Microsoft surprised and impressed this week with its biggest Surface tablet to date - the Surface Book that actually looks and functions too as a laptop. In fact, the tech giant labelled its flagship Windows 10 device as the ultimate laptop.
And to become the game-changer that it's touted to be, the Surface Book will have to tussle with the popular and very capable MacBook Pro and win the battle. How the new Surface stacks up so far with its chief foe? Comparisons of the two devices that showed up so far indicate that the Windows machine is getting the better of its OS X rival.
Here's how the matchup is unfolding:
Fastest 13-inch laptop/tablet
The latest Apple MacBook Pro is a formidable device with a 2.7GHz processing chip that is supported by 8GB of RAM. But Microsoft made sure that its Surface Book will outgun its bitter nemesis as the company boldly claimed that its new creation is "the fastest 13-inch laptop ever made."
The Surface maker added that the new device will outpace the competition and when pitted against the MacBook Pro, the company stressed that the Surface Book is "two times faster."
2 devices in one package
The Surface Book is by itself a twin package - when docked seamless with its out-of-the-box keyboard it is a beautiful keyboard and when detached it is a fully functional Windows 10 tablet. So users will enjoy the best of both worlds - notebook and tablet - with the Surface Book.
The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, is designed as a notebook and will never be a tablet. For Apple fans to enjoy tablet functions, they will need to separately purchase any of the three iPad models by Apple - the iPad Pro, the iPad Air and the iPad Mini.
Innovative design
With the Surface Book, Microsoft proved that it is equally capable of innovative design with a touch of aesthetic. As a laptop, the Surface Book firmly holds its 13.5-inch display into place with a muscle wire lock that is part of the engineering marvel that is the Dynamic Fulcrum Hinge component or DFH. The mechanism also comes with a release button that easily frees up the device portion to function as a stand-alone tablet.
DFH, according to BGR, also acts as the connection port of the Surface Book while serving as its solid support when being used as a regular computer.
Better productivity functions and features
There is no doubt that the MacBook Pro is a productivity tool as a conventional computer but the Surface Book extended whatever its competitor can do. As a tablet, for instance, the Surface Book can access all the Windows 10 productivity features that normally are only available in desktop setting.
And the Surface Book is fully compatible with stylus for extra input dimension, which is an option unavailable to MacBook Pro users.