05/20/14 21:41
At the
Surface 3 launch today, Microsoft chose to compare it not to the iPad, but to the 13” MacBook Air instead.
It’s a curious strategic move: To try making the Surface a laptop replacement first, then work on making it an iPad replacement.
While I can see how they probably came to this approach, I don't think they will be able to execute it to success.
Here's the first big problem: The Surface Pro is much too heavy to be used as a tablet in all the ways an iPad is.
The new Surface Pro 3 has a 12” 4:3 aspect ratio HD screen. It weighs 1.76 lbs. and is 9.1mm thick. This is an improvement over the now obsolete Surface Pro 2 at 2 lbs. and 13.4mm. However, the 10" iPad Air weighs substantially less at only 1 lbs. and 7.5mm.
While I haven't used the new Surface 3 yet, I played with the older Surface Pro 2 at Best Buy a few days ago. My immediate thought was that it was ridiculously heavy for a tablet. My guess is that a quarter pound won’t feel all that different. Note that even the original iPad 1 (from 2010!) only weighed 1.5 lbs.
It gets worse when you compare it to something like the Retina iPad Mini, which weighs only .73 lbs. It doesn't seem likely that a Surface Pro with a fan and full PC internals will ever catch up.
The flip side is: Could the Surface 3 replace convertible (and regular) ultralight laptops?
While they used a 13" MacBook Air as the size and weight comparison, the 12" Surface 3 might be better compared to the 11” MacBook Air, at least functionally. Indeed, it is quite a bit lighter and thinner than the smaller Air.
With its high resolution, the Surface 3 is probably quite capable as an ultra-portable laptop.
The problem here is the price. A 128GB Surface 3 runs $999. Adding a type-cover pushes this up to
$1128.99. This is a $229 premium over the 11" MacBook Air, and a huge premium over ultra-portable PC notebooks. It is even more expensive than the 13" MacBook Air!
Whether or not it was in direct response to the Surface, Apple's recent $100 across-the-board price cuts on the MacBook Airs all but insulates it from any possible threat by the Surface in the ultraportable market.
Here's what's infuriating: There isn't clearly one thing the Surface 3 is better at than any other competitor. It's still a big compromise no matter how you look at it.
Microsoft could have done better. The Surface clearly has some very cool innovations, notably the pen input, which is unmatched. However, the form factor (and price) doesn't allow it to be an exceptionally good pen-input device.
Imagine if they had sacrificed everything else, to make a 1 lb. ultra-thin, ultra-long battery life tablet with excellent pen input for sub-$350. The ultimate One-Note device. That
might have been something.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and call it curtains for the Surface. It's hit its magical 3rd generation, and hasn't yet broken through. There's still a space for a “Pro-Tablet" market, but the Surface in its current incarnation isn't going to win it.
Related: Tech, Business.