Surface Book vs MacBook Pro : Which one is Better?

Surface Book vs MacBook Pro

Microsoft has updated its top-spec Surface Book. Whereas Apple has updated its MacBook Pro, putting in a new Touch Bar feature. These two laptops square up pushing innovative features in both. Their features try to pull you to Windows and MacOS respectively. This is all about both the two 13-inch Surface Book vs MacBook Pro breakdown.

Design – Surface Book vs MacBook Pro:

Surface Book has a detachable display
MacBook Pro offers OLED Touch Bar

Microsoft introduced the Surface Book design in 2015. Although the model was updated in 2016. It almost looks the same still, offering that proper keyboard. The innovative hinge lets the screen sit at any angle, as well as offers a detachable 13.5-inch display.

The Surface Book measures 312.3 x 232.1 x 22.8 mm and weighs 1.516 kg or 1.647 kg for the top i7 Performance Base model.

The MacBook Pro has an all-new design that slims down the aluminum unibody. It expands the Force Touch trackpad and gives a slim display, which remains attached.

MacBook Pro measures 304.1 x 212.4 x 14.9 mm, so it’s smaller in all directions than the Surface Book. It weighs 1.37 kg, so it’s a good deal lighter too.

The MacBook Pro introduces a Touch Bar OLED panel, replacing the function keys at the top of the keyboard. It dynamically changes depending on what you’re doing. There’s also a Touch ID sensor in the power button, allowing online Apple Pay payments, and easy sign-in.

Touch Bar gives you dedicated controls that simply don’t exist on other devices. This controls have an adaptable solution and don’t require any touch on the display itself.

MacBook Pro might be more compact and portable. But Surface Book offers a full touch tablet, so it’s potentially more flexible. And it’s a little bulkier than the MacBook Pro.

Display – Surface Book vs MacBook Pro:

Surface Book: 13.5-inch, 3000 x 2000 pixels, 267ppi, touchscreen
MacBook Pro: 13.3-inch, 2560 x 1600 pixels, 227ppi

There’s a big difference in the displays for its usage. Surface Book has an advantage that offers a detachable display with full touch and a Surface Pen. The Surface Book will do things that an iPad Pro does. Here there’s a Windows tablet available in the same package.

The Surface Book has a 13.5-inch Pixel Sense display. The pixel resolution is 3000 x 2000 with 267ppi and 3:2 aspect.

The MacBook Pro offers a conventional 13.3-inch Retina display. It has 2560 x 1600 pixel resolution, 227ppi, with 8:5 aspect.

The Surface Book is sharper and can potentially offer more details on its display. although the MacBook Pro has always been a very good quality display. In this latest model, it boosts the brightness and contrast.

It is difficult to judge which one is better without getting them compared side-by-side.

Hardware – Surface Book vs MacBook Pro:

Both offer Intel Core i5 and i7 options
Surface Book offers discrete Nvidia GPUs

Both the Surface Book and the MacBook Pro offer sixth-gen Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. Both offer various RAM from 8GB to 16GB depending on your configuration.

The Surface Book starts with 128GB SSD, with options up to 1TB. The MacBook Pro starts at 256GB SSD, with options up to 1TB. Storage depends on the model configuration you choose in both cases.

When it comes to GPU, the MacBook Pro offers Intel Iris Graphics 540 or 550, depending on the model. There’s only the option for an AMD Radeon GPU on 15-inch MacBook Pro models. And so the 13-inch model is a little weaker in the GPU department.

The Surface Book offers much wider options for graphics, with Intel HD graphics at the entry level. It also offers discrete GPUs, up to the Nvidia GeForce GTX 965M on the top i7 model.

At the entry level, these two laptops might be close. But in the 13-inch size, Microsoft has more powerful graphical options than Apple.

Connections and Ports – Surface Book vs MacBook Pro:

Surface Book: Two USB 3.0, SD card, Mini DisplayPort
MacBook Pro: Four Thunderbolt 3 ports

The MacBook Pro has axed a lot of ports, moving to Thunderbolt 3 for everything. This includes charging and all other connections. In short, it probably means that not much will connect to it without an adapter.

That makes the Surface Book instantly more compatible with existing devices. Surface Book supports your old USB devices, you can put your memory card in it and connect to your existing monitor for example.

It’s not as simple as saying the Surface Book is better as a result, however. MacBook Pro still has connections and they are all versatile, supporting HDMI, Display Port, USB and so on. But it, although, has the USB Type-C design. In some ways, that makes for better connectivity, it’s just that you probably don’t have any of those connectors or adapters yet.

For those interested in photography, the loss of an SD card slot is probably the biggest bugbear with the MacBook Pro. For things like other connections, changing cables won’t be a long-term hardship.

Cost – Surface Book vs MacBook Pro:

Surface Book: $1,699 (256GB)
MacBook Pro: $1,799 (256GB)

The older Surface Book at $1,349 comes with half the storage of the MacBook Pro’s starting point. So we’ve picked the 256GB model instead, where the pricing is close, with the Surface Book a little cheaper.

However, because of those powerful GPU options, the top Surface Book, with Core i7, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and a Nvidia GPU will cost you $3,299. The top MacBook Pro, with Core i7, 16GB RAM, and 1TB SSD will cost you $2,899.

Although these devices occupy different spaces. Apple is more conventional but offers that unique Touch Bar. Whereas Microsoft is more versatile with touch and tablet mode. They both stand to be the best 13-inch laptops around.

The Surface Book is available to order from the Microsoft Store. The MacBook Pro is available to pre-order from the Apple Store.

This is simply all about Surface Book vs MacBook Pro in the aspects of design, display, hardware, price, ports and connections of both of them.