Apple's MacBook Pro might be the best selling laptop, but not everyone likes it and certainly there are alternatives that are just as good.
Windows 10
Definitely, Apple's macOS isn't for everyone. But this is not a problem, since laptops featuring high-end components aren't unique to Apple. In fact, if you are shopping around it doesn't take long to find hardware that out-performs Apple's best offers. And, according to ZDNet, if you want a cheaper system than Apple's MacBook Pro lineup, then you could find good Windows 10 laptops that are even priced under $300.
Depending on what are your requirements from a laptop, you could find many more suitable options than the MacBook Pro. Many professionals have discovered that, rather than feeling like a macOS machine that provides top-notch specifications and features, this iteration of Apple's MacBook Pro feels more like a Pro version of the MacBook Air.
There are many other options on the market today and we are going to look in detail at some of the best alternatives to the MacBook Pro. According to Forbes, among the machines that are worthy to consider are included Razer's Blade, Microsoft's Surface Book and HP's Spectre x360.
But one element that is going to be missing on these laptops is macOS. Apple's current operating system can run only on the Mac range and is UNIX-based. That means any alternative to the MacBook Pro will not be running macOS. In most of cases, the alternative laptops to Apple's flagship will be running Windows 10, Microsoft's latest update to its operating system.
Microsoft Surface Book
Microsoft Surface Book started off from a position of weakness in the first machines, running underpowered ARM chips and the awkward Windows 8 tablet/desktop hybrid interface. But despite this, Microsoft's Surface brand has evolved to become a strong indicator of computer excellence, quality and a no-compromise design.
The Surface Pro 4 is a solid ultra-portable machine that comes with good versatility. The laptop's design showcases a distinctive style. The touchscreen and bundled Surface Pen are offering good functionality, the screen can be detached into a tablet and Windows 10′s user interface works well in a tablet style.
You can choose from a variety of Microsoft Surface Pr models, starting from an $1499 entry-level machine that comes with an i5 or i7 Skylake processor, SSD sizes from 128 GB up to 1 TB and choices of 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM. The graphical performance of the highest specced machine has been increased by a recent refresh of the keyboard base unit.
Razer Blade
Razer Blade is designed as a high-end gaming laptop. But since gaming requires some of the highest performance on a computer, then you can be sure you have a laptop with excess power when you get a fast and efficient gaming laptop. Irvine, California-based Razer was founded in 1998 and has been specializing in gaming products since its launch. The company produce three categories of laptop: the workhorse 14-inch Razer Blade, the ultrabook styled Blade Stealth and the high-end 17-inch Blade Pro.
When closed, the Razer Blade is slightly larger than the newest MacBook Pro. However, you do get a lot more screen to work with a 14-inch screen. The Blade is available with either a touch enabled 3200×1800 screen or a 1920×1080 IPS screen, being one of the best out there if screen quality is important to you.
The Blade does also stand out in its keyboard by using Chroma backlighting technology. Every key can light up in a different color and you can have animated color effects dance under your fingers. When it comes to connectivity, the laptop offers a single HDMI 2.o port for video and audio output, a single USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 port as well as 3 USB 3.0 ports for a wide range of peripherals.
With its 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7 backed up by 16 GB of RAM, the Blade provides an impressive processing power and speed. Its battery life can comfortably surpass six hours of work. Its high specifications are designed for gaming, but in case that you buy it as a processor intensive laptop for editing HD video or rendering graphics, the Blade is a good machine to recommend.
HP Spectre x360
HP's Spectre x360 is a two-in-one design. The machine can have the screen flip all the way round to create a tablet experience or can operate as a regular laptop. You can also use it in the tent mode by flipping the screen almost all the way that the laptop stands up like a tent.
The two-piece hinge allows the screen to rotate through 360 degrees. The Spectre is a stylish laptop that comes with great design. HP took extra care to improve the laptop user experience for the consumer. The 1920×1080 display is a touchscreen, so it offers all the extra benefits of finger control in Windows 10.
This year's Spectre x360 is offering a huge amount of future proofing power, being one of the first machines to use Intel's latest Kabylake architecture. The high performance processor is backed up by 8 GB of RAM as the default option. The laptop comes with one older USB 3.1 port alongside two USB-C Thunderbolt ports.
