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Microsoft continues to target the MacBook Air w/ new Surface Pro 3 ‘Switch’ site

iPhone 6 Surface Pro 3

Microsoft has never been shy about trying to convert MacBook Air users into Surface Pro 3 users. Despite being in a room filled with MacBooks, Microsoft targeted Apple’s laptop head-on at its initial Surface Pro 3 announcement event.

Now Microsoft is further highlighting the differences between the MacBook Air and Surface Pro 3 with a new online campaign (via ZDNet) intended to encourage Mac users to feel comfortable trying out Microsoft’s latest tablet.

Whether you’re considering Surface Pro 3 or have recently purchased one, we want to say thank you! We designed Surface Pro 3 to make you more productive in every aspect of your digital work and life. We’re truly humbled you’re here, and we’re excited to see what you do with your new Surface.

The recently launched microsite is the latest in a campaign largely led by ad spots (the latest holiday spot is almost pleasant) mocking the MacBook Air’s lack of touch screen, stylus, and more compared to Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3.

Microsoft’s angle has been that users can replace both an iPad and MacBook with their laptop-spec’d tablet.

The new site, however, first welcomes potential switchers then highlights features on Windows, frequently asked questions of potential switchers, how to move content from the different systems, and using Apple’s services with Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3.

Microsoft Surface 3 site

The promo page even links to a tutorial and FAQ for using your iPhone, iTunes, and iCloud with a Surface Pro 3.

“Rest easy, your new Surface and iPhone will go great together,” Microsoft says. Sorry Windows Phone.

Does Microsoft’s latest campaign tempt you to try the desktop-like tablet or just serve as more entertainment for consuming on your iPad or MacBook?

 

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Comments

  1. jsbrock - 9 years ago

    Entertainment :)

    • avifrischlaw - 9 years ago

      Before you say that, you should actually use a Surface Pro 3, which is simply put an amazing device. Having a tablet format that includes a full PC and which is as portable as an ipad, is simply amazing and not something Apple has an answer for. Try working from an ipad for a day and you will understand. And yes, I have owned multiple ipads, iphones and a MacBook.

      • Arnold Ziffel - 9 years ago

        You realize when you mention how many Apple products you’ve owned, you’re screaming out “I’m a troll !”

      • “TROLL” – A word used by someone who disagrees with someone else on the internet but who does not have the mental ability to put their point across in a reasonable manner”.

      • nullifiedone - 9 years ago

        Sorry but its not a full pc thats as portable as an ipad. Its a tablet thats as portable but try using the full surface 3 setup on a plane, making room for the clumsy kick stand and attaching a flimsy keyboard, its much easier to pull out a laptop.
        The stuff that turns it into a netbook doesnt let it stay too portable.

  2. jsbrock - 9 years ago

    Actually, I think the biggest lock in for me with Apple is their design language. Even though the Surface Pro 3 is pretty, the Macbook Air from 2011 still has that Apple design that’s near impossible to match. It’s more of a difference factor in design rather than better/worse. I bought an Apple Cinema Display because it goes with the Mac aesthetically. Even the pre-2012 Unibody MacBook Pro’s are still far more “iConic,” despite being twice as thick as the Surface Pro 3.

  3. 89p13 - 9 years ago

    And – it runs MS-Windows! How many updates do they drop every “Patch Tuesday” and “Out-of-Cycle-Emergency” patches?

    It seems every Tuesday evening – when I fire up my Lenovo Laptop – I spend 15 to 45 minutes waiting for the downloads to drop and be installed and the system to be re-booted (sometimes 2 or 3 reboots). Then Adobe pops up with a few patches – and then the system re-boots again.

    Nope – Keep your hardware (and software) Microsoft – I’ll stick with my Mac H/W and S/W.

  4. darevsek - 9 years ago

    Is it just me, or does the Surface 2, 10 hours battery, and the Surface 3’s, 9 hours… seem like a step backwards?

  5. Superman (@Codiwin) - 9 years ago

    No thank you! It’s not just about the hardware i hate using windows that’s all!

  6. Taste_of_Apple - 9 years ago

    Hope they have a “switch-back” site. Once those folks realize they’ve made an error they’ll be searching for a new iPad.

  7. Barnes Dave - 9 years ago

    When you attack the leader, you better be funny.
    Otherwise, don’t do it.

  8. dirtbagg - 9 years ago

    Still missing that key component though…. an Apple OS

  9. “We’re truly humbled you’re here, and we’re excited to see what you do with your new Surface.”

    Who would have ever thought that Microsoft would have to play the role of little orphan Oliver (“please miss, may I have sum-moore?”) by telling people how “humbled” they are that buy their hardware. This is the same company that holds global marketshare in desktop operating systems, right?! The same company so big and so successful that it had the capital to bail out Apple in the early days of Steve Jobs’ return, right?!

    Oh my, have the tables turned. Today the iPhone on its own brings in more revenue than the entirely of the Microsoft corporation and they’re forced to convince consumers to buy their hardware over Apple’s.

    How the mighty have fallen.

    • By the way, did anyone actually visit the microsite? Noticed that they’re so desperate to draw a line in the sand between the Surface and MacBook Air that of the 9 listed distinctions the Air is equal on 2 of them and 1 of them, specifically multitasking, is listed twice.

      Of course what’s really missing from this list, that Microsoft lacks in spades, is the synergy between iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, OS X, CarPlay and eventually Apple Watch. There is no ecosystem on the planet that is as robust, comprehensive or as cohesive as Apple’s. Period.

    • And just wait until devs like Adobe & others start building continuity into their apps. Part of the brilliance of Apple products is that they build one lean, streamlined interface tailored to each product. Each one doing what it does best. They may all converge one day, but today is not that day.

  10. Harvey Lubin - 9 years ago

    No one showed up to trade in their iPad for a Surface, so why do they think anyone would trade in a MacBook Air???

  11. b9bot - 9 years ago

    They can target it all they want. There crappy Surface isn’t any better than when they first released it.

  12. Miguelito Valdes - 9 years ago

    I still won’t give up and of my Apple devices…. Thanks for trying Microsoft!

  13. nelmat - 9 years ago

    Hilarious. Microsodont understand what a tablet is and are determined to turn it into a laptop, only problem is that you can’t use it on your lap, only at a desk in this set up. So why not just save money and a buy a windows laptop with more money and better build quality for less price? No point comparing a tablet with an identity crisis to a laptop computer. Microsoft just don’t get it and this product will never be the massive success of ipad or MacBook air.

  14. terje1otnes - 9 years ago

    The kickstand sold me! Come on Apple, give me a kickstand!

    • thinkman12345 - 9 years ago

      Sounds like you’d switch if they just threw in a can of tuna fish! And why would a MacBook Air need a kickstand – it’s a real laptop, not a laptop wannabe like the surface.

      • terje1otnes - 9 years ago

        No, haven’t used Microsoft hardware in years. I was making light of the commercial trying to make a kickstand sound like a wonderful feature. I started with Apple on an SE/30.

  15. Devin Jared Epstein - 9 years ago

    I agree with everybody’s posts because the Surface Pro 3 is the price of a Macbook Air and Pro. Plus the Macs have better battery life and have less problems and updates.

  16. Dave Huntley - 9 years ago

    It would be interesting to see numbers, but MS has been cagey about all Surface sales and return numbers since it became well known they wrote off entire stocks of Surface RT.
    The Surface is in a funny place because it is a tablet, like any other, but they are trying to say it’s a laptop. Most people already have a Win or OSX laptop already, so what’s the big pressure to go out and buy then? I think their advertising confuses rather than shifts SKUs and MS just doesn’t get it yet.

    • brg654 - 9 years ago

      since the only people i’ve actually seen with a surface are business travelers on planes, my guess is that they are giving them away to corporate IT departments, probably as part of an upgrade package to office or something. in other words, they’re taking market share away from lenovo and hp, not apple.

  17. thinkman12345 - 9 years ago

    The Surface Pro can do all the flip flops it’s capable of, but it still runs windoze! As a result, MacBookAir wins hands down!

  18. earlwalker2014 - 9 years ago

    Interesting that the MS Surface site looks just like the old Apple MBP site from a couple of years ago. Having had a look, it would appear that MS want to break down the barrier between the laptop and tablet, without the realisation that they each have their place. While some users are eschewing laptops and doing most of the things that they used to do on a laptop on a tablet, MS is trying to sell them a lap/desk-tablet. I have seen no marketing evidence that there is an appetite for this. Many owners of Apple products become evangelists because the OS is better, more secure and does the job in a more intuitive way. Not to mention that the design is attractive, and the UI clean and easy to work. Moving from MS to OSX is also easier than the moving the other way, even if users have used Windows previously. I own: MBP 15″, iMac, iPad2, iPhone 5 and a Surface Pro – the latter through work, and whatever MS think, I would prefer that my work environment was Apple based rather than Microsoft, and am more comfortable with the Apple world, even while having had to stick with MS throughout in my career. I choose Apple, I have to work with MS.

  19. This is deja vu from the sites that Apple used to have trying to get MS users over to Apple products. It is strange to see Microsoft reassuring people that their OS will be able to connect to iCloud.

  20. zenner41 - 9 years ago

    Writing this on a MBA. It does everything I want; why switch to anything else? (I use one Windows application through Parallels, so don’t cry for me, Argentina.)

  21. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 9 years ago

    But are they really converting MacBookAir owners or are they just selling them to PC users that just want to act like they have a decent laptop/tablet? Just because the ad is targeted at people that may buy or have a MacBookAir doesn’t mean that MacBookAir users are “switching”.

  22. foodie202 - 9 years ago

    My initial reaction was to LOL, literally. A lot. For a while. I have been lucky enough to have been involved in the computer revolution since 1975, the early days of Microsoft. In its entire history, as I recall, it has only achieved success (defined by longevity of product) with 2 pieces of hardware: the mouse, and the Xbox. I don’t think the tablet/tabbook markets (already saturated) are going to be the third. The biggest issues I have with Microsoft are a) they just don’t get it, their OS is horrid, and they don’t understand either the user experience, or the big integrated picture, and b) their customer service and tech support are horrid (I just finished one of the worst customer experiences I’ve had, with the Office online support). However, with each and every Apple product I have owned in the past 5 years, I find the more I use it, the more I love it. I have a Macbook Pro that is 5 years old, that I am typing on right now. With OS X Yosemite, this is one of the finest computing devices I have ever used – and it is 5 years old. And Apple does get the user experience, and has created a fine synergy of devices for a connected, digital life. I am certainly open to playing with the Surface 3, but I seriously doubt Microsoft’s ability to suddenly have something that can compete with (aka steal market share from) the iPad. I may be wrong, but I don’t think so (thanks, Mr. Monk!).

  23. Hugo Nuñez - 9 years ago

    Three things:

    1. Microsoft supports and develops a OS X version of Skype
    2. Using Parallels you can run Windows and switch between both so, I can use any windows application anytime. No Parallels? No problem, you can use bootcamp instead.
    3. Why on earth I would want to sync my iDevice in Windows if the Mac version is way better if you already own one (unless it’s damn old!)?

    At least for me, not having a touch screen in my rMBP isn’t a deal breaker :)… I really considered buying the Surface Pro 3 before getting my rMBP but I don’t regret purchasing my Apple lap… not saying it’s flawless but does what it’s meant to do: it’s fast, lightweight, stable and great battery life even when using Parallels to run the two operating systems side by side, good apps to choose from the app store, high end materials and industrial design which, by the way, many laptop companies are copying the design language…

Author

Avatar for Zac Hall Zac Hall

Zac covers Apple news, hosts the 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcast, and created SpaceExplored.com.