Apple MacBook Pro vs Microsoft Surface Book 2: Who Makes the Cut?

Apple finally has some company in the premium laptop segment in India with the Microsoft Surface Book 2 finally reaching our shores. The MacBook holds the laurel for being a high-end product that caters to niche consumers, and now we have the Surface Book 2 joining the ranks.

Both these products are priced in the mid-1 lakh bracket, which isn’t a hot-selling segment for buyers in India. But it’s fair to say that if people are willing to shell out over a lakh on the iPhone X, then surely laptops at such price points are likely to find buyers.

Which is why, we’ve decided to compare the two high-end products from Apple and Microsoft that are available in the market. So the question is, if you have a budget of over 1 lakh for a laptop, which of these should you buy?



Design
Apple MacBooks have been revered for its premium design and quality, that tags along with the hefty prices but people buy it. The company prescribes to aluminium finishing for its high-end notebook, with focus on keeping it slimmer and lighter than its competition at 1.3kg.

Surface Book 2 from Microsoft is a high-end laptop.

Surface Book 2 is no slouch either. Microsoft has been careful while designing this product and it shows. The build quality of the Book 2 is similar to that of the MacBooks, and that’ll never go unnoticed.

In addition to the basic laptop features, Book 2 specialises for its hybrid traits. You can detach the screen, flip it and fold the device to use it with the Pen. Because of its versatility, the Book 2 weighs up to 1.6kg but numbers tend to be deceptive and that’s what you’ll realise while holding the device.

Surface Book 2 is a hybrid device. 

MacBook in this size comes in two variants; without touch bar and with touch bar. It’s got a big size trackpad and ports are placed on the left side of the device.

Touch Bar variant of the 13-inch MacBook Pro costs more. 

If you’re looking for a high-end 2-in-1 laptop then Surface Book 2 has to be your go-to device. Anybody looking for a reliable and powerful machine can opt for the MacBook Pro.

Display

The MacBook Pro gets a 13.3-inch Retina display, offering a screen resolution of 2560x1600 pixels. The Surface Book 2 packs a marginally bigger display at 13.5-inch but with a resolution of 3000x2000 pixels.

Surface Book 2 comes with 13.5 and 15-inch variants. 

The screen on the MacBook Pro offers 227 pixels per inch (ppi), while the Surface Book 2 comes with 267 (ppi)

The increase in ppi on the Surface Book 2 hardly makes a difference, as compared to the MacBook Pro, Microsoft has gone for a bigger screen size.

Apple MacBook Pro 13.3 inch model also gets a touch bar variant. 

In terms of quality, both these devices match each other, offering a surreal viewing experience, and we can vouch for that. It was interesting to see that the 13-inch variant of the Surface Book 2 seems to pack the pixels tighter, throwing better colours in the process.

It’s hard to find a winner here, and we’ll leave the judgement to the buyer.

Hardware
The steep price points can be attributed to the use of solid state drives on these notebooks. With Surface Book 2, you can choose from 256GB, 512GB and even a 1TB variant.

It’s intriguing that the Core i5 variant of the 13.5-inch Surface Book 2 is from the Intel’s seventh generation lineup, while the Core i7 packing inside the device belongs to the eighth generation family. You get RAM options 8 and 16GB, and the storage is non-expandable. Going for the Core i5 model gives you Intel HD graphics, while the Core i7 variant comes packing with 2GB of Nvidia’s GTX 1050 onboard.

Keyboards of both the devices are backlit, which is essential for laptops at these prices. 

Coming to the MacBook Pro, Apple has given it the eighth generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors but you only get an 8GB RAM, which can be configured up to 16GB. Storage-wise, Apple has been less generous, offering only 128 and 256GB models. Having said that, you can configure them with storage up to 1TB, which isn’t bad at all.

With respect to ports, Microsoft is giving you couple of USB 3.1 ports, a single USB Type C port, audio jack, couple of Surface connect ports and an SD card reader. Apple, on the other hand, lavishes the MacBook Pro with a couple of Thunderbolt 3 ports, displayport, thunderbolt and USB 3.1 port. In short, you’re getting your money’s worth.

And finally, battery life. Microsoft claims Surface Book 2 can last up to 17 hours on a single charge, while Apple is more realistic with claims of 10 hours for the MacBook Pro. We haven’t tried either of the devices yet but we’ll definitely test out those claims very soon.

Windows vs Mac OS
This is where it really matters to the buyer. Surface Book 2 runs on the tried-and-tested Windows 10 from Microsoft. This version is much better than the debacle which was Windows 8.

You get access to all the apps from Windows Store (free and paid) and in addition to that you can download third-party apps as well. That’s what has changed with Windows 10, every feature has become an app, that gets regularly updated from Microsoft and its partners. It’s also safer (from virus and crashes) than previous Windows versions, something that’s worth noting.

Windows 10 is Microsoft’s software for laptops across all prices. 

For the MacBook, it gets Mac OS from Apple that’s well known to people across the globe. It has got some features like Spotlight and Continuity among others that have endeared Apple users.

Compared to Windows, Mac OS is a closed ecosystem, that doesn’t let you install third-party apps that Apple doesn’t approve of. So, if you’re not keen for such limitations then Windows 10 it is.

Which One Should You Buy
Now comes the big question, which one should you splurge on? If you’ve been a Windows regular and trust the latest version for its versatility and openness then Surface Book 2 is worth looking at, which is also a 2-in-1 device. You’ll need to get the Pen separately though.

If you’re looking beyond Windows and willing to go for a consistent performer like the MacBook, running on Mac OS then look no further. You’ll spend a lot but it’s more of an investment for the long-term.