The amazing new MacBook Air has a detachable screen and with touch built in, you can carry it around and use it like a tablet if you don't need the keyboard. Just tear it off and take it with you, it's great for presentations to clients, for lightweight travelling, and relaxing watching movies in bed. Yet with the keyboard attached it is a fully fledged laptop that runs desktop software. Once again Apple leads the way with a brand new and innovative design.
Oh, wait, Microsoft has already done that. It's called the Surface Pro,
I can vividly imagine Apple launching a MacBook air with a detachable touch screen to wild applause from a large an excited audience and then people queueing up outside Apple stores to buy this wonderful new gadget. But will anyone notice when the Microsoft Surface Pro goes on sale? (Any day now.)
Comparing the Surface Pro to an iPad is just plain wrong and it is hard to get excited about a tablet that is thicker, heavier, costs more, has less memory (free memory), and is awkward to hold.
Compare the Surface Pro specs with the MacBook Air and it's a whole new ball game. Microsoft's new device looks innovative and competitive. Both are around the same size and weight, both run the latest desktop operating system, both have Intel Core i5 processors with Intel HD Graphics 4000, both have 64GB or 128GB solid state disks, both have 4GB RAM and so on. The specs are uncannily similar. The Surface Pro is clearly a MacBook Air competitor and it has a serious advantage - you can tear off the screen and use it like a tablet too, complete with touch, apps, an app store, and much more.
I really hope Microsoft promotes the Surface Pro as an ultra light laptop similar to the MacBook Air and not a tablet. In many ways it is more innovative and has features Apple has yet to add to its laptop, and it's cheaper. What's not to like about that?
Unfortunately, I suspect that the Surface Pro will be compared to the iPad and scanning the news I spotted many stories with this theme. Microsoft has an uphill struggle to sell the device and making it look like an iPad competitor won't get many sales. It's not a tablet, it's a laptop! I'm not sure Microsoft gets this and I suspect it will try to market the device as an iPad alternative. I don't want a thicker, heavier, more expensive tablet thank you very much. I may be in the market for an ultra light laptop though.
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