Tablets

Microsoft Surface Pro user storage actually on par with 128 GB MacBook Air out of the box, test finds

posted by Daniel P. / Feb 08, 2013, 3:11 AM

Microsoft Surface Pro user storage actually on par with 128 GB MacBook Air out of the box, test finds

Microsoft refuted yesterday media reports that the Surface Pro tablet has huge amounts of storage reserved for the operating system itself, recovery partitions and so on, but comparing is believing, so how about placing the tablet against Apple's MacBook Air, which also comes with 128 GB of storage on the label.

It turns out that not only is the free space on the Surface Pro comparable to the one on the MacBook Air, give or take a couple of gigs, but if you move the recovery partition to a USB flash drive or similar, you'd actually have more storage for personal data than on Apple's slim computer, and that's with fully accounting for the different ways Windows 8 and OS X measure storage capacity.

source: ZDNet

Related phones

View Full specs

PhoneArena Rating:

8.5

Read Full Review

Display 10.6" 1920 x 1080 pixels

Camera 1 megapixel

Processor Intel Core i5, Dual-core, 1700 MHz

Storage 64 GB

FEATURED VIDEO

Options

45 Comments

1. android_hitman unregistered

Like i told you on the other post .. nobody complained about the storage situation on the Mac.... OMG fanboys...

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 3:17 AM 19

2. wendygarett unregistered

But MacBook air is way better and cheaper than surface pro... You have to realise that...

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 3:22 AM 2

3. thelegend6657 unregistered

Actually they are around the same price , I would skip the base 2gb ram 64gb version as that version is rubbish . Take the one with intel i5 , 128gb and 4gb ram (same specs as surface pro ) , they actually cost the same .

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 3:29 AM 4

4. jove39

Posts: 2143; Member since: Oct 18, 2011

Nope...macbook air is NOT better than surface!

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 4:18 AM 16

5. wendygarett unregistered

At least to me :)

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 4:44 AM 2

6. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

Actually the Macbook air IS better than the surface pro, here's why : The macbook air has better specs since it can be configured with up to 8Gb or ram, up to 512 GB of storage and with an i7 processor. 4 GB or Ram for a laptop is stupid The surface pro runs Windows 8 ( UGH ) but the macbook air runs OS 10.8 and if you want windows, you can : you have the choice. The surface pro is thick and weight distribution is terrible : the keyboard must be 50 grams while the rest is like 20x more, making it unconfortable to use on a lap The kickstand makes it usable in only one way while i can adjust the screen orientation on the Macbook The keyboard and the trackpad are better on the iPad, making it easier to use for work 2 USB on the air, 1 on the Pro Battery life is terrible on the Pro The surface pro is just a Tablet PC wannabe that can't compete with niether of them, it's unconfortable to use as a laptop with that keyboard that is good for a tablet but bad for a laptop,the kickstand is good for a tablet but bad for a laptop since you can use it in only one position. And eveeybody can say that they would much rather get the surface pro than an ipad since they can run their favourite pc game, but that game is niether made for touch input nor uses the accelerometer or the gyro. And the macbook air is much more suited for work IMO, and OS10.8>>>>>>>>>>Win 8. I mean an OS that considers the desktop is an app is stupid.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 4:54 AM 2

7. thelegend6657 unregistered

My laptop have 3gb of ram and its running windows 8 just fine . Btw , if you start to spec up the air it's gonna get pretty expensive real soon . If I'm getting the air , the base spec 13 inch is perfect for me

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 5:09 AM 5

9. jsdechavez

Posts: 784; Member since: Jul 20, 2012

And with specs (maxxed) like that in a mac you can like buy 3 or 4 surface pro's? The Surface Pro is a PC and tablet and you're mac is just a mac. Comparing the two is like comparing a 2-in-1 to a dedicated laptop. So which can do more? And by the way, those people who are likely to get the pro because they can play their favourite pc games are also going to play/work/use their favorite apps using the touchscreen and PC games will only get better as developers catch on. And your mac doesn't have accele/gyro either. You're pointless.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 6:29 AM 2

10. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

The air maxed out costs like 1700$it's far from the price of 3 or 4 surface pro's. And i'm happy to own both an ipad and an air because at least i can get a GREAT laptop and a GREAT tablet. It's better than a compromised product that pretends to be both but can't work as well, a laptop that tries to be a tablet, but that is too big and has a bad aspect ratio to be used the way you want, like a true tablet, and that is heavy and doesn't last a a third of the ipad's battery life, not to mention the optimised content that comes for it, i would not put my bets on an unproven operating system when it comes to tablets since the windows store is lacking, and in my experience, mac apps are better than windows programs. Speaking of programs none of them is optimized for touch in windows, that's probably why the tablet comes with a stylus, since the desktop is unusable with fingers. And for a laptop, it lacks the key features : a great touchpad ( the mac's is flawless ) and a great keyboard, not a super thin one, and confort in any use case, witch the surface lacks due to the single position the kickstand has and the terrible weight distribution. In the end, the surface pro is trying to be an habrid between a tablet and an ultrabook and fails to work as well as them, but it's a budget solution for someone who can't own both, but if you have the pennies, you'll have a better experience using both a tablet and an ultrabook, two seperate products each made to serve their purposes the best way possible.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 7:00 AM 0

16. tmcblog

Posts: 19; Member since: Jan 28, 2013

$1700 for weak hardwares? better buy alienware, can play a lot of games

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 8:38 AM 2

27. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

Correction : i maxed out an air in the apple store with the same max storage of the surface Pro (128 gb) with 8 gb or ram and an i7 2.0Ghz is 1349$

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 10:01 AM 0

44. tmcblog

Posts: 19; Member since: Jan 28, 2013

LoL with the same money I can buy a laptop with core i7 too, 8 GB of RAM too, more storage, and dual nvidia GTX 650 SLI with dedicated memory.. It can play battlefield 3 and Crysis 2. $1349 for a Mac but can't play battlefield 3 & crysis 2? yeah, Apple still sucks

posted on Feb 12, 2013, 10:53 PM 0

11. amansingal14

Posts: 309; Member since: Sep 08, 2012

Well apple fanboy, Why do you like apple iPhone? Due to the no. of apps? Yes (Don't say NO). Then why isnt Windows better? Because it has more apps than Apple? (Don't say NO)... Apps and Customability is the reason we love Windows 8, and it has almost everything already built - in...

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 7:16 AM 1

13. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

it's not just the number of apps in the iphone it's their quality, they take the device's functionality to a whole new level and make a good experience. And windows 8 doesn't have everything already built in, and windows's apps look like they have been designed for windows 98 or something older, they're terrible compared to mac apps. here's some apps that make Mac os x better : Final cut pro , aperture, garageband,iphoto, imovie,tweetbot, snapheal, pocket, flutter, evernote, coda 2, clear, pulp, reeder, alfred, sparrow, little snapper, snowtape,1password, vuze, growl, geektool, divvy, fantastical,djay,carousel,skitch,pixelmator... most of them are mac exclusive and take mac to a whole new level, especially alfred, it provides the best search experience ever. And if this happens to be a battle between mac os x and windows 8, just know that macs can run both : seperatly with boot camp or simultaneously using parallels, let's just keep this macbook air vs surface pro. And the lack of a backlit keyboard in the surface pro is a deal breaker.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 8:14 AM 0

15. freebee269

Posts: 542; Member since: Aug 10, 2012

you obviously miss the fact that windows surface pro can run windows 7 and 8 desktop apps natively. this alone gives the pro a huge advantage because as we all know mac doesnt have as many apps desktop wise as windows. if they did then why do people need to run mac with dual boot? if you put the same price of a mac book air and surface pro up to each other, the surface pro is definitely more appealing. i wouldnt spend an extra $700 on the top mac book air. the mac book air doesnt even have a microsd slot. that gives the surface pro an extra 64gb of space without needing to spend more money to upgrade storage like you would on the mac book air. so technically you get 192gb of space on the surface pro for the same price as a 128gb mac book air.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 8:36 AM 1

18. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

You can get a usb to sd card adaptater for less than 10 bucks for the macbook and you still have an olther usb port. For my use, mac apps are better and more useful, and os x is better for my use case, but i have the choice to use windows, i can use both while the surface can only run windows 8. And spec wise the macbook air base model has similar or better specs than the surface pro, and don't forget that you have to purchase a keyboard for the surface pro

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 8:52 AM 0

22. freebee269

Posts: 542; Member since: Aug 10, 2012

why buy something that i have to get an adapter to use when i can get the other brand that doesnt need the adapter? why buy something that i need to dual boot to use windows, when i can just get windows? at work, why buy a mac book air that i need to dual boot to use my work apps written for windows? it make no sense. the surface pro is a better decision. and no you dont have to purchase a keyboard to use the surface pro. there's an onscreen keyboard for the touchscreen display that mac book air doesnt have. you just say stuff, you dont even think before you say it huh?

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 9:13 AM 0

26. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

Okey so first, mac os is a better choice for me when it comes to work and productivity apps, and i also said that you can run simoultaneously mac os x and windows using parallels. Both is better than one. And since you're talking about work, try working with an onscreen keyboard, or try typing something at night without a backlit keyboard. And i need to use two usb ports at least for my work and guess what, i have to buy a usb dongle for my surface pro!

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 9:50 AM 0

14. tmcblog

Posts: 19; Member since: Jan 28, 2013

"4 GB or Ram for a laptop is stupid" My laptop has 2 GB of RAM, and it sometime freezes if I have twenty or more tabs in my firefox and other programs are opened for my work. When I check task manager, it uses 1.5 GB of my RAM. I don't know how many MBs of RAM are used for video memory, maybe 512 MB. If that's the case, then my RAM is fully used. Someday I want to buy an additional memory, 2 GB or 4 GB. Yeah 4 GB of RAM in a laptop is "stupid"

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 8:35 AM 1

17. freebee269

Posts: 542; Member since: Aug 10, 2012

when i read this you automaticly discredited everything you said. "The surface pro is just a Tablet PC wannabe that can't compete with niether of them, it's unconfortable to use as a laptop with that keyboard that is good for a tablet but bad for a laptop" you cant even go play with the surface pro because it isnt out yet. how do you even know this? oh thats right, you are easily swayed by what others say and not strong enough to form your own opinion. i completely understand your trolling now.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 8:49 AM 1

23. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

a friend of mine owns a surface rt and he didn't like it, he gave it to me for like 2 days before he returned it and i didn't like it neither : it was unconfortable in portrait or in landscape and it was even more unconfortable on my lap for like an hour. Guess since the surface pro is thicker and heavier it's even worse

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 9:20 AM 0

28. freebee269

Posts: 542; Member since: Aug 10, 2012

"Guess since the surface pro" my point exactly, you're guessing.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 10:57 AM 0

30. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

My point is that since the surface rt is unconfortabla asz a tablet in protrait or in landscape and icnonfortable to use on a lap, the surface pro won't be better with it's thickness and weight. And by the way, you haven't used a surface pro either. Have you used a surface rt? Because i did...

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 11:07 AM 0

32. freebee269

Posts: 542; Member since: Aug 10, 2012

yes i have used a surface RT, i own one actually. and i have not had the so called issue with the keyboard as you have. it would be easy for me to use the mac book air and over exaggerate issues with it to make it seem worse than it really is as you are. but i dont need to be as eccentric as you. also, the surface pro and RT are not the same. the sureface RT doesnt even use the same processor or SSD technology as the surface pro. you're comparing apples oranges. you're right i havent used the surface pro yet, which is why i'm not on here trying to bash it like you that havent used it yet.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 11:18 AM 0

33. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

I compared the surface pro to the rt when it comes to the form factor, not performance.

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 11:27 AM 0

37. BattleBrat

Posts: 1476; Member since: Oct 26, 2011

You've never used Windows 7's Voice functionality, have you?

posted on Feb 08, 2013, 9:21 PM 0

39. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

No but i used dictation in mountain lion and as much as it works really well, i don't use it that much, i mean alot of people want real keyboards on smartphone and you want to remove them from laptops?

posted on Feb 09, 2013, 4:39 AM 0

41. haseebzahid

Posts: 1853; Member since: Feb 22, 2012

one word iFANBOY :P

posted on Feb 09, 2013, 12:51 PM 0

42. feres13

Posts: 307; Member since: Dec 23, 2011

Just because i switched from android/windows 7 to ios / os x 10.8 and found to be a much better platform and a flawless ecosystem and i tried surface and hated it doesn't make me a "iFANDOY" you "iHATER"

posted on Feb 09, 2013, 5:51 PM 0

45. L.J.Rintoul

Posts: 1; Member since: Sep 03, 2014

Are you retarded? The Surface Pro has better specs in every single way and it's cheaper and it has a touch screen. The Mac Book air has a low clocked dual core processor at £1000, my Xbox One has an octo core 1.75 GHz processor and that was £350.

posted on Sep 04, 2014, 12:12 PM 0

view all comments