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Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

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Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#102

So snapdragon believes they’ve built a faster and more energy efficient chip than Apples M-series. I thought the general consensus was that Apple was years ahead of the competition. What breakthrough did Snapdragon come up with?

The same as Apple. Qualcomm bought Nuvia, which was started by engineers working at Apple on their CPUs.

Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The root comment we're replying to here is saying that the previous model Surface was out by 2-4x. I'm of the opinion that's getting into the realm of impossible numbers, absent evidence otherwise. If you get it out of the box and it doesn't get what they specify - that's misleading at best, fraud at worst. The car tests do specify the testing conditions, so I would expect that my car would perform the same under the…

>The root comment we're replying to here is saying that the previous model Surface was out by 2-4x. And how can we verify that he didn't have some power virus running in the background to generalize that 2-4x claim as being a universal fault with all devices? The manufacturer makes a claim based on a (obviously biased) controlled lab condition. When you use the device outside that lab condition then it obviously won'…

Of course.

But if I get a new device out of the box, make no changes, and it doesn't get those numbers, then it's a lie.

That's been my experience before (not with a Surface), and it was OP's experience with a Surface.

Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#105

Hopefully it forces apple to up the base ram or storage. Competition is good!

There is no need to. 95% of users are never going to need to more than the base. Desktop apps are increasingly moving to the web not the other way around.

Software is a gas.

Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The root comment we're replying to here is saying that the previous model Surface was out by 2-4x. And how can we verify that he didn't have some power virus running in the background to generalize that 2-4x claim as being a universal fault with all devices? The manufacturer makes a claim based on a (obviously biased) controlled lab condition. When you use the device outside that lab condition then it obviously won'…

Of course. But if I get a new device out of the box, make no changes, and it doesn't get those numbers, then it's a lie. That's been my experience before (not with a Surface), and it was OP's experience with a Surface.

Sure, the question is, have you tested the device fresh out the box and found a 3-4x less battery life than advertised in the same test scenario?

I guess that would be fraud, but that depends on what all the fine print on the battery claim states.

Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#107
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same thing happened with my Dell Precision laptop. Fixed it by wiping the hard drive and installing Linux.

Notably on recent CPU generations the CPU vendors yanked S3 support completely, so you have to rely on your Linux installation being able to adequately manage power in S0ix. While it won’t be hostile to you like a Windows one, I’m yet to see this work as well as S3 with regard to battery life.

Within the last month, a BIOS update was released for my ThinkPad that finally allows this to work reliably under Linux.

Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#109
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been like that forever. Usually gaming laptops prioritize their cooling systems over battery size. And don’t underestimate the high refresh rate panel likely optimized for at least 500 nits.

> And don’t underestimate the high refresh rate panel Literally one of the reasons Apple added variable refresh rates on their pro phones: if you can vrr down, you save a ton of battery when you run the panel at 1Hz.

I’m pretty sure any MacBook Pro with ProMotion can only drop to 24hz

“the MacBook Pro’s ProMotion display can range from 24Hz to 120Hz.”

https://9to5mac.com/2021/10/19/macbook-pro-promotion-tidbits....

Re: Microsoft says new Surface Pro is faster than 15" M3 MacBook Air

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And don’t underestimate the high refresh rate panel Literally one of the reasons Apple added variable refresh rates on their pro phones: if you can vrr down, you save a ton of battery when you run the panel at 1Hz.

I’m pretty sure any MacBook Pro with ProMotion can only drop to 24hz “the MacBook Pro’s ProMotion display can range from 24Hz to 120Hz.” https://9to5mac.com/2021/10/19/macbook-pro-promotion-tidbits... .

Ah cool, didn't know that, I thought it was only in the phones and tablets.
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