It has taken a few years for Apple to make any considerable upgrades to its most powerful line of laptops, the MacBook Pro (MBP). This I believe, has given Microsoft the opportunity to release a second and better iteration of a product that has both a new design and a set of features that can potentially make MacBook Pro users switch to this Windows laptop, at least for now. So what’s Apple to do?
Well, perhaps nothing if they aren’t as excited as they were once about pursuing the high-end laptop market which is made of, undeniably, of many of their existing customers via iPhone and iPads. The MacBook Pro has always been considered upscale and the high-end of laptops for professionals. The premium materials and powerful specs of the MacBook Pro were still on par with its high price, which made it hard for Windows laptop companies to compete.
The MacBook Pro
Presently, I consider the current MacBook Pro overpriced for what it offers. The 13 and 15-inch MBP models are priced only $100 less than Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 laptops of the same size with similar specs. But I consider that the Windows laptops while still expensive, offer a computer with better specs than the MacBook Pro where it counts. The Surface Book 2 includes a much better battery life (up to 17 hours vs. MBP’s 10 hours) a 10 point multi-touch display, better connections including a full-size SD card reader, and the versatility to be not just a laptop but also a tablet, and portable studio all-in-one.
The Surface Book 2
The Surface Book 2 also has better options for storage, Microsoft offers four storage options for the 13-inch model, and 3 storage options for the 15-inch model which range from a Solid state drive (SSD) 128GB to a roomy 1TB PCIe SSD, and you’ll still be under $3,300 while the Apple MacBook Pro will cost you over $4,000 if you choose a drive larger than 512GB.
The Surface Book 2 also features two cameras, a 5.0MP front-facing camera with 1080p HD video and an 8.0MP rear-facing autofocus camera with 1080p Full HD video. In comparison, the MacBook Pro includes a 720p FaceTime HD camera. To be honest, I haven’t really used the Surface’s rear-facing camera yet, I just haven’t found a use case for it, so not sure what advantages exists for having it.
The main advantage
The versatility of the Surface Book 2 is also no joke, I was a bit skeptic of it, but I’ve been using this laptop for two months now, and the tablet and studio options have been handy for me. When you detach the screen to use as a tablet, you end up with an incredibly light and powerful tablet.
The design is something I wasn’t a fan of when I first saw it, but it has grown on me. The hinge adds a bump to the Surface Book 2 profile, but it doesn’t bother me. This powerful laptop isn’t the thinnest, but it is indeed not the heaviest either. The 13.5-inch model wights 3.38 lbs while the 15-inch model is at 4.2 lbs. In comparison, the new Apple MacBook Pro is at 3.02 lbs for the 13-inch model and 4.02 lbs for the 15-inch model.
Another advantage of the Surface Book 2 is its QWERTY keyboard, it feels good, and it is definitely much better than the MBP’s keyboard equipped with the low-profile butterfly switch mechanisms.
The main disadvantage
The most significant disadvantage of the Surface Book 2 is that it falls short in memory options as you can only get up to 16GB while the MacBook Pro is configurable to 32GB of memory. This is important to a lot of people, having the extra memory comes handy when using memory hungry applications while coding or using photography and/or video editor applications.
Apple failed to impress with the release of the new options of their MacBook Pro line earlier this summer. In contrast, Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 is already a great laptop, and there are rumors that the Surface Book 3 release might be around the corner. There are good chances that the Surface Book 3 will include a 32GB memory option, and perhaps a better screen resolution if they want to stay ahead of Apple’s MacBook Pro line.
Bottom line
Most people who have gotten the Surface Book 2 would agree that Microsoft is changing the game and it’s regaining the attention of creators in search of a powerful and capable laptop, while Apple has a hard time keeping up after leaving their line of laptops unattended for so long.
Yup. Microsoft got its mojo back, and there is competition again.
Image credit: By SimonWaldherr [CC BY-SA 4.0 ], from Wikimedia Commons
