In its latest event, Microsoft has introduced some new devices and technologies. Among them was the Surface Studio. Whether by incident or not, it bears some resemblance to Aplle’s iMac. So, let’s have a Surface Studio vs iMac showdown today, in different aspects!

1. Screen

Firstly, for this Surface Studio vs iMac comparison, we will use the 27-inch 5K iMac, as it s considered to be the direct competitor to Surface Studio. Overall, the screen is the big selling point for both of these devices. The iMac has a 27-inch screen with 5120 x 2880 resolution, meaning 217 pixels per inch (ppi). Meanwhile, the Microsoft device has resolution 4500 x 3000 for a 28-inch screen, which equals 192 ppi. As we can see, iMac has the better ppi, but we can hardly see the difference when putting those two next to each other.

As for the color accuracy, we will have to wait for real life results, to see which one is the winner in this regard. In general, they are quite similar. Both have support for sRGB and DCI-P3 color profiles, which promises great color illustration, and can be changed quite easily. Of course, or movie or photo production work, a $5000 monitor will blow these two out of the water by a large margin. However, for normal use, these two will be more than sufficient. For this first category, Surface Studio and iMac are more or less similar.

2. Design

Microsoft has made an effort to highlight the design choices for Surface Studio. The Microsoft device is very flexible, compared to Apple’s iMac. While the base of Surface Studio is thicker than the iMac, overall Surface Studio is thinner – 12mm throughout. Also, the iMac is only at a fixed height and only tilts a little, the Studio’s hinge allows you to turn it into a drawing tablet. In Microsoft’s words, it is a “zero-gravity hinge”, as it is very easy to transform, with almost no effort. In this regard, the Studio has the edge over the iMac.

3. Performance

The high-end specs for Studio device include a desktop core i7, 32GB RAM,  hybrid 2TB SSD/HDD, and GTX 980M. The 980M is a little bit disappointing, because even laptops now have better graphics card. However, the iMac is not really better. Its max specs are basically the same, with iMac using the AMD’s M395X. The AMD card is easily outclassed by the 980M in many benchmarks. Performance wise, this round also goes to Microsoft’s Surface Studio again. However, that might change if Apple decids to beef up the specs for the iMac in its event soon.

4. Input devices

For iMac, we have a keyboard and a mouse. As fancy as they are, they are still not something very unique. Studio, on the other hand, comes with some handy input devices. There is the standard wireless keyboard and mouse, as expected. The Studio’s screen is also touch-sensitive, and Microsoft also includes a touch pen and a haptic-feedback Dial to go with it. The surface Pen and Dial are highlighted quite a lot in Microsoft’s presentation. The pen promises to be like the Surface Book pen, with zero latency. If all of those are true, the Microsoft device wins this round of Surface Studio vs iMac.

5. Price

Here is the last, but can be the most important aspect to consider: price. The base model of Studio costs $3000, while that of iMac is only $1800. For the high-end version, Surface Studio price is $4200, while  maxed iMac price is $3400. The gap is very big for the starting price, but gets smaller for the high-end, and for that segment, the upgraded graphics card justifies the price difference. Overall, in this category, an iMac is a more viable option foe most people. If you want the upgraded graphics, then the price of the maxed Studio is justified.

Surface Studio vs iMac: Can Microsoft top Apple?

For the most part, in this Surface Studio vs iMac battle, the Microsoft device is better than the Apple device in theory. However, the price of Studio may be a little too high for most people. What do you think is the winner in this contest?