Microsoft Surface Pro 4 vs Apple MacBook12:Best fit for use is............................

Microsoft Surface Pro 4

There's a new reigning king of Windows tablets and its name is the Surface Pro 4. Building on everything the last iteration got right, this new slate introduces a larger screen more sensitive touchscreen perfected for everything from penning documents to painting images. Thanks to a newly redesigned island keyboard, tapping away on the Type Cover feels almost as good as a real laptop and the glass trackpad feels simply superb. Internally the Microsoft's latest also features a faster processor and storage, all in a shell that's actually lighter and thinner than the Surface Pro 3. Overall, these improvements make the Surface Pro 4 an affordable Windows tablet that really can replace your laptop.The Surface Pro 4 fits a larger screen with a higher resolution into a slightly slimmer body than last year's model. The pen and keyboard cover are also improved, and this is one of the first mobile systems shipping with Intel's latest processors.                           Design                                                                                                                                                       The Surface tablet line set out its basic design rules with the very first generation of products and has largely stuck to its guns since. What we've seen, instead of wholesale reimagining, is a steady march of improvements to the display and chassis, helping the product feel just a bit more premium with every generation.

The earliest Surface Pro models were 13mm thick, while last year's Surface Pro 3 shaved that down to 9.1mm. This year, we're down to 8.4mm, despite increasing the size of the screen. Both the Surface Pro 3 and Surface Pro 4 are 1.7 pounds (771 grams) by themselves, or 2.5 pounds (1.13 kg) with their keyboard cover and stylus pens attached. One of the biggest improvements to last year's Surface Pro carries over here: the highly adjustable kickstand, which can be adjusted to nearly any angle between 22 and 150 degrees. The kickstand, which runs the entire width of the system, is stiff enough that it will stay where you put it, and hardly moves at all, even when using your fingers or the pen on the touchscreen.

Missing from the black bezel surrounding the screen this time around is the capacitive Windows logo touch button. In previous Surface models, this moved around from the long edge to the short edge of the system, but always served the same purpose: to take you back to the Windows 8 tile interface. As we're now operating in the Windows 10 world, having a physical home button isn't necessary, although the Windows 10 "tablet mode" is still very similar to what Window 8 looked like.                                                         Performance                                                                                                                                                  Microsoft is offering the Surface Pro 4 in sixth-generation Intel Core M, Core i5 and Core i7 options. The M version comes with Intel HD graphics 515, while the i5 comes with slightly more powerful Intel HD graphics 520. The top i7 variant comes with Intel HD graphics 540. Adding further complexity to the mix, you can also load the Pro 4 with 4GB, 8GB or 16GB of RAM. I tested the Core i5 model with 8GB of RAM.

The model benchmarked fairly well. The Surface Pro 4 ran in with a 6,727 multi-core Geekbench score. On the graphics intensive 3DMark: Cloud Gate, it scored a solid 6,019. Neither scores are groundbreaking, but they put the Pro 4 on a par with most top-end 2015 convertible tablets and well above its 2014 predecessor. By comparison, the Surface Pro 3 scored 3,491 in Geekbench.

The benchmarks proved accurate with real-world use, and the Surface Pro 4 delivers solidly impressive performance. Using the unit as my primary tablet and laptop, I didn’t notice any serious performance jitters. The Surface loaded web pages instantly, ran applications smoothly, and proved capable of playing Steam games, such as Deathwatch: Tyranid Invasion and Divinity Original Sin, chug free – if the graphics settings weren't maxed.

Battery life                                                                                                                                             Microsoft touts a battery life of up to nine hours of video playback – that's the same figure given for the Pro 3 so there's no official benefit on this front. We're still testing batter life and will add our results very soon.                                                                                                                                                           But,Microsoft still refuses to include the Type Cover keyboard by default, forcing a separate purchase. Battery life still isn't enough for a full day.                                                                                                        The Bottom Line A host of small refinements cements the Surface Pro 4's position as the best-in-class Windows tablet -- so long as you're prepared to pay extra for the required keyboard cover accessory.         Spec:

CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-6300U (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 3GHz with Turbo Boost)

Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 520

RAM: 8GB LPDDR3

Screen: 12.3-inch, 2,736 x 1,824 PixelSense display (Contrast ratio: 1,300:1, 100% sRGB color, 10-point multi-touch, 3:2 aspect ratio)

Storage: 256GB SSD (PCIe 3.0)

Ports: 1x USB 3.0, mini DisplayPort, microSD card reader (UHS-I), headphone/mic jack

Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi (2 x 2 MIMO), Bluetooth 4.0 (Low Energy)

Cameras: 8MP rear-facing, auto-focus camera (1080p HD); 5MP front-facing, 1080p HD camera

Weight: 1.73 pounds

Size: 11.5 x 7.93 x 0.36 inches (W x D x H)

                                                                             

Price;$889.99

                                                         VS                                                                                                   Apple MacBook12-inch (2015)                                                                                                                Apple announced the new MacBook in early 2015, and it is finally readily available in Apple Stores in three colors and several configuration options.The new 12-inch Apple MacBook is amazingly thin and light, has a premium look and feel, and is available in three colors. It offers better battery life than other laptops with Intel's Core M processors, and performance that's as good as or better than those models. The new USB-C port allows you to charge from an external backup battery pack.                                                                 The 12-inch Retina display sports 3 million pixels and 2304 x 1440 resolution, offering beautiful depth of colour and shade and crisp text. The pixels have been redesigned to allow more light to pass through, resulting in more vivid brightness and tone interpretation - particularly when watching videos. The display performed beautifully in low-light conditions, but was more difficult to make out in bright direct sunlight.       It’s performance is excellent. You’ll have no problems with normal productivity and web browsing, even if you leave lots of tabs open at the same time. There’s 8GB RAM as standard, which is more than ample – as is the standard 256GB of flash storage.

Speaking of which, it’s the PCI-e flash storage that helps keep the MacBook so responsive and useable. It’s blisteringly fast – the Blackmagic Disk Speed Test measured it at 741MB/s read and and 405MB/s write. You’ll notice this most when opening applications or waking from sleep – it wakes as fast as an iPhone or iPad does.

This makes up for the slightly sluggish Intel Core M processor, which scores 4,502 in Geekbench 3. This makes it slightly faster than the Asus Zenbook UX305 (4,098) – another Core M laptop – but not to a significant degree, and about the same as the 2011 version Core i5 MacBook Airs.

Spun another way, the MacBook is 26% slower than the current entry-level MacBook Air. This doesn’t show during general use, but you notice it more when tackling chunkier tasks such as batch image and video editing. The MacBook is fine for light editing duties, but only in extremis. It’s a similar story for gaming – only basic 3D games need apply, but that’s predictable enough.

But,Its performance and battery life falls short of the MacBook Air and Pro. The new keyboard is shallow and takes some getting used to, and sharing a single port for all accessories as well as the power cord is almost immediately frustrating.

THE BOTTOM LINE The new MacBook is a fantastically light and compact laptop that delivers a rich display, long battery life and surprisingly strong ergonomics, but it needs more ports.If you can live with its limitations, the new 12-inch MacBook delivers a groundbreaking design that points the way to the next chapter in laptops.                                                                                                                                        Specs                                                                                                                                                          Display size/resolution: 12-inch 2,304x1,440 screen PC CPU:1.1GHz Intel Core M 5Y31                      PC Memory:8GB DDR3 SDRAM 1,600MHz    Graphics:1,536MB Intel HD Graphics 5300           Storage: 256 SSD    Optical drive: None   Networking:802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 4.0                         Operating system:Apple OSX 10.10.2 Yosemite                                                                                           Pric:$1299