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MB Pro or Surface Book 3?

Nero

Nero

Re: Tired
Firstly, I'm a Windows 10 user, by dint of the software I have to run.

I have a 15" MBP running bootcamp, and it's never let me down. Beautiful build quality, and long-lasting (6 years and counting). There's no burning need to change, as it's still doing a sterling job, but Apple dropping Intel has made me think.

I normally buy refurbished and there are now a few 2019/2020 Intel MBPs coming into the refurb store, but I'm wondering if it's a dead end.

Do I switch to a 'proper' Windows laptop? The Surface Book 3 looks nice, and has the benefit of tablet operation, with touch screen and dismountable keyboard. You can add USB-C hubs for peripherals back home. The only fly in the ointment might be my 27" cinema display which I love. I should be able to drive that with a mini Displayport adapter on a Surface (according to various forums) but should I stick with Apple?

Budget is around £2.5k for a good spec. and there are some great MS offers around. The MBP Pro can be an i9 processor. The max on the Surface is i7

I don't do mega-graphics, but I do some multicore engineering calculations (FFT, Wavelet, modal etc)

Any thoughts?
 
Nero said:
normally buy refurbished and there are now a few 2019/2020 Intel MBPs coming into the refurb store, but I'm wondering if it's a dead end.
Click to expand...

I would expect Apple to drop Intel support in 5 years or so.

My 2012 15" MBP, 2011 21.5" iMac and 2013 27" iMac are still working faultlessly on Mac OS 10.3 but none of them are supported by Mac Os 11 and I am starting to get unsupported update warnings for a few programmes...
I will replace them with more recent used Intel machines. Buying used is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The 3 machines I own cost me a grand total of £1,130.
 
tuga said:
I would expect Apple to drop Intel support in 5 years or so.

My 2012 15" MBP, 2011 21.5" iMac and 2013 27" iMac are still working faultlessly on Mac OS 10.3 but none of them are supported by Mac Os 11 and I am starting to get unsupported update warnings for a few programmes...
I will replace them with more recent used Intel machines. Buying used is cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The 3 machines I own cost me a grand total of £1,130.
Click to expand...
Your 2012 MBP can be made to run Big Shirly with little effort and you can do this from a USB or Thunderbolt port using an external SSD. In a nutshell you install Windows on an external SSD drive and then run Big Shirly in a VM! Once happy the internal disk can be swapped out for the external SSD.

Cheers,

DV
 
The keyboard - I prefer the Surface to the MBP but the new M1 based lappys might change that, supposed to be a much improved version. The Intel MBPs have the dodgy keyboard but it might not bother you, really need to get hands on.

I’ll be buying 3 or 4 top spec lappys for work after Xmas not decided where to go yet but the V3 Surface range is favourite, currently using various V1 Surfaces and I also have am Apple Pro lappy and iMac.

Real world difference between i9 and i7 ain’t gonna make a massive difference I’d rather bump up the RAM. make sure the SSD is big enough, not usually a deal these days with Cloud storage so common but nice not to worry about running short.
 
Darth Vader said:
Have you tested your Windows applications to see if they'll run in macOS with crossover?

https://www.codeweavers.com/crossover/download

Apparently crossover also works on the M1 processors under Big Shirly.

https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/crossover-20-windows-apps-m1-macs-3798226/
https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple-m1-runs-windows-faster-3798990/

Cheers,

DV
Click to expand...
No haven't tried that, but I would be worried about hardware drivers, as we have a large range of data acquisition hardware. I think I'd prefer native Windows, and to be honest, I'd never use OSX, and if I went the MBP route, I'd delete the OSX partition and install W10 natively (having saved the bootcamp drivers separately). I can always revert the machine to OSX when it comes to disposal.
 
Amber Audio said:
The keyboard - I prefer the Surface to the MBP but the new M1 based lappys might change that, supposed to be a much improved version. The Intel MBPs have the dodgy keyboard but it might not bother you, really need to get hands on.

I’ll be buying 3 or 4 top spec lappys for work after Xmas not decided where to go yet but the V3 Surface range is favourite, currently using various V1 Surfaces and I also have am Apple Pro lappy and iMac.

Real world difference between i9 and i7 ain’t gonna make a massive difference I’d rather bump up the RAM. make sure the SSD is big enough, not usually a deal these days with Cloud storage so common but nice not to worry about running short.
Click to expand...
You sound reasonably familiar with Surface - when do you think Surface Book 4 will be available, as that range seems to be lagging the other formats? 512GB would be enough for me, as I'm increasingly using OneDrive, and local storage isn't a deal-breaker. Would be good to have 32GB RAM though, as we have several 64bit applications now
 
Book 4 guess early 2022. Laptop 4 maybe next month, it was due October.

Book 3 hardware specs are weaker than the competition BUT the keyboard is ace and you can turn it into a Tablet at the push of a button, very cool if you like to take notes or draw with a pen/stylus. Saying that an i7 with 32GB RAM and 512GB SSD is bloody quick and unless you run some serious multi core loving LOBs it should do the job, budget for the extended warranty.

Ballicom are usually good for Surface pricing and understand the different warranty types - Home vs Business. They are nowt to do with me just use them now to supply clients with Surface gear. For home users I point them to John Lewis.
 
This is the spec I'm looking at, which is reduced by over £400 at the moment. The idea of tablet use does appeal, although it's difficult to get real-world figures on battery life, as I gather there's a battery in the keyboard bit too. I would have to strip out the W10 Home Edition and buy a W10 Pro licence but that's not a problem, as I'd have to do that with the MBP anyway. The price reduction helps towards some of those pricey docking stations too.

Will try Ballicom - thanks for the tip
 
Nero said:
No haven't tried that, but I would be worried about hardware drivers, as we have a large range of data acquisition hardware. I think I'd prefer native Windows, and to be honest, I'd never use OSX, and if I went the MBP route, I'd delete the OSX partition and install W10 natively (having saved the bootcamp drivers separately). I can always revert the machine to OSX when it comes to disposal.
Click to expand...
Just for information. As stated above you can install Windows onto an external SSD and boot it from there. To do this you need access to a machine already running Windows and then its a case of downloading a free version of minitool parition Wizard to migrate that Windows installation onto the SSD. That SSD will then boot your Mac over USB. That will let you have a play without having to interfere with the Mac itself. When Windows runs it won't be activated but it will work. You can get a key for about a fiver from the web if required. Me? I activate for free.......

I am writing this on a 2013 macbook air running Big Shirely in Windows via a USB SSD drive.

Cheers,

DV
 
Sorry, misunderstood what Big Shirly was. That could be quite interesting having a boot from an external SSD. Hmmm. But then I could do that with the Surface too.
 
The V1 docks work fine just bought one from Ballicom for a client about £120. Make sure you look at fine print of the warranty. The best warranties are Business Complete and Complete Plus, up to 4 years - Plus gets next day swap out and retain the hard disk if it gets swapped out.
 
Amber Audio said:
The V1 docks work fine just bought one from Ballicom for a client about £120. Make sure you look at fine print of the warranty. The best warranties are Business Complete and Complete Plus, up to 4 years - Plus gets next day swap out and retain the hard disk if it gets swapped out.
Click to expand...
I think that one has two mini display ports? That should work with the Apple display.
 
Nero said:
I think that one has two mini display ports? That should work with the Apple display.
Click to expand...
Yes 2 x MiniDP - depends on the monitor but in general anything fairly recent monitor wise will work with the correct cable/adapter combo.

You've got distance selling rights so anything that doesn’t work or you don’t like the quality of you can send back, that’s where Amazon is good, I buy video adapters from them so easy to return if no good.
 
Nero said:
Sorry, misunderstood what Big Shirly was. That could be quite interesting having a boot from an external SSD. Hmmm. But then I could do that with the Surface too.
Click to expand...
Indeed. You can boot the Windows SSD from any modern (10yo or younger) Intel machine that supports a GPT disk if you use the Minitool Partition Wizard.

I also have some SSDs that can boot Wndows on both MBR and GPT supported PCs but thats a bit more complex to initially produce. For example I can run Win 10 from the internal disk of a 2010 Mac Mini (no bootcamp) or boot Windows on the same machine from an external SSD.

One caveat - I have not had a Surface in my pinkies so cannot guarantee but don't see why not.

Cheers,

DV
 
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