The new MacBook Pros and the Microsoft Surface Pro 4 are long-running rivals. While Apple's offerings are true laptops with a few mobile-inspired perks, Microsoft bills the Surface Pro 4 as a tablet that can replace anyone's laptop. Apple has dominated the laptop market for years with its MacBook range, and the current powerful laptop, the MacBook Pro.
Apple MacBook Pro 13
The MacBook Pro 13 features a slimmer and trimmer design. Its Touch Bar has a headphone jack which makes another connectivity option that's just as controversial and, functionally, which is more important. Apple's new MacBook Pro 13 has an old display but still with high-resolution Retina, which means the resolution is still 2,560 × 1,600. It is powered by 6th-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 and comes with USB Type-C or Thunderbolt 3. The MacBook Pro remains a widely influential and timeless design, with its all-metal body both appealing to the touch and ever-robust. The most notable update is the addition of Apple's new Force Touch trackpad.
Microsoft Surface Pro 2017
The Surface Laptop is a light, thin, high-design laptop that Microsoft revealed last May 2 as part of a larger event about education. Featuring a stunning display, it has a laser-cut keyboard tray made of Alcantara fabric and claims to offer a battery life of up to 14 hours. At the same event, the company announced the secure, manageable Windows 10 S operating system, which will come preinstalled on the Surface Laptop as well as a lower-cost of laptops designed for K-12 classroom use. The new Surface Pro will be available in a number of configurations, from Intel Core m to Core i7 CPUs, with 4GB to 16GB of RAM and varying amounts of SSD storage. Both the Core m and Core i5 version will come fanless. On top of that, there will also be a model with 4G LTE, which will be a first for the Surface Pro line.
The Verdict
Clearly, the Microsoft Surface Pro (2017) gives an upper hand when it comes to hardware. With a price that starts at $800 that is slightly less pricey and more versatile than the Apple's MacBook Pro 13 which costs $1,500, Apple's MacBook Pro 13 feels a bit old-fashioned compared to Microsoft's latest offering.
