MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

The forum for petitions, theoretical discussion, gripes, or other off topic discussion.

Moderator: James Steele

Forum rules
The forum for petitions, theoretical discussion, gripes, or other matters outside deemed outside the scope of helping users make optimal use of MOTU hardware and software. Posts in other forums may be moved here at the moderators discretion. No politics or religion!!
Post Reply
User avatar
Shooshie
Posts: 19820
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Dallas
Contact:

MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by Shooshie »

This came to me somehow:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/im-buying- ... eath-away/

The author is nonplussed over the new MacBook Pro's "touchbar," while the Surface blows him away. Yet he has to buy the Mac, because it runs his software. He says "Jony Ive just got p0wn3d." Ya gotta wonder if Apple's Mac guys are getting old.

Or is the Touchbar full of promise and potential we have yet to experience? Maybe the story continues once people figure out what they can do with it... kind of like the iPhone, which people predicted was too little, too late, in the already mature smartphone world.

After seeing the Surface's "Dial," I have to admit that I can imagine a lot more potential there than in the Touchbar. But I'll try to keep an open mind since I use a Mac.

Shoosh
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
User avatar
nk_e
Posts: 925
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2007 5:04 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: USA
Contact:

Re: MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by nk_e »

When I saw the surface studio video, I thought I was watching an Apple advert. It looks impressive.

The Apple event....not so much.

10 core iMacPro | 64 GB RAM | OS 12.6.7 | LOGIC PRO | STUDIO ONE 6 | CUBASE 12 | BITWIG 5 | DP 11 | MOTU Interfaces | Waaay Too Many Plug-ins |

http://www.gesslr.com

User avatar
Robert Randolph
Posts: 877
Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:50 am
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: St. Petersburg, Florida

Re: MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by Robert Randolph »

nk_e wrote:When I saw the surface studio video, I thought I was watching an Apple advert. It looks impressive.

The Apple event....not so much.
I felt the same way... but the surface still runs Windows. :vomit:

Windows 10 has been the most annoying OS experience I've had in 2 decades.
User avatar
mikehalloran
Posts: 15132
Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 5:08 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Sillie Con Valley

Re: MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by mikehalloran »

I was hoping for a Mac version of the SP knowing it wasn't to be.

After decades of the wild west where developers could do what they please, Microsoft is finally trying to lock down the OS like Apple. With modern security issues, there is no choice. Of course, little is truly compatible.

Mac users suffer growing pains with each OS release but nothing compares to the clown car that is the current Windows environment.

The Surface Pro is a cool looking piece of gear.
DP 11.31; 828mkII FW, micro lite, M4, MTP/AV USB Firmware 2.0.1
2023 Mac Studio M2 8TB, 192GB RAM, OS Sonoma 14.4, USB4 8TB external, M-Audio AIR 192|14, Mackie ProFxv3 6/10/12; 2012 MBPs Catalina, Mojave
IK-NI-Izotope-PSP-Garritan-Antares, LogicPro X, Finale 27.4, Dorico 5.2, Notion 6, Overture 5, TwistedWave, DSP-Q 5, SmartScore64 Pro, Toast 20 Pro
User avatar
billf
Posts: 3662
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Home

Re: MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by billf »

Shooshie wrote:Ya gotta wonder if Apple's Mac guys are getting old.
Fletcher Previn, the VP of IBM's IT group gave a presentation this week which said:
Previn says that while a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC, over four years IBM saves between $273 to $543 per Mac compared to a similarly configured Windows PC.

In other words, when you add in all the software a company has to buy from Microsoft to run and manage its Windows devices, Windows PCs are 3 times more expensive, he says.

"It ends up being $57.3 million more expensive per 100,000 Windows machines, or exactly 3X the cost," he said. "And this is a conservative number. This represents the best pricing we've ever gotten from Microsoft."
I think what people are in the creative creative pro/prosumer demographic are "feeling" is that Tim Cook and crew don't care about Macs in professional environments. Maybe... or maybe not. The new MacBook Pro is a step in the right direction, evolutionary to be sure, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The new FCP looks good. They are continuing to do good work with Logic Pro. Rumors are that a new Mac Pro is waiting on Intel CPU's. So all is not lost.

The thing to keep in mind about Windows is that it tries to be all things to all people, and as a result too often ends up being a tangle of frustration. Now apparently, they want to be the solution for the creatives as well, perhaps thinking that Apple is losing mindshare amongst creatives. Yes, it was a cool presentation, but remember proceed towards Windows carefully. There's always a price to pay.
MacPro5,1 2012, six core 2 x 3.06, 10.12.5, Digital Performer 9.13, 40 gb ram, 828mkIII, 2408 mkII, MTP AV, Logic Pro X 10.3.1, Studio One v 3.2, Pro Tools 12.7.1
User avatar
terrybritton
Posts: 1117
Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:45 am
Primary DAW OS: Windows
Location: Elizabeth City, NC
Contact:

Re: MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by terrybritton »

billf wrote:
Shooshie wrote:Ya gotta wonder if Apple's Mac guys are getting old.
Fletcher Previn, the VP of IBM's IT group gave a presentation this week which said:
Previn says that while a Mac initially costs anywhere from $117 to $454 more than a similarly configured Windows PC, over four years IBM saves between $273 to $543 per Mac compared to a similarly configured Windows PC.

In other words, when you add in all the software a company has to buy from Microsoft to run and manage its Windows devices, Windows PCs are 3 times more expensive, he says.

"It ends up being $57.3 million more expensive per 100,000 Windows machines, or exactly 3X the cost," he said. "And this is a conservative number. This represents the best pricing we've ever gotten from Microsoft."
This has not been my experience at all. He is not specific as to what "all the software a company has to buy from Microsoft to run and manage its Windows devices" is. I have never ever needed to buy anything additional from Microsoft to run my software, so I have no idea what he is referring to. Perhaps cloud services? Definitely out of my league, and not a pertinent remark as concerns typical home and professional users.

Macs are overpriced. "Perceived value" is a sucky concept.

Anyway - the important part is to enjoy your tools. I disparage no one for enjoying their choice of tools.

Terry
Computer: Sweetwater CS400v7 Intel Core i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz | 64Gigs RAM | Windows 11 Pro x64 |
MOTU 828 mk3 hybrid

DAWs & Live: MOTU Digital Performer 11.31 | Cantabile Performer 4
Keyboard Synths: Kawai K5000s, Korg Wavestation
Controllers: NI Komplete Kontrol S-88 Mk3 & S-49 Mk2; Maschine Mk3 & JAM;
Akai MPK249 & 225, Alesis QX49, Behringer BCF2000 & FCB1010
Rack Modules: Ensoniq ESQm, Yamaha TX81Z, Wavestation SR

Tutorials: https://youtube.com/@CreatorsMediaTools
User avatar
Shooshie
Posts: 19820
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:01 pm
Primary DAW OS: MacOS
Location: Dallas
Contact:

Re: MS Surface vs. the new MacBook Pro

Post by Shooshie »

terrybritton wrote:Anyway - the important part is to enjoy your tools. I disparage no one for enjoying their choice of tools.

Terry
Totally agree with that. I've always enjoyed using Macs. Making my living with them (indirectly) was a gift. It never felt like working. I probably would have enjoyed PCs if my main focus had not been music and graphics. I was never a big gamer. Played Marathon and Sim City, to sum it up. Oh, I always have some games, but only visit them occasionally. Still, using a Mac just felt so natural to me, whereas I thought PC logic was a little bizarre. Maybe just unfamiliar. However, I did feel sad for family members who I knew had bought PCs because the initial cost seemed so low, then they spent eternity with their "PC in the shop." I heard that every time I talked to various members of the family. They talked about email and messages and downloading files as if this were rocket science that only the few understood. How could I explain to them that we Mac users never had those problems, and that actually USING the Mac was so easy that we didn't think of email or downloads as problems to be solved. We just did it. They thought we were doing something else. Something less important. It couldn't be that easy. Macs were expensive toys.

Oh well... like you say, you can't disparage someone for enjoying their tools.

Shoosh
|l| OS X 10.12.6 |l| DP 10.0 |l| 2.4 GHz 12-Core MacPro Mid-2012 |l| 40GB RAM |l| Mach5.3 |l| Waves 9.x |l| Altiverb |l| Ivory 2 New York Steinway |l| Wallander WIVI 2.30 Winds, Brass, Saxes |l| Garritan Aria |l| VSL 5.3.1 and VSL Pro 2.3.1 |l| Yamaha WX-5 MIDI Wind Controller |l| Roland FC-300 |l|
Post Reply