Looking at the Surface Pro 3, you have to say that it is better than previous versions of the tablet. However, no one wanted the previous tablet and I don’t see anything that’s changed in the new version to change that. Microsoft put the Surface Pro 3 up against the MacBook Air, but its hardware partners aren’t that stupid—they know Microsoft is going after them too.
Surface Pro 3: The best version of a product no one wants
Satya Nadella paraphrased Tim Cook on stage, saying “we clearly are not interested in building refrigerators or toasters”. That’s true; they’re combining them. Tim said it best: “You can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those aren’t going to be pleasing to the user”.
Gotta say they put a lot of effort in the details of the Surface. It’s probably the best Windows Tablet you could buy. I would be tempted if I am in the market for a windows laptop.
Jim, I want one. I think you’re being too dismissive of a product you’ve never used.
This is intended as a rethinking of what laptops should be, not merely an iPad-killer. Taken in that context, I think the product has real merits which nothing else on the market is (yet) attempting to compete with.
Whether it will be a huge success is obviously far from a foregone conclusion, but I think you’re being prematurely dismissive.
Actually, I don’t have to say that this is the best version of the Surface. It has gotten so big that it is essentially useless as a tablet, it now must compete strictly as a laptop against the Macbook Air and ultrabooks. Also, what I liked best about the Surface was that the widescreen form factor Iand the kickstand) made it in some ways better than the iPad as a media player. Also, they still can’t repeal the laws of physics. Chips like the i7 run hot, and Windows puts a heavier demand on the processor than tablet operating systems do. Trying to be all things to all people still won’t work.
Can’t wait to see the next tablet innovation from Apple.
But it has “lapability”!
Give them some credit. They have successfully made the most awkward ‘laptop’ ever. Way to go Microsoft! You’re pathetic.
I think it will be a hard sell especially since MSFT is comparing it to an MBA. The 11″ Air starts at $899, 128GB and a keyboard. The Surface starts at $929 with a keyboard and 64GB and slightly lighter. Unless you’re a die hard Microsoft fan, I can’t see this getting anymore traction than the previous generation.
It’s a lousy laptop and a lousy tablet and I’ll bet you Jim has in fact used one. Why you assume he hasn’t is beyond me.
“but it’s hardware partners aren’t that stupid” = “but it is hardware partners aren’t that stupid”
It is trying to solve a problem which is real. I want an ipad for reading and a MacBook for its keyboard and robustness. Apple is looking at solving this too.
Starts at $799.
“Surface revenue reached $893 million, up from $400 million during fiscal first quarter.”
http://betanews.com/2014/01/23/microsoft-q2-2014-by-the-numbers-surface-sales-soar/
I’m not saying those are iPad’esque numbers but clearly people want the Surface.
More reading:
Microsoft moved 3.9 million Xbox Ones, while Surface sales soared
http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/23/microsoft-moved-39million-xbox-ones/
Because nobody outside of Microsoft, a few partners, and those invited to the event have used one.
So for the cost of a top-end Surface plus keyboard I can also buy a 15′ MacBook Pro retina with same or better specs?
Ha, Microsoft has yet to announce any sales figures for Surface. If sales were actually soaring Microsoft would be crowing about it.
What is strange is that 15W Broadwell is coming out
in September-October. So Microsoft will be forced
to update it then in just 5 months.
Also, Apple came out with newer MBA in beginning of May
and lowered its price because Apple knew Microsoft was
going to introduce a competitor to MBA.
It is also interesting that 28W Broadwell doesn’t come until
Jan-Feb next year and 47W Broadwell in May-June 2015.
Obviously price won’t be coming down until someone threatening
comes along for those.
keiffus’s figures included the price of the keyboard. Also, That $899 MacBook Airs has an i5 processor, the $799 Surface uses i3.
i just don’t understand why MS keeps attacking apple products (now again with the scale and the MB air) — after all these years mocking apple users and bashing devices, and seemingly not booking results with that strategy.
I love my apple products, but I find the surface an interesting device – i might even buy one, same for windows phone. However their “look we’re better than apple” doesn’t make me want to buy their product. They should’ve focussed on how much easier it will make my life, how smooth and seamless the whole experience is, regardless of what devices I currently own. That is something Apple is still better at; showing me a product and making me think that my life will be much better when i own that product, even though that’s not a rational emotion.
When brand A bashes my choice of brand B, it makes me feel more attached to brand B, cause brand A is insulting my choice.
Missed the keyboard reference. Thx.
🙂 #denial
So were you at this event. Or the person in charge of providing said access.
I’m guessing no and no. So actually you don’t know if Jim has had access or not. It would be a rather big coup if they had managed to impress a fan boy like Jim so maybe he has seen one.
First on the list, they won’t likely make it bigger. Yeah yeah folks are screaming for that 15 inch iPad Pro (well bloggers claim there are screams) but I don’t see it happening.
In a world of making phone models for every possible desired size, not making something can actually be innovated.
Jim recorded an Amplified today. I doubt he did that and attended the Microsoft event.
Not a valid comparison. You need to account for getting the Surface up to 128GB (which makes it even worse).
But how many unsold are there. And are those end user or channel sales.
Lets not forget that the Gen 1 had a combined total of something like $850 million in sales, but they wrote off $900 million in unsold units.
True! And I wonder if they have improved the amount of “available” space for customers to use. I think last gen you only got around 50% of the drive in space availability.
So you’re saying they doubled but also loss equal to what they doubled?
I think it’s a decently compelling product. If money wasn’t an issue, a Surface Pro 3, Type Cover and docking station would be a really neat convergence device.
Of course, price IS an issue, and all that stuff adds up.
Somewhere in Cupertino, an Apple exec just recited this quote:
“Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
– Napoleon Bonaparte
I need to finish watching this morning’s presentation to see if they ever made the case for a tablet that mimics a laptop as somehow better than just using a laptop.
Still doesn’t mean that he hasn’t seen one of these models.
Unless you are THE person in charge of access and you have set up the protocols so that no one can see one without your knowledge, you can’t speak to whether someone has or hasn’t.
Given folks griping that the iPad 4 was ‘too heavy’ I have to agree that it’s unlikely they would view the Pro 3 as a tablet. At least not one you take with you everywhere.
And you raise a good point about the processor and heat etc. What effect will that have on the system
Not if the processor generates heat like a cup of MickeyDs coffee
LOL. Man, you’re reaching here. It is possible he has but wouldn’t you think he would mention it above?
I’m not saying it, they did. When they released the relevant figures they admitted that the RT lost for them more than the RT and Pro made them for that generation.
That could be a major factor in why they spec wank like a 13 year old boy. The first iPad was rather shitty specs wise and sold like the second coming (and keep rising with every version) and their entry into that world crashed and burned. If the next gens don’t wow, its game over. And MS seems to think that fancy specs, keyboards etc are the way to impress
That was 2012. The above was this year.
I never said it wasn’t. I just said the numbers are incomplete.
Including how many of those units are actually in use and how many were returned a week later for something else.
yeah gotta agree here
Jim is a good writer. Funny guy. And has good connections at Apple. But, with all due respect, open-minded he is not. Not when it comes to competitors of Apple. I would agree that this new Surface Pro may still not sell well. But to say that no one wants to carry a single product instead of a laptop plus a tablet is to be closed-minded. Many people want one. It is highly questionable Microsoft hit the mark here. But the need exists.
To be fair, the rhetoric of “no one,” “everybody,” or even “many” is rooted in the speaker’s conception of whatever the majority might be. Our individual use-cases are irrelevant, but the aggregate of the entire market isn’t.
In the case of tablet computing, it seems to me that iPad will continue to appeal to a potential customer base that resembles “everybody” more than the “everybody” we hear about from Surface enthusiasts.
Surface Pro sounds like a great compromise for tech nerds who are unwilling to fully commit to a specialized touchscreen UI. It might as well have training wheels attached.
Have you noticed that Microsoft is actually comparing the Surface to the MacBook Pro 13″ on their store?
They’ve probably wised up that it doesn’t compete with either of the Airs.
The comparison with the Pro ridiculous. For example, a 12″ vs 13″. Take a guess which is heavier?
Are they really that stupid?
Don’t answer that.