant updating that can't really be put off makes it quite easy really.

I would like to be able to put off Apple's forced download of iOS updates too.