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New Surface Book or MacBook Pro with Touch Bar?

over 5 years ago from , Product Designer, Entrepreneur

I'm in the market for a new laptop and I'm currently thinking bout switching from my old MacBook pro to the Surface book. If you could get one, which would it be?

12 comments

  • Max LindMax Lind, over 5 years ago

    I preface this with, I don't know much about the Surface Book other than the little bits I've read, but it looks great, and sounds like it's a workhorse of a computer... but I'm personally sticking with Apple.

    Seems to me that the biggest piece missing from these conversations is the ecosystem itself. In the most extreme, and potentially silly case, things like iMessage personally keep me around.

    That said... while I do consider myself an Apple fanboy of sorts, I do think it's important, and pretty cool to see companies like Microsoft and Google pushing Apple on what they'e typically been best at... hardware design. Competition is good for everyone.

    13 points
    • Darren Krape, over 5 years ago

      Definitely second this point: it depends on the ecosystem. For me, there are too many Mac only programs that I need (Sketch, primarily) which are not available on Windows.

      Also, as an aside, from the reviews I've read, you're probably better off getting the 15" rather than the 13", largely due to battery-life. I've ordered the high-end 15" to replace my mid-2009 MBP.

      3 points
    • Cory MalnarickCory Malnarick, over 5 years ago

      I third this point.

      Where microsoft and google are certainly building awesome things in this direction or that direction, Apple products remain to offer those little things that have lasting effect on my daily life I'm not willing to part with.

      I really like Google's ecosystem, and I am very excited to see what material.io puts out in terms of design tools (that might be something that will help sway me), but those things seem to be far enough down the line to keep me planted with apple.

      0 points
  • Tori PughTori Pugh, over 5 years ago

    I have no real desire nor need to interact with my screen. For me the touch-screen on the Surface isn't a dealmaker for me. The programs that can run on it are important and most things that I use daily, Sketch most importantly, doesn't run on Windows.

    Depending on what you do that should really be the biggest factor, not just the hardware. For my money, if I had to choose one it'd be Macbook.

    3 points
  • Stefan HoardStefan Hoard, over 5 years ago

    I'd give the Surfacebook a go. Unless you're using software strictly available on apple devices.

    2 points
  • Mick NMick N, over 5 years ago

    They're completely different classed devices TBH. The Dell XPS would probably be a closer comparison (you can get touch & non-touch versions). The Surface Book offers touch and more importantly pen input. If that negates lugging around a separate Wacom device (I use mine daily) then that's already a big plus.

    Personally I'd go the Surface Book. My daily work flow consists of Adobe CC, Sublime Text / Visual Studio Code and a slew of command line/bash scripts. I'm also impressed with the Affinity Design / Photo betas so no doubt I'll grab those and integrate in to my work flow once they're officially released.

    2 points
  • John PJohn P, over 5 years ago

    For laptops I'd probably get the MacBook w/o touchbar.

    Although I'm moving all my desktop work over to PC because I need the power.

    1 point
  • Matt MilosavljevicMatt Milosavljevic, over 5 years ago

    While I’m still committed to the Apple ecosystem, the hardware updates and price points have left me luke-warm. I’m considering switching to a Dell XPS laptop but sticking with OSX via VMWare. Has anyone had any experience with a similar setup?

    1 point
  • Aubrey JohnsonAubrey Johnson, over 5 years ago

    If you are using/dedicated to using Sketch it'd be the MacBook Pro.

    I've been trying to get into Figma or Xd but they're still not the ones for me. I wanted to be able to be platform agnostic, but alas, Apple still has me.

    It is a shame too (IMO IMO IMO) because the new devices seem underpowered for the cost and gimmicky for the feature sets.

    1 point
  • John Subron, 4 years ago

    When it comes to choosing between Surface Book and Mac Book. I always recommend people to choose Surface Book until if there is no special need for Mac OS. Also, remember the Surface Book needs extra care and protection. You need to buy a Case for your Surface Book you can found it from here: https://lookgadgets.com/surface-book-cover-and-case/

    0 points
  • Thomas Michael SemmlerThomas Michael Semmler, over 5 years ago

    Neither, I would buy an older Macbook Air or an older Macbook Pro, the updated versions before this one. As good as the surface is, it is still windows.

    0 points
  • Ted McDonald, over 5 years ago

    They are both good computers, but ultimately it comes down to which programs you use. Most design and front end code apps are going to be on macOS. Windows covers just about everything else.

    0 points