Why was the Surface Laptop ever created?

LordM00

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May 12, 2017
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The quality of windows laptops has really jumped over the previous few years, so in my opinion the surface laptop doesn't really bring anything new to the table. Its purpose seems to have been to act as a flagship Windows 10 S device, however its price pushes it out of the target market for that os. Its only other really interesting feature is its physical design, with the alcantara keyboard and overall good looks, but apart from that, it has no real innovation over other ultrabooks. It doesn't really seem like a 'halo' product, but rather just another ultrabook aimed at consumers.
 
Yeah, it seems to me to just be another Windows rt. A computer that has limited apps. And I would get a surface pro before I would get a laptop. 2 in 1
 
The price point is much more competitive compared to previous models. I sell computers to Federal and Non profit end users. The Surface Pro is too radical, the Surface Book while awesome (I own the i7,16gb, 512ssd, 2gb GPU model), is waaaay more expensive the. Lenovo P70, Dell Latitude, HP ZBook and even MacBooks. This price point and configuration is attractive enough to get attention and priced effectively to win gov tenders.
 
The Surface Laptop, like every other Surface device, is meant to provide an example that OEMs can use to build their own devices aimed at the same market, in this case the education sector. Yes, the Surface Laptop is simply a very nice ultrabook from a consumer perspective, but that assessment misses the whole point of the Surface Laptop in my opinion.
 
Because some surface fans want a laptop, and apple users aren't interested in anything outside of mac except surface.
 
It's supposed to compete on design and 'user experience' rather than specs. Similar to how Apple market and design their products.
 
Yeah, it seems to me to just be another Windows rt. A computer that has limited apps. And I would get a surface pro before I would get a laptop. 2 in 1

I just had a funny thought. Imagine if the commodore, amiga, ibm or ms-dos had been rejected because it lacked apps. We'd literally have no computers at all. If no one had purchases a near appless feature phone in the form of the iPhone 1 - not a smartphone or tablet would stir.

Imagine if VR was rejected because it lacked apps? Or machine learning? Without those pioneers, willing to take a bet on something, to imagine the future, or to see the potential, we'd probably all be sitting in a cave somewhere, or roaming the plains of Africa looking for roots and berries.

It's a crazy though XD
 
Panos Panay stated they made a device in the traditional laptop form factor because there was public demand for it. It's ture that nothing that would be really revolutionary was introduced with this product, but it has beautiful design, decent specs for the price and is compatible with all Surface accessories that already are on the market out there.

I think Surface Laptop has the best design at the moment and is going to be able to run software it was intended to run as good as possible. Believe it or not, but there are many people out there in the group of population for which this product was made for that only care about thinnes, lightness and design.
 
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Well, it looks like Microsoft wants to give its own try on the hardware front. They build premium laptops and desktops to compete with Apple.
 
Panos Panay stated they made a device in the traditional laptop form factor because there was public demand for it. It's ture that nothing that would be really revolutionary was introduced with this product, but it has beautiful design, decent specs for the price and is compatible with all Surface accessories that already are on the market out there.

I think Surface Laptop has the best design at the moment and is going to be able to run software it was intended to run as best as possible. Believe it or not, but there are many people out there in the group of population for which this product was made for that only care about thinnes, lightness and design.

This.

Seriously not everyone wants a 2-in-1. I don't but at the same time, I don't want a brick either.
 
I think it was built for 3 reasons. 1.) Microsoft needed something to use as a welcome package for Windows 10 S. (I don't think this $1000 laptop was the right move for an education laptop but...Microsoft may prove me wrong.) 2.) People have been asking for one for quite some time. Even after the Surface Book was released people didn't want to pay for the ability to remove the screen. 3.) Because it's a freaking beautiful device that other companies can learn from and emulate in the future.