Microsoft Touts Surface Pro 7 as 'The Better Choice' Over MacBook Pro in New Ad

Saturday January 23, 2021 11:02 am PST by Frank McShan

Microsoft yesterday shared a new ad on YouTube titled "Microsoft Surface Pro 7: The Better Choice," in which the company compares its tablet computer to Apple's 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro, as spotted by MSPoweruser.

The ad highlights the Surface Pro 7's touchscreen and included stylus as opposed to only a "little bar" (the Touch Bar) on the MacBook Pro. Other advantages of the Surface Pro 7 mentioned in the ad include the detachable keyboard, a cheaper price, and the claim that the tablet is "a much better gaming device" than the MacBook Pro.

Results uploaded on Geekbench show that the Intel Core i3-equipped Surface Pro 7 with 4GB of RAM has single-core and multi-core scores of 769 and 1,851, respectively. Additionally, the Intel Core i5-equipped Surface Pro 7 with 8GB of RAM has single-core and multi-core scores of 1,210 and 4,079, respectively. By comparison, the ‌M1‌ chip running on a 13-inch MacBook Pro with 8GB of unified memory achieved greater performance than both Surface models with single-core and multi-core scores of 1,735 and 7,686, respectively.

The 12.3-inch Surface Pro 7 starts at $749.99 with 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM and increases to $2,299.99 with 1TB of storage and 16GB of RAM. In comparison, the current 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro starts at $1,299 with 256GB of storage and 8GB of unified memory and increases to $2,299 for 2TB of storage and 16GB of unified memory.

Microsoft has long positioned its Surface devices as an ideal combination of both a tablet and computer experience. In years past, Microsoft has released several ads promoting its Surface lineup over Apple's MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and iPad lineup.

Tags: Microsoft, Microsoft Surface

Related Forum: MacBook Pro

Popular Stories

Microsoft Raises Prices for All Surface PCs, Making Them More Expensive Than Equivalent Macs

Tuesday April 14, 2026 4:21 pm PDT by Juli Clover

Microsoft increased prices for all of its Surface PCs this week, with most models priced hundreds of dollars higher than they were when launching. Windows Central highlighted the increases, which now see Microsoft's mid-range models priced above $1,000 and flagship models priced starting at $1,500. A Microsoft spokesperson said the price increase was due to "recent increases in memory and...

• 185 comments

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...

iPhone 18 Pro Launching in September With These 10 New Features

Saturday May 9, 2026 6:03 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not launching until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. It was initially reported that the iPhone 18 Pro models would have fully under-screen Face ID, with only a front camera visible in the top-left corner of the screen. However, the latest rumors indicate that only one Face ID component will be moved under the...

Top Rated Comments

dragoon2745

69 months ago

This is why I don't let a 10 year old tell me what computer to buy.

Score: 182 Votes (Like | Disagree)

___joshuaturner

69 months ago

When you compare your car to a Mercedes just remember everyone knows you secretly just want a Mercedes

Score: 104 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Sebosz

69 months ago

Incredibly insecure.

There’s a reason Apple doesn’t do this crap.

???? Did you forget about "Mac vs PC" ads?

Score: 59 Votes (Like | Disagree)

chucker23n1

69 months ago

This ad falls apart like a house of cards.

Yeah, you don’t get touch on an MBP. You also don’t get a detachable keyboard, because it’s not that kind of device (is their point that the Surface Laptop is a bad device?).

But then they bring up the price. At that price, the Surface Pro 7 includes neither the pen nor any keyboard, and its specs are very poor.

Why didn’t they simply compare it with the iPad Pro? It makes much more sense that way, and they could tout that it runs Windows apps and games (though you can’t convince me that there’s much of a market of college kids who want to run games on a Windows tablet. It’s an awkward compromise).

Score: 53 Votes (Like | Disagree)