Our Verdict
When you break them down side by side , the iMac Pro outperforms the Surface Studio in just about every respect – it ’s only miss a touchscreen . On the other hand , it also well surpass the Microsoft gadget in Leontyne Price , with even the cheapest iMac Pro costing £ 650/$800 more than the pricey Surface Studio . If you utterly need the best , get the iMac , but for most user the Surface offers more than enough – plus an adjustable touchscreen , Surface Pen and Surface Dial .
Best Prices Today: Apple iMac Pro (2017)
Here we go again : Mac vs PC , Apple vs Microsoft . This time around , it ’s the battle of the top - tier up all - in - single , the upcomingiMac Proup against the Surface Studio .
They ’re both high - end devices primarily target creative and media professionals , but there are as many differences as there are similarities between them , and there ’s a lot to break out down .
Want to read more about the iMac Pro ? We have aniMac Pro reviewand ourcomparison of the iMac vs the iMac Pro . you’re able to also read ourcomparison of all the ‘ pro ’ Macs . If you want to find out what to expect from the next generation iMac Pro , scan ourlatest intelligence about the iMac Pro 2 here .
Price and availability
Before we dive into the ironware itself , permit ’s take a look at two of the most of import enquiry : when can you grease one’s palms them , and how much do they be ?
The Surface Studio is out now in both the UK and the US , andstarts from £ 2,999/$2,999for the groundwork simulation . There are two other configurations available , with themid - range exit for £ 3,549/$3,499 , and thetop - level version priced at £ 4,249/$4,199 .
But if you thought the Surface Studio was expensive , then perk up yourself . Apple has determine pricing for the iMac Pro – which is out now – at £ 4,899/$4,999 , and that ’s just the entry - level model . you’re able to configure it to over £ 13,000/$13,900 if you go for all the top specs and also bundle in software and peripherals . Take a look at the iMac Pro on the Apple Store .
Design and build
While the iMac Pro and Surface Studio might count fairly standardised at first glimpse , there ’s actually quite a lot to secern the two .
The iMac Pro is an all - in - one Mac computer with a 27 in display . The body is basically the same as the normal 27 in iMac , though it come in Space Grey – with matching peripheral gadget – to differentiate it from the core iMac billet ( which come up in silver ) .
The Surface Studio submit a slimly different approach . Its 28 in showing does n’t actually comprise any of the calculator ’s processing power , for one – that ’s all pack into a small box seat built into the base of the outdoor stage , which earmark the display to be just 12.5 millimeter stocky .
That ’s important in part because the display is also a touchscreen , and because it can be angled down to almost horizontal – a bit like a draughtsman ’s table – and used for illustration .
Beyond that , the two gadget have similar dimension and weight ( the Surface is 9.5 kg , the iMac Pro 9.7 kg ) . Both come with a wireless keyboard and mouse , though the iMac Pro lets you swap the computer mouse for a trackpad , and the Surface Studio also include a Surface Pen .
Specs and hardware
Now let ’s get below the Surface and into the nitty gritty : the ironware . This is where the two equipment really take off to come apart , because it ’s unclouded that Apple has go above and beyond to check that that the iMac Pro is the most powerful all - in - one around .
Display
Having said all that … the displays between the two are actually pretty similar . The iMac Pro is using the same screen as the current 27 in iMacs , which intend it ’s a 5 K Retina display with a 5120 x 2880 solution , support for a billion colours and 500 nits of brightness .
The Surface packs a slightly larger 28 in display , but in bout it offers an ever so slimly lower 4500 x 3000 resolution at the less vulgar 3:2 vista ratio . Either way though , these are both very high - calibre displays – two of the best you ’ll obtain in the all - in - one market .
It ’s also worth recollect that the Surface screen is touch - sore , recognize 10 ghost inputs at once ; and that it ’s compatible with both the Surface Pen and the new Surface Dial , a circular block you’re able to place on the screen and utilise to check various configurations and stimulus by twisting and tapping it , such as zooming or selecting from a colour roulette wheel .
Processor and memory
This is where the two devices really part to differ . Let ’s start with the Surface Studio . The £ 2,999/$2,999 base model comes with a musculus quadriceps femoris - core Core i5 paired with 8 GB RAM – powerful for routine user , but not necessarily enough for the most demanding originative work .
abuse up to £ 3,549/$3,499 and you get an i7 and an rise to 16 GB RAM , while the £ 4,249/$4,199 top model is jam the same i7 , along with 32 GB RAM .
All of that sound pretty impressive … until you see what the iMac Pro is packing .
The Pro comes with 8- , 10- , 14- or 18 - gist Intel Xeon processors , which have a few benefits over the Core range . They ’re more reliable and racy , boast larger caches for take with complex data , and brook ECC ( error - correcting codification ) RAM , which helps forestall crash error – vital during things like drawn-out renders .
Speaking of which , the iMac Pro starts from 32 GB RAM – where the Surface Studio caps out – and only move up from there , with the option for either 64 GB or a frankly nonsensical 128 GiB .
We tested a 10 - core iMac Pro with the full whack of 128 GB of RAM , and it perform superlatively in every benchmarking test we tried – one high spot was a stonking 37,000 in Geekbench 4 ’s multicore component . ( For equivalence , a 2017 iMac with an i7 chip seduce around 17,500 in the same test . )
Graphics
There ’s a similar public presentation gulf when it comes to the GPU . The Surface come with either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 965 M with 2 GB GDDR5 computer storage ( in the two low - specced models ) or a GeForce GTX 980 M with 4 GB GDDR5 memory for the top model .
They ’re respectable potato chip , but ca n’t match the iMac . It boasts the launch of the Radeon Pro Vega GPUs , with a choice between the 8 GB Vega 56 or the 16 GB Vega 64 , both of which use HBM2 memory , a faster standard than GDDR5 .
Storage
When it comes to computer memory , there ’s less of a difference . The Surface Studio offers 1 TB for the two inexpensive good example , perish up to 2 TB in the top specs – either way it ’s a hybrid drive .
The iMac Pro also begins with 1 TB , but goes up to offer either 2 TB or 4 TB . All of those are SSDs , though , so you may gestate riotous functioning than the Surface can offer .
Ports and connectivity
It may not be the most exciting element of either gadget , but there ’s a surprising difference when it come to connectivity option .
The iMac Pro add up loaded with ports : there ’s 10Gb ethernet , four USB - light speed / Thunderbolt 3 ports , another four USB 3.0 ports , an SDXC wag slot , and ( because we jazz you were n’t certain ) a 3.5 millimeter earphone jack .
The Surface Studio has four USB 3.0 ports , an SDXC card expansion slot , Mini DisplayPort , ethernet , and a headphone jack . So what ’s missing ? USB - C – Microsoft has n’t really backed the new format , so if you ’re an early adopter with a host of USB - C gadgets , you ’ll need arranger to hook them up to the Surface .
They also both include 1080p front - facing webcams , Bluetooth 4.0 , and 802.11ac Wi - Fi .
Software
Naturally , this is a braggy one , although we wo n’t go into all the details here .
The iMac Pro , unsurprisingly , runs macOS High Sierra .
The Surface Studio runs Windows 10 , and enjoy the welfare of the recent Creators Update , which include a lot of the feature that power the Surface technical school and declare oneself a few advantages to creatives .
you could find out more about the current departure in our breakdown ofSierra vs Windows 10 , while ourHigh Sierra reviewgives you an idea of what the a la mode version offers .
