| Cult of Mac

Microsoft tries to make Surface Pro X a better iPad Pro rival

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Surface Pro X 2020 has an quicker SQ 2 processor.
Surface Pro X is Microsoft’s chief rival for the iPad Pro. A new version should offer improved performance.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft unveiled a faster version of the Surface Pro X on Thursday. This updated tablet/laptop has an improved version of the Arm-based processor that debuted in the original last autumn. Performance of first-generation model didn’t impress reviewers or power users. Hence the new iteration.

The Surface Pro X competes head-to-head with Apple’s iPad Pro line. Both even use similar processors.

All the ways iPad Air whips Microsoft’s new Surface Go 2

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Microsoft Surface Go 2
The newly-unveiled Microsoft Surface Go 2 has to take on the iPad Air 3.
Photo: Microsoft

Microsoft on Wednesday bumped up the display size of its mid-range tablet, just as Apple did last year. The newly-announced Surface Go 2 has a 10.5-inch screen, as does the iPad Air 3.

And this Windows tablet has a range of other enhancements to allow it to better compete with its iPadOS rival. But it doesn’t often come out ahead.

Microsoft disses Thunderbolt as too insecure for Surface devices

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A Thunderbolt 3 cable is also a USB4 cable.
Microsoft says Thunderbolt is secure. Virtually every other computer maker apparently disagrees.
Photo: Caldigit

Microsoft claims it won’t adopt the Thunderbolt standard for its Surface laptops and tablets because it’s inherently insecure, according to an internal company video leaked onto Twitter recently.

Thunderbolt was developed by Intel and Apple, and it’s widely used on Macs. It’s also been adopted by virtually every PC maker. But not Microsoft.

Microsoft’s dual-screen Surface Neo is a vision of the future

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Microsoft Surface Neo
Surface Neo could be where mobile computers are headed.
Screenshot: Microsoft

Microsoft just unveiled a very innovative dual-screen mobile computer that also makes room for a physical keyboard. The Surface Neo folds, but doesn’t use a folding screen, and combines features of a laptop and a tablet.

Most Surface products compete directly with Apple offerings. Apple is also exploring multi-display laptops and tablets, but Microsoft might get there first. Might, because the device unveiled today won‘t be out for a year.

Microsoft’s sleek Surface Pro X hits iPad Pro where it hurts [Updated]

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Microsoft Surface Pro X
The Surface Pro X is slim and light but doesn’t run the standard version of Windows 10.
Photo: Microsoft

The newly-unveiled Surface Pro X is a 13-inch tablet that seems designed to take on the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Apple dominates tablet sales but Microsoft clearly wants a bigger piece, is hoping this slim and light Windows device will accomplish that.

Microsoft also finally added a USB-C port to the Surface Pro line in the seventh-generation model.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is fed up with Microsoft Surface tablets

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Patriot's head coach Bill Belichick slams Microsoft tablet during game.
Patriot's head coach Bill Belichick slams Microsoft tablet during game.
Photo: NFL

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is giving up on the NFL’s experiment putting Surface tablets on the sidelines during football games.

The usually tight-lipped coach unleashed a five-minute rant against Microsoft’s bug-ridden tablets during a press conference today. Belichick said he just can’t deal with the Surface’s problems anymore, so he’s calling an audible and going back to good old paper and three-ring binders.

Microsoft Surface needs a timeout after another NFL letdown

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Screen Shot 2016-01-25 at 14.04.37
This was one time Apple's probably glad the Surface wasn't mistakenly called the iPad.
Photo: CBS

After making the mistake of repeatedly referring to the Microsoft Surface as an iPad, announcers finally got the right name for the NFL’s sponsor tablet… only for this to be the occasion on which the device stopped working on live TV.

The incident took place during Sunday’s AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots, resulting in the kind of negative publicity Microsoft surely never dreamed its $400 million sponsorship would lead to.

Apple PR springs into action following Cook’s Microsoft diss

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apple-1984-runner
The Ministry of Truth has spoken.
Photo: Apple

Apple PR has sprung into “damage control” mode after Tim Cook uncharacteristically fired verbal shots at Microsoft yesterday — reportedly telling a crowd in Ireland that Microsoft’s attempts to create “hybrid” laptops is, “deluded.”

What is being claimed is that Cook didn’t mean to say “deluded” at all, but instead “diluted” — which is still a diss, but without the insinuations that the good folks at Microsoft are a few sandwiches short of a picnic if they think the Surface will ever be a hit.

Why Apple missed a trick with the iPad Pro

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Tim ditched his Mac for the iPad Pro.
Tim Cook certainly seems to be an iPad Pro fan. As you'd expect.
Photo: Olivier Hess/The Independent

Given that today is iPad Pro launch day, it’s no surprise that Tim Cook gave the customary Apple derisory snort to Microsoft’s rival Surface Book tablet hybrid — referring to it as a “product that tries too hard to do too much,” and calling Microsoft’s belief in it, “sort of deluded.”

It’s exactly the kind of Microsoft bashing I’ve enjoyed from Apple for years, and would normally have me rushing to roll out my best “blue screen of death” jabs at the expense of those in Redmond, WA.

The only problem is, I think the Surface Book looks much more exciting than the iPad Pro.

The NFL can’t stop calling Microsoft Surface an iPad

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Patriots coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines with an 'iPad.'
Patriots coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines with an 'iPad.'
Photo: NBC

Microsoft is paying $400 million this season to make the Surface the official tablet of the NFL but the league’s announcers still can’t stop calling it an iPad.

The 2015 NFL season officially kicked off last night with the first game between the Steelers and the Patriots. After NBC returned from a commercial break, the network showed a shot of Belichick working with one of the many Microsoft Surface tablets that are provided on the sideline, only instead of talking up the league’s Microsoft partnership, announcer Al Michaels commented how Belichick was ‘on his iPad.”

Watch the clip below: