“Across the last couple years, Apple’s new Macs have been roundly criticized for raising their prices using flashy — rather than purely utilitarian—new features like the Touch Bar, while delivering only incremental improvements in performance due to a reliance on Intel’s processors,” Daniel Eran Dilger writes for AppleInsider. “Yet when Microsoft follows the same playbook, suddenly high prices are reasonable, flashy but unnecessary features are a sign of innovation, and big performance gains aren’t really necessary.”
“Writing for PC World, Mark Hachman noted in his hands on, titled ‘Microsoft Surface Studio 2: Still the PC you desire but can’t afford,’ that even calling it the fastest Surface ‘may be true in the end, though Microsoft barely squeaks by with that definition on paper,'” Dilger writes. “Microsoft will use Intel’s seventh generation Core i7 chip, just like Apple’s fastest standard iMac introduced in mid-2017. But rather than complaining that Microsoft’s brand new Surface Studio 2 should be using Intel’s latest available processor, Hachman stated, ‘fortunately, performance isn’t why you’ll buy the Microsoft Surface Studio 2: It’s that amazing, vibrant display.'”
“That’s right: after decades of chiding Apple for not building a ‘headless’ PC box from the ’90s, suddenly the reason ‘you’ll buy the Microsoft Surface Studio 2’ — and don’t worry, you actually won’t — is because it incorporates a nice display,” Dilger writes. “Rather than chiding Microsoft for doing all the things they’ve badgered Apple about since the beginning of time, PC pundits have a whole new way of looking at the world once it’s a place where it’s Microsoft trying to make money rather than Apple. And yes, it’s a lot like their reception of Google’s premium-priced hardware boondoggles like the Chromebook Pixel.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: They remember the Microsoft gravy train, based on ideas stolen from Apple, and they’d do anything to get it back, but the world has long since woken up.
There will be no more Microsoft gravy train.
The only suckers using Surface PCs of any sort are those who are paid to do so (the NFL) and the terminally stupid.
Interns: TTK!
Cheers, everybody!
SEE ALSO:
Microsoft Surface Pro screens keep dying – February 1, 2018
NFL extends deal to saddle league with Microsoft Surface tablets for 6th year – December 5, 2017
Microsoft’s defective Surface scandal intensifies – August 15, 2017
Leaked Microsoft memo reveals failure-prone Surface Book suffers from high return rates – August 14, 2017
Microsoft’s hardware business takes a hit as Surface sales sag and Windows Phones fade – April 28, 2017
Microsoft’s Surface Studio boondoggle – January 3, 2017
New England Patriots coach Belichick on Microsoft Surface tablets: ‘They’re just too undependable for me’ – October 19, 2016
New England Patriots’ coach Belichick: Microsoft Surface breakdowns are common – January 26, 2016
Microsoft pays $400 million for product placement; Surface tablets fail during Patriots vs. Broncos playoff game – January 24, 2016
A single quarter of iPad Pro sales will exceed the total of all Microsoft Surface tablets ever sold – November 24, 2015
Microsoft pays $400 million for product placement, then NFL announcer calls Surface tablet ‘iPad-like’ on air – September 8, 2014
Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone says his Microsoft Surface tablet ‘didn’t work’ for portion of game – August 4, 2014
Sure. But that doesn’t give Apple a free pass on their hardware! We expect Apple to make brilliant products that cost a premium but Just Work, are durable, don’t cut corners, and anticipate the present and future needs of the user through reasonable I/O, expandability, upgradeability, repairability.
DeD used to be a superb commentator on Apple hardware and software. But now he seems to do nothing but take one-sided pot-shots at the articles written by others. Just like Apple, he has has become boring.
Apple “brilliant products”, I agree, but we have to be honest about something that has always been a bit overrated.
Absolute speed for a laptop is not what 95% or more of buyers want. Buyers I’ve talked to want ruggedness, reliability and a varied set of port connections (& Magsafe).
Tough laptops are not cheap to make, whether PC or Mac. I prefer Win10 on my Mac.
AppleInsider continues to devolve into just another shill for Apple, taking cheap shots at Microsoft while offering zero evidence to show the total package of Apples all-in-ones are a better value. Can’t anybody just do an objective review of what a device can and cannot do???
Jesus H Christ, you are a moron. It’s AppleInsider, not MicrosoftInsider. Go read Thurrott for that.
No sir, that would be you!
Being a fan does not absolve from objectivity.
Well, maybe this will prompt Apple to release a reasonable headless system. The Mac Pro and Mac mini delay is inexcusable.
It is good to see Microsoft lifting their game – it will force other manufacturers to do the same and, I suspect like many Apple users, my next notebook will not be Apple. It may not be a Surface either but there will be more Windows notebooks which offer a good alternative.
Ports, power, high res display lots of RAM and a 1TB SSD running Win10 will do me fine.
And when my iPhone 8 expires I will be looking at Android. My ageing Mac Pro will be replaced by a tower of some description eventually as well. It won’t be a Mac.
After 16 years of Apple the iPhone company no longer provides solutions I want and the cost, repair cost and accessory cost as well as stupid and expensive dongles make I the decision to go back to Windows a no-brainer.
I agree with your post 1,000%.
My baby brother flew in yesterday from Austin and today we watched football, made fresh wings and discussed Apple.
He bought the first generation blueberry iMac in 1997 or was it 1998. He has been a diehard Apple supporter since then and owns iMacs, iPhones, iPads, iPods, iWatch that he regularly updates.
Not this year and he finally made the break from Apple when he needed a new pro computer. No Mac Pro for five years and he looked at iMac Pro and said it is ridiculously priced and not expandable.
So, he built his own PC himself with the advice of IT where to buy parts. He said the Mac software allows a one time transfer to Windows versions and now running 10.
He doesn’t like the OS as much as Apple. But not much different and the money he saved 2.5 times less for a pro computer that he said is 10X faster blows him away.
Tired of Apple’s tone-deafness, iPhone and watch fashionista emoji company I’m next for a pro PC.
Apple owner since my Lisa…
So sad to hear another personal story about Apple’s inadequacy driving more people to the dark side, Windows. I feel sad that bad things happen to good people, especially because of corporate malfeasance or inattention to user’s needs. It makes me reflect, morosely, on my own situation, a career spent navigating the jungle waters of janky operating systems and peripheral device drivers that snapped like piranha (and still do). Fighting against computer viruses and worms in the early days, suffering denial-of-service attacks, then being forced to learn Bayesian statistics in order to arrest the flood of email spam and malware; then studying social engineering tricks and giving seminars about them to bored employees. Then, finally, achieving freedom from the drudgery by turning it round and making it into a new career — in computer security.
The day I did that I became free from dependence on a preferred operating system and its native applications, and free from dependence on specific hardware configurations. I became divorced from content creation, and didn’t bother about custody of the children.
I suppose it was meant to be. I’m naturally bossy, and understand how to yank people away from their comfort zones.. for their own good, mind you. They should eat their vegetables. And trade in their Windows machines every two years. I don’t care for anyone to suffer overmuch.
Herself, thank you much for understanding and your kind words. My brother said he did not want to leave Apple, but Apple left him. Also thanks for sharing your history I find most interesting as you roll with reality and evolve. Hey, the last thing I want to do is buy a PC. I’m going to hold out until Apple’s next announcement before I make up my mind …
if Apple develops decent hardware in the next year or two, it may be possible to revert. I well understand that there are costs to every switch and migration, but those costs must always be weighed against other costs like lower job satisfaction, suboptimal efficiency due to constant virus scanning, and down time from inexplicable application crashes that must be investigated over the telephone to a help desk in Pakistan. Also, I believe I mentioned device drivers.. another Windows chamber of horrors from which no one can escape. Apple has such issues too – but they have made a serious study of them to shield users from the terror of having to decide what to do; Apple tries to solve them for you quietly; Microsoft scares you silly with endless dialog boxes.
For each consumer, what to buy comes down to that one person’s priorities. They differ amongst persons, but mine were always (1) buy one of what my employer uses, so I can advance in the company thru home use; (2) buy prefab units; they’re cheaper than building your own (unless your time is worth nothing); (3) don’t buy anything without a warranty and a return policy, because almost everything is junk; (4) own more than one system with access to a common backup, because if your hardware locks up you’re screwed.
Herself, a big thank you for your time and thoughtful advice. Yes, much to consider since the last five years I have been all PC at work with Windows 7 for the first time. Yes, very needy OS and tons of precautions, dialog boxes and IT oversight. Whether I can handle all that on my own time is something I seriously need to consider if it worth the savings. Mind still open, much to weigh and we shall see…
Still bitter about nothing MDN?! LOL
… the good old days when Steve Ballmer was still running Microsoft into the ground. He was a ton of fun, almost literally.
What I want is a Surface Monitor, not a PC to compete with Apple. I’ll build my own.
I have used this site for many many years. I enjoy the news, but the ads are getting out of control. The page shifts up and down before finishing loading a few times, and it’s just plain ugly. I would seriously recommend reducing the ads.
Microsoft sucks!