Although it’s not a given that the new 16-inch MacBook Pro will be announced at Apple’s iPhone event tomorrow (Tuesday 10th September), the macOS powered laptop is facing some stiff competition from Microsoft’s Surface team. With the Surface Book 3 on the horizon, what are the three trump cards the Windows 10 powered flagship can play against the upcoming MacBook Pro.
First up is the hinge. In a sea of simple silver laptops, the hinge of the Surface Book stood out when it was revealed in 2015. Since then it has been through a major update in the second Surface Book in 2017 to offer more strength and flexibility.
As witnessed by a number of published patents, Microsoft’s R&D team has been hard at work to improve the hinge. The most visible feature of the Surface Book is going to hide a number of tricks in the near future. It offers a distinctive look and identity to the hardware. The Surface Book stands out.
Then there is the screen of the Surface Book. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has continued to equip its Surface machines with touch screens - the new Surface Book will not be any different. Touch as an interface is something phone and tablet users are comfortable with, and the recent additions to Windows 10 improve the touch experience. Be it one of Steve Jobs’ favorite stylus, or the accuracy of the Surface Pen, the Surface Book offers a better interface for users.
Finally, there is the secret power of the hinge. Ahead of the launch of the Surface Book, Microsoft worked hard to stop one feature leaking ahead of the launch. That was the ability of the screen to detach and act as an oversized Windows 10 tablet. Once it was revealed on stage, the Surface Book moved from a well designed flagship laptop to a genuinely revolutionary device. Antonio Vilas-Boas at the time:
As far as anyone outside of Microsoft knew, the Surface Book was essentially just another, albeit great, laptop with a funky hinge. It wasn't really the Surface Book.
But Panay wanted people to think that it was just a laptop that was "worth every penny as a laptop." And when he finally showed people the keyboard detaching from the Surface Book a month before the announcement, those people would see a laptop that satisfied expectations and "so much more."
What does the MacBook have that can rival that? Nothing. You could move to an iPad Pro, but that defeats the purpose of a high-powered professional-styled laptop.
Although the new MacBook Pro is going to offer a larger screen to users (which will be welcome), the consumer focused macOS machines are not Apple’s priority. In hardware terms that belongs to the iOS powered iPhone and iPad devices. In software terms it is the lock-in provided by iOS and the associated subscription services.
Not so with the Surface Book and the rest of the Surface family. These devices sit on the front line, clearly supporting Satya Nadella’s vision of cloud-first mobile-first computing that works alongside Windows 10, Microsoft’s cloud based services, and the wide portfolio of mobile apps for Android and iOS.
The Surface Book has a number of trump cards over the MacBook Pro, but the real winning card is that there is visible trust and support from every area of Microsoft.
Now read more about the three key areas the 16-inch MacBook Pro will need to address…
