Surface Studio — A brilliant screen for your ideas, from Microsoft

@wuss and because it is Microsoft you can bet they do not use any crap low gamut IPS panel like Apple did for years with their age-old unrevised white LED backlit IPS panel in their cinema display. This is a beauty and it isn't 16:9, but we should wait for first reviews of the pen sensibility and performance as also if there is any surface friction for the pen. It's tasty, eye-candy and functional - seems like an incredible move, but reviews will tell. EDIT: * It's a 28-inch 4,500 x 3,000 panel, no words about color range, full gloss seems to not have additional surface friction, which is sad and thus maybe no competition for cintiqs. * The Dial has no additional gimmick to adhere to the screen, it is literally hold in your hand.

@wuss I love and use Apple erryday too, and own a windows gaming PC. I really would love this to be an iMac & cintiq killer, but I'm wary of Microsoft's execution. Illogical brand loyalty is a real thing, but keep in mind the Microsoft brand isn't just an icon etched into that beautiful aluminum chassis. It also signifies decades of history with sub par software, trouble with bluetooth, printers, and drivers, display scaling issues, hardware that falls apart faster and takes more IT resources to solve. All packaged in a form factor that, while beautiful and impressive, isn't a differentiator in 2016. I very much hope the reviews blow those worries away but IMO they're real, and perhaps seem like blind brand loyalty from the outside

Just add macOS (for desktop mode) and iOS (for tablet mode) and this is brilliant.

@staringispolite Fair point, but if you itemized what the Surface Studio is a conglomeration of, there's not as much risk as you would think. I'd be most concerned about the sturdiness of the hinge and the execution of that knob (THAT KNOB.. i mean, on it's own it's its own PH). Aside from that, touch/ntrig is tried and tested from Surface 4, Windows 10 is Windows 10 (which is also my main home PC for gaming as well, but it dual boots into OSX/hackintosh). Display scaling issues in my experience, have been less of a Windows 10 issue, and more of a 3rd party support issue since Windows development isn't as tightly controlled as Apples/Macs. Windows 10 itself has come a long way with display scaling and hasn't really been an issue for me (admittedly OSX is still better). I could be wrong, but I don't think MS has been making hardware for decades either. Break down the special use case for the Studio, you'll probably have less issues with display scaling than you think, because most of the major creative suites/software have "retina" UI's for Windows. I know this will come across as trying-to-hard, and it'll sound like I'm some anti-Apple fanboi (which is far from the truth), but tbh, the most issues I've ever had with any of my hardware has been Apple by far. Between iPhones and Macbooks, I've had issues of varying degrees with at least 1 out of 2 devices across 5+ devices over the years. Not quite apples to apples since my PC/non Apple stuff is multiple brands, but I just don't really come across that many issues with my Android phones and/or chromebooks and Windows laptops (all my PC's are custom built, so don't include those in this metric). Just within the last 3 months, my wife's 2014 macbook air (basically latest generation) developed a dead horizontal line of pixels on the screen, that, per usual, is a known issue with this laptop. 1 month prior, her iphone 6S developed a weird problem where it wouldn't power up and the home button overheated (again, upon googling appears to be a very common problem relating to the fingerprint sensor malfunctioning). My current work laptop is a 2014 Macbook Pro 15", and the anti-glare coating has started rubbing off on 1/3 of the screen making it look like it has leprosy (again, known problem). It's trackpad has also begun sticking to the point where the Macbook becomes unusable because it thinks you're always depressing the touchpad. In contrast, all of my non-apple devices (which outnumber my apple devices) in aggregate, in the last year, have only had 1 problem. My S7 Edge got a weird "particulate" in the lens that popped up in all my photos. I know this is all anectodal, but it's still my personal reality. I've owned 2 Surfaces (the 2 pro and 3 pro). Both have been solid, but just not for me in the end. TLDR version is, I never buy extended warranties, but I always buy Applecare. It's too big of an investment and too poor a track record for me not too.

@wuss The cost/maintenance point was referencing this report from IBM http://www.computerworld.com/art... Here's hoping the positive possibilities you mention (e.g. Microsoft taking over on hardware meaning improvements there) end up going well in the reviews!

@lukedeannif could you divulge what apple products this is a "straight up rip off"?

@lukedeannif I'm so confused by your comment. What products are you talking about?!

@drobe008 Take a look at the above photos. Then go peruse the Apple website. Then look at what Microsoft products looked like 5 years ago. Then get back to me.

@lukedeannif I want to live inside your reality distortion bubble. it must be nice

@gopietz this would be an amazing workstation beyond UX designers. Think photographers, CAD, etc

@trevin agree with @gopietz, but those sketch / prototype apps are all replacements for Adobe's suite, which is very capable. I personally love Sketch, but everything I use it for can also be done in Illustrator / Photoshop / XD

@iambarronroth I'm confused, what are you agreeing with? that designers can't switch to a PC because of reliance on sketch? From your comment it sounds like you are actually disagreeing with @gopietz

@trevin @iambarronroth You're right Trevin, but especially Photography feels like macOS territory as well. At least from my experience. CAD probably not so much. And lets not forget that the twist-knob-thingy wont be supported by these tools out of the box. So another question is: How fast will software companies other than adobe implement this technology? I havent done any research on this topic, but it just feels like that the potential market for such a windows machine is rather small. At least right now. Maybe this is more about branding?

@gopietz It's my biggest problem with Windows; even when you find very very very good hardware (e.g Dell XPS 13 or Asus ZenBook or the Surface series), many of the best creativity apps (design, digital art, music, software dev, film) are Mac only

@lynnfredricks Quality products cost money. 'Nuff said.

@trevin Not always, no. On the other hand, it does set perceptual value point for other vendors to value compare against, just like other Surface products.

@alaskanjackson the only way you win the battle is by making sales. Microsoft has created stunning (critically acclaimed) products in the past... which no one bought. This *could* be different, but with the high price (and the existing lock-in macOS has) it's going to be a hard climb.