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Surfacebook i7 VS the new MacBook pro
- Thread starter Nautilus007
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The price difference is minimal, so it's a good comparison. I guess I would go and try both at the MS/Apple Stores, and see what you like/dislike. They're very different products. If you still can't decide, maybe wait a bit and see how they benchmark as a tie breaker.
That is why it is probably time to give up on OSX. Microsoft is just killing Apple now. Man the new MacBook is all gimmick. Like I am going to keep looking down at some little screen to do what I can on the screen? It's a really dumb upgrade. The flippin Surface Book is going 16 hours now...and the MB Pro is only 10? Hello what is wrong with this picture? It is like Apple is totally content with letting MS run the show for the best laptop now.
Anyways OSX is not what it used to be and Windows 10 is really looking amazing. I think the roles have changed MS is the new Apple and Apple is the new Microsoft. OSX is not the reason to stay Apple anymore.
I find the SurfaceBook a rather confusing device.
With Windows10, it's meant to be a laptop. However, it's not the best laptop. If you consider the detachable screens as an asset, the OS is not great for that purpose.
Side note: SurfaceBook with similar spec to MBP is more money.
https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/productID.5077253600?VID=5077389500
1TB SSD
Core i7
16GB RAM
CAD$ 4379
With Windows10, it's meant to be a laptop. However, it's not the best laptop. If you consider the detachable screens as an asset, the OS is not great for that purpose.
Side note: SurfaceBook with similar spec to MBP is more money.
https://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/productID.5077253600?VID=5077389500
1TB SSD
Core i7
16GB RAM
CAD$ 4379
The MBP is actually better speced.
Last gen CPU and last gen GPU in the surface book.
But being able to use it as a tablet is useful in certain situation. Same deal with the touch screen and the longer battery life.
Pound for pound though I think the MBP is a better value.
Last gen CPU and last gen GPU in the surface book.
But being able to use it as a tablet is useful in certain situation. Same deal with the touch screen and the longer battery life.
Pound for pound though I think the MBP is a better value.
That argument has long disappeared. the Surface Book is the best Laptop available today, best screen, best battery life, best OS. And pretty damn good at being a tablet too. Look Apple has messed up bad. Not to mention 4 flippin Thunderbolt ports....give it a rest already. Now every Mac Book Pro owner needs a few dongles that must be "certified" - hells no!
I was both amazed and disgusted by the MS and Apple rollouts.
I have no words for MS leading Apple in useful innovation other than I do not like MS as a company nor am I a fan of their OSes. I have told their recruiters to take a hike numerous times, so it's not an 'idle' dislike. However, they did a very nice job on the new lineup.
The Surface 'dial' and the Surface Station are very cool and will undoubtedly hold some real appeal for artists and designers, CAD pros of various types if implemented well.
The Surfacebook is a bit kludgy/thick, but I'd gladly take it if done by Apple and running OS X...and they also did an amazing job on the weight. Yeah, they do also have a 16GB RAM limit, but maybe the next model.
I'm likely going for a used MBP as my 'upgrade' from my 2011 MBP, but if I see nothing worthwhile in the future, I may well wind up looking into running Linux on a Surfacebook in the future with OS X in a VM.
I have no words for MS leading Apple in useful innovation other than I do not like MS as a company nor am I a fan of their OSes. I have told their recruiters to take a hike numerous times, so it's not an 'idle' dislike. However, they did a very nice job on the new lineup.
The Surface 'dial' and the Surface Station are very cool and will undoubtedly hold some real appeal for artists and designers, CAD pros of various types if implemented well.
The Surfacebook is a bit kludgy/thick, but I'd gladly take it if done by Apple and running OS X...and they also did an amazing job on the weight. Yeah, they do also have a 16GB RAM limit, but maybe the next model.
I'm likely going for a used MBP as my 'upgrade' from my 2011 MBP, but if I see nothing worthwhile in the future, I may well wind up looking into running Linux on a Surfacebook in the future with OS X in a VM.
Its a tough comparison. If you're comparing by price, its Surface Book i7 vs 15" MBP, and the Macbook is in a different class entirely. It destroys the surface book in CPU power and SSD speed, and it's about 5-6% slower in GPU.
If you're comparing by size, the 13" MBP still beats the i5 Surface Book for CPU and SSD speed, and again the Surface Book GPU is about 5% faster depending on the benchmark.
All in all, it comes down to the extras. Surface book is a hybrid tablet/laptop with all the benefits/pitfalls that come with it. MBP has TB3, better speakers, better trackpad, and OSX.
If you're comparing by size, the 13" MBP still beats the i5 Surface Book for CPU and SSD speed, and again the Surface Book GPU is about 5% faster depending on the benchmark.
All in all, it comes down to the extras. Surface book is a hybrid tablet/laptop with all the benefits/pitfalls that come with it. MBP has TB3, better speakers, better trackpad, and OSX.
Couldn't agree anymore, I actually just ordered an x1 carbon 4th. I will sell my 2015 rMBP next week.
Disappointed with the new Mac Os, too many bugs. I think Apple doesn't really care about the Mac anymore.
Apple used to proud of its closed ecosystem, but the OS isn't stable as used to be while win10 is getting better.
The first Surface Book was a bag of problems. Interesting hardware, but spend some time reading anyone who tried to actually use one.
Hopefully they ironed out those issues in the new hardware rev, but I get my Windows fill via Bootcamp/Parallels on my MBP's.
Hopefully they ironed out those issues in the new hardware rev, but I get my Windows fill via Bootcamp/Parallels on my MBP's.
I keep seeing this like it's been copy and pasted. What's the drawback? That you simply don't like windows 10 and it isn't for you or are you saying it is objectively a terrible OS?
I updated a prehistoric laptop I haven't used in years to windows 10. I'm talking an old hp laptop from 2008 that was so slow I couldn't do jack on it. After windows 10, it ran like a new laptop. It was one of the strangest experiences I've had in a long time. After years of going "eww Microsoft" and enjoying my apple products, I actually had a moment where I was like "hey. This isn't as bad as I thought". Now I'm studying computer science and see more surface pros lately in the business world than macs. And that wouldn't have happened a few years ago. Just no way
No, it's using the most current 28w and 45w chips from intel. Surface book on the other hand is using a significantly older 15w Skylake chip, with 15w Kaby Lake cpus now available.
Windows 10 isn't bad. It is Windows, but not the horrible pile that was Windows 8. I won't hear anyone who says that was great, if it was they wouldn't be slowly rolling those elements out of the new OS.
That said, my Macbook Pro runs Windows 10. I prefer OS X, and without some degree of hackery - you're not going to run it natively on a Surface Book.
That said, my Macbook Pro runs Windows 10. I prefer OS X, and without some degree of hackery - you're not going to run it natively on a Surface Book.
Good to hear. Last time I checked, which was shortly after it was announced it was having major issues. Firmware updates and/or drivers likely fixed those issues over time, but I lost interest.
Oh yeah, it was terribly unreliable upon first release. But once the firmware was updated and Windows 10 Anniversary released. it is an absolute dream, and now the hardware is upgraded
I have pre-ordered a decked out Surface Studio. Same price has a decked out MBP ($4299 + tax) but oh that 28 inch screen is just too good to pass up...
When Apple makes a 17" inch laptop, I will spend my cash with them....until they do, Windows is for me
When Apple makes a 17" inch laptop, I will spend my cash with them....until they do, Windows is for me
I have to say I moved from a macbook pro to a surface book a last Christmas when the dGPU in my gen1 retina macbook failed and I was having to run it in integrated mode all the time and I love it. I'm coming from somebody who apart from work was running a purely apple environment and say what you will about windows 10 i hate to say it but I think its the best laptop i have ever owned. I have to have a lot of meetings and ability for me to just pull the screen out and start writing notes on documents etc rocks.
I can just pull out a pdf and start drawing on it. Plus as a .Net web developer it is a great working environment the only fault is that the screen wobbles too much a cause of too much stuff in the screen but its very livable problem.
The new version looks even better with 16 hours of live, the surface studio is stunning. I have been waiting ages for this macbook pro but apple again is losing its edge massively... why have they now got two standards for power... USB-c vs lightning, why didn't they just loose lightning and I could have had one charger for my mac and iphone... And I could have justified switching to a non aux headphones... (bluetooth is only good for running and listening to in bed so you don't strangle yourself if you fall asleep!) now I can't without dongles use the same headphone on my laptop and iphone.
I actually think once you start using the touchbar limitations will very quickly arise... like suddenly missing how easy it is to change track in the back ground. I hate to say this 4.5 years of developement (not including hardware upgrades) and the best they could come out with a a touch strip along the top and its slightly thinner... I get its chucking alot of GFX about two 5k or 4 4k monitors is very impressive... but come on this is silly. what about using the pencil with the massive touch pad or an actual touch screen... creatives like drawing and engineers like me like writing notes (even if in my case they are barely legible)
My surface book even at a year old is by far and away the best laptop I have ever used it would take a lot more than a giant touch pad and dynamic function key row to pri it from my hands... I am actually gutted about this I really really wanted to upgrade I used to like the idea of a totally different operating system for work and home... sort of like normal cloths and suit...
I can just pull out a pdf and start drawing on it. Plus as a .Net web developer it is a great working environment the only fault is that the screen wobbles too much a cause of too much stuff in the screen but its very livable problem.
The new version looks even better with 16 hours of live, the surface studio is stunning. I have been waiting ages for this macbook pro but apple again is losing its edge massively... why have they now got two standards for power... USB-c vs lightning, why didn't they just loose lightning and I could have had one charger for my mac and iphone... And I could have justified switching to a non aux headphones... (bluetooth is only good for running and listening to in bed so you don't strangle yourself if you fall asleep!) now I can't without dongles use the same headphone on my laptop and iphone.
I actually think once you start using the touchbar limitations will very quickly arise... like suddenly missing how easy it is to change track in the back ground. I hate to say this 4.5 years of developement (not including hardware upgrades) and the best they could come out with a a touch strip along the top and its slightly thinner... I get its chucking alot of GFX about two 5k or 4 4k monitors is very impressive... but come on this is silly. what about using the pencil with the massive touch pad or an actual touch screen... creatives like drawing and engineers like me like writing notes (even if in my case they are barely legible)
My surface book even at a year old is by far and away the best laptop I have ever used it would take a lot more than a giant touch pad and dynamic function key row to pri it from my hands... I am actually gutted about this I really really wanted to upgrade I used to like the idea of a totally different operating system for work and home... sort of like normal cloths and suit...
So you dont realize that they are USB-C ports that also support thunderbolt? There is no certification process to produce anything for the new macbook pros. Monoprice already sells a number of cables and adapters.
Also how is the surfacebook good at being a tablet when the battery cant last 3 hours in tablet mode?
Aren't there privacy concerns with Windows 10? I think Barnacles ( YouTube) had a 35 minute video showing how to disable a lot of the spying, but you still have Cortana sending stuff to the cloud. I am also thinking about upgrading from imovie to Final Cut and I am having trouble finding a Windows equivalent without paying Adobe $20 a month forever ( in addition to what I pay them for PS & Lightroom).
I like the idea of using pen input with Photoshop, but I can live with an iPad running Astropad at this point. If I needed an all in one solution, I think I would pick up the Surface Book and just deal with Windows, but I think I am going to pay up and get a MBP. Just too hard to give up OSX ( but I like the way it works with iOS... FaceTime, messages, phone calls, etc.)
Personally, I think the touch strip will be very useful. Having tools in the strip rather than always up on the screen will be a nice feature, once people get used to using them.
I like the idea of using pen input with Photoshop, but I can live with an iPad running Astropad at this point. If I needed an all in one solution, I think I would pick up the Surface Book and just deal with Windows, but I think I am going to pay up and get a MBP. Just too hard to give up OSX ( but I like the way it works with iOS... FaceTime, messages, phone calls, etc.)
Personally, I think the touch strip will be very useful. Having tools in the strip rather than always up on the screen will be a nice feature, once people get used to using them.
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I think the form factor is appealing to the business world, whether it be a Surface device (which seems very popular in Japan) or an iPad device (which I've seen more in the American business community). They both have a ways to catch up to laptops, but I'm seeing them more and more in the wild.