Apple’s 2016 MacBook Pro Set To Challenge Microsoft’s Surface Book

Sales on the 2015 MacBook Pro have people speculating that the 2016 MacBook Pro is around the corner. Day Herald has the news.

“With Apple currently offering the MacBook Pro 2015 at highly discounted rates, speculations are hot that Apple is going to release the MacBook Pro 2016 in the near future. In an advertisement of Apple Insider, it was announced that the 15 inch MacBook Pro 2015 will be offered to the readers of Apple Insider at a discounted rate along with other freebies.”

The Day Herald adds that the 2015 MacBook Pro (15-inch version) is being offered at a price of $1,978, which is a lot less than its original price of $2,348. The fact that Apple is adding in a free AppleCare extended warranty protection plan, extra cash discounts, and a brand new Canon PIXMA MG3520 Wireless AirPrint Inkjet Photo All-in-One printer could be further proof that the 2016 MacBook Pro is coming.

So, what will the MacBook Pro 2016 be like? In order to compete with new top-tier notebooks, such as Microsoft’s Surface Book, you can bet Apple will add a lot to both the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro. You can bet that it will have Intel’s 6th generation processors. You can also bet that the screen resolutions on both devices will change to either 4K or something very close.

The MacBook Pro (at least the 13-inch version) will go head-to-head with Microsoft’s successful Surface Book, which was just released in November. The Surface Book, unlike the MacBook Pro, allows you to detach the screen and use it as a tablet, although a very big one. TechRadar has given the new Surface Book four-in-a-half out of five stars.

“While the Surface Book brings many technological innovations to the laptop space, it’s greatest strength is that it’s just an all-around terrific device.”

They especially like the futuristic design, the “unrivaled” display, and the seamless tablet separation. They don’t like the fact that the battery life falls below promises. They note that Microsoft has been slow to fix some of the bugs, which include trackpad issues, display issues, and even keyboard issues (for some).

According to ExtremeTech, Microsoft has acknowledged general problems with both the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4. They have suggested that for one of the issues (the “Sleep” mode doesn’t work properly and drains the battery), users should put their devices on “Standby” instead. Microsoft assures they are working on fixes for all of the bugs, but hasn’t given consumers a timetable yet on when the problems will be fixed. There are still frustrated Surface Book users on Twitter.

My Surface Book complaints in a nutshell:

"Endless problems attaching, detaching, and re-attaching external displays."

— Brian Hauer (@BrianHauerTSO) December 11, 2015

Apple has the advantage in the fact that when they release laptops, they work as advertised. The MacBook Pro 13-inch Retina had some problems when it was released in late 2012, but Apple fixed those issues a lot sooner than Microsoft has fixed the Surface Book issues. Which would you rather have as your next laptop — the MacBook Pro 2016 or the Surface Book? Let us know in the comments section.

[Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]