PC makers have put out some amazing new ultrabooks, pushing the boundaries of design and significantly raising the level of quality. That being said, Apple still has a strong hold on the market when it comes to sleek design and high quality construction. Apple has however been completely and utterly underwhelming in its lack of recent innovation and lack of focus on product lines such as the Mac Pro.
Smelling blood in the water or just realizing consumers value design and build quality, Microsoft has poured a huge amount of money into research and production of a new line of computers. The newest release is the Surface Laptop becoming available June 15.
(Their promo video is pretty sleek and beautiful)
The Surface Laptop is meant to be a direct competitor to the MacBook and is targeting the same demographic of creatives and students.
As a PC lover and often times an Apple critic, I was so excited when I heard about the release and saw the initial pictures of the device! Finally, a PC that is aesthetically pleasing, sleek and with an all aluminum build for under $1,000! Then I took a look at the specs....
Specs and Pricing
Intel Core i5 CPU, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD: $999
Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,299
Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD: $1,599
Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD: $2,199
For this article I really want to focus on the base model.
First off, in my opinion, 4GB of RAM for a $999 laptop is unacceptable. Seven or eight years ago, 2 GB RAM was standard, today most computers have around 8GB RAM. Five years from now I would imagine 12 or 16 GB RAM will be standard. This area is already obsolete in my opinion and it hasn't even been released yet. (That being said, I understand this is targeted towards students and is meant to be for everyday productivity tasks, 4GB will do the trick, but for this price I think Microsoft could do better, Just my opinion)
The other big disappointment for me is the Operating System OS. The Surface Laptop comes standard with Windows 10 S which severely limits the programs you can run and is not ideal for anyone who wants to do more than basic productivity tasks. (An upgrade to Window 10 is available)
Strangely enough there are no USB type C ports on this laptop. For a computer which is meant to be the flagship of a new laptop line, this makes no sense. Again, this, like the lack of RAM increases risk of obsolescence.
Finally, my last complaint about the laptop is the use of Alcantara fabric on the keyboard. To be fair I have not had the chance to test this fabric and it could be amazing, but I would remain cautious as some surface pro keyboards with the same fabric sustained heavy damage after long term use. Unlike the Surface Pro where you could just buy a new detachable keyboard, that is not an option for the Surface Laptop.
Will this computer kill the MacBook?
Short answer no! In its current configuration it will not overtake the MacBook. For the reasons I mentioned, this laptop in my opinion fails as a viable competitor to the MacBook or MacBook Air. That being said, while this may not be a kill shot, it is certainly a shot across the bow for Apple. It is abundantly clear that Microsoft has acknowledged the need for modern and sleek designs along with build quality. This laptop is a step in the right direction and if they build off of this product, there could be great things in the future. The Surface Studio is already leading innovation in the AIO category. I have a lot of complaints about the Surface Laptop but Microsoft did some things very well like design and build. I think we can all agree, this is a beautiful product. I think the future is bright for Microsoft and we will have to see how the Surface Laptop performs when it comes to market this month. If I was working for Apple I would be watching this closely as Microsoft is getting closer to cutting into Apple's marketshare.
This is my analysis, I would recommend checking out this video by Dave Lee where he breaks down a lot of the features of this product. Check out his other videos and hit the like button.
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