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

[ee4life]

What's the advantage of clearing the keyboard? No other laptop finds the need to do that.

My guess is to avoid having the keys touch the screen without having a deeply recessed keyboard which would potentially create a battery size/cooling space/base depth compromise. Vocal minorities often complain about key marks on their screens (see various threads on the MBP forums). Also, you wouldn't want your screen smashing all of the keys on the keyboard when you close it, right?

I suppose some might find the resulting angle pleasing when using the screen folded face-up for art/writing. You don't have to lean over as far to look at it directly, which is maybe a benefit to some.

 

[cbautis2]

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!

Good luck with the atrocious user experience with Windoze.

 

[Poochi]

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.

iPad Pro needs to run OS X and desktop game or there is nothing pro about it other than a "plus" size screen.

 

[cbautis2]

13" laptop with a dGPU, 12 hour battery - I'd say they have in fact leaped frogged them.

I'm not sure what to make of their claims that its faster then a MBP - we'll have to wait and see on that bit of marketing hype.

Maybe they're referring to cMBP with 3rd gen i5 which would make sense.

 

[TechGod]

Holy smokes. Between the new Windows products ; XPS 12, 13. 15, Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, Apple's MB, MBP, MBA and the ipp just got ANNIHILATED!!!

Damn. My next laptop purchase definitely ain't gonna be a MBP if Apple just sits there twiddling their thumbs...

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Really why??? What is so god about microsofts offerengs and the Dell ones?? What have they got that you must have?? The only differences I see are a dGPU in the surfacebook (other than that they are just a macbook pro without IRIS graphics and some updated processors not released to anyone else yet) and a touchscreen (ugh).The Dells are just using the cheaper skylakes with worse graphics.

And there is no comparisson with the surface pro and a ipad as one runs a mobile operating system and the other is a keyboard less laptop with full windows.

Sure use what you like but there is nothing so brilliant about these new machines you are falling for the hype, they are just what the new macbooks will be at least as good as when they come out next year with skylake processors and they've finally caught up on quality and form factor nice one only took them 3-4 years. Not saying that apple is the most amazing thing ever and that these aren't good machines just that the differences are very small.

 

[Barna Biro]

A dedicated GPU can't be called a "small difference", not for quite a few people that is. Personally, I don't care much about how it could be used as a ( graphics ) tablet, but the faster CPU and GPU compared to what Apple currently offers in their 13 lineup could be very important to many people ( assuming they found a way to also properly cool the thing ). At the moment, this is all just guessing... we don't know which exact i5 / i7 CPU models they've put into the Surface Book or which exact Nvidia GPU is used. It might easily be just a load of marketing bull, so just wait until the first models are shipped... then we'll know more.

In the end, I think the morale of the story is that Apple has gotten lazy over the past years. Sure, they've made some stuff thinner, added some fancy color options and after a crapload of waiting, they finally offered an ultra-portable notebook that has a nice screen ( the ports cutting, etc. is debatable... it most likely does not affect many of the users who were in the market for such a device in the first place ), but have they really brought anything *new* to the table in the past N years? I don't really think so... they've admittedly improved on existing ideas, they are undoubtedly masters at repackaging and reselling ideas / technologies for huge profits.

...at least currently, Microsoft seems to resemble *the good old Apple* more than Apple does itself. They seem to be trying to put more effort into actually coming with new ( *innovative* ) ideas to the table... only time will tell if these ideas lead to success or not, but they are at least trying and I'm quite sure that there will be plenty of people giving some of their newer products a shot ( myself included ).

 

[Ethosik]

For what it's worth, Microsoft tablets have been around for 11+ years, the iPad for 5 years, and the Surface for 3 years.

So NOBODY ELSE can make ANYTHING? Android is copying Microsoft then too, they have tablets.

 

[Ethosik]

Mac laptops are never overpriced. I once did a research while we were purchasing powerful windows laptops and found to match rmbp's spec one would have to pay more on the MSRP. One, however, can purchase on the sell prices but the user experience is no where to compare. Do bear in mind, there are differences between different i5 and i7 chips. suggest to use cpuboss to compare.

For surface book, I think in terms of hardware and price - even look at the top configuration (i7/16/512/dgpu) - it is $200 more expensive than the 15" rmbp models (i7/16/512/dgpu). And we don't know what exact chips microsoft is using.

Then coming down to the software - Microsoft is a software company, and windows OS just suck. A lot of people overlook this. Put in this way, for people who'd spend that kind of $$ on a laptop, i think which OS the laptop runs is the biggest concern here. I will NEVER go back to Windows OS again.

So in short, microsoft is a software company lousy in software and try to get into hardware business. Apple is a device company that is excellent in making devices and happen to have a good software development team (do take notes that the QA has gone down since TC took over).

I agree with this. The only reason I still run Windows is to play games (Direct X still does a better job on games, even if the same game runs on OS X), and Visual Studio. That is it!

 

[Samuelsan2001]

A dedicated GPU can't be called a "small difference", not for quite a few people that is. Personally, I don't care much about how it could be used as a ( graphics ) tablet, but the faster CPU and GPU compared to what Apple currently offers in their 13 lineup could be very important to many people ( assuming they found a way to also properly cool the thing ). At the moment, this is all just guessing... we don't know which exact i5 / i7 CPU models they've put into the Surface Book or which exact Nvidia GPU is used. It might easily be just a load of marketing bull, so just wait until the first models are shipped... then we'll know more.

In the end, I think the morale of the story is that Apple has gotten lazy over the past years. Sure, they've made some stuff thinner, added some fancy color options and after a crapload of waiting, they finally offered an ultra-portable notebook that has a nice screen ( the ports cutting, etc. is debatable... it most likely does not affect many of the users who were in the market for such a device in the first place ), but have they really brought anything *new* to the table in the past N years? I don't really think so... they've admittedly improved on existing ideas, they are undoubtedly masters at repackaging and reselling ideas / technologies for huge profits.

...at least currently, Microsoft seems to resemble *the good old Apple* more than Apple does itself. They seem to be trying to put more effort into actually coming with new ( *innovative* ) ideas to the table... only time will tell if these ideas lead to success or not, but they are at least trying and I'm quite sure that there will be plenty of people giving some of their newer products a shot ( myself included ).

Well that's a small difference if the better iGPU with IRIS pro like eDRAM cache that seems to be on the sky lake chips slated for the 13 inch rMBP performs as expected (the 14nm architecture will bring further benefits in speed and battery). I think we'll find the differences will again be only found in gaming and possibly CUDA which is less and less an issue. Micosoft got it out first with less than optimal parts in my opinion that is their only real advantage being on sale now.

 

[MattZani]

This does seem like a hugely interesting device, with a great looking design. It will be interesting to see how (if) Apple respond.

 

[lowendlinux]

Well that's a small difference if the better iGPU with IRIS pro like eDRAM cache that seems to be on the sky lake chips slated for the 13 inch rMBP performs as expected (the 14nm architecture will bring further benefits in speed and battery). I think we'll find the differences will again be only found in gaming and possibly CUDA which is less and less an issue. Micosoft got it out first with less than optimal parts in my opinion that is their only real advantage being on sale now.

The suface book is shipping with Skylake.

 

[cbautis2]

Holy smokes. Between the new Windows products ; XPS 12, 13. 15, Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book, Apple's MB, MBP, MBA and the ipp just got ANNIHILATED!!!

Damn. My next laptop purchase definitely ain't gonna be a MBP if Apple just sits there twiddling their thumbs...

It's innovative, but not reliable. I'd rather have a painfree experience on Mac all day.

 

[robE89]

Even the new dell 15' looks really nice and very competitive from every point of view.

For 2150$ you get 4k display/edge to edge display/16gb ddr4 ram/i7!/512 pcie ssd/NVIDIA 960M!. Basically for a bit over apple 15' base model who has only 256gb ssd and no dgpu and i5 if i recall correctly.

And for people like who don't want to spend a fortune i can get a really nice ultrabook with a decent/good dgpu even if the display is just 1080p for around 1200$, heck even the ssd is user upgrade-able, and i really don't even want to mention the battery life.

Apple really needs to have an response, they feel a bit outdated now, the only thing tempting for me now in the macbooks is the OSX, but that's all i'm afraid

 

[venom600]

I have to say, for the first time I'm sitting here looking at my 15" Macbook Pro and I'm thoroughly jealous of another machine. That new Dell XPS 15 makes the Macbook Pro look old. It barely weighs more than a 13" MBP, it has
an 960M graphics card, a 4k IGZO display with Gorilla Glass, 17 hour battery life, Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, and it's smaller. Oh, and it's several hundred bucks cheaper too. Apple had better have something amazing up it's sleeve.

It's innovative, but not reliable. I'd rather have a painfree experience on Mac all day.

That line is old and tired. This isn't Windows 98 anymore. Windows 10 is just as reliable as OS X is now. In fact, Windows 10 has been more stable for me over the life of the beta and now release than OS X has been over the same period.

 

[jmgregory1]

I have to say, for the first time I'm sitting here looking at my 15" Macbook Pro and I'm thoroughly jealous of another machine. That new Dell XPS 15 makes the Macbook Pro look old. It barely weighs more than a 13" MBP, it has
an 960M graphics card, a 4k IGZO display with Gorilla Glass, 17 hour battery life, Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, and it's smaller. Oh, and it's several hundred bucks cheaper too. Apple had better have something amazing up it's sleeve.



That line is old and tired. This isn't Windows 98 anymore. Windows 10 is just as reliable as OS X is now. In fact, Windows 10 has been more stable for me over the life of the beta and now release than OS X has been over the same period.

I'm not seeing the same thing you are when looking at the Dell XPS line. The angled and split aluminum and carbon fiber looks old and not well integrated to me, almost chunky looking. I like the screen and minimized frame around it, but that's not enough for me to say I would have to buy one. My guess is that when compared to the current lineup of rMBP's, testing windows to windows, the rMBP will perform better. I'm glad that PC manufacturers are starting to improve their products, but they have a ways to go before they're on par with what Apple is doing.

 

[maflynn]

After reviewing the media event (I missed it originally) and looking at the SurfaceBook more critically. I'm more impressed with it. I may be in the market for a new laptop next year and so far its the leading candidate to replace my aging 2012 machine.

By the time I'm ready to pull the tigger, it will be 2016 and that should be enough time to see what Apple will do.

 

[SSD-GUY]

After reviewing the media event (I missed it originally) and looking at the SurfaceBook more critically. I'm more impressed with it. I may be in the market for a new laptop next year and so far its the leading candidate to replace my aging 2012 machine.

By the time I'm ready to pull the tigger, it will be 2016 and that should be enough time to see what Apple will do.

Yes. I hope Apple surprises us with some amazing over the next few months. I assume we should see an early 2016 update for the rMBPs. Will be interesting to see what Apple does with the MBA since even Windows machines have caught up with high-res screens now, with Full HD being the minimum in an ultra book.

 

[robE89]

I'm not seeing the same thing you are when looking at the Dell XPS line. The angled and split aluminum and carbon fiber looks old and not well integrated to me, almost chunky looking. I like the screen and minimized frame around it, but that's not enough for me to say I would have to buy one. My guess is that when compared to the current lineup of rMBP's, testing windows to windows, the rMBP will perform better. I'm glad that PC manufacturers are starting to improve their products, but they have a ways to go before they're on par with what Apple is doing.

So basically at 2150$ with dell you have an i7 chip and you say that rmbp will perform better? I can understand that the looks is subjective even if carbon can be more rigid than aluminum but comparing the value of these 2, macbook 15' seems pretty much overpriced at this moment.

 

[TechGod]

It's innovative, but not reliable. I'd rather have a painfree experience on Mac all day.

So you have used all products and KNOW they're unreliable?

 

[TechGod]

I'm not seeing the same thing you are when looking at the Dell XPS line. The angled and split aluminum and carbon fiber looks old and not well integrated to me, almost chunky looking. I like the screen and minimized frame around it, but that's not enough for me to say I would have to buy one. My guess is that when compared to the current lineup of rMBP's, testing windows to windows, the rMBP will perform better. I'm glad that PC manufacturers are starting to improve their products, but they have a ways to go before they're on par with what Apple is doing.

You sound really biased...

 

[cbautis2]

So you have used all products and KNOW they're unreliable?

No need since I don't even need to use it to know that it's unreliable. I can attest that it's unreliable based on my complaits online.

Common Surface (Core CPU models)Problems:

High CPU utilization
Heavy CPU/GPU throttling
Random crashes and Freezing
Overheating on any kind of gaming (temperature icon) (Heck they even have a 3D printed fan to fix this issue)
Crashes when Surface Dock is attached/detached
Random Phantom touch (Touch screen unreliable)
Pen needs to be reinitialized when Bluetooth goes to powersave mode
Standby S0 (Network Connected) state consumes too much battery
App scaling and external monitor scaling issues
Flimsy Keyboard and Anemic touchpad
WiFi range and speed slow and frequent "limited connectivity issues"
High CPU usage of "System interrupt" when a microsd card is inserted.
Easily broken kickstand.
And So on And so forth.

My 2011 MBA NEVER had issues on ANYTHING.

 

[cbautis2]

You sound really biased...

He's not biased. He's just honest.

 

[cbautis2]

So basically at 2150$ with dell you have an i7 chip and you say that rmbp will perform better? I can understand that the looks is subjective even if carbon can be more rigid than aluminum but comparing the value of these 2, macbook 15' seems pretty much overpriced at this moment.

rMBP 15" will smoke that dell in every way except in graphics.

 

[TechGod]

No need since I don't even need to use it to know that it's unreliable. I can attest that it's unreliable based on my complaits online.

Common Surface (Core CPU models)Problems:

High CPU utilization
Heavy CPU/GPU throttling
Random crashes and Freezing
Overheating on any kind of gaming (temperature icon) (Heck they even have a 3D printed fan to fix this issue)
Crashes when Surface Dock is attached/detached
Random Phantom touch (Touch screen unreliable)
Pen needs to be reinitialized when Bluetooth goes to powersave mode
Standby S0 (Network Connected) state consumes too much battery
App scaling and external monitor scaling issues
Flimsy Keyboard and Anemic touchpad
WiFi range and speed slow and frequent "limited connectivity issues"
High CPU usage of "System interrupt" when a microsd card is inserted.
Easily broken kickstand.
And So on And so forth.

My 2011 MBA NEVER had issues on ANYTHING.

My MBP hasn't been flawless with the UI lag they haven't fixed either. Oh and OF COURSE PEOPLE ARE GONNA COME TO COMPLAIN ONLINE!!! WHAT DO YOU THINK???