Take performance, for example: Microsoft claims its product can run 58% faster than the MacBook Air M3. The company even ran a side-by-side photo editing test between the two computers to prove its advantage.
It’s worth noting, however, that the Surface device contains a fan, which the MacBook Air does not, which means Microsoft’s system can run at a higher temperature.
Once the inevitable comparative reviews appear, it will be interesting to learn how long you can run such intensive tasks on a Surface in terms of energy consumption and battery life, and how this compares to the same tasks on a Mac. Microsoft says that when it comes to simulated web browsing, you’ll get over an hour more battery life on its device than Apple’s. However, Ars Technica calls Microsoft’s battery life claims “muddy”, saying they need further independent verification.
To some degree, the comparisons might become moot, given Apple is already striding toward equipping Macs with M4 chips; they’re already available in what I see as Apple’s more direct Surface competitor, the iPad Pro.
Making Windows…
Microsoft doesn’t see it that way. It believes its Surface Pro devices should be seen as MacBook Air competitors, is buoyed by no-doubt excellent test results, and hopes that by pimping out its systems with AI it has a compelling market proposition with which to tempt enterprise users to stay inside the Windows flock.
(Though even that bid for regained relevance still needs to get past the data sovereignty/privacy problems that beset all the big genAI solutions at the moment. Enterprise users will need to be certain of the cloud-based components of these systems before using them to handle regulated data, I expect.)
