Microsoft and Apple, the PC market's two long-running competitors, Microsoft's Surface Book, which launched last year and the MacBook Pro that got its first major redesign in about four years. Each laptop packs new features set to impress its users.
Microsoft introduced the Surface Book design in 2015 and though the model updated in 2016, it still looks the same, offering a decent keyboard, that innovative hinge that will let the screen sit at any angle, as well as offering a detachable 13.5-inch display. The Surface Book measures 312.3 x 232.1 x 22.8mm and weighs 1.516kg or 1.647kg for the top i7 Performance Base model. The Surface Book starts with 128GB SSD, with options up to 1TB. The Surface Book comes with wider options for graphics, with Intel HD graphics at the entry level, however also offering discrete GPUs, up to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M on the top i7 model. The Surface Book supports old USB devices as well.
The MacBook Pro has an all-new design that slims down the aluminum unibody, expands the Force Touch trackpad and offers a really slim display, which remains attached. The MacBook Pro measures 304.1 x 212.4 x 14.9mm, which is smaller and lighter in all directions than the Surface Book. The MacBook Pro features a Touch Bar OLED panel, replacing the function keys at the top of the keyboard, dynamically changing depending on the usage. Also, there's a Touch ID sensor in the power button, which allows for Apple Pay payments online, and as well as easy sign-in. The MacBook Pro offers a conventional 13.3-inch Retina display with 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution. The MacBook Pro comes with sixth-gen Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. Both offer various RAM from 8GB to 16GB depending on your configuration.
The Verdict
Both are the best 13-inch laptops available in the market and each laptop occupies different spaces, Apple is more conventional and offers that unique Touch Bar, but Microsoft gives an upper hand when it comes to versatility, offering touch and tablet mode.
