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Apple CEO Not Impressed with Microsoft’s Ultimate Laptop: It’s Trying Too Much

It’s a diluted product, Tim Cook said in a statement

Nov 12, 2015 11:03 GMT  ·  By
Apple CEO Tim Cook
   Apple CEO Tim Cook

Now that Microsoft and Apple are competing for the same category of buyers with Surface Book and MacBook, respectively, the two companies don’t miss any occasion to criticize their rival and praise their own devices.

While Microsoft has already introduced the Surface Book as the perfect replacement for the MacBook, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook said during a speech at an Irish college that Redmond’s device is a mix of too many things and it tries to do too much.

The original Surface

Cook’s statement might be a little surprising, given the fact that Apple has recently launched the iPad Pro, a tablet that comes with a detachable keyboard plus a pen, just like Microsoft’s Surface. Not to mention the fact that the CEO believes that the Cupertino-based company has actually built a device that can replace both desktops and laptops.

“It’s a product that tries too hard to do too much,” he was quoted as saying by Independent. “It’s trying to be a tablet and a notebook and it really succeeds at being neither. It’s sort of diluted.”

Tim Cook also reiterated the same message as before, explaining that the iPad Pro has what it takes to become a fully featured productivity device that can replace the traditional desktop PC and the laptop.

“I believe the iPad will return to growth,” he said. “I only travel now with an iPad Pro and an iPhone, that’s it.”

But what’s interesting is that Apple uses pretty much the same strategy as Microsoft did in 2012, when it rolled out the original Surface tablet. At that point, Microsoft claimed the Surface was the perfect replacement for laptops and tablets, as the device brought the best of both worlds, including a detachable keyboard.

At that point, Tim Cook made fun of Microsoft’s efforts to mix a laptop and a tablet, saying that “you can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not gonna be pleasing to the user.”

The iPad Pro went on sale yesterday, so it’s too early to talk about its performance, but expect Apple to disclose some official numbers later this month.