Battery life: Microsoft Surface Book versus Apple MacBook
The very end of 2016 brought us two devices that are bound to battle, head-to-head, well into this new year, until Microsoft releases what some are hoping could be a game-changer for the ultraportable category within the surface family of devices.
Microsoft Surface Book i7 has undergone a number of internal upgrades, the most important of all is in the name: a sixth-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, which promises high performance and less impact on battery life than its former model.
Apple, on the other hand, has released an all-new line of MacBooks, inspired by the original design of the 12 inch MacBook Retina, unveiled in 2015. The new MacBook Pro focuses on thinness and minimalism, by reducing its input/output connectors to a choice of two, or four USB Type-C ports, in place of the standard array, typically featuring HDMI, Lightning, or even USB 3.0.
Surface Book and MacBook Pro are two devices that differ on key features, such as the presence of a touchscreen, and the ability to convert into a tablet, as well as a different point of view in regard to graphic capabilities.
The Surface Book focuses a lot more on graphic performance, and versatility, as it doubles as a tablet. There it lacks, is battery life, which is a typical side-effect of “power-books” like the Surface.
On the other hand, the new Apple MacBook has plenty of battery life. Typical, real world usage, isn’t anywhere near the 10-hours of battery life advertised, which is a known fact, but even then, the Apple has done a great job at outshining Microsoft Surface Book with a longer-lasting battery, in spite of the GPU shortcomings.
Judging a portable device by its battery life alone is equal to judge a fish’s ability to climb a tree, because battery life is not a feature, it’s either a symptom, or the happy result of how badly, or how well a computer’s internal hardware, as well as its operating system, are tuned to make the most out of the best battery available for that system.
Both the new MacBook Pro and Surface Book have excellent batteries, but the difference is on the type of user each device is meant. MacBooks are crafted for productivity, and they are extremely well-tuned machines, when it comes to office tasks, design, and even video editing.One of the areas where the MacBook really shines, is the color range. The MacBook Retina display uses 100% of the gamut available by the sRGB standard, featuring the deepest blacks, and sharpest details on any laptop.
Microsoft Surface Book’s strength, on the other hand, is in power and versatility, and its areas of strength are when it comes to creative applications.
While it may seem like the MacBook and Surface Book are on equal grounds, the lack of a high-end GPU like an NVIDIA GTX, really does make a difference, especially when working in 3D applications, or when gaming, the latter of which is one thing that Apple has yet to make a priority in its current checklist.
Microsoft Windows 10 is in constant evolution, but it’s plain to see how Microsoft is striving to make it as tightly integrated with Surface hardware as Apple is making macOS in relation to MacBooks, and it’s not impossible for Microsoft to reach a level of refinement very close to Apple.
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