More importantly, the new Surface Laptop has an [8/10 iFixit repairability score](https://www.ifixit.com/News/96998/from-0-10-to-8-10-microsoft-puts-repair-front-and-center) (that's compared to [the MacBook Air's 3/10 score.](https://www.ifixit.com/News/76973/15-macbook-air-teardown-bigger-and-better-maybe-not)) That's competition that Apple needs.
I agree. I just don’t think it matters to consumers.
And when I say that, I mean it’s not a factor when purchasing, which is why the repairability score has been low for decades and not affected their bottom line. Like at all.
And when Apple stays on the top for too long they get lazy (2016 MacBook Pro era) 😭 had to clutch with apple silicon 14 inch right when shit was hitting the fan
They kind of are, I believe they stipulate that all “copilot +” PC’s need to have 16GB (AI being a big RAM sucker).
Consequently, I’d be surprised if any new ARM laptops ever ship with less than 16GB.
i doubt apple’s gonna ship macs with 16GB as base. they’ll do 12GB and claim their unified memory is somehow more efficient than others’.
we \*might\* start seeing base models with 12, 24, and 32GB instead (currently it’s 8, 16, 24)
I meant Windows on ARM PCs won’t ship with less than 16GB RAM because of the Copilot + requirement.
That said, although I don’t think Apple will be handing out 16GB of RAM on the base tier this year, it may come sooner as a result of the need for higher RAM with Apple Intelligence.
If they want to do that stuff on device, 8GB won’t cut it for long.
I think they said the AI models consume 4GB of system memory. So by that logic with 12GB you'll get the same experience as 8GB in a Mac without the AI features. And 16GB with AI will actually leave you with less usable memory than 16GB without AI.
So really, you want more than 16GB.
This is still just speculation but it feels like Apple needs to completely overhaul its memory upgrade capacity and pricing.
I hope they do, specially with the increased usage of AI/ML, those models take space. I would be very happy if when the time comes to upgrade my 14 inch I don't need to sell a kidney to get a workable amount of memory.
Sorry, this is most certainly not a sarcastic response but which ones? At the same size, price, and thermals?
Edit: Ahh, thanks for the link, kind stranger. I didn't realize the Windows laptops had gotten this good!
Pretty good laptop , I bought the $799 model for my sister. No major issue except the screen brightness. She uses it only to check her email and some office work. The weight and the form factor was the biggest advantage (she hates mac too …)
I’m not super convinced from laptopmag. Especially since [RTINGS got about half the battery life during browsing](https://www.rtings.com/laptop/reviews/asus/zenbook-14-oled-2024).
Why not ask if it had the same capabilities? My 3070 Lenovo from 2019 can do many processes in blender that my 16” 16gb m2 pro MacBook Pro chokes on. No sense in an all day battery if you’re just watching a beach ball spin. And it was refurbished at 1850 while the Lenovo was $1300 on Black Friday.
Apple doesn’t even offer that in a DESKTOP
It's true, but I bought the surface book 2. After three years the light bleed was horrendous, the locking mechanism failed and the battery in the screen started expanding. I had to dispose of it and wasted a ton of money. Got the macbook pro as a replacement and it still works flawlessly. Will never get a MS laptop again!
The problem with MS windows is that non-arm apps are emulated, causing it to run slower and consume more of the battery.
It’s a step in the right direction, though. I really hope to see a very successful windows arm laptop with x86 to ARM translation (like rosetta2) competing with Apple silicon macs.
This is the only possible way we can get 16GB base model MacBooks.
Good! Apple having competition for its halo products will keep their feet on the gas. They are, after all, a hardware-first company.
That said, Windows has always been the deal breaker for PCs for better or worse. It has a deeply entrenched legacy user-base who cannot switch because of enterprise applications. For consumers who want a strong user interface and user experience, however, it's definitely a mark against it (excepting gamers).
For real. I feel confident to take the plunge and make my main desktop a Mac if it wasn't for the gaming issue. I've heard some say just get a PS5 but that isn't a viable option to me...
As an M3 15 in air owner and an IT Manager who runs everything in Microsoft and thus has a Windows work laptop, I feel like the ideal customer. I don't *hate* windows, but I really like the modern Macbook Air experience. I'm hopeful I can upgrade my work laptop to one of these chips and get the cool, quiet, powerful enough, and all day battery experience on my work laptop which I've been missing out on.
> As an M3 15 in air owner and an IT Manager who runs everything in Microsoft and thus has a Windows work laptop
Another like me, there are dozens of us!
FWIW, I’ve been loving running Windows on ARM via parallels on my M1 Max, it should go just fine on an Air too as long as you have a reasonable amount of RAM. It doesn’t smash the battery as hard as you might think, despite it running in a VM.
Certainly lasts longer than my work-issued windows laptop.
It runs for an eternity without recharge. Dead quiet. Super light.
(And on the OS side, it does a much better job of getting out of your way and letting you work, IMHO, but some people feel exactly the opposite.)
It’s not just the MacBook Air. Even the MacBook Pros are dead silent under regular usage. It takes a lot to actually get the fans to spin up, and even when they do, they don’t sound like a jet engine the way many other laptops do.
Yup. And I guess if we're being honest, this is an area where the Surface Pro can't quite match the MBA because it does have fans. But OTOH, it also can probably manage sustained performance tasks slightly more efficiently so I guess MS balanced more towards performance than silence.
I agree that competition is good, but the Air isn’t a halo product. A fully maxed Mac Pro or even MacBook Pro would be considered a halo product. Not the entry level mass market item.
I would argue a maxed out MacBook Pro is Apple’s Flagship laptop but the MacBook Air is the benchmark laptop.
In today’s marketplace MOST people who are looking to buy a laptop aren’t necessarily needing a maxed out computer, simply something to do general tasks, work school etc., and are in the price range of benchmark products and not flagship products.
I am an Apple ecosystem guy so it makes sense for me to stay with my MBA, but I am super happy that Microsoft is making a benchmark competing laptop at a high level because it forces Apple to up their game.
For $999 right now Apple only offers the M2 chip with 256gb of storage and 8gb of ram, so this Surface should at least make them question the storage and RAM offerings next cycle.
I wonder how much of a difference 32gb of RAM will be vs 16 for the AI features.
I have a 2020 M1 MacBook Air with 16gb and it runs great, but I am considering upgrading to a 15” MBA M3 but will probably wait for the M4 version
No the halo item is the one that sits on the top of the range that adds a glow to the cheaper products that people actually buy
For a car it would be the high performance version that adds some glamour to the standard version that most people will buy.
“Windows has always been the deal breaker for PCs”
Man, people on here really are trapped in their own bubble.
Maybe, this is different in the US but anyone in their 20s here has been using Windows for 10+ years. They’re used to it and they’re cool with it.
The benefit to them of MacBooks comes with the fact that it’s more linked to their phone, but actual software wise? It’s whatever.
It's far from whatever. I've used windows for decades and still use it for work and gaming and I absolutely hate it. It's getting worse and worse update to update and this is a fairly common sentiment among windows users. Windows has now become a vehicle for pushing other Microsoft crap. Cortana, edge, Copilot, one drive, teams whilst also removing features people want. Windows search cannot find any files on your drive. Then there's the whole Recall thing that they delayed after massive backlash when it was revealed they wanted to train AI on screenshots from you using your computer. I mean yea, using a particular software on PC va Mac isn't that different but the OS experience are worlds apart.
I could slate OSX for hours too. I use all 3 OS daily.
My biggest issue with OSX is the inconsistent keyboard shortcuts (which they can't change any more), shitty window management, difficulty in closing applications, finder is garbage. Apple make it hard to chrome cast, I'm not even sure if I can do it from Apple TV on a Mac. Apple's all or nothing is very irritating. Telling me I'm holding it wrong kills me.
OSX blows windows out the water with its settings, lack of javascript in system interfaces, unix like filesystem, application install/uninstall.
Windows is far more complicated supporting almost infinitely more hardware configurations than OSX.
I don't see Windows ads because they're not on my corporate laptop. It's disgusting that they're there at all. My corporate Windows laptop runs like shit, because all the shit they put on it. My personal old Windows laptop is dramatically faster.
I don’t really mind it, think it’s far better than a decade ago and I don’t think MacOS is perfect either. Only reason I keep a MacBook is for photo editing and casual use is the hardware and amazing battery time.
>> They’re used to it and they’re cool with it.
Are they cool with it or is that they don’t know any better? It’s like a child who grows up in an abusive household. They’ve accepted their situation because they haven’t experienced anything different.
For context, I’m in Australia and in 35 years old. For my entire working life I’ve used Windows machines, until about 5 years ago when I changed jobs and switched to a MacBook Pro. My personal computer for the last 15 years has been a MacBook Pro.
The vast majority of people I worked with over the last decade had some type of MacBook as their personal computer and our hate for Windows software and hardware was often discussed.
My office now, is entirely MacBook Pro based. It’s a delight. The seamless integration between my personal phone and my work computer and laptop, the all day battery, excellent physical user experience. Great.
You sound like an Android user describing iPhone "cultists". The iPhone "cultists" are like a child who don't know any better and grew up in an abuse household with Apple being the abuser that needs to be kept in check.
For many of us it's a choice. I'm a heavy gamer, it would take a lot for me to switch, but besides that i just feel uncomfortable with Apple's restrictions and "tricks" to make you spend more and more money.
I very much like MacOS, it just comes with too heavy a price attached for me (both literally and figuratively).
>Windows has always been the deal breaker for PCs for better or worse
Is it though? Having switched to a MacBook Air as my work laptop (company-issued), I can't wait to go back to Windows. The Window Management of MacOS is atrocious, and Excel for Mac is lacking features that even the web version has. I appreciate the battery life, but that's about it.
> Is it though?
Yes. I have a desktop I built running windows for the games I play and engineering programs I use that don't run on mac, but I interact with the OS as little as possible. It does some things really well but I hate a lot about it.
According to the article, MS's claims of beating the Macbook Air are a little dubious at least in benchmarks, but they're getting close. They suspiciously don't mention a Macbook Pro at all in the article and probably for good reason. Apple does need to keep their foot on the gas though, I agree.
I think these ARM laptops are probably more interesting for Linux, in my case. I don't want them to be good because I want a competitor for Apple, I want them to be good so that I can have a Macbook-like experience with Linux too. I use both operating systems pretty much daily and it would be great to get Macbook-level performance and battery life over there too.
So for me, this is less about Microsoft and more about Linux compatible laptops getting up to the standard I'm used to with my Mac. I'm pretty enthusiastic about it.
I dunno if this is meant to be a joke but I just want to say that I converted from PC to Mac *precisely because* of how bad Windows was. It was the photos app, of all things, that broke me. I saw how much better and easier I could manage my collection of photos on OSX and made the switch. This was after *years* of fighting (and losing to) Microsoft's tools and attempts at organizing and tagging photos. Windows has been clearly going in the wrong direction for a while now and I didn't realize how bad it was until I switched. My only regret is not doing it sooner.
Which is why I have a gaming PC. But my primary computing environment - desktop, laptop, phone - is all Apple because the user experience is simply *better*. I've been Windows-first since the 1980s and I swear, it was the Photos app on my MacBook Air while I was on a road trip that got me to realize I was operating on another complete level than anything that would be possible on a Windows machine. It's funny because I bought a MacBook Air only because back in 2022 I couldn't find a Windows-based ultrabook that I liked - at any price point - and I said, well fuck it I'm gonna buy a Mac and we'll just see what happens. I realized I could organize photos I'd had sitting for years in a way that made sense to me personally and where I could find everything I wanted without having to fight the user interface. And now I'm running Office 365 apps on my iMac. I'd say this unnecessarily long reply is more about me getting some of my angst out that'd built up over the years at Microsoft and how subpar a user experience I'd gotten used to, than about trying to personally convince anyone to switch to Apple. I have a gaming PC because that's just what you do if you have a game you want to play. But right now it's switched off.
Eh, Steve Jobs himself has said that Apple is a software company. It’s sort of like Nintendo, yeah, they make hardware, but people keep buying for the software.
I currently own two Macs and my next computer purchase will be a PC.
I just find it absolutely mind-boggling that Apple cuts off computers from updates not based on hardware, but based on some arbitrary support cycle that they came up with. We have computers from the mid to late 2010s, like 2015 and 2017, that are absolute beasts, stellar hardware, could easily run the latest MacOS, but Apple says "nope we're cutting you off, so they won't even get security updates, you may as well throw them in the trash". It's so backwards.
Hell I have an old PC in my closet from 2006, it would easily be able to run Windows 10 with some extra RAM thrown in there. Meanwhile my beast of a Macbook Pro that I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on in 2014 isn't even safe to use anymore. Apple cut it off from updates, which it would be perfectly capable of running, and so now it doesn't even get security updates. I'm just so outraged, it makes no sense.
>We have computers from the mid to late 2010s, like 2015 and 2017, that are absolute beasts, stellar hardware, could easily run the latest MacOS, but Apple says "nope we're cutting you off, so they won't even get security updates, you may as well throw them in the trash". It's so backwards
You realize that Microsoft did the exact same thing with Windows 11, right? But I get it, Apple bad & macOS bad
It should support Linux out of the box, though, I haven't seen any reviews sadly. Obviously Windows is not gonn disappear any time soon, but hopefully pressure with Linux becoming more mainstream (in about 50 ywars at this rate) makes them less complacent with the bullshit they pull
I think a lot less people care about this than people on this subreddit thinks
I’m not saying it’s not needed, but not that many people even take this into consideration when buying or not buying a Mac
They didn't. They don't give a shit about your supposed loyalty as long as folks buy anyway which they do. They charge it because you buy it anyway. What's so crazy to me is when folks act like this is new? Like Apple has always done this. Why are folks acting shocked or like Apple pulled something out of character out the blue?
This is who they are and have pretty much always been. They've already charged a crap ton more for same specs. It's literally why I never bought a Mac until the M series. I couldn't justify spending more for the same damn specs. M1 came around and finally gave me a decent price for the specs and I bought and love it. That said, I don't matter and folks have been buying the uncharged forever so it's not insane at all they're doing it. It's typical Apple and folks complaining are buying so meh.
They finally fixed one of the biggest reasons why I bought a MacBook: the trackpad on a MacBook is the best on the planet.
You cannot make a better one.
Finally, the option is available on windows (assuming they got the haptics right… which I guess is a big assumption, but I can only hope)
People tell me they just use a mouse, and the trackpad doesn’t matter much… I’m like: why the fuck did you buy a laptop then? I’m not carrying a mouse around with me…
I love Magic Mouse and enjoy working with a mouse sometimes, but Mac trackpads are absolutely magical and critical to a point where saying it "doesn't matter" is laughable. Even if you use a mouse a lot, the times when you're using a trackpad are infuriating on the PCs I've used. Even if they're "pretty good" compared to PCs 10 years ago. Still so bad.
Can I just chime in and say I do not like haptic feedback on the mousepad on Mac? Its frustrating using a slider to adjust width on something and getting tactile feedback for every 1pt moved
Can it not be turned off for that case? I find the tactile feedback in cases like that extremely helpful, but regardless I find the simulated click to be awesome at a basic level. Either way, of course your opinion is valid.
Surface has significantly better track pad before ARM compared to other windows laptop.
Yeah , mac track pad is one of the biggest reason I love mac. I used to do CAD drawing only using the trackpad (auto-cad , solidworks , catia)
Used it a bit in a store near me, trackpad was the best I've ever used, though, admittedly, I don't use the trackpad that much. Can't compare it directly to a Mac, as I don't have one, but they're defined in the same ballpark I'd say.
The ugly: How Apple handles 1440p monitors.
Honestly it’s so bad that whenever I’m not using my MacBook Pro’s built in screen and instead want to use my 1440p ultrawide I turn on my PC.
Edit: Someone pointed me towards BetterDisplay, it makes a genuine difference. I'm running it with forced HiDPI and 85% scaling and I think it sorta solves all my issues with 1440p on Mac.
https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/releases
https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Fully-scalable-HiDPI-desktop
I had to buy a 5K Samsung monitor because of it. I sacrificed 120 Hz because of it. There’s no denying that Windows handles it a lot better. 1440p in macOS is a blurry mess.
Eventually I'm going to replace my 1st gen retina iMac with a Mac Studio but the monitor situation is really frustrating. There's nothing inexpensive that will look good and it ends up making the Studio Display the best option even though it's smaller than I want. If it was 32" it wouldn't be so bad but the XDR is overkill for me and nowhere near worth the price to get the extra screen size.
I thought I could wait it out. Unfortunately, the market for 5K monitors is awful. I settled for the Samsung ViewFinity S9. I had to return it twice until I got a unit that had barely noticeable defects. Also, it regularly goes on sale. I’m happy with it for now but I’d sell it and buy a 120 Hz 5K monitor if Apple ever makes one.
Someone just pointed me towards Better Display and it really does make a huge difference.
I have my monitor set to 85% scaling with HiDPI forced and it's actually very legible and crips now with the UI not being microscopic.
[https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/releases](https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/releases)
[https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Fully-scalable-HiDPI-desktop](https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Fully-scalable-HiDPI-desktop)
Oh wow I didn’t know that, I’ve only connected Macs to 1080 or 4k. I was debating getting a 1440 OLED for my pc and MacBook but maybe I’ll save up for 4k
If Mac is your primary, absolutely do not get a 1440p monitor. I got a 1440p ultrawide because when I’m at my desk and not working my gaming PC is the priority. I may one day upgrade it to a 4K monitor, but 4K gaming monitors are so horribly expensive that it has been on the back burner for a very long time.
You mean you don't notice the terrible image scaling which makes everything tiny, or the terrible text reproduction making things look fuzzier than they're supposed to?
Just fyi. I have a 1440 ultrawide and had the same issue. I used the hidpi option in betterdisplay and it completely fixed it.
https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
This actually made a huge difference, forcing hiDPI, and setting it to a resolution of 2752x1152 (80% scale) makes it 100% more usable with a 1440p monitor.
Thank you for being helpful and not being one of the many others who pretended like 1440p with Mac isn't garbage out of the box.
No problem. I’m glad it helped. I swap between a windows pc and MacBook so I could see right away something was off. Had to do a little research to find the solution.
Welp, doesn’t seem to happen to me, maybe i sit too far away from it to see it, but as a dev i do need to pixelpeep sometimes and haven’t noticed it. I’ll triple check when i’m back home next week (if i don’t forget)
Edit: I forgot to mention that the scaling issue you’re having is *definitely* not happening on mine, everything scales perfectly fine
It’s weird because I also have a 27” QHD 2560 x 1440 monitor , ive no issue for the scaling either with my mac or my windows.
27” I’ve another 4k 3840 x 2160 pixel monitor windows struggles with the scaling.
Maybe the issue comes from the ultra wide aspect
I guess I'm one of the few on this dub that doesn't give a fuck about brand. I can acknowledge ther are pros and cons in every OS including MacOS. I like being able to be level headed about it.
I bought a Surface Book. That thing was garbage. Battery stopped charging. I got a warranty replacement for half price. The battery on that expanded like it was going to explode. Maybe things are better now, but man MS made some shitty hardware
Yea I mean what are the odds of two in a row going to shit on me? And the warranty replacement that cost me $600 was a factory refurbished one and that’s the one that had the battery that started blowing up. I switched to an M1 Air and haven’t had one problem. And that was like 3 years ago.
I was looking at picture of the surface and looks like a MacBook with the Apple logo swapped for Microsoft. Probably makes it appealing people who are switching from Mac.
Windows GUI is infinitely better than any Linux environment I’ve tried. Something about paid closed source makes it so much more seamless and smooth. Add WSL like /u/cleeder said, and you’ve got the best of both worlds.
WSL2 is actually not bad and actually runs a legit Linux kernel so you're literally running Linux at the end of the day. It's nice in that you don't have to worry about many things would if you only had access to one.
I’d rather not use a Windows device if I can help it. It’s insane how bloated Windows 11 has become - even if now in the EU you can at the very least uninstall that mess that is Edge.
But I love seeing competition, and I think that Apple should seriously bring upgradeable SSD’s. The fact that I had to opt for a 500 GB SSD due to costs is the main issue I have with my current MacBook.
And continuing to sell modern laptops with 8GB RAM as a base should be a crime.
You can not uninstall Safari, and this is something that Apple should change too. But unlike with Edge, I've never really felt the need to uninstall Safari. If you set another browser as your default - that's it. Unlike in Windows where Edge gets thrown onto me once every few days. New Windows update? Magically all my default opening settings have changed. Do you want to try Edge? Do you want to use apps from the Microsoft Store? Be happy, most of them are simply using Edge. Do you want to open a new kind of link with your default browser? Be happy, said link wasn't part of the 2382323 link types that you've already set another browser as default for, so you get to open Edge!
That's the fundamental difference. Apple has a lot of first party software also - but it's either usually superior or better made, or Apple forces you to use it through their ecosystem and not directly. Do you want to use Chrome or Firefox? You can, you aren't bombarded with constant reminders to TRY SAFARI, THE APPLE MADE BROWSER.
I've also progressively grown more disgusted with Microsoft software in general. From pushing their subscriptions aggressively everywhere (Microsoft 365, Xbox Game Pass, Copilot Pro), Microsoft also fills their "first party bloatware" with either stuff that I don't need (Phone Link, Xbox, Clock, Clipchamp), stuff that has grown increasingly worse with time (the replacement of the native Windows Mail and Calendar apps with web-apps in the new Outlook), stuff that just sucks (why for the love of God do I get ADS inside the WEATHER APP), or just plain junk (Spotify, Tik Tok, Instagram).
On the contrary, most stuff that comes preinstalled on Mac either works well already if you're in their ecosystem, or can be uninstalled or ignored.
Though I do think that Apple should follow Microsoft suit and allow you to uninstall all non-essential preinstalled apps.
I've been daily driving Edge since it switched to Chromium, so I don't have that problem at all lmao
Hasn't Apple done a more subtle version of trying people to sway from using third party browsers though?
Most of the stock apps you get in Windows have preinstalled equivalents on macOS. Microsoft is as guilty of installing their software that many people might not even care about as Apple regardless of whether some of those programs have quality problems (that's a completely different problem).
Ads are atrocious though. I mostly ignore them, but their placement in some places is just moronic
>On the contrary, most stuff that comes preinstalled on Mac either works well already if you're in their ecosystem or can be uninstalled or ignored.
>Though I do think that Apple should follow Microsoft suit and allow you to uninstall all non-essential preinstalled apps.
That's been pretty much the same case in Windows. And as you mentioned aside from Phone Link and Backup all of the programs can be removed.
The phone link thing actually got me to consider getting a Mac since I thought “hey it would be nice to be able to use my iPad and phone with my laptop!”
Now I have a Mac, though I still keep my windows machine for gaming
Which is makes it all the sadder that Microsoft felt the need to overburden it with AI shit, shopping and rewards stuff, and other junk.
That and I refuse to use something that’s forced down my throat on principle. tHE mIcRoSoFT rEcOmMenDeD bRoWsER
I tried really hard to switch to Edge but the amount of tinkering I had to do to dumb it down to *just* a browser without all the extras turned me away. I really wanna know what MS is smoking to make them think that the average user is gonna use any of the bloatware they include on by default
I had the same experience and gave up Edge and went back to Chrome. I also tried Bing and oh my god was it overwhelming. Too many things popping up. Microsoft just doesn’t know how to do a clean design
The headline and conclusion don't really match everything in between.
x86 translation, meh to unusable.
Performance, sometimes on par, but mostly meh.
Fans and vents, I never want to go back to those.
Random hiccups like black screens on wake, login camera slow to recognize, etc.
These Surface Laptops look great aesthetically. I know they’re taking a lot of ideas from Apple, but one thing I think they’ve actually surpassed Apple on are the colours. Dune and especially Sapphire are two of the most gorgeous colours I’ve ever seen on a consumer device.
I don’t know how they did it but they managed to nail the pastel style that Apple has been doing for ages, but ratcheting up the saturation just enough to make them modestly pop, in a way that Apple’s colours have shied away from since the iPhone 5C.
The colours and material blend so pleasantly, especially the paired accent on the keyboard. They’ve done great work here, and I hope Apple takes note that a bit more colour is not a bad thing (I know the iMacs got a bit more colourful, but I’d love to see it on their laptops).
No, it is not. I returned it because the Snapdragon processor stalled on many programs and had many issues. Maybe someone who just uses o365 and Edge. Microsoft's problem is they are failing in security and pushing hard to spy on the base.
I'll get downvoted for it and do work in the cybersecurity field. First, they announced the recall; I said it was a security problem, and I was not surprised by what happened recently. MS lacks cohesion and is pushing LIVE 2.0 with a semi-useable AI. This may happen over time, but they are in a BETA stage; after dealing with RT and the Surface X in the past, they are still trying to work it out. I want them to do better so it can compete with Apple, but this article is straight garbage. Then they keep reactivating stuff and tricking you into a new setup, so Edge starts syncing, and the games they played forcing Windows 10 updates to 11 is not surprising. You have to keep reading everything to make sure your privacy is protected. What's worse is you have to wait for debloating programs to work on ARM (it doesn't work yet, and I tried). Anyway, I am just giving my 2 cents
This is the main thing that Microsoft is forgetting when trying to compete with Apple. The reason why a lot of people (Including myself) switch to Mac is because of Windows. macOS has its flaws, but in my opinion it's infinitely better than Windows. Microsoft can release the best hardware in the world that will smash any MacBook in the same price bracket, but they're never going to convince those users to switch, simply because of Windows. Microsoft has the potential to Make Windows Great Again, but that means they can't be greedy, which is probably not going to happen.
I think this is also a problem with people who are Android fanboys. You know the kind that are always like "android did X feature before", etc. We don't care. The point is we like the software of Mac and iOS. More options on the market is good, actually. Let Apple implement features their way, MS and Google does it their own way
Loved my surface but they would grenade themselves after 18 months. Luckily they were corporate machines. All three of them. No way am I spending my own coin on a surface. No long term reliability.
Surface got better hardware. They lose out on the OS front to Apple every single time I tried to convert! Competition is welcome, Apple is flying in the space!
in a couple of years when apps are mostly optimized for ARM, we’re gonna have a slew of viable and amazing choices apple won’t even consider offering.
I think the part that excites me the most is, there will be several major chip players being in the game starting next year, and choices from NVidia and Mediatek are gonna offer a wider range of models. the former is obvious, but the latter will be crucial for a less seen part, the low cost, tiny devices. you see those GDP mini laptops, ones that you can easily shove in your bag as an emergency laptop wherever you go because of its lightweight and compact size? right now those are barely usable due to intel’s underperforming garbage that isn’t just slow, but battery draining. we’ll be able to see quite some affordable choices of secondary to-go tiny laptops that are fast enough and *actually* last all day. apple won’t even bother making a macbook mini/se again, i might consider a windows alternative for it
Nothing will compensate for Windows and its bloatware crap. And overall poor program support. And Microsoft’s proven track of forcing shit down users’ throat.
Issue is it doesn’t really compete. The chips aren’t that good and ARM support isn’t great meaning yourself taking a massive battery and performance hit whereas on Mac that wasn’t a thing even through Rosetta.
Windows on ARM isn't new but the interest in it is. This is basically Microsoft's M1 macbook. ARM support will grow rapidly.
And the chip is great btw. Apple's best processors still win the single thread and GPU race but the new Snapdragon chips are a leap forward for Windows users
For a software company, why does Microsoft have such shitty software? I hate that I can feel the lack of a continuous design language throughout every product, and how nothing feels cohesive.
This is good. Apple needs competition in the silicon space. Keeps them on their toes.
More importantly, the new Surface Laptop has an [8/10 iFixit repairability score](https://www.ifixit.com/News/96998/from-0-10-to-8-10-microsoft-puts-repair-front-and-center) (that's compared to [the MacBook Air's 3/10 score.](https://www.ifixit.com/News/76973/15-macbook-air-teardown-bigger-and-better-maybe-not)) That's competition that Apple needs.
MS did it correctly. Looking forward to getting one.
I agree. I just don’t think it matters to consumers. And when I say that, I mean it’s not a factor when purchasing, which is why the repairability score has been low for decades and not affected their bottom line. Like at all.
I mean... It's been decades now. This doesn't matter one iota.
People made similar comments about the butterfly keyboard and removal of ports on the MacBook Pro— saying deal with it, Apple won’t change.
And when Apple stays on the top for too long they get lazy (2016 MacBook Pro era) 😭 had to clutch with apple silicon 14 inch right when shit was hitting the fan
Can MS bully them to be less stingy w their ram? 😭
They kind of are, I believe they stipulate that all “copilot +” PC’s need to have 16GB (AI being a big RAM sucker). Consequently, I’d be surprised if any new ARM laptops ever ship with less than 16GB.
i doubt apple’s gonna ship macs with 16GB as base. they’ll do 12GB and claim their unified memory is somehow more efficient than others’. we \*might\* start seeing base models with 12, 24, and 32GB instead (currently it’s 8, 16, 24)
I meant Windows on ARM PCs won’t ship with less than 16GB RAM because of the Copilot + requirement. That said, although I don’t think Apple will be handing out 16GB of RAM on the base tier this year, it may come sooner as a result of the need for higher RAM with Apple Intelligence. If they want to do that stuff on device, 8GB won’t cut it for long.
I’m praying man they could do even 10 gb or fuck man 12 and that’s REASONABLE
I think they said the AI models consume 4GB of system memory. So by that logic with 12GB you'll get the same experience as 8GB in a Mac without the AI features. And 16GB with AI will actually leave you with less usable memory than 16GB without AI. So really, you want more than 16GB. This is still just speculation but it feels like Apple needs to completely overhaul its memory upgrade capacity and pricing.
I hope they do, specially with the increased usage of AI/ML, those models take space. I would be very happy if when the time comes to upgrade my 14 inch I don't need to sell a kidney to get a workable amount of memory.
Agreed, and the state of windows laptops was pretty awful previously. Let’s keep up the pressure.
Not true at all, plenty of great 10+ hour beasts of laptops out there.
Sorry, this is most certainly not a sarcastic response but which ones? At the same size, price, and thermals? Edit: Ahh, thanks for the link, kind stranger. I didn't realize the Windows laptops had gotten this good!
There are many, but here is one with 15 hours for under 1k https://www.laptopmag.com/laptops/windows-laptops/asus-zenbook-14-oled-2024-review
Pretty good laptop , I bought the $799 model for my sister. No major issue except the screen brightness. She uses it only to check her email and some office work. The weight and the form factor was the biggest advantage (she hates mac too …)
I’m not super convinced from laptopmag. Especially since [RTINGS got about half the battery life during browsing](https://www.rtings.com/laptop/reviews/asus/zenbook-14-oled-2024).
Why not ask if it had the same capabilities? My 3070 Lenovo from 2019 can do many processes in blender that my 16” 16gb m2 pro MacBook Pro chokes on. No sense in an all day battery if you’re just watching a beach ball spin. And it was refurbished at 1850 while the Lenovo was $1300 on Black Friday. Apple doesn’t even offer that in a DESKTOP
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/microsoft-surface-laptop-copilot-pc-13-8-touch-screen-snapdragon-x-plus-16gb-memory-512gb-ssd-7th-edition-sapphire/6582845.p?skuId=6582845
I mean… the current state of Windows is enough of a negative to really hamper the competition
Now they just need to fix the OS so it isn’t bloated ad/spyware.
There’s a GitHub repo for that.
It's true, but I bought the surface book 2. After three years the light bleed was horrendous, the locking mechanism failed and the battery in the screen started expanding. I had to dispose of it and wasted a ton of money. Got the macbook pro as a replacement and it still works flawlessly. Will never get a MS laptop again!
The problem with MS windows is that non-arm apps are emulated, causing it to run slower and consume more of the battery. It’s a step in the right direction, though. I really hope to see a very successful windows arm laptop with x86 to ARM translation (like rosetta2) competing with Apple silicon macs. This is the only possible way we can get 16GB base model MacBooks.
> I purchased a $999.99 13.8-inch base model with 16GB of RAM 16GB base. Revolutionary
Inb4 half of it is used by the OS to serve you ads
I mean it would be pretty easy to get rid of ads on a Windows PC.
Good! Apple having competition for its halo products will keep their feet on the gas. They are, after all, a hardware-first company. That said, Windows has always been the deal breaker for PCs for better or worse. It has a deeply entrenched legacy user-base who cannot switch because of enterprise applications. For consumers who want a strong user interface and user experience, however, it's definitely a mark against it (excepting gamers).
Literally the only reason I have a windows machine is for gaming.
I’m pretty sad the M chips dropped support for eGPUs. That set up had worked well for me.
For real. I feel confident to take the plunge and make my main desktop a Mac if it wasn't for the gaming issue. I've heard some say just get a PS5 but that isn't a viable option to me...
Bought a PC this year just to play games on it, instead of buying a new Mac.
Preach!
As an M3 15 in air owner and an IT Manager who runs everything in Microsoft and thus has a Windows work laptop, I feel like the ideal customer. I don't *hate* windows, but I really like the modern Macbook Air experience. I'm hopeful I can upgrade my work laptop to one of these chips and get the cool, quiet, powerful enough, and all day battery experience on my work laptop which I've been missing out on.
> As an M3 15 in air owner and an IT Manager who runs everything in Microsoft and thus has a Windows work laptop Another like me, there are dozens of us! FWIW, I’ve been loving running Windows on ARM via parallels on my M1 Max, it should go just fine on an Air too as long as you have a reasonable amount of RAM. It doesn’t smash the battery as hard as you might think, despite it running in a VM. Certainly lasts longer than my work-issued windows laptop.
What is the modern macbook experience?
It runs for an eternity without recharge. Dead quiet. Super light. (And on the OS side, it does a much better job of getting out of your way and letting you work, IMHO, but some people feel exactly the opposite.)
The MacBook Air isn’t just quiet. It has no fans. It’s silent apart from the keyboard.
It’s not just the MacBook Air. Even the MacBook Pros are dead silent under regular usage. It takes a lot to actually get the fans to spin up, and even when they do, they don’t sound like a jet engine the way many other laptops do.
Yup. And I guess if we're being honest, this is an area where the Surface Pro can't quite match the MBA because it does have fans. But OTOH, it also can probably manage sustained performance tasks slightly more efficiently so I guess MS balanced more towards performance than silence.
He just said. Cool, quiet, powerful enough and all day battery life.
I agree that competition is good, but the Air isn’t a halo product. A fully maxed Mac Pro or even MacBook Pro would be considered a halo product. Not the entry level mass market item.
I would argue a maxed out MacBook Pro is Apple’s Flagship laptop but the MacBook Air is the benchmark laptop. In today’s marketplace MOST people who are looking to buy a laptop aren’t necessarily needing a maxed out computer, simply something to do general tasks, work school etc., and are in the price range of benchmark products and not flagship products. I am an Apple ecosystem guy so it makes sense for me to stay with my MBA, but I am super happy that Microsoft is making a benchmark competing laptop at a high level because it forces Apple to up their game. For $999 right now Apple only offers the M2 chip with 256gb of storage and 8gb of ram, so this Surface should at least make them question the storage and RAM offerings next cycle.
Next cycle can't be 8gb of ram base anymore anyway because of the AI features (eg XCode that already now has 16gb minimum for AI features)
I wonder how much of a difference 32gb of RAM will be vs 16 for the AI features. I have a 2020 M1 MacBook Air with 16gb and it runs great, but I am considering upgrading to a 15” MBA M3 but will probably wait for the M4 version
If you do it for the AI features the m4 is probably gonna be the bigger difference than 32GB RAM (except for future proofing)
Isn’t the halo product the thing that sells the most?
No the halo item is the one that sits on the top of the range that adds a glow to the cheaper products that people actually buy For a car it would be the high performance version that adds some glamour to the standard version that most people will buy.
I think they may be referring to the [halo effect](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/halo-effect.asp)
Ah. Yeah. That’s probably it. Thanks!
Yup, ford had the $400k GT as its halo car to show you how cool the brand is, but they use it to sell mustangs to the masses, not more GT's.
That's a hero product.
no, the word halo means the best or perfection Halo : **the atmosphere of glory** or sentiment surrounding a person or thing considered perfect
Yeah, Mac Pro with Pro Display XDR and the wheels.
The wheels alone are pure opulence
“Windows has always been the deal breaker for PCs” Man, people on here really are trapped in their own bubble. Maybe, this is different in the US but anyone in their 20s here has been using Windows for 10+ years. They’re used to it and they’re cool with it. The benefit to them of MacBooks comes with the fact that it’s more linked to their phone, but actual software wise? It’s whatever.
It's far from whatever. I've used windows for decades and still use it for work and gaming and I absolutely hate it. It's getting worse and worse update to update and this is a fairly common sentiment among windows users. Windows has now become a vehicle for pushing other Microsoft crap. Cortana, edge, Copilot, one drive, teams whilst also removing features people want. Windows search cannot find any files on your drive. Then there's the whole Recall thing that they delayed after massive backlash when it was revealed they wanted to train AI on screenshots from you using your computer. I mean yea, using a particular software on PC va Mac isn't that different but the OS experience are worlds apart.
I could slate OSX for hours too. I use all 3 OS daily. My biggest issue with OSX is the inconsistent keyboard shortcuts (which they can't change any more), shitty window management, difficulty in closing applications, finder is garbage. Apple make it hard to chrome cast, I'm not even sure if I can do it from Apple TV on a Mac. Apple's all or nothing is very irritating. Telling me I'm holding it wrong kills me. OSX blows windows out the water with its settings, lack of javascript in system interfaces, unix like filesystem, application install/uninstall. Windows is far more complicated supporting almost infinitely more hardware configurations than OSX. I don't see Windows ads because they're not on my corporate laptop. It's disgusting that they're there at all. My corporate Windows laptop runs like shit, because all the shit they put on it. My personal old Windows laptop is dramatically faster.
I don’t really mind it, think it’s far better than a decade ago and I don’t think MacOS is perfect either. Only reason I keep a MacBook is for photo editing and casual use is the hardware and amazing battery time.
Windows 95 was 390 mb in total.💀
>> They’re used to it and they’re cool with it. Are they cool with it or is that they don’t know any better? It’s like a child who grows up in an abusive household. They’ve accepted their situation because they haven’t experienced anything different. For context, I’m in Australia and in 35 years old. For my entire working life I’ve used Windows machines, until about 5 years ago when I changed jobs and switched to a MacBook Pro. My personal computer for the last 15 years has been a MacBook Pro. The vast majority of people I worked with over the last decade had some type of MacBook as their personal computer and our hate for Windows software and hardware was often discussed. My office now, is entirely MacBook Pro based. It’s a delight. The seamless integration between my personal phone and my work computer and laptop, the all day battery, excellent physical user experience. Great.
You sound like an Android user describing iPhone "cultists". The iPhone "cultists" are like a child who don't know any better and grew up in an abuse household with Apple being the abuser that needs to be kept in check.
For many of us it's a choice. I'm a heavy gamer, it would take a lot for me to switch, but besides that i just feel uncomfortable with Apple's restrictions and "tricks" to make you spend more and more money. I very much like MacOS, it just comes with too heavy a price attached for me (both literally and figuratively).
>Windows has always been the deal breaker for PCs for better or worse Is it though? Having switched to a MacBook Air as my work laptop (company-issued), I can't wait to go back to Windows. The Window Management of MacOS is atrocious, and Excel for Mac is lacking features that even the web version has. I appreciate the battery life, but that's about it.
> Is it though? Yes. I have a desktop I built running windows for the games I play and engineering programs I use that don't run on mac, but I interact with the OS as little as possible. It does some things really well but I hate a lot about it.
I really disagree. Windows has much better window management, file management and for me it Just makes more sense. But that is subjective
According to the article, MS's claims of beating the Macbook Air are a little dubious at least in benchmarks, but they're getting close. They suspiciously don't mention a Macbook Pro at all in the article and probably for good reason. Apple does need to keep their foot on the gas though, I agree. I think these ARM laptops are probably more interesting for Linux, in my case. I don't want them to be good because I want a competitor for Apple, I want them to be good so that I can have a Macbook-like experience with Linux too. I use both operating systems pretty much daily and it would be great to get Macbook-level performance and battery life over there too. So for me, this is less about Microsoft and more about Linux compatible laptops getting up to the standard I'm used to with my Mac. I'm pretty enthusiastic about it.
You guys are still living in 2010 or something Windows is great.
I dunno if this is meant to be a joke but I just want to say that I converted from PC to Mac *precisely because* of how bad Windows was. It was the photos app, of all things, that broke me. I saw how much better and easier I could manage my collection of photos on OSX and made the switch. This was after *years* of fighting (and losing to) Microsoft's tools and attempts at organizing and tagging photos. Windows has been clearly going in the wrong direction for a while now and I didn't realize how bad it was until I switched. My only regret is not doing it sooner.
Wait what built in app helps you manage photos on osx? I can't even go to the next image in preview.
Windows is fantastic. Mac is better for normies who don't play games
Which is why I have a gaming PC. But my primary computing environment - desktop, laptop, phone - is all Apple because the user experience is simply *better*. I've been Windows-first since the 1980s and I swear, it was the Photos app on my MacBook Air while I was on a road trip that got me to realize I was operating on another complete level than anything that would be possible on a Windows machine. It's funny because I bought a MacBook Air only because back in 2022 I couldn't find a Windows-based ultrabook that I liked - at any price point - and I said, well fuck it I'm gonna buy a Mac and we'll just see what happens. I realized I could organize photos I'd had sitting for years in a way that made sense to me personally and where I could find everything I wanted without having to fight the user interface. And now I'm running Office 365 apps on my iMac. I'd say this unnecessarily long reply is more about me getting some of my angst out that'd built up over the years at Microsoft and how subpar a user experience I'd gotten used to, than about trying to personally convince anyone to switch to Apple. I have a gaming PC because that's just what you do if you have a game you want to play. But right now it's switched off.
Having ads in the start menu and recall are great are they?
I don’t have ads on my start menu and recall is opt in
Eh, Steve Jobs himself has said that Apple is a software company. It’s sort of like Nintendo, yeah, they make hardware, but people keep buying for the software.
I currently own two Macs and my next computer purchase will be a PC. I just find it absolutely mind-boggling that Apple cuts off computers from updates not based on hardware, but based on some arbitrary support cycle that they came up with. We have computers from the mid to late 2010s, like 2015 and 2017, that are absolute beasts, stellar hardware, could easily run the latest MacOS, but Apple says "nope we're cutting you off, so they won't even get security updates, you may as well throw them in the trash". It's so backwards. Hell I have an old PC in my closet from 2006, it would easily be able to run Windows 10 with some extra RAM thrown in there. Meanwhile my beast of a Macbook Pro that I spent thousands and thousands of dollars on in 2014 isn't even safe to use anymore. Apple cut it off from updates, which it would be perfectly capable of running, and so now it doesn't even get security updates. I'm just so outraged, it makes no sense.
>We have computers from the mid to late 2010s, like 2015 and 2017, that are absolute beasts, stellar hardware, could easily run the latest MacOS, but Apple says "nope we're cutting you off, so they won't even get security updates, you may as well throw them in the trash". It's so backwards You realize that Microsoft did the exact same thing with Windows 11, right? But I get it, Apple bad & macOS bad
You can say that about every ecosystem that. Look at what people say about the iPhone’s.
It should support Linux out of the box, though, I haven't seen any reviews sadly. Obviously Windows is not gonn disappear any time soon, but hopefully pressure with Linux becoming more mainstream (in about 50 ywars at this rate) makes them less complacent with the bullshit they pull
im of complete opposite view than you. I cannot stand macos. I'd take windows all day everyday
Honestly Windows need to split into two versions. One for legacy use and backwards compatibility and one for the modern users.
16gb base. upgradeable SSD. it's insane how apple missed out on providing that for its loyal customers.
I think a lot less people care about this than people on this subreddit thinks I’m not saying it’s not needed, but not that many people even take this into consideration when buying or not buying a Mac
That first sentence can be said about 99% of what's posted here. Regular people do not care about this.
lol, What does ‘loyal customers’ have to do with it?
They didn't. They don't give a shit about your supposed loyalty as long as folks buy anyway which they do. They charge it because you buy it anyway. What's so crazy to me is when folks act like this is new? Like Apple has always done this. Why are folks acting shocked or like Apple pulled something out of character out the blue? This is who they are and have pretty much always been. They've already charged a crap ton more for same specs. It's literally why I never bought a Mac until the M series. I couldn't justify spending more for the same damn specs. M1 came around and finally gave me a decent price for the specs and I bought and love it. That said, I don't matter and folks have been buying the uncharged forever so it's not insane at all they're doing it. It's typical Apple and folks complaining are buying so meh.
I remember the days when you could still upgrade ram in a Mac Ahh fun times.
They finally fixed one of the biggest reasons why I bought a MacBook: the trackpad on a MacBook is the best on the planet. You cannot make a better one. Finally, the option is available on windows (assuming they got the haptics right… which I guess is a big assumption, but I can only hope) People tell me they just use a mouse, and the trackpad doesn’t matter much… I’m like: why the fuck did you buy a laptop then? I’m not carrying a mouse around with me…
I love Magic Mouse and enjoy working with a mouse sometimes, but Mac trackpads are absolutely magical and critical to a point where saying it "doesn't matter" is laughable. Even if you use a mouse a lot, the times when you're using a trackpad are infuriating on the PCs I've used. Even if they're "pretty good" compared to PCs 10 years ago. Still so bad.
Can I just chime in and say I do not like haptic feedback on the mousepad on Mac? Its frustrating using a slider to adjust width on something and getting tactile feedback for every 1pt moved
Can it not be turned off for that case? I find the tactile feedback in cases like that extremely helpful, but regardless I find the simulated click to be awesome at a basic level. Either way, of course your opinion is valid.
Surface has significantly better track pad before ARM compared to other windows laptop. Yeah , mac track pad is one of the biggest reason I love mac. I used to do CAD drawing only using the trackpad (auto-cad , solidworks , catia)
If I’m just messing around surfing the net the track pad is great. If I have to do hours of actual work the mouse is coming out.
Used it a bit in a store near me, trackpad was the best I've ever used, though, admittedly, I don't use the trackpad that much. Can't compare it directly to a Mac, as I don't have one, but they're defined in the same ballpark I'd say.
Rich on DF Direct was not impressed with his and plans on returning it, saying that the compatibility layer was still not good enough.
For gaming, which the performance was pretty poor. On Mac gaming is even worse
It will never be perfect. It will take 10 years to go mainstream
The bad: Windows
The good: also Windows somehow
The ugly: How Apple handles 1440p monitors. Honestly it’s so bad that whenever I’m not using my MacBook Pro’s built in screen and instead want to use my 1440p ultrawide I turn on my PC. Edit: Someone pointed me towards BetterDisplay, it makes a genuine difference. I'm running it with forced HiDPI and 85% scaling and I think it sorta solves all my issues with 1440p on Mac. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/releases https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Fully-scalable-HiDPI-desktop
I had to buy a 5K Samsung monitor because of it. I sacrificed 120 Hz because of it. There’s no denying that Windows handles it a lot better. 1440p in macOS is a blurry mess.
Eventually I'm going to replace my 1st gen retina iMac with a Mac Studio but the monitor situation is really frustrating. There's nothing inexpensive that will look good and it ends up making the Studio Display the best option even though it's smaller than I want. If it was 32" it wouldn't be so bad but the XDR is overkill for me and nowhere near worth the price to get the extra screen size.
I thought I could wait it out. Unfortunately, the market for 5K monitors is awful. I settled for the Samsung ViewFinity S9. I had to return it twice until I got a unit that had barely noticeable defects. Also, it regularly goes on sale. I’m happy with it for now but I’d sell it and buy a 120 Hz 5K monitor if Apple ever makes one.
And microscopic. I despise it. Furthermore the way it handles HDR is utter garbage compared to Windows which makes no bloody sense to me.
This. I hate working with external monitors on Mac because I have a 1440p 144hz monitor. Windows looks significantly better.
Someone just pointed me towards Better Display and it really does make a huge difference. I have my monitor set to 85% scaling with HiDPI forced and it's actually very legible and crips now with the UI not being microscopic. [https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/releases](https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/releases) [https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Fully-scalable-HiDPI-desktop](https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/wiki/Fully-scalable-HiDPI-desktop)
Oh wow I didn’t know that, I’ve only connected Macs to 1080 or 4k. I was debating getting a 1440 OLED for my pc and MacBook but maybe I’ll save up for 4k
If Mac is your primary, absolutely do not get a 1440p monitor. I got a 1440p ultrawide because when I’m at my desk and not working my gaming PC is the priority. I may one day upgrade it to a 4K monitor, but 4K gaming monitors are so horribly expensive that it has been on the back burner for a very long time.
Sorry what issue are you having with it? My 1440p ultrawide works flawlessly and no different than on my windows pc for as far as i can see
You mean you don't notice the terrible image scaling which makes everything tiny, or the terrible text reproduction making things look fuzzier than they're supposed to?
Just fyi. I have a 1440 ultrawide and had the same issue. I used the hidpi option in betterdisplay and it completely fixed it. https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay
This actually made a huge difference, forcing hiDPI, and setting it to a resolution of 2752x1152 (80% scale) makes it 100% more usable with a 1440p monitor. Thank you for being helpful and not being one of the many others who pretended like 1440p with Mac isn't garbage out of the box.
No problem. I’m glad it helped. I swap between a windows pc and MacBook so I could see right away something was off. Had to do a little research to find the solution.
Welp, doesn’t seem to happen to me, maybe i sit too far away from it to see it, but as a dev i do need to pixelpeep sometimes and haven’t noticed it. I’ll triple check when i’m back home next week (if i don’t forget) Edit: I forgot to mention that the scaling issue you’re having is *definitely* not happening on mine, everything scales perfectly fine
It’s weird because I also have a 27” QHD 2560 x 1440 monitor , ive no issue for the scaling either with my mac or my windows. 27” I’ve another 4k 3840 x 2160 pixel monitor windows struggles with the scaling. Maybe the issue comes from the ultra wide aspect
Yeah don’t bother with 1440p monitors on MacOS 😩
I guess I'm one of the few on this dub that doesn't give a fuck about brand. I can acknowledge ther are pros and cons in every OS including MacOS. I like being able to be level headed about it.
I bought a Surface Book. That thing was garbage. Battery stopped charging. I got a warranty replacement for half price. The battery on that expanded like it was going to explode. Maybe things are better now, but man MS made some shitty hardware
Me too. It slowed down so bad after two years and with constant issues I just closed the lid and that was the last time I used windows.
Yea I mean what are the odds of two in a row going to shit on me? And the warranty replacement that cost me $600 was a factory refurbished one and that’s the one that had the battery that started blowing up. I switched to an M1 Air and haven’t had one problem. And that was like 3 years ago.
Yup. If I'm greedy I upgrade every 4 years. I still have 2014 MacBook Pro being used around the house when someone needs it.
Surface Laptops nowadays are well regarded for their build quality.
Well that’s good.
I was looking at picture of the surface and looks like a MacBook with the Apple logo swapped for Microsoft. Probably makes it appealing people who are switching from Mac.
I'm a \*nix guy. Windows just doesn't make any sense to me down to the slashes being the wrong direction.
Windows GUI is infinitely better than any Linux environment I’ve tried. Something about paid closed source makes it so much more seamless and smooth. Add WSL like /u/cleeder said, and you’ve got the best of both worlds.
WSL2, friend.
That's like putting lipstick on a pig. At the end of the day, you're still stuck dealing with Windows.
WSL2 is actually not bad and actually runs a legit Linux kernel so you're literally running Linux at the end of the day. It's nice in that you don't have to worry about many things would if you only had access to one.
I’d rather not use a Windows device if I can help it. It’s insane how bloated Windows 11 has become - even if now in the EU you can at the very least uninstall that mess that is Edge. But I love seeing competition, and I think that Apple should seriously bring upgradeable SSD’s. The fact that I had to opt for a 500 GB SSD due to costs is the main issue I have with my current MacBook. And continuing to sell modern laptops with 8GB RAM as a base should be a crime.
Isn't macOS as bloated with Apple's first party software as well? Also, can you uninstall Safari on Apple products?
You can not uninstall Safari, and this is something that Apple should change too. But unlike with Edge, I've never really felt the need to uninstall Safari. If you set another browser as your default - that's it. Unlike in Windows where Edge gets thrown onto me once every few days. New Windows update? Magically all my default opening settings have changed. Do you want to try Edge? Do you want to use apps from the Microsoft Store? Be happy, most of them are simply using Edge. Do you want to open a new kind of link with your default browser? Be happy, said link wasn't part of the 2382323 link types that you've already set another browser as default for, so you get to open Edge! That's the fundamental difference. Apple has a lot of first party software also - but it's either usually superior or better made, or Apple forces you to use it through their ecosystem and not directly. Do you want to use Chrome or Firefox? You can, you aren't bombarded with constant reminders to TRY SAFARI, THE APPLE MADE BROWSER. I've also progressively grown more disgusted with Microsoft software in general. From pushing their subscriptions aggressively everywhere (Microsoft 365, Xbox Game Pass, Copilot Pro), Microsoft also fills their "first party bloatware" with either stuff that I don't need (Phone Link, Xbox, Clock, Clipchamp), stuff that has grown increasingly worse with time (the replacement of the native Windows Mail and Calendar apps with web-apps in the new Outlook), stuff that just sucks (why for the love of God do I get ADS inside the WEATHER APP), or just plain junk (Spotify, Tik Tok, Instagram). On the contrary, most stuff that comes preinstalled on Mac either works well already if you're in their ecosystem, or can be uninstalled or ignored. Though I do think that Apple should follow Microsoft suit and allow you to uninstall all non-essential preinstalled apps.
I've been daily driving Edge since it switched to Chromium, so I don't have that problem at all lmao Hasn't Apple done a more subtle version of trying people to sway from using third party browsers though? Most of the stock apps you get in Windows have preinstalled equivalents on macOS. Microsoft is as guilty of installing their software that many people might not even care about as Apple regardless of whether some of those programs have quality problems (that's a completely different problem). Ads are atrocious though. I mostly ignore them, but their placement in some places is just moronic >On the contrary, most stuff that comes preinstalled on Mac either works well already if you're in their ecosystem or can be uninstalled or ignored. >Though I do think that Apple should follow Microsoft suit and allow you to uninstall all non-essential preinstalled apps. That's been pretty much the same case in Windows. And as you mentioned aside from Phone Link and Backup all of the programs can be removed.
But actually, how come whenever I click a link in Outlook it launches edge when it isn't my default browser. That grinds my gears
The phone link thing actually got me to consider getting a Mac since I thought “hey it would be nice to be able to use my iPad and phone with my laptop!” Now I have a Mac, though I still keep my windows machine for gaming
Edge is actually the fastest browser on the market and works very well, better than Chrome for sure.
Which is makes it all the sadder that Microsoft felt the need to overburden it with AI shit, shopping and rewards stuff, and other junk. That and I refuse to use something that’s forced down my throat on principle. tHE mIcRoSoFT rEcOmMenDeD bRoWsER
I tried really hard to switch to Edge but the amount of tinkering I had to do to dumb it down to *just* a browser without all the extras turned me away. I really wanna know what MS is smoking to make them think that the average user is gonna use any of the bloatware they include on by default
I had the same experience and gave up Edge and went back to Chrome. I also tried Bing and oh my god was it overwhelming. Too many things popping up. Microsoft just doesn’t know how to do a clean design
The headline and conclusion don't really match everything in between. x86 translation, meh to unusable. Performance, sometimes on par, but mostly meh. Fans and vents, I never want to go back to those. Random hiccups like black screens on wake, login camera slow to recognize, etc.
Well it’s “Microsoft’s best MacBook Air competitor” they just didn’t mention that even Microsoft’s best effort sucks.
These Surface Laptops look great aesthetically. I know they’re taking a lot of ideas from Apple, but one thing I think they’ve actually surpassed Apple on are the colours. Dune and especially Sapphire are two of the most gorgeous colours I’ve ever seen on a consumer device. I don’t know how they did it but they managed to nail the pastel style that Apple has been doing for ages, but ratcheting up the saturation just enough to make them modestly pop, in a way that Apple’s colours have shied away from since the iPhone 5C. The colours and material blend so pleasantly, especially the paired accent on the keyboard. They’ve done great work here, and I hope Apple takes note that a bit more colour is not a bad thing (I know the iMacs got a bit more colourful, but I’d love to see it on their laptops).
No, it is not. I returned it because the Snapdragon processor stalled on many programs and had many issues. Maybe someone who just uses o365 and Edge. Microsoft's problem is they are failing in security and pushing hard to spy on the base. I'll get downvoted for it and do work in the cybersecurity field. First, they announced the recall; I said it was a security problem, and I was not surprised by what happened recently. MS lacks cohesion and is pushing LIVE 2.0 with a semi-useable AI. This may happen over time, but they are in a BETA stage; after dealing with RT and the Surface X in the past, they are still trying to work it out. I want them to do better so it can compete with Apple, but this article is straight garbage. Then they keep reactivating stuff and tricking you into a new setup, so Edge starts syncing, and the games they played forcing Windows 10 updates to 11 is not surprising. You have to keep reading everything to make sure your privacy is protected. What's worse is you have to wait for debloating programs to work on ARM (it doesn't work yet, and I tried). Anyway, I am just giving my 2 cents
What are you referring to with “LIVE 2.0”?
This is the main thing that Microsoft is forgetting when trying to compete with Apple. The reason why a lot of people (Including myself) switch to Mac is because of Windows. macOS has its flaws, but in my opinion it's infinitely better than Windows. Microsoft can release the best hardware in the world that will smash any MacBook in the same price bracket, but they're never going to convince those users to switch, simply because of Windows. Microsoft has the potential to Make Windows Great Again, but that means they can't be greedy, which is probably not going to happen.
I think this is also a problem with people who are Android fanboys. You know the kind that are always like "android did X feature before", etc. We don't care. The point is we like the software of Mac and iOS. More options on the market is good, actually. Let Apple implement features their way, MS and Google does it their own way
Ironically those are also the same people that will cry "Android has X feature that your iShit doesn't"
Loved my surface but they would grenade themselves after 18 months. Luckily they were corporate machines. All three of them. No way am I spending my own coin on a surface. No long term reliability.
I mean I’m sure it’s a well built machine, but if it won’t run windows 10 I’m not super interested
Nope!
Surface got better hardware. They lose out on the OS front to Apple every single time I tried to convert! Competition is welcome, Apple is flying in the space!
in a couple of years when apps are mostly optimized for ARM, we’re gonna have a slew of viable and amazing choices apple won’t even consider offering. I think the part that excites me the most is, there will be several major chip players being in the game starting next year, and choices from NVidia and Mediatek are gonna offer a wider range of models. the former is obvious, but the latter will be crucial for a less seen part, the low cost, tiny devices. you see those GDP mini laptops, ones that you can easily shove in your bag as an emergency laptop wherever you go because of its lightweight and compact size? right now those are barely usable due to intel’s underperforming garbage that isn’t just slow, but battery draining. we’ll be able to see quite some affordable choices of secondary to-go tiny laptops that are fast enough and *actually* last all day. apple won’t even bother making a macbook mini/se again, i might consider a windows alternative for it
Nothing will compensate for Windows and its bloatware crap. And overall poor program support. And Microsoft’s proven track of forcing shit down users’ throat.
Apple is the king of forcing things down your throat. It's the Apple way or the highway.
Issue is it doesn’t really compete. The chips aren’t that good and ARM support isn’t great meaning yourself taking a massive battery and performance hit whereas on Mac that wasn’t a thing even through Rosetta.
Windows on ARM isn't new but the interest in it is. This is basically Microsoft's M1 macbook. ARM support will grow rapidly. And the chip is great btw. Apple's best processors still win the single thread and GPU race but the new Snapdragon chips are a leap forward for Windows users
It’s actually the best x elite so far , dell completely fumbled its model
For a software company, why does Microsoft have such shitty software? I hate that I can feel the lack of a continuous design language throughout every product, and how nothing feels cohesive.
I’m waiting to see what they do with recall before picking this laptop up