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Surface Pro 4 and 'SurfaceBook' announced - rMBP redesign couldn't come soon enough....

S

SSD-GUY

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
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Interstellar
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It is a beautiful machine. Imagine the possibilities:

- Use it as a powerful gaming laptop with a discrete GPU on the keyboard base
- Use it as a huge 13" powerful tablet
- Possibility to upgrade just the base for a more powerful GPU

Sadly, Microsoft seems to be catching up with our beloved Apple in terms of innovation. I have a 15" RMBP and am very happy with it and I was looking forward to getting the iPad Pro. As a musician, I believe this combination will be great, but now with Microsoft's new toy, I am seriously re-considering.

Oh and did you see the new Lumia phones with OLED, run full Windows 10 with an octacore, liquid cooled processors? They can also dock to a monitor that can show full Windows 10 experience. Now that's continuity!
 
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Based on their presentation, this could be a good laptop. I highly doubt the CPU is 50% faster unless they are comparing an i5 to an i7 or they are including quad core parts. If it's is the later that is quite an achievement in the form factor.
Apple - Time to raise your game!
 
guychicago said:
Based on their presentation, this could be a good laptop. I highly doubt the CPU is 50% faster unless they are comparing an i5 to an i7 or they are including quad core parts. If it's is the later that is quite an achievement in the form factor.
Apple - Time to raise your game!
Click to expand...

The presenter was editing multiple videos and and applying transitions in real time while playing the timeline, without a sign of hiccup. They also demoed a 3D rendering program in realtime with the same results. Of course this is with the keyboard/GPU part attached to it but it is quite impressive indeed.
 
donster28 said:
It is a beautiful machine. Imagine the possibilities:

- Use it as a powerful gaming laptop with a discrete GPU on the keyboard base
- Use it as a huge 13" powerful tablet
- Possibility to upgrade just the base for a more powerful GPU

Honestly, Microsoft seems to be catching up with our beloved Apple. I have a 15" RMBP and am very happy with it and I was looking forward to getting the iPad Pro. As a musician, I believe this combination will be great, but now with Microsoft's new toy, I am seriously re-onsidering.

Oh and did you see the new Lumia phones that run full Windows 10 with an octacore, liquid cooled processors? They can also dock to a monitor that can show full Windows 10 experience. Now that's continuity!
Click to expand...

I am right there with you, but a few things give me pause:

  1. They are being pretty coy about which nVidia GPU is in the Surface Book. I'm going to need some confirmation on what I'm getting in exchange for the upsell.

  2. The only configuration with 16GB RAM and the dGPU requires the i7 and 512GB SSD, which jacks up the price to $2699.

  3. How many useful apps exist for Windows 10 ARM that would make Continuum on the Lumia a real selling point? Maybe if the thing used an Intel Atom processor I would feel a bit reassured that it's not just a gimmick with these phones.

I could certainly be persuaded to take a longer look over the fence if I can get over these qualms.
 
guychicago said:
Based on their presentation, this could be a good laptop. I highly doubt the CPU is 50% faster unless they are comparing an i5 to an i7 or they are including quad core parts. If it's is the later that is quite an achievement in the form factor.
Apple - Time to raise your game!
Click to expand...

It's a quad core processor, he mentions it in the video note.
 
ee4life said:
I am right there with you, but a few things give me pause:

1. They are being pretty coy about which nVidia GPU is in the Surface Book. I'm going to need some confirmation on what I'm getting in exchange for the upsell.

2. The only configuration with 16GB RAM and the dGPU requires the 512GB SSD, which jacks up the price to $2699.

3. How many useful apps exist for Windows 10 ARM that would make Continuum on the Lumia a real selling point? Maybe if the thing used an Intel Atom processor I would feel a bit reassured that it's not just a gimmick with these phones.

I could certainly be persuaded to take a longer look over the fence if I can get over these qualms.
Click to expand...

You're right about the GPU, I'd like to know as well. Also, I just checked the prices and here in Canada, the cheapest one with a discrete GPU is $2500!!! That's a pretty penny.
 
donster28 said:
You're right about the GPU, I'd like to know as well. Also, I just checked the prices and here in Canada, the cheapest one with a discrete GPU is $2500!!! That's a pretty penny.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's pretty steep. Right now I am scoffing at shelling out an extra $600 for double the RAM and storage. The most ridiculous part is that if it were an Apple product I would probably barely hesitate.
 
SSD-GUY said:
It's a quad core processor, he mentions it in the video note.
Click to expand...

That guy is wrong. It's a dual core i7-6600U with HD 520 Graphics. Current i7 rMBP 13" will eat this alive. I wonder why M$ didn't use the i7-6650U with Iris 540 Graphics in their crappy laptop.
 
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I had been waiting to see what next year held for the 15" MBP to upgrade from my older Macbook Air, but i will say that I am very interested in the Surface Book. I will wait to see reviews of the pen function, but if its decent, I can imagine editing photos Cintiq-style with a full up Windows OS that is running Photoshop or Lightroom could be awesome. But I have heard the digitizers in the Surface's have gotten less good as MS moved away from Wacom technology, so I will reserve judgement until folks actually start using them for photography, etc.

The only hesitation I would have with a Surface would be reliability. You can't touch how rock solid my Macbook Air has been for as many years as I have had it. Waaaaaay more lifespan than any PC based laptop I have ever owned. It has been awesome and totally worth the pains of learning OSX. It is what makes me feel OK with spending over $2K for a laptop from Apple knowing it will last me a very long time. I am more leery of that from Microsoft, especially since this is their first real laptop.
 
T5BRICK said:
Not sure why. The current lineup seems to work well.
Click to expand...

iPads and MacBooks? Not particularly. Enough to make excessive profits, but not enough to sustain longterm growth and consumer interest. Microsoft is laying their cards on the table and showing us where they want to be with their products in the next couple of years. This Surface Book is not a few months worth of work, it’s probably been in the pipeline for at least a year and with the capabilities it offers, especially being able to run professional software and being able to use the hardware in any way you want, Apple’s iPad Pro leaves the impression of an afterthought. Despite having announced its products for this year, I still don’t have a good impression of where Apple is taking us. A MacBook Pro with updated internals is not going to cut it. I want Apple to be at the forefront of innovation as long as it remains the underdog in desktop operating systems, but I’m just really stunned by what Microsoft is doing recently now that they’ve overslept the smartphone wars and are basically leapfrogging it.
 
KALLT said:
iPads and MacBooks? Not particularly. Enough to make excessive profits, but not enough to sustain longterm growth and consumer interest. Microsoft is laying their cards on the table and showing us where they want to be with their products in the next couple of years. This Surface Book is not a few months worth of work, it’s probably been in the pipeline for at least a year and with the capabilities it offers, especially being able to run professional software and being able to use the hardware in any way you want, Apple’s iPad Pro leaves the impression of an afterthought. Despite having announced its products for this year, I still don’t have a good impression of where Apple is taking us. A MacBook Pro with updated internals is not going to cut it. I want Apple to be at the forefront of innovation as long as it remains the underdog in desktop operating systems, but I’m just really stunned by what Microsoft is doing recently now that they’ve overslept the smartphone wars and are basically leapfrogging it.
Click to expand...

Buy microsoft then, as far as I'm concerned the PC market has been pointless innovation that brings nothing to user experience for 5 years.

I personally dislike convertables intensely, hate touchscreens on desktops and laptops and love a tablet and laptop combination. Apple seem to agree with me and long may that continue.
 
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Apple rarely responds to the competition. They have their own business plan and they typically stick to it, though lately they seem more respective to reacting to what their competitors do, i.e., copying the Surface/Surface Pro and calling it the iPad Pro.

I think MS swung for the fences in the Sp4/Surfacebook and there's a lot I like about both, but there are some things I don't, i.e., how will that fulcrum hinge hold up.
 
I feel the satisfaction of the two microsoft guys that presented at the Apple Keynote last month because they know they already made something that blows the iPad Pro out of the water.. :/
I would not hesitate to recommend the Surface Book to anyone after watching the Keynote!
 
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maflynn said:
Apple rarely responds to the competition. They have their own business plan and they typically stick to it, though lately they seem more respective to reacting to what their competitors do, i.e., copying the Surface/Surface Pro and calling it the iPad Pro.

I think MS swung for the fences in the Sp4/Surfacebook and there's a lot I like about both, but there are some things I don't, i.e., how will that fulcrum hinge hold up.
Click to expand...

How is taking the iPad (which has been around for a very long time) making it bigger and adding a stylus copying the Surface Pro?

The iPad Pro is not running OS X. It cannot run desktop programs. It cannot play desktop games.
 
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Surface Pro
Large form factor
Stylus
Cover with keyboard

iPad Pro
Large form factor
Stylus
Cover with keyboard.

While tablets have been around since before the iPad, I see Apple's latest iteration an attempt to counter MS' product lines where is enjoying sales numbers where as Apple's iPad sales are stagnate/decreasing.
 
maflynn said:
Surface Pro
Large form factor
Stylus
Cover with keyboard

iPad Pro
Large form factor
Stylus
Cover with keyboard.

While tablets have been around since before the iPad, I see Apple's latest iteration an attempt to counter MS' product lines where is enjoying sales numbers where as Apple's iPad sales are stagnate/decreasing.
Click to expand...

The iPad has been around a lot longer than the Surface. It is the same damn thing on every tech site. Lets just call all large devices with a stylus a copy. Are the wacom devices a copy of the Surface too?

The iPad Pro is still a completely different product. It is not a hybrid like the Surface is. The surface runs a full desktop OS, while the iPad Pro still runs iOS.

The iPad Pro is not a copy. Not even close. There have been 3rd party stylus products for the iPad for a long time. There have also been keyboards.
 
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Funny how some people see shiny new things with lights and think that what they're using today needs to be replaced, as if the computer / phone / tablet they're currently using is nothing more than a paperweight. We have already passed the point where there are drastic improvements in speed from one iteration to the next. I'm working on an early 2013 15" rMBP and as much as I wouldn't complain about the improved battery life newer models offer, I'm not thinking "I just can't work on this thing, because it's too slow processing photos / videos / emails / web pages...

Microsoft demoed some interesting pieces, but there is no way they've leap-frogged ahead of Apple. I'm not saying that because I'm some Apple nut, but because MS always makes products with very stark trade-offs / compromises.

I like the fact that it's clear now, the idea that making a quality piece of kit comes at a price that generally happens to fall right in line with what Apple has been charging. MS can offer a product with a decent screen, decent performance, decent storage, but it's not going to sell for $500.
 
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