Should Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Worry About Microsoft Surface Laptop?

Microsoft Surface Laptop

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) introduced the Surface Laptop on Tuesday in New York City. The 13.5-inch laptop, which runs the company’s new Windows 10 S operating system, is designed to meet the needs of college students, according to Microsoft.

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However, a new report from CNBC suggests Microsoft is taking aim at Apple’s MacBook with this new laptop. It is “too powerful and way too expensive to be truly focused on the education market,” according to the report.

Surface Laptop

The Surface Laptop is different from the Surface Book. It is a true laptop that also supports Microsoft’s Surface Pen. The laptop features a 13.5-inch PixelSense display with a 3:2 aspect ratio. It runs on Intel Core i5 or i7 processors. Its battery life will last for 14.5 hours, according to Microsoft.

The Surface Laptop is powerful than the Apple i7 MacBook Pro. The laptop has “more battery life than any MacBook Air on the market today,” according to a report from The Verge.

The Surface Laptop starts at $999 for the Core i5 version with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage. It is available for pre-order from today. Shipment will begin in June.

Microsoft Targeting MacBooks not Chromebooks

The Surface Laptop comes with the Windows 10 S operating system. This new operating system is designed for the education market, allowing users to install apps only from the Windows Store.

However, users can pay a one-time $49 to upgrade to Windows 10 Pro. That means users can install and run anything outside of the Windows app store on the Surface Laptop.

The Surface Laptop is a powerful machine that can run applications like Adobe Photoshop. “It has all the hardware to compete, much more than what’s required in a classroom,” Todd Haselton writes in CNBC.

“I think Microsoft’s real target market here is students heading off to college. By positioning the Surface Laptop toward “education” it can attract a crowd that might otherwise be looking at MacBooks,” Haselton writes.

Microsoft impressed the tech market with its Surface devices. The company has been receiving positive a feedback from both consumers regarding its Surface machines. So, in my opinion, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) should be a little worried about the new Surface Laptop. It would be a strong competitor to the MacBook.

Customers can pre-order Surface Laptop in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The laptop will come to China later this year, Microsoft said.

Meanwhile, shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) were down 0.16% in the after-hours trading session. Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) were trading up 0.63% in the after-hours trading session.

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